4 ms·
When I was in my 20s I rode the coast of California. I did back-to-back centuries (>100 miles) for maybe 4-5 days in a row at one point. Granted that was self-s
by gcanyon 2y ago
When I was in my 20s I rode the coast of California. I did back-to-back centuries (>100 miles) for maybe 4-5 days in a row at one point. Granted that was self-supported, with loaded panniers front and back, but I can't imagine doing 170 miles per day for months on end.
I'm curious how much route was a factor here. In the Race Across America (RAAM) they've used several different routes, and even apart from distance it's clear that the fastest route is 10-20% faster than the slowest they've used.
- awjlogan 2y agoShe chose a route that was "fun" (at least, for some value of fun when riding 270 km a day!), rather than the shortest/easiest route (it's in the article). As it is probably a once in a lifetime trip, she wanted to enjoy it as well as getting the result.
- Fricken 2y agoThe route wasn't much of a factor. To meet the parameters set out by Guiness world records people she had to log at least 18,000 miles, was not allowed to count miles that work against her general easterly direction, and had to end the trip in the same place she began. So she sought routes that mostly kept her off of highways and bad roads. She skipped Asia entirely.
- gcanyon 2y agoI think it has to have been a significant factor just in general. And now I checked the route the previous record-holder rode, and it's a very different story: https://jenny-graham.com/round-the-world/ https://jenny-graham.com/round-the-world/ tl;dr: rain, riding at night, sleeping out in the cold. And I just noticed that article has the average miles per day, which ranges from a high of 184 to a low of 117 -- so the route can obviously affect performance by a factor of 1.5 or more.