c.miller64

He's been off the trike for a while now. And from what I've heard, he has no intentions of breaking the record in this attempt and is only waiting for full fitness before he resets and starts a new record attempt.

LWaB

He is hoping to break TG's record with his current attempt (though I think it unlikely) and will shortly launch a new attempt to put it as high as he can.

ramchip

Looks like Kurt could well be the new record holder come 1st Jan but would not be surprised to see Steve claim the record at the end of July 2016. Steve Abraham V Kurt Searvogel ? One Year Time Trial Record Attempt - HAMR | Biking Times

Machka 

The leaderboard:

HAM'R Leaderboard

StephenH

I just saw on Facebook where Kurt had hit the 50,000 mile mark, so still going strong.

Machka 

According to the leaderboard, right now ...

Name............................ Date Started ..... Days To Go .... Distance

Kurt Searvogel (52) ........2015-01-10 ....... 124 ...............50,077.00

Steven Abraham (41) ..... 2015-01-01 ...... 115 ............... 40,433.00

Miles Smith (53) ............ 2015-04-11 ...... 215 ............... 19,727.00

StephenH

Didn't Steven Abraham also start a second, overlapping attempt? I don't see that reflected on the leaderboard, though.

Machka 

I know ... I'm a bit puzzled by that too.

chasm54

Sorry, late to this party.

The leaderboard refers only to the first attempt, which Abrahams began at the start of this year and is continuing until 31 December. However, his broken ankle has seriously compromised his chances of breaking the record during that attempt. So in August (8th August, I think) he started a concurrent attempt that will also run for a year. So basically the miles he covers in the last five months of this year will count towards both efforts, and he'll end up riding for 19 months straight. Last time I looked on his website he'd done about 13,000 miles since early August at about 1500 miles a week.

Machka 

There are two still in the challenge right now ... Steven Abraham (UK) and Kurt Searvogel (USA). Miles Smith (Australia) has withdrawn.

HAM'R Leaderboard


And there is a new one, Bruce Berkeley, who is going to give it a go in 2016.

The world?s 'oldest, toughest'*cycling record is under threat - BikeRadar

chriskmurray

Looks like Kurt will hit 71,000 or so miles tomorrow with 24 days left. He seems to be picking up the pace significantly this last month. Today he had a 250 mile day and seems to be averaging around 220 a day for the past month or so.

It will be interesting to see where he falls and then watch Steve's counter. Some pretty amazing athletes out there for sure!

RomansFiveEight

I have never in my life done in one day what these guys are doing every day. Absolutely, absolutely incredible.

c.miller64

I've ridden with Kurt several times this year, including his 250+ mile ride today. He's an amazing athlete and somehow he's getting even stronger as he nears the end. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him best todays mileage a few more times before this attempt is over.

chriskmurray

I was lucky enough to build them a wheel a while back. What surprised me is how easy going both him and Alicia were. I mostly talked with Alicia and it is no surprise she is an amazing crew chief, unbelievably positive even when things were really rough. I am happy to see him start getting stronger towards the end and curious to see where he ends up mileage wise. I am guessing with the end so close he will keep pushing more and more. I am very curious to see what the last week looks like and wonder if he will go full on RAAM mode and only sleep enough to not fall asleep while pedaling.

c.miller64

You're absolutely right about Alicia. I don't see how Kurt could even attempt this record without someone as dedicated as she is. She's also thinking about chasing the womens annual mileage record herself after Kurt finishes. No doubt in my mind that she's more than capable of doing so. She's put in around 8k this year herself, all while nursing a broken ankle and crewing for Kurt.

As to where Kurt ends up, my guess is around 1250-1500 over the record. He'd be happy just to break it, Alicia is cracking the whip to pile the miles on.

chriskmurray

I didn't know she was considering the women's record, I could see her pulling it off as well. I am sure Kurt would enjoy being the one cracking the whip for a change!

FL_MarkD

I have been watching Kurt lately too. He has been putting in impressive miles not too far from where I live. c.miller64 very cool you joined him for one of the rides. Seems the group at Flatwoods has been keeping him company.

The entire feat impresses me, but one fact that blows my mind is that he is averaging 18.1 mph for his 'time trial' moving average.

chasm54

The women's record is there for the taking, it's much less challenging. I'm surprised it has stood as long as it has.

Searvogel will comfortably beat Godwin's record. It'll be interesting to see what target he sets for Steve Abraham, who's intending to keep rolling until August. Gutsy performance from him in the wake of the broken ankle - as if riding for 12 months straight wouldn't have been hard enough, he'll end up doing 20.

c.miller64

Put in another 100+ miles with him today and I swear he's still getting stronger. Feel free to stop by and join in anytime. Except for Christmas, he'll be at Flatwoods until the last day of the challenge on Jan 9. On Christmas he plans on riding the Suncoast trail, which is even closer to you.

CliffordK

That is one awesome chainring on Miles Smith's bike.

Actually, it looks like a triple with half-step gearing.

StephenH

You know, it would sorta suck to take a year out of your life going after this record. But what would suck a lot more is taking a year out of your life and NOT getting the record! I wish 'em all well, but glad it's not me trying this!

Machka 

Along those lines ...

Kurt will likely get the record in a day or so, and he'll hold the record for, what?, a few months before Steve gets it? And now there's a third guy who is planning to do it this year (2016) who will likely take the record from Steve. All that effort over a year to hold a record for such a short time?

If Kurt were the only one doing this, and could hold the record for several years before someone else decided it was time to take it ... maybe that might be worth it. But right now, it's looking like there's a good chance he'll barely get the record, and then it will be gone.

CliffordK

I think it would be a wonderful way to tour the country, plus Canada and maybe Mexico (those long northern days might be nice). Unfortunately not a lot of opportunity to smell the roses.

At least one of the contenders has been knocked out by an auto accident, and Miles Smith has stopped due to health issues.

Yes, it would be hard to finish the year, say 1000 miles short. But, I think it is simply 12 contiguous months, so one could keep going for an extra month and change the official start date.

I foresee this record falling a few times in the next decade or so, perhaps settling above 100,000 miles.

When will the recumbent velomobiles enter the fray?

As far as a year of one's life. Imagine, there are even some people who spend a half century of their life at a JOB

RomansFiveEight

I dunno. This has been mentioned earlier in this thread too. But I don't think that these guys are looking to be solidified into Immortality. Plus, the way people are today, I'm sure there will be stacks of qualifiers and asterisks. Kurt's will just be called the "North American" record or something.

But I don't think these guys are looking to set an unbeatable record. I think it was just to see if it could be done, and if they could do it. At least from the interviews and things I've read, I don't know that either guy who feel interminably crushed if they didn't keep the record long. Even the third guy attempting it made mention only of himself; i.e., he wants to push himself to that point and see if he can do it.

StephenH

I got to thinking about this. First off, UMCA issued their "position statement" that this was basically its own contest, not a continuation of the Tommy Godwin contest, and thus stands on it's own. That being the case, Steve Abrahams finished his first effort on December 31st, so he would be the official record holder of this record until Kurt completes his in a few days. (I guess it's a matter of semantics/rules as to whether somebody partway through a record attempt can already be the "record holder" when they haven't finished the attempt- wouldn't that be like me saying I'm halfway through a 3-minute mile when I'm running?

This also makes me appreciate the importance of speed in the attempt. This last summer, I did a "rando tour" of about 150 miles a day. What I found was that about 10 hours a day was about right for me, but unfortunately, 150 miles takes me about 12 hours in the heat, not 10. So the ability to crank out 200 miles in 10 or 12 hours instead of 16 hours would be a major advantage in the undertaking.