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Main
Date: 13 Dec 2005 23:02:20
From: mike.a.schwab@gmail.com
Subject: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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http://www.cyclesportnews.com/content/index.php?option=3Dcom_content&task=
=3Dview&id=3D2394&Itemid=3D152
Our Glenn Meets the Challenge
Written by Andrew Stewart
Thursday, 08 December 2005
Australia's Glenn Druery rode the Race Across America (RAAM) as part
of TEAM JDRF VeloKraft in June this year.
Recently I spoke to Glenn about his experience, now that some time has
passed for reflection.
RAAM is a athon epic affair.
Nothing comes anywhere near it for the absolute enormity of its
challenge. It is so overwhelming that simply to finish is for most is
an achievement of a lifetime.
Covering 5000km from the US West Coast to the east Coast while crossing
14 states in about the same time it takes most people to drive a motor
vehicle the same distance, the RAAM is an unbelievable event.
Along the way, riders ascend nearly 35km, and almost 20km of hills are
tackled in the first two days!
RAAM has been described by many as the toughest race in the world; a
mammoth competition contested with the utmost of sportsmanship and
zeal.
RAAM is larger than life.
Glenn is only the fourth Australian in 25 years to finish the event.
Now 43 and father to four children, he decided to get back into cycling
- a sport he loved as a youngster - a decade ago when he ''
started putting on weight '' .
Four years later, he began distance racing and hasn ' t looked back,
and has now competed in Ultra athon races in Australia, Europe and
North America.
Glenn attracts plenty of curious glances when he is training in various
parts of Sydney on his Velokraft No Com Carbon Fibre Lowracer
Recumbent.
He even had a policeman say to him, '' what the hell is that?
'' when he was pulled over recently for doing 72kmh (on a flat
road) in a 50km zone.
Glenn says the fastest speed he has ever reached is 115kmh.
That ' s why he calls these Ultra Low human powered speed machines
' The Formula One of bikes ' .
'' It ' s probably the coolest looking bike in the world, ''
he said. '' It ' s not the type of bike you ride to head down the
road and pick up some milk " .
Glenn's overall impression of RAAM is that it is one of those
experiences where you learn a great deal about yourself.
"You don't just participate in RAAM, you live RAAM. You realise
what motivates you, and what you can do, both physically and
emotionally".
Glenn said RAAM is easily the most difficult race in the world.
" I haven ' t done any other race or athletic event that can
compare to RAAM " .
During the race he describes his state as "a sleep-deprivation
induced RAAM blur".There is nothing else in life - there is no
escape. RAAM would make the ultimate reality TV show.
Glenn said the first 6 hours of the race were exhilerating, with
hyped-up participants excitedly yelling and shouting.
He actually led RAAM for a while, before being overtaken by some elite
time trialists.
For Glenn, the race typically consisted of a series of 45-minute pulls
at time-trial pace, in hot, humid conditions, with heart rate surging
along at 180+.
Glenn got around 2-3 hours sleep per day- not in one hit, but 10
minutes here, =BD an hour there. He managed to wash himself just three
times over the 6-=BD days of the race. First, in the desert using a
solar shower, second in a family's home along the route, and lastly
in a creek.
The plan was to alternate through 4 jerseys, ensuring clean clothes,
but the humidity meant that the jerseys never dried.
He said he "smelt horrible".
His appearance during the race was akin to a WW1 flying ace - filthy
with dirt, with cleaner sweat-streaked patches where his sunglasses had
protected him from the worst of it.
Glenn described the logistics and crewing arrangements as being
somewhat less than ideal.
Serious sleep deprivation was a big factor for the everyone on the team
- there were three beds for 11 people, and the crew became stressed
and irritable, making mistakes and getting lost more than 10 times
costing the Team valuable time.
Abuse and tears were not uncommon within the various RAAM crews.
The strain on the crews cannot be underestimated.
During the previous RAAM one solo rider had to pull out because his
crew abandoned him- the strain had become too much!
RAAM places a great deal of strain on the crew as well as the riders.
At times morale waned.
Glenn reported that one rider decided to stop halfway across a bridge,
on which cars were not permitted to stop. This rider had reached his
limit and just didn't want to go any further. With the aid of a
Police car, his support crew eventually made it's way onto the bridge
and convinced him to continue.
Glenn considered letting his tyres down just to get some rest, and
endured a time when he seriously contemplated crashing, perceiving that
this was the only honourable way out.
RAAM "screws with your head".
"After doing 1000s of punishing kilometres, it became an exhausting
physical and gruelling mental war against yourself.''
Glenn said he felt exhausted down to his toenails. It was the hottest
RAAM on record. Some days would reach 45 degrees, one night didn't
get below 33 degrees, and the temperature range was almost 50c.
Simple things would boost morale - a beautiful sunrise, the
occasional motivational word, talking with the solo riders -
(Hello (20 second pause).
Hi (20 second pause).
How are you doing? (20 second pause).
OK. (20 second pause).)
Glenn's team, Team JDRF VeloKraft, finished in 6 days 15:46, 6th
place.
A time penalty of 15 minutes cost them 5th place -amazing after 6
days of racing. After the finish Glenn slept for 14 hours, waking in
the same position he went to sleep in.
The next day he rode about 40km on a road bike and felt pretty good. He
attributes this to the thousands of k's clocked up during training
for the event.
He feels happy with what he did, and said he could look back and say he
did the right thing by the team.
Glenn's recumbent, a VeloKraft NoCom, attracted a deal of interest
during the race. Glenn believes his team had the fastest bikes, and
that the potential of recumbents in RAAM has not been fully exploited
as yet.
Glenn fuelled himself with a variety of mostly natural foods -grapes,
yoghurt, nuts, berries, fruit juice, bread, protein drinks, plenty of
milk, and masses of water. Amazingly he only lost around 3 to 4 kg
during the race.
Glenn plans to compete in the next RAAM as a solo competitor.
He says the solo environment will suit him better. However doing RAAM
solo is a whole new challenge, and Glenn will need to prepare well and
pull together a good support team and find some sponsors.
Yet rather than be daunted by what lies ahead, Glenn has welcomed the
challenge.
With his level of resolve and determination I'm sure he will be there
at the starting line for the next RAAM, as a solo competitor.
Glenn would like to thank and acknowledge the support of the following
people:
* The wonderful crew, without you my RAAM would have been
impossible.
* John Williams, Team member One of the good guys of Ultra Racing.
* Neil Fleming, Team member One of the faster riders out of the UK
and an English gentleman
* Dana Lieberman - Bent Up Cycles Best Recumbent bike shop I've
been in.
http://bentupcycles.com/site/intro.cfm
* Bent Rider Online Recumbent site and great information exchange
http://www.bentrideronline.com/
* Bike Journal Tracked almost every detail of RAAM on the web
http://www.bikejournal.com/
* Transitions best Tratlon forum site anywhere
http://forums.transitions.org.au/index.php?act=3Didx
* John Hill - Tufo Tyres THE BEST tyres on the planet!
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/fastgear/ordering.htm
* Josh Blake - Renegade Cycles This shop has perhaps the best bike
mechanics in Sydney http://www.renegadecycles.com.au/
* Peter Ford - Cycle sport News Tells the world about Aussie
cycling
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/content/
* Peter - X-treme wheels Very fast, very cool wheels
http://www.x-tremewheels.com/contact.htm
* Kamil Manecki's - Velokraft Fastest production bikes in the world
http://www.velokraft.com/
* Ben Larsen - Pedals Plus Top end bikes at great prices
http://www.multisportal.com/shop/index.php
* Mike Tomalaris - SBS T.V.
http://www.sbs.com.au/
* The North Shore TimesSan Clemente Cyclery 2801South El Camino
Real
San ClementeCA
And now for the future:
Glenn Druery set to attract big sponsorship dollars as he plans his
assault on the 2006 Race Across America
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Date: 17 Dec 2005 14:04:12
From: Johnny Sunset
Subject: Re: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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Jim McNaa <jimmymac_4@yahoo.com > wrote:
> And, by the same token, calling a bike the "fastest unfaired bike in
> the known universe" is a wihtout merit. In not living up to the
> pre-race hype, IT CAME IN SECOND in RAAM. Furthermore, until bicycle
> speeds are determined with riders of the same mass, frontal area power
> input (think he meant output) have not been scientifically measured and
> verified, the statement ... "fastest unfaired bike in the know
> universe" is meaningless employing the authors own criteiria.
Yo Jimmymac,
You should read Fred kham's account of RAAM. The Gold Rush was a
substantially faster bicycle than the Lightning F-40, the Easy Racers
team had strong riders (including Mr. kham) yet the Lightning team
won due to fatigue and mistakes on the part of the Easy Racers team.
The team with the better organization and resources will usually beat a
team with poorer resources in an event like RAAM. If Mr. McNaa does
not recognize this, he is either ignorant or stupid.
THE FASTEST BIKE DOES NOT ALWAY WIN AN EVENT LIKE RAAM. DUH!
SHOW ME ANY RACING RESULTS WHERE SPEED OF THE BIKE AND RIDER IS THE
MAIN DETERMINING FACTOR IN WINNING (E.G. HPRA EVENTS) WHERE HIGHRACERS
HAVE BEATEN THE VELOKRAFT NOCOM FOR VICTORY.
I looked for these examples of highracers beating the NoCom, but could
not find any [1]. The only highracer victories I could find were in
events where no advanced design lowracers were entered.
[1] Some race results only listed class and rider's names, but not the
bike ridden.
--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley
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Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:20:53
From:
Subject: Re: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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And, by the same token, calling a bike the "fastest unfaired bike in
the known universe" is a wihtout merit. In not living up to the
pre-race hype, IT CAME IN SECOND in RAAM. Furthermore, until bicycle
speeds are determined with riders of the same mass, frontal area power
input (think he meant output) have not been scientifically measured and
verified, the statement ... "fastest unfaired bike in the know
universe" is meaningless employing the authors own criteiria.
JimmyMac
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Date: 14 Dec 2005 17:46:30
From: Sunset Lowracer [TM] Fanatic
Subject: Re: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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DD wrote:
> Sunset Lowracer [TM] Fanatic wrote:
> > mike.a.schwab@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> >>He even had a policeman say to him, '' what the hell is that?
> >>'' when he was pulled over recently for doing 72kmh (on a flat
> >>road) in a 50km zone....
> >
> >
> > The answer should be, "The fastest unfaired bike in the known
> > universe!" ;)
> >
>
> Didn't it come second? So that'd be the "almost fastest unfaired bike in
> the known universe" AFUBKU.
Comparisons of bicycle speeds are meaningless unless rider power inputs
[1] are equal.
[1] Assuming the riders have the same mass and frontal area (an
additional complication in determining relative performance).
--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley
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Date: 14 Dec 2005 16:47:02
From: Sunset Lowracer [TM] Fanatic
Subject: Re: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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mike.a.schwab@gmail.com wrote:
> http://www.cyclesportnews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2394&Itemid=152
>
>
> Our Glenn Meets the Challenge
> Written by Andrew Stewart
> Thursday, 08 December 2005
>
> ...
> Glenn attracts plenty of curious glances when he is training in various
> parts of Sydney on his Velokraft No Com Carbon Fibre Lowracer
> Recumbent.
>
> He even had a policeman say to him, '' what the hell is that?
> '' when he was pulled over recently for doing 72kmh (on a flat
> road) in a 50km zone....
The answer should be, "The fastest unfaired bike in the known
universe!" ;)
--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley
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Date: 15 Dec 2005 09:21:33
From: DD
Subject: Re: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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Sunset Lowracer [TM] Fanatic wrote:
> mike.a.schwab@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>He even had a policeman say to him, '' what the hell is that?
>>'' when he was pulled over recently for doing 72kmh (on a flat
>>road) in a 50km zone....
>
>
> The answer should be, "The fastest unfaired bike in the known
> universe!" ;)
>
Didn't it come second? So that'd be the "almost fastest unfaired bike in
the known universe" AFUBKU.
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Date: 14 Dec 2005 09:35:36
From: Dave Larrington
Subject: Re: RAAM recumbent rider in the news
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In article <1134543740.852942.267170@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com >,
mike.a.schwab@gmail.com (mike.a.schwab@gmail.com) wrote:
> Glenn would like to thank and acknowledge the support of the following
> people:
[...]
> * Neil Fleming, Team member One of the faster riders out of the UK
> and an English gentleman
Gentleman yes, Englishman emphatically not. Neil is as Irish as
Ulstermen come...
--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/ >
Three blind mice, see how they run. Is this /really/ the best way to
test shampoo?
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