c.miller64

Amanda is now 1/4 of the way through her HAM'R (highest annual mileage record) attempt and she's still getting stronger! *Nobody* in the history of cycling has ridden this far in a shorter amount of time than Amanda has- man or woman.

clasher

What a remarkable achievement!

DrIsotope

Because she's doing it even smarter than Searvogel did. Searvogel moved around the country following the weather. But the HAM'R is purely about distance. She does that same 7-mile stretch in the Flatwoods over, and over, and over, every damn day. As far as I'm concerned, her attempt has very little to do with physical ability and everything to do with mental strength. I could do that route for like one day, and I'd be looking for something else. I genuinely don't know how she does it.

So her climbing for the year is under 3ft/mi. That's just amazing. This (in combination with the fact that she does several rides a week on a 'bent) explains how she's averaging right around 20mph day in and day out. Doing that same lap 12 hours a day though... again, damn.

BadBurrito

I have to admire the dedication. Wow

I always wonder about the details. She must have some sort of support? what is she eating/drink every day that allows here to keep up with the calories burned? I know she has a gofundme page but it looks like she is way short of her financial goal.

Regardless of the details, I wish her good success and a safe ride.

unterhausen

I actually feel more challenged on a totally flat course than a course with some hills.

Richard Cranium

That is some wild and wacky stuff - but for the sake the cynics - who's watching all the wheeling? And is there any third party verification or oversight?

There must be at least a couple e-phys researchers that would want to track bone density and hormone and other levels......

This is as novel as space flight........

c.miller64

The UMCA is overseeing the record attempt, and Guinness has said they will accept their certification if/when she breaks the record. She has to carry a satellite "SPOT" tracker at all times for live tracking and also has to submit a daily GPS file with speed, tracking and heartrate data.

c.miller64

You may think so, but I'd bet it's a fairly small percentage of cyclists who are capable of riding 230 miles at 20+ mph under any conditions. Add in the wind, the humidity, and the hi temps she faces and that number falls even farther. Then, I wonder how many of those could do it day after day for months on end? She pushes the envelope physically and mentally every day to achieve what she has so far.

DrIsotope

Yes, I do think so. Pancake flat 7 mile laps? The hard part isn't doing them, it's doing 33 of of them a day for an entire year. Her power output is likely around 120-130W. She can quite literally do that all day. The 20mph is a byproduct of the locale. She's going to cover close to eight times as many miles as I will this year. But I will climb over double her total-- she'll finish under 250k (3 feet/mi), and I will be close to 500k (46ft/mi.)

I couldn't do it. Not because of the distance or the effort, but because I would go mad, or more likely just wake up one morning and say, "Yep, no more of this."

Machka 

I agree.

The first 24-hour event we cycled had a night lap of about 5 or 7 miles or something like that. As soon as darkness fell, we were sent over to that loop to do as many as we could before 5 am. So we went round and round and round from about 8 pm to 6 am. It wasn't particularly physically difficult, but it was just about enough to drive me mad!! I was so incredibly relieved when, at about 5 am, they put us on a really short loop for the last hour ... finally something different!!

If I were going to do something like this, I'd want several different routes. I'd probably also try to participate in as many flattish long distance events as I could just for some variety!

StephenH

IF I was going to do something like that, I'd be inclined to do it more rando-style with a tailwind. Find a bus route or train route or arrange a friend so I could ride 200 miles in one direction or the other and then get a ride back to the start. Or if I was fast enough, then and out-and-back, I just know form experience that 220 miles or whatever doesn't happen in 12 hours for me.


Doing the Rando-Tour last summer, I found that 12 hours a day was too much, and 10 hours a day would be about right, so however far I could consistently cover in 10 hours would be about the limit for a longer effort like that. If I could ride from home and had somebody else to cook, do laundry, pay bills, and that kind of stuff, it would help.


People are all different. Long ago, I worked for a dump-truck and track-hoe company. Track-hoe operation took more skill and paid better. But it also meant sitting in the same place all day working the machine instead of driving around in a machine. And I'm very much the drive-around mentality. Meanwhile, I've got a good friend who describes herself as a gym rat. She's perfectly content to sit on a spin bike in a gym as opposed to actually going somewhere on a bike. And if you think like that, then doing 7 mile loops is going to be okay.


RC- on your verification question, I haven't checked into it, but if you're so inclined, you can likely go down there and ride with her.

Machka 

Just thought I would mention that Alicia Searvogel is also attempting this record.

HAM'R Leaderboard
https://www.facebook.com/WHIP-the-HA...4245483630051/
https://www.facebook.com/alicia.searvogel



And Zuzanna Ciszewska had started it, but has been in an accident, I believe. Not sure if she is restarting.

Zuzanna Ciszewska; One Girl, One Bike, One Year, One Record


Plus Miles (from here in Australia) has given an indication that he wants to give it another go. I think he's getting his ducks in a row for that.

c.miller64

Really? Maybe you could tell us all about the last time you rode around all day at a 20mph average?

DrIsotope

The real question here, is she paying the $2 a day admission to Flatwoods Park, or is there some sort of agreement with the Florida Parks Dept? I mean, that's $730.

Plus, coming back around again, there's the whole elevation thing. I'm pretty confident that with an average grade of 2ft/mi, I too could average 20mph all day... for at least one day. Again, smart. It's a distance challenge, not a climbing challenge. I'd be doing it on an indoor velodrome somewhere. Climate control, yeah.

Richard Cranium

There's no doubt anyone riding 200+ a day for several consecutive days is a highly developed specimen. And clearly, this sort of aerobic athletic development is a years long, physically/mentally driven process. What isn't clear in just how ubiquitous or unique these traits could be to the general population.

There is one point I would like to make about exercise physiology and "ultra-endurance" activities. And that point is this:

Ultra-endurance athletic performance relies on life-long, and in many cases, genetic - components that are not part of the exercised induced adaptive physiologic responses.

In other words, whatever records this women shatters, she should be given much credit for her remarkable training and performance abilities but be reminded of having the "luck of the draw" for superior immune and and endocrine systems that supported her performance, even though she had little control or influence in their development.

Just a thought.Discuss among yourselves......

Rowan

Selective quoting doesn't help your cause, either. This post really was uncalled for.

Yeah, sure genetics does play a part in any sport. The Australian rowing organisation (and likely the British and others) for going around schools in a talent search program looking for young people who fit a physiological (and to a degree, psychological) profile that suits rowing. Look at 5000m athletics, or the upper echelons of marathon, triathlon... the winners have somewhat different physiological abilities to weightlifters...

It's also why, with certain exceptions such as Bradley Wiggins, that cyclists tend to fit into certain parts of the sport -- sprint, indoor, Grand Tour.

Hmmm... I didn't think we needed a Physiology Suitablity 101 to understand some of this sort of thing.

Machka 

What does speed have to do with what I said above?

I was talking about the act of going round and round in little circles. As I mentioned, after doing that for about 10 hours on one event I was ready to pull my hair out in boredom. I would really struggle to do that every single day for a full year ... in fact ... I just wouldn't.


I admire those who want to do this. It is actually just vaguely tempting to try it myself because I am a long distance cyclist. But as I said above, if I were to do it, I would use a different strategy. And strategy is one of the things I have thought about when I've been on my long rides over the last several months.

Machka 

+1

And that tailwind strategy is one I've thought about ... especially in the Canadian prairies.

Even before all this, when I was living in Red Deer I often thought I'd like to do a century by getting a ride up to Edmonton on a day with a strong north wind, and then cycling back down to Red Deer with a great tailwind. Or getting a ride down to Calgary on a day with a strong south wind, and then cycling up to Red Deer.

FL_MarkD

It is quite an accomplishment for her to ride one day like that, let alone 90 in a row. I live in the area and can tell you that most people can't stand to walk around in this heat/humidity, let alone ride all day every day. That along with the daily thunderstorms this time of year make it a real challenge. And yes, flat ain't easy.

She has my utmost respect.

Another interesting thing about this is that she does have a number of riders join her. From what I have seen she celebrates their 'one day' mileage personal records with genuine joy. A symbiotic relationship for sure.

Mark

c.miller64

As she was agreeing with DrIsotope, who was stating how easy it is ride at 20mph on the flat, I thought it was totally appropriate.

c.miller64

$50 yearly pass.

Machka 

Go back and read post 10 again. I agreed with the part of DrI's post that I quoted.

c.miller64

You go back and read the conversation starting at #8.

Rowan

Honestly, if you are doing a PR job for someone, maybe you should back off and stop being less than friendly about this. Perhaps also you should have stated in your OP what your personal interest in Amanda's attempt really is.

Machka 

I quoted the portion of DrI's comment which I agreed with. That is how quoting works. You select the specific part you want to respond to. I deliberately left out some of his comment because I did not want to comment on that part.

So if you read post 10 again you'll see quite clearly what portion of the conversation I was agreeing with. And I even followed it up with an applicable example.


But of course your hackles didn't raise because of my comment in post 10. You were irritated by post 12 where I mentioned the others doing the same challenge because you have a vested interest in Amanda.

Personally I think it is great that there are several women doing this!! I hope they are all as successful as they can be.



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This sort of thing does interest me. Rowan and I were chatting on the weekend what we'd choose to do if I were really inclined to do something like this myself.

This is what we came up with ...

We'd move to Shepparton, Victoria for a year. Why Shepparton?
-- city of a decent enough size to have supplies. It even has a bicycle shop or two.
-- city small enough that it is easy to get around and not much traffic
-- the weather there isn't bad year round.
-- it's flat as a pancake right around Shepparton ... but if you go further afield there are hills.
-- there are lots of nice, small, quiet roads around Shepparton.

We'd map out a collection of routes in advance. Because (as I mentioned in post 10), doing 33 laps of the same route for 365 days would drive me absolutely mad, I would want at least 7 different routes ... one for each day of the week. But we'd also want to plan routes that are good for different wind directions. Because the Shepparton area is flat, it can also be windy. So we'd want a route that's good for a strong northerly wind ... another good for a strong southerly, and so on. So we might end up with a dozen or more routes.

We'd want staff. A maid service to clean the place and do laundry once a week or so. Someone to shop and prepare food every day. Rowan can do mechanical work, but we'd probably want an additional person for when Rowan is out riding with me. A massage therapist, physiotherapist, and chiropractor on call.

And bicycles. Plural. Probably a recumbent (which I would have to practice with ahead of time), plus at least a couple comfortable fairly light-weight long distance bicycles.


That's about as far as we got in our discussion ... but it makes for something interesting to think about when we're out on our long rides.