John Spurgeon finishes RAAM on a SS
06-22-07, 01:44 PM
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John Spurgeon finishes RAAM on a SS
John Spurgeon just became the first person to ever finish Race Across America on a single speed. 12 days 2 hours and 11 minutes.
A crazy man.
https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/s-p-u-r-g-e-o-n
A crazy man.
https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/s-p-u-r-g-e-o-n
06-22-07, 02:43 PM
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I heard about that guy, apparently he actually had two single speeds with him. A 40x15 and a 39x16.
06-22-07, 02:44 PM
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06-22-07, 03:04 PM
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hello
Holy crap! Tomorrow's LA Wheelmen Grand Tour 200 mile highland on my fixed gear which I will be laboring is not even a day's ride for him. Much respect!!
06-22-07, 03:10 PM
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He did all of his training fixed here in Oregon. Several "reasonable" people talked him into doing raam SS instead of fixed.
06-22-07, 03:17 PM
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Originally Posted by rainedon
He did all of his training fixed here in Oregon. Several "reasonable" people talked him into doing raam SS instead of fixed.
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06-22-07, 03:18 PM
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always rides with luggage
Wow. I would love to see what sort of SS he did it on. I don't see any pictures on the RAAM site, though.
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06-22-07, 03:19 PM
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06-22-07, 03:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Fugazi Dave
Bastards!
Al
06-22-07, 06:05 PM
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pix
Originally Posted by bigbenaugust
Wow. I would love to see what sort of SS he did it on. I don't see any pictures on the RAAM site, though.
06-22-07, 08:04 PM
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I missed him when he rolled into my town (Athens, OH TS#45). He came in an hour earlier than predicted, probably because it is really hilly on that stretch
06-22-07, 09:19 PM
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Big ****ing Props to bfssfger Vireo of Team Beat Cancer, who finished sixth in the two man team class and did it on a fixed gear.
https://stats.raceacrossamerica.org/2.../overview.html
https://stats.raceacrossamerica.org/2.../overview.html
06-23-07, 09:28 PM
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So if you all had the choice to ride/race cross-country on either a SS or FG, which would it be and why?
06-23-07, 10:14 PM
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A SS would make descending a lot easier, unless maybe you had a big gear on a flip flop hub. Honestly though, and to paraphrase Spurgeon, when you get into endurance cycling the idea that it makes sense to choose the easier way kind of goes out the window. I am going to do my toughest fixed cent ever next week, this ought to be fun. 
06-24-07, 07:38 PM
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I was thinking of Spurgeon today while riding out on the W&OD trail and back, with a sidetrack on the Custis for 65 miles on my SS Langster. I had to slow the ride down a bit to wait up for friends, but to the people I met out on the trail today, many were impressed with the concept of the SS road bike as a long distance, high speed open-road bike. While I don't plan on doing RAAM, I did enjoy scouting the W&OD for a century some time this summer. One guy out on the trail, though, decided to pul some line like "man, don't you wish you had gears, ehh?". I told him about some guy I saw who's derailleur hanger snapped off as a prelude to a good, solid "no". Another guy found as much novelty in my SS gear as I did in his break-away bike with couplings. We swapped riding stories, entertaining one another, and as a courtesy, let him sit in my draft for a few miles.
Off no fun was the noobie-Lance prick with the credit-carded Trek gear who decided to draft me when I flew by him 60 miles into the ride. I told him that he couldn't sit on if he wasn't gonna pull. He responded with a dumbass "huh, I don't understand". I attacked him twice, then dropped his ass on a climb. Nice solid way to end the ride.
Yeah, viva la SS road bike. Guys like Spurgeon inspire me, and give us SSers reason to push the limits of this neat little sector of the cycling world.
Off no fun was the noobie-Lance prick with the credit-carded Trek gear who decided to draft me when I flew by him 60 miles into the ride. I told him that he couldn't sit on if he wasn't gonna pull. He responded with a dumbass "huh, I don't understand". I attacked him twice, then dropped his ass on a climb. Nice solid way to end the ride.
Yeah, viva la SS road bike. Guys like Spurgeon inspire me, and give us SSers reason to push the limits of this neat little sector of the cycling world.
06-24-07, 08:01 PM
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good article on Spurgeon
He had 2 bikes - a Vanilla and an Ira Ryan. One was 39 x 16, the other 40 x 15.
a bit on the IRa Ryan frame
He had 2 bikes - a Vanilla and an Ira Ryan. One was 39 x 16, the other 40 x 15.
a bit on the IRa Ryan frame
