Crazy cycling challenges

[Gavin]

On the back of Huws PBP post.

What are the most crazy cycling challenged people have heard of / tried ?

For Example ........
Cycling along great wall of china
RAM (race across america)

[Stu Merckx Man]

a while back when i was 10 i was watching blue peter,(i don't anymore...promise ), someone was on it who cycled the trans siberian railway...not on it ofcourse...but following the general course sort of thing..

cheers,
stu

[Dr Frigo]

Since I'm stuck at home with a cold ...

(Heard of only! [so far])

The Great Divide Race http://www.greatdividerace.com/
The Great Divide Race is a self-supported, solo competition following the 2,490-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Traversing Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, the route demands over 200,000 feet of climbing along it's length. Competitors carry all equipment necessary to negotiate the backcountry, restocking on food and other supplies from the small towns along the route.

John Stamstad was the first to complete a time trial of the GDMBR, back in 1999. John scorched the route in 18 days, 5 hours. Over the next 5 years, several individuals unsuccessfully challenged John's record. In 2004 the inaugural Great Divide Race was held. 7 racers started and 4 finished, with Stamstad's record falling to Mike Curiak in a time of 16 days, 57 minutes.

[img]http://www.mtbr.com/gdr/great_divide_set.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.mtbr.com/gdr/blackbear.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.mile43.com/peterson/Turtle/Pics/photos/photo18.jpg[/img]



Iditarod http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/iti_home_page.html

The World's Longest Human Powered Winter Race in Alaska. This is a No Frills, Limited Support Race put on by Racers for Racers. 350 miles or 1100 miles. In 2002 only four finished out of 130 competitors who started. Check one: BIKE______ SKI_______ FOOT______

[img]http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/invitational%20pages%20suff/photogallery%20page%20stuff/Peter%20Basinger%20on%20the%20trail.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.bluedome.co.uk/MoutainBiking/Iditarod2002/images/alaska23.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.bluedome.co.uk/MoutainBiking/Iditarod2002/images/alaska31.jpg[/img]

Story from Brit Andy Heading (a workmate's friend): http://www.bluedome.co.uk/MoutainBiking/Iditarod2002/


More to come ...

[Dr Frigo]

Ian's big trip http://www.mountaincyclediaries.com/Home/Home.aspx

This is a guy who I know from meeting at races a few years ago.

From January 2005 I start in Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, the World's most southerly city. Over the next 18 months I will cycle North to Deadhorse Alaska, The World's most Northerly town. Along the way I am going to race in some of the world's classic 24h Mountain bike races.

[img]http://www.mountaincyclediaries.com/Images/Rep/rep12/DSCF0450WEB.JPG[/img] [img]http://www.mountaincyclediaries.com/Images/Rep/rep20/IMG_3588WEB.JPG[/img] [img]http://www.mountaincyclediaries.com/Images/Rep/rep16/DSCF1021WEB.JPG[/img]



Transalp Challenge http://www.transalp-challenge.com/

(as done by ex-ACC Hannah Reynolds)

It's billed as [probably] Europe's toughest mountain-bike stage race and is one of the few Professional/Amateur races of its kind. Held over 8 days, this year it traversed 17 mountain passes, 652.19 kilometres and 21,521 vertical metres. You have to race in pairs and always cross the line together.

[img]http://www.funsporting.de/News/Transalp-Challenge.jpg[/img] [img]http://p.webshots.com/ProThumbs/77/30177_wallpaper400.jpg[/img]

Story from a one-legged competitor: http://mtbike.mountainzone.com/2002/tra ... index.html
Also: http://www.bikerevuk.com/rob/racing/ta/taduncan.html

[Dr Frigo]

Ruta de los Conquistadores http://www.adventurerace.com/eng/english.htm

(as done by Karl, kiwi mtb guide we met in Utah. I think I already posted about this one at the time).

La Ruta de los Conquistadores may only be three days long, but it easily takes its place in the roster of world's toughest MTB races, and qualifies for the descriptor "epic". The stats are mind-boggling:

- 320 kilometres of riding
- over 9,000 metres of climbing, with the highest point at 3,100 metres
- riders from 27 countries and five continents

The race began thirteen years when ago Roman Urbina read about the Spanish Conqueror Juan de Caballon and his 20 years trip on the mountains of Costa Rica, in his attempt to explore the country. De Caballon's expedition started at the Pacific Coast and finished in the Caribbean. Urbina - a recognized Costa Rican athlete and adventure man - decided to emulate that long voyage himself.

Captivated by the histories of that Spanish general, he and another 34 brave adventurers started the trip across nine of Costa Rica's twelve microclimates. An adventure that led them to crossing the rain forest, volcanoes, high mountains and crystalline rivers.





[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races05/ruta/day1/images/_DSC0057.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races05/ruta/day3/images/_DSC0048.jpg[/img]
http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=m ... 05/default

[Stu Merckx Man]

if you go on this--> http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/biki ... epic10.htm website, it gives you the top 10 most 'epic' rides

stu..

[Stu Merckx Man]

also theres the 1000 mile geneva bike ride....geneva to spain

[Dr Frigo]

I was coming to this one marco!

From Land's End to John o'Groats in 41 hours 4 mins and 22 secs for an 861 mile route http://www.windcheetah.co.uk/record.htm

Andy rode virtually non-stop on a Windcheetah for 41 hours 4 mins and 22 secs, beating the previous record [also held by Andy, on a `normal `cycle] by nearly 4 hours. At times Andy's speed was in the high 70`s [miles per hour] on some of the long descents. The first 100 miles were covered in 4 hours 4 minutes

[img]http://www.windcheetah.co.uk/MEDIA/g.jpg[/img]

[Jon H]

How about this one - the record for the highest mileage in a year.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/?id ... nd_greaves

Anyone fancy 205 miles a day, every day, for a whole year?

[Dr Frigo]

That's a good one! Reminded me of Mark Weir, who set to climb one million feet in one year.

We talk a lot about pro cyclist Mark Weir, and for good reason. This past year was especially big. He climbed 1-million vertical feet, and he’s got the data to prove it. Below is a snap shot of his past year. I’m sure I don’t need to point out the number of mountain vs. road bike activities.

[img]http://www.motionbased.com/images/norcaldigest.jpg[/img]


http://nsmb.com/people/weir_03_06.php

[kieran]

well I think this might beat them (although it is not a self sufficient race), considering the length, terrain, weather and political instability and general underveloped nature of the area you have cross:

http://www.tourdafrique.com/indextour.htm

Oh, and registration for the 2007 race is now open, any takers?
FACTS AND FIGURES

The program features approximately 96 cycling days, averaging 124 km (77 miles) each (kieran, thats about 12,000 km or 7500miles! or 3 times the length of the great divide race! 4 times the tour de france), broken up by 23 rest days and a day of travel for a total of 120 days in Africa. Support trucks will collect your equipment and travel ahead to set up camp.

[Gavin]

this is fantastic.

I really like the tourdafrique that looks really good.

Who wants to enter a 8 man Addiscombe relay team!

1 section each........

Cheers

G

[Gavin]

Come one where is the addiscombe bravado .....

in the style of marty mcfky.

Are ya chicken mcfly?

[Dr Frigo]

The Ruta is on again this weekend – madder than ever.

"The most interesting newcomer to the race is Hector Leonardo Paez Leon. This 24-year-old Colombian has taken the mountain biking world by storm this season. Paez has a fairytale story - he lives at 2600m in the mountains, 150 kilometres outside of Bogata. In the morning he studied at school, and in the afternoon helped his father in the fields, farming. At the age of 18 he saved up enough money to buy his first bike and began racing. He finished fourth in his first race - a stage race for Juniors, and won his second race.

The race begins at sunrise (5:15 am local) on Friday, November 3, with a stage that is expected to thrash the field. The stats caught the attention of every rider present at the press conference:

Length - 97. km
Total Climbing - 4420m / 14,501 feet
Paved - 8.3 km (8.5%)
Mud - 47.3 km (48.5%)
Gravel - 41.9 km (43%)

Frischknecht (last year’s winner) could manage no better than 12th in a vastly improved field, and said "this was crazier than last year!" Adam Craig (Giant), who finished fourth in the race won by Colombian Hector Leonardo Paez (Full Dynamix), who commented "this is the burliest ride I've ever done."

The first leg of this three stage race across Costa Rica was over 20% shorter than last year, however, it was considerably more difficult - with the main climb gravel and mud, instead of last year's pavement. "On that two hour climb I was walking for at least an hour" commented Frischknecht.

Andreas Hestler came in some two hours after Paez, and admitted he was shattered:"Holy sh1t, what were these guys thinking? I'm two hours back, they are going to lose most of the field out there. I kind of exploded after the second check point, but it came back in stages until the final climb - I was just demo'd (demolished) there, absolutely hating life, saying I was never going to ride my bike again. It was total physical exhaustion and heat stroke like I've never had before."

Tinker Juarez (Cannondale) finished sixth, and knows a thing or two about endurance racing, however, he said immediately after finishing: "I need to sit down somewhere for awhile..." After he had recovered a bit, he commented: "it was really, really hard ... too hard. I totally agree that this is the hardest race. There is absolutely nowhere to pedal on the flat; my neck is sore from looking up the climb all the time."

Marg Fedyna has taken the lead in the women's competition and said that the water in some crossings was flowing so fast she had to hang onto some of the men to avoid getting swept away".

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races06/ruta/partthree/images/_AADSC0015.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races06/ruta/partthree/images/_ADSC0032.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races06/ruta/partthree/images/_DSC0160.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races06/ruta/partthree/images/_DSC0098.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races06/ruta/partthree/images/_DSC0054.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races06/ruta/partthree/images/_ZDSC0012a.jpg[/img]

[Dr Frigo]

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