Trans Am 2016

[goonster]

Originally Posted by tv_vt

235 miles a day average, for 18 days.

Unsupported.

[weisan]

"Lael averaged 235 miles per day for 18 days, resting an average of 3-5 hours of sleep per night. On the final two nights of the race, Lael scaled back sleep to ride over 400 miles in about 33 hours. Her efforts put her within 20 miles of the leader, Steffen Streich, who awoke from a 2.5 hour sleep on the last night and made a fatal mistake. He got on his bike and began riding the route backwards. The two met soon thereafter, on a dark road in rural Virginia near the community of Bumpass. Here is her account of the meeting.

Lael asked, “What is you name?”

“Steffen.”

The two had never met, although Lael knew that she had been chasing him for over 4000 miles. She started hammering on the pedals, and for a period of time, Steffen made chase and the two rode side by side. Lael made a wrong turn amidst minor roads and farm fields. Steffen indicated her immediate error, and waited at the junction with a proposition. “We’ve been racing hard for two weeks. let’s ride to the finish together?”

“No way”, Lael said with immediate conviction. “This is a race.” She took off and Steffen never caught her."

[ColonelJLloyd]

Wow.

"Fatal mistake". Yeah, not quite.

[guido]

Things that go Bumpass in the night...

[mistermo]

I watched the documentary on Netflix. While I offer props to these folks, I can't help but remembering the RAAM situation from back in the 80s. I was on a crew for one of the contestants. The RAAM guys in the 80s, Lon Haldeman and Michael Shermer, were certainly good endurance athletes. But they fancied themselves on the same level as the TdF guys, citing their significantly higher daily mileage. They were summarily dismissed by the TdF racer-types and in the RAAM circle, seemed to take offense by this dismissal.

Along came Jock Boyer, US's first TdF rider. The ultra, RAAM guys didn't think he'd last very long, but quickly learned that he was in a different league. He won handily in his first try.

This Trans Am race seems the same to me. They do something I could never do. However, should some serious cyclists take it seriously, the current contestants would be marginal at best.

[goonster]

Originally Posted by mistermo

However, should some serious cyclists take it seriously, the current contestants would be marginal at best.

Agreed 100%. Any comparisons to pro stage racing are daft.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by mistermo

However, should some serious cyclists take it seriously, the current contestants would be marginal at best.

That is a large pile of assumptions in you statement. Not to mention calling out those that did the race as not being "serious" is a broad insult. You have no idea how good or 'serious' they are. Not every gifted rider is or wants to be a pro. Your RAAM analogy from an era when far fewer people were riding is not great. There is a much deeper talent pool out there now.

[guido]

Think about this for a moment. 18 days of efforts all longer than any TDF stage. No drafting. No team support. No cushy hotel/massage/fancy meal at the end of the day. Each rider on their own handling all navigation, accommodations, food. Open roads with traffic.

[goonster]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

You have no idea how good or 'serious' they are.

They are not world-class elite athletes. That's not an insult, just a fact.

[gdw]

That's not true. Last year's winner, Jesse Carlsson, was a world champion BMX racer before switching to endurance events.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

That is a large pile of assumptions in you statement. Not to mention calling out those that did the race as not being "serious" is a broad insult. You have no idea how good or 'serious' they are. Not every gifted rider is or wants to be a pro. Your RAAM analogy from an era when far fewer people were riding is not great. There is a much deeper talent pool out there now.

I'm not conceding the talent pool is deeper, but even if we assume it is, the same talent pool would be deeper for TdF talent too. Therefore the analogy remains. Though we'll never know, I'd bet Lon Haldeman could beat them. Let's be honest, this a sideshow event. The documentary mentioned this was an event created by a guy who couldn't get into RAAM. If a significant purse was offered, enough to attract pro tour level riders, these guys wouldn't stand a chance.

NONE of this is to say that they don't take it seriously and don't have my respect. I couldn't do it. This is merely to say that the talent gap between these guys and the pro tour level riders is enormous.

[ptourkin]

Mike Halls has now won and set the record in the Transcontinental Race, the Trans Am and the Tour Divide. Christoph Strasser averaged over 16 mph in winning RAAM in 2014. You armchairs can speculate all you want about an imaginary pro tour guy racing them but to say they aren't "elite" based on some imaginary data about races you know nothing about is ridiculous.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

Mike Halls has now won and set the record in the Transcontinental Race, the Trans Am and the Tour Divide. Christoph Strasser averaged over 16 mph in winning RAAM in 2014.

Mad props to him. He's a badass. No disputing that.

Originally Posted by ptourkin

... about races you know nothing about is ridiculous.

Just sayin', I know more than nothing. I was on RAAM crew in the 80s, and heard first hand from these guys about how no TdF rider could whoop them. Their form of "racing" is really about functioning while sleep deprived. They fancied themselves in a unique league of superior cycling talent akin to TdF. Then Boyer showed up and destroyed them. Easily. By a lot. He was 2 for 2 in RAAM victories. And he wasn't even a superior pro level cyclist.

Just sayin', this has all been played out before. We're not speculating, we're reading chapter two. Do you really think that if Taylor Phinney or even Jens Voigt, took an interest to this event, that they'd fall victim to these riders?

Again, props to these guys for what they do. Back to regularly scheduled programming....

[VTCaraco]

Originally Posted by goonster

They are not world-class elite athletes. That's not an insult, just a fact.

Like the TdF folks, I can't even conceptualize how much more fit these folks are....

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by mistermo

Mad props to him. He's a badass. No disputing that.




Just sayin', I know more than nothing. I was on RAAM crew in the 80s, and heard first hand from these guys about how no TdF rider could whoop them. Their form of "racing" is really about functioning while sleep deprived. They fancied themselves in a unique league of superior cycling talent akin to TdF. Then Boyer showed up and destroyed them. Easily. By a lot. He was 2 for 2 in RAAM victories. And he wasn't even a superior pro level cyclist.

Just sayin', this has all been played out before. We're not speculating, we're reading chapter two. Do you really think that if Taylor Phinney or even Jens Voigt, took an interest to this event, that they'd fall victim to these riders?

Again, props to these guys for what they do. Back to regularly scheduled programming....

You're talking about the '80s and although I've talked to John Howard, I've never heard that kind of bragging.

What you discuss has actually been done. Tinker Juarez had a very successful run of RAAM, 508 and other solo endurance events in the 2000's and riders like Dave Zabriskie have participated on teams, very successfully.

The people who are racing solo now, though, especially the Europeans, are a different breed than Shermer and Haldeman, etc.. in the '80s when the sport was new. I would mention though, that one of those pioneers was John Howard, who could judge himself against riders in other disciplines and found ultras a worthy endeavor.

Strasser's power files for his 2013 and 2014 RAAMs are ridiculous. I would reverse your question and ask whether or not people like him and Mike Hall, with the ability to throw out insane kilojoules couldn't have trained to do multi-day stage racing if they had started that way?