by the other Steve Dennis » Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:07 pm
'Guy on a Bike' Michael Seacrest who currently holds the world records for 12hr and 24hr on an indoor track was promising to attempt this:
[quote]Bicyclist Michael Secrest will attempt to bicycle across the entire U.S. (from California to Florida) in only 2 days, drafting behind a semi-tractor/trailer, traveling at an average speed of near 60 miles per hour! That is the equivalent distance of riding the Tour de France (which takes three weeks and covers approximately 2,100 miles) in less than 1/10th the time!
This ride will require Secrest to AVERAGE the "impossible" speed of 60 m.p.h. that was achieved in 1899 by "Mile-A-Minute Murphy", but for approximately 2,440 miles.
It was slated for October 07 and his website, [url]http://www.theimpossibleride.com/what.shtml[/url] is quiet on the subject but I suspect they had a logistical nightmare.
Mile a Minute Murphy is another old gem.....
[quote]Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Those lines were made famous by Superman, but they were earned by a real person: Charles M. Murphy, a man from Brooklyn who rode his bicycle faster than a Long Island Rail Road train.
The year was 1899. The whole country was in the midst of a biking frenzy. Murphy, a blond-haired, blue-eyed, mustache-wearing 29-year-old, boasted he could bike a mile in a minute, if he were fronted by a charging train that would eliminate wind resistance and create a vacuum.
[url]http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs610a,0,6371261.story[/url]
My own drafting story was when setting out on the dreaded 'Chimney' ride (they call it that cos it's like riding up the side of a house) whilst in Alicante with ACC in 2000? We started the long gradual climb towards the ascent when I heard the approach of a truck from behind, the guys were already putting the fear of God up us non-climbers and I figured maybe I needed a head start. I waved as I passed our group of climbers safe in my little draft, the truck dropped me not long after I was out of sight, the group dropped me as I sat at the side of the road staring at my Campy Nucleon rear wheel whose spokes had snapped at the initial effort (or thought) of the chimney itself. Another van came in handy as I needed to be transported to the nearest town.
Oh and drafting in motorsport is slightly different I think. In F1 I think 2 cars drafting negatively affects the performance of both cars - the dirty air effect. But Nascar (The US's faulty attempt at motorsport) drivers will team up to drive in pairs or longer and use the combined benefit of drafting to increase their speed. But no sooner have they got a great lead or moved from 30th to 4th than someone sees a small piece of rubber on the track and the race goes yellow and the race is nullified up to that point and everyone yawns except for the rednecks......