Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Shout-out for Chris: 502.9 miles

This is just a shout-out for my riding buddy Chris Ragsdale, who rode 502.9 miles in 24 hours at Sebring. Fantastic ride, Chris! No wonder he's so hard to hang with . . . And congratulations to all the other hard riding cyclists who participated!
http://www.altavistasports.com/results/2008results/bikesebring24hour021708.html

He was totally amazing, blowing by the rest of us like we were pedaling backwards!

I did 329.8 miles. Does that count for my century-a-months until April?

He was totally amazing, blowing by the rest of us like we were pedaling backwards!

I did 329.8 miles. Does that count for my century-a-months until April?Great ride! So tell us all about it, what did you eat and drink, how'd you pace yourself, how'd the caffeine work out? Photos?

Thanks! It was a blast! SO much better weather than last year -- practically hot during the day, comfortably cool at the start and at night. I need to write a gushing letter of praise to Dinotte lights. They were amazing! Batteries lasted significantly longer than advertised -- when does that ever happen?

What did I eat? Not enough, but drank enough calories to survive. Over the 24 hours, I had one banana, two pbj's, about 5 Gu gels, three or four packs of Shot Bloks, three or four Luna chews (yum!) and half a subway sub. All my plans for soup, hot foods, and granola bars went out the window. I did have 6 bottles with 3 scoops of Sustained plus 4 scoops of Gu2O, and about two bottles of just the Gu2O. I'll have to add up the calories.

My pace wasn't great. We hooked up with some guys who wanted to hammer for the 12-hours, and they kept the pace insane at first. Of course, they all blew up after the first century. We dropped off after about 30 miles of zone 4-5 riding. My average heartrate for the whole thing, rests included was about 140. I just stayed in a conversational pace all day long. It's the pace that you know you can go faster, but won't be able to maintain for 24-hours.

I highly recommend a few cans of Rockstar. I started them when we moved to the track at night. One at about 7pm, chugging when we came in for a stop. The second can about midnight, and the last was at around 2am, when I realized I might not make my goal, which was to break the record in my age group. I had interference problems between my lights and computer, so I didn't even know how many miles I had, and my friends (who raced the 12) who came down to cheer for the ending lied about where I was, so I had to pick up the pace at the end.

I broke the record I was going for, and won my age category and overall too. Couldn't have done it without my incredible team and my amazing boyfriend.

Great ride! So tell us all about it, what did you eat and drink, how'd you pace yourself, how'd the caffeine work out? Photos?

Actually, would love to hear about your friend's ride. How did he pace himself, what'd he eat and drink, etc.

+1

21 mph for 24 hours is incredible, was he on a recumbent?!

Also congratulations Pedal Wrench, them's a lotta miles too!

Actually, would love to hear about your friend's ride. How did he pace himself, what'd he eat and drink, etc.I'll ask the next time I see him. I'm curious, too.

Hocam: he was not on a recumbent. Rode right away from them, and from everyone else. That was the hardest part, I understand, that he had to ride it essentially solo. He was on his fast bike. He rides SS with us so he can get a decent workout. He could tow a lab in a trailer and keep up with us on his good bike.

I don't think I could stay awake that long, what a great ride.

That's insane! Was he using TT bars the entire time?

That's insane! Was he using TT bars the entire time?

Everytime I saw him, he was.

I had two bikes, one with bars that I planned to switch to, but realized that it would have taken too much time to switch out everything -- timing chips, lights, computer, etc. Oh well. If I had, maybe I could have gotten 500 miles. Right?:p

Well done to Chris and yourself :) The Mersey Roads winner last year did 501 miles

I was trailing in far behind on 334 :)

Looks like a lot of people had great rides. Congrats to all.

All I can say is HOLY COW! Great job to everyone, but Chris did excellent :D

Actually, would love to hear about your friend's ride. How did he pace himself, what'd he eat and drink, etc.I got to ask him on Sunday. Rode a brevet with him. Well, tried to keep him in sight for a while is more like it. Food: he drank a can of Ensure Plus every 3 hours, drank water and Gatorade, did Hammer Gel, and ate one PB & J sandwich. He did the first 100 miles in about 4-1/2 hours and after that, just tried to keep his lap times at precalculated levels.

I asked him about his training and he said that his riding with us all winter was what prepared him. So not only is he fast, he is the kindest guy you'd ever meet.

My favorite photo: all my Bachetta buds swarming like the pack of killer b's they are. I had surgery so I was out for Sebring this year. They apparently all had a blast riding together

http://imageevent.com/rodk/sebring2008;jsessionid=1h2rufgg11.buffalo_s?p=2&n=1&m=24&c=4&l=0&w=4&s=0&z=2

My favorite photo: all my Bachetta buds swarming like the pack of killer b's they are. I had surgery so I was out for Sebring this year. They apparently all had a blast riding together

http://imageevent.com/rodk/sebring2008;jsessionid=1h2rufgg11.buffalo_s?p=2&n=1&m=24&c=4&l=0&w=4&s=0&z=2

That's about what they looked like! The century is a lollipop route, so we came up on them leaving the turn-around point. They were riding in formation, all working together. It was quite impressive!

That's unbelievable. Respect!!