Heeeyho Readers! Good ole ass-whopper bicycle ride,
Sitting, legs up, bulking carbs back up, sleep-deprived, achy, and, on top of all, trying to figure out why the hell do I put my body under such stress (especially since I'm not 20 anymore).
Then, my friend updates the donations status. Almost hitting R$ 1000.00, he says. And I remember it was for a good cause. The hours pedaling, the long night roaming quiet roads, the effort to go over a mountain, and another, and just one more. And for Christ Sake it was supposed to be the last one.
A few weeks ago, a friend imposed a self-challenge to raise money for a local charity. His feat: a 24-hour bicycle ride, covering as much distance as possible on a mountain-bike, without stopping to sleep. A second friend joined to not let the soldier lonely. Finally, le me signed in for the challenge. The three musketeers are set.
The giganormous ass-whopper bicycle ride was schedule for yesterday (01/08/24), at twelve o-clock. A bunch of people show up to the meeting point and we get local news coverage, which is bloody cool. Swift winds blow from north-east, meaning cross-winds during the first flat part before the mountains. Temperature is quite high for mid sounthern-brazillian winter (~20°C, clear sky) — makes our life a lot easier. As if easy is the right adjective for what we're about to do though. Faces are smiley, legs feeling fresh, motivation is high.
We planned a route heading to the local mountains, going around a loop and back home. First and last parts are dead flat. There are no high mountain passes nearby, though the effort is quite tenuous nonetheless. With 24 hours to complete we don't need to worry; this route should take us a lot less to cover. We still need to cycle the whole 24 hours without stopping to sleep (only eat and bathroom). That's the challenge after all, 24 hours of activity time.
The team is well prepared. Are we ever prepared to cycle 24 hours? Creator of the torture challenge is a long term cycling marathoner (left); the second, a two-time long distance Audax brevet finisher (right); and me, a highly motivated stick. Picture is taken somewhere @ four in the morning, when sleep deprivation put a small toll on me (recovered when the sun came out).
It's my first time covering such a great distance in one go. What can I conclude? Well... defo a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. I'm not into super long distance endurance sports. Not that I don't like pushing the limits, but more because the stress on the body is way too extreme. And I still wanna live long.
Our mind is the driving motor in ultra marathons. Legs felt fine; back ached only after 150 kilometers. From the mid point onwards I began to feel my brain draining energy to itself. The sheer effort to keep on eating to fuel the legs clogged the guts. The dilemma: don't eat and lose energy or eat and risk puking. Same happened with liquids. And we keep on pedaling despite the sleep deprivation. Each and every stop to eat after the 200 kilometer mark feels horrendous. My ass does not want to sit on the bicycle again. Downside of having a bony butt.
The 300 kilometer mark puts us one hour away from home, some 4 hours before schedule. We gotta cycle for four hours and it's done. Longest four hours of my life. Cross winds are back, so I drag myself back home safely. It's done. It's done. It's done.
The ride
I won't even attempt to sum my carbohydrate intake. It was a lot! And it was not enough. Let's also skip the tips for others willing to cycle super ultra far. I haven't had the proper time to wrap the ideas in order for a more detailed post. Soon, I promise.
A few stats about the ride.
Total Distance: 341,33 km on a mountain-bike
Time pedaling: 16hrs 16min 10s
Total time: 23hrs 17min 10s (stopping only to fuel and bathroom)
Carbohydrate intake: a fuck ton
Let's see other stats from my GPS unit that are not on Strava.
Min altitude: 22m (sea level)
Max altitude: 503m
Avg. incline: 3,1%
Max. incline 13,4% (freaking ramp)
From the 341 kilometers, 97,14 were descending, 88,73 ascending and 155,46 on flat
What else can I add?
I'm beaten.
But more importantly, I'm happy.
We managed to gather money for a good cause, and that, that has no price.
Also, knowing my body can take such stress feels good. As the saying, "what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger."
Let's see what the next grande idea will be.
Peace.
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
