Ultra Rider: In Search of the Ultimate Long Ride RSS

Biking is one thing. Bicycling 100 miles is entirely another. But what about the bicycle ride that last all day and all night? At some point, you cross a line and at that point, cycling, becomes ultracycling.

This blog chronicles the story of a guy, his bike and a strange obsession with finding the outside edge of his personal limits.

In this chapter, having broken the UMCA record, recovered from a bone-crushing crash and achieving a top 15 finish at the inimitable Furnace Creek 508 we find our hero grappling with the realities of completing a 100km foot race.

For the complete story, follow this link, and read from the back to the front. The story won't make anymore sense when you've finished, but at least you'll know as much as the rest of us.

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Establishing the Baseline

Training is all about improvement.

Knowing what to improve is possibly even harder than the actual training itself. Perceived weaknesses might just be excuses that you use to cover up real faults - its very easy to lie to yourself about your real abilities.

Each fall I try to schedule a “find the limiters” ride to  help me get past the psychological trickery that positive thinking can cause. This ride is specifically designed to break me - push me past where I’m comfortable, take me right to the bottom, and expose my weaknesses in all their splendor.

Two years ago, as I was struggling through a 100km mountain bike race, in dead last position, I realized that I needed to work on my pacing, staying strong past the 8 hour mark, keeping a positive frame of mind and build up my upper body strength.

Last fall, I did a miserable solo double century - with only 5 hours of sleep under my belt. Even though I finished in a very respectable 11:40, I finished the ride with a clear picture of what I need to work on during the winter months.

All of these thoughts stayed with me through my training - strengthened me in times of doubt and humbled me in times of over-exuberance. Knowing where my absolute lowest level of performance was - my bottom - let me reach new heights of performance.

This fall, my “find the limiters” ride is a double/double - two hundred miles, two days in a row. I’ve never ridden much beyond 400-450k over a two day period. This coming weekend, I’m going to attempt more than 640 kilometers in this same time period by riding out to Niagara Falls and back from Toronto - twice in two days.

I’ll be starting out at 6am from Mississauga, and hopefully finishing up 11-12 hours later, going home for some food and sleep, and then repeating the whole ride again the next morning at the same time.

A few riders will be coming out on one or the other days, and potentially, one or two for both days.

It will be great to have the company - and hopefully, the ride will demand enough that I’ll be able to find a new low point to use as fuel for my training over the next few months.

Posted at 21:48 - Comments (View)

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