When childhood associates Colin O’Brady and Lucas Clarke reached the Race Throughout America end line in Atlantic Metropolis, New Jersey, on Saturday night, they might not have fulfilled their “Sub Six” aim, however celebrations have been so as all the identical.
The duo had left Oceanside, California, on June 15 and spent the next six days conducting a two-person time trial —with every rider finishing a 90-minute stint at a time— throughout the complete width of america for a complete of three,064 miles with extra than130,000ft of elevation. Averaging 20.33mph, the duo reached the East Coast end line in 6 days, 6 hours and 43 minutes, shattering the earlier report for the pairs class by roughly 5 hours.
“What an journey. A lot to replicate on and share within the days to come back, however for now…WE DID IT!,” commented an exuberant Colin O’Brady post-race. “To have the ability to do that with my childhood greatest pal…wow what a present!”
Along with having been greatest associates since first grade, the 2 riders have amassed a formidable cache of athletic achievements over the previous many years. Whereas not family names within the biking world per se, O’Brady is a world-renowned journeyr with a number of world information to his identify, together with the primary unsupported crossing of Antarctica by human energy and snowboarding with a 300-pound sled 900 miles throughout the continent. Lucas Clarke, in the meantime, is among the high grasp’s cyclists within the nation with three grasp world observe titles to his identify. He’s additionally a former single-speed report holder on the Unbound Gravel 200. RAAM was the primary on-the-bike endeavor they’ve tackled collectively.
Held since 1982, the Race Throughout America, or the RAAM as it’s mostly recognized, is an annual bike race that covers the complete width of america. Open to beginner and professionals alike, as a workforce or solo endeavor, the race has been dubbed “the World’s Hardest Bicycle Race” because it’s a number of hundred miles longer than the Tour de France and takes please as a single, continuous stage. No breaks. No transfers. Simply steady pedaling.
Removed from being only a two-person endeavor, the report try was a full-scale workforce operation that took over a 12 months to arrange. It concerned quite a few employees members, a number of bikes, varied autos, in depth planning, and even wind tunnel testing with world-class tools.
“This was not simply the 2 of us … seems the Race Throughout America is a full contact workforce sport. I really feel humbled to be one member of a 15 individual workforce that collectively achieved this success,” O’Brady said. “Greater than workforce this group…appears like a household in any case now we have been by way of this week. My cup is overflowing with love and gratitude.”
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Learn all in regards to the Sub-Six workforce’s effort and year-long pre-race preparations, right here.
Going “Sub Six” – which can also be the identify of their mission – can be the quickest time for a RAAM duo by a great distance. The present report sits at 6 days and 11 hours, or, extra exactly because the precise mileage of the race adjustments barely yearly, 19.85 miles per hour for the complete crossing.
“We have been associates, greatest associates, since first grade and we have been doing every kind of cool stuff collectively for many years,” Clarke informed Biking Weekly.
Collectively Clarke and O’Brady have climbed Mount Rainier, completed ski mountaineer races and tackled different adventures as a duo however regardless of O’Brady’s background in triathlon and Clarke’s excessive stage of biking accomplishments they two have but to do “one thing massive” on a motorbike as a unit.Clarke urged the RAAM final 12 months and that was all it took for the duo to get off the blocks making ready for the problem.
O’Brady and Clarke is probably not family names within the biking world however each athletes have an enormous cache of athletic credentials that has created an elixir good for a run on the RAAM report.
O’Brady is a world-renowned journeyr with a number of world information to his identify, together with the primary unsupported crossing of Antarctica by human energy and snowboarding with a 300-pound sled 900 miles throughout the continent. Lucas Clarke, in the meantime, is among the high grasp’s cyclists within the nation with three grasp world observe titles to his identify. He’s additionally a former single-speed report holder on the Unbound Gravel 200.
Collectively, the 2 discovered the proper center of their shared athletic Venn-diagram with the try on the two-person RAAM report.
“For the final 10 years, I’ve been fairly centered on adventures and fairly excessive environments. From being alone in Antarctica for 54 days, summiting efforts a few instances, being on K2 in winter and, you recognize, sadly, shedding associates from a tragic climbing accident, I’ve been undoubtedly type of in a life-or-death stakes type of recreation, so to talk,” shared O’Brady.
“In most methods, RAAM is loads completely different, I’ll say, as a caveat, I do suppose driving your bike in the course of america, in the course of the night time, on open roads, is definitely fairly harmful, however maybe not in the identical approach we consider falling right into a crevasse alone in Antarctica, or having getting hit by an avalanche on Everest.”
Zone 2 and wind tunnel testing: discovering marginal good points for a 3,000 mile check
(Picture credit score: Pranalens)
Once you get into the weeds, the complexities of a RAAM report boil down to 3 basic pillars for fulfillment: the endurance of the driving, the tools selections and the workforce construction. The hassle is pretty simple: O’Brady and Clarke will conduct a workforce relay through which every rider tackles 90-minutes at a time all through the period of the journey.
Whereas each riders are extraordinarily match athletes, driving 90-minute shifts for six straight days is a singular problem. Each riders will spend little or no time above their Zone 2 cardio ranges of output. Nonetheless, that output will equate to round 36 hours of driving over the 5+ days, which strains elements of the physique past what most biking efforts would pressure.
For each O’Brady and Lucas, this meant engaged on neck strengthening akin to that of an F1 driver to maintain the aerodynamic place wanted for the race, in addition to all of the supporting muscle mass of their higher physique and core that help the cardio system. However, the on-the-bike work was pretty easy for each riders because it all revolves round pushing that essential “all day” energy of zone two as excessive as doable.
The technical elements of the race and the workforce development are extra complicated and it’s additionally the place large good points could be made.
The Sub Six mission has a full slate of technical companions which incorporates Princeton Carbonworks, Ventum, and Le Col equipment. With the backing of these model companions, the duo has been in a position to practice for a 12 months on the tools and tweak it to their particular person wants as riders, particularly since Clarke is a rider who has a ton of expertise in aerodynamics and biking whereas O’Brady has little or no current biking expertise.
The workforce has spared no element with the 2 riders spending time within the Silverstone wind tunnel within the UK to optimize all the small print of their technical equipment. On the planet of RAAM, which is generally contested by amateurs, this quantity of dedication is uncommon.
“Colin labored onerous on dialing his place in a number of bike matches, ensuring he was snug for lengthy rides on the bike. We have been in a position to make some tweaks and add some helmet integration stuff in there, together with working with Le Col on the velocity go well with growth.. So yeah, a variety of that was on me, determining the elements and whatnot, and bringing that entire package deal collectively from a motorbike standpoin,” Clarke mentioned.
“However, by far, the largest a part of the RAAM is the workforce dynamic.”
Teamwork makes the RAAM dream work
(Picture credit score: Pranalens)
To be exact, the workforce shall be round 15 individuals who shall be working collectively to get 2 riders, 2 vans, 8 bikes, 16 wheels and an RV throughout the nation at 20.1 miles per hour. And the clock by no means stops, with exchanges occurring regularly each 90 or so minutes, with Clarke prone to tackle a barely larger workload on the bike given his biking expertise.
Past Clarke and O’Brady, the workforce features a workforce director who manages the workforce of employees, together with cooks, mechanics, drivers, a coach, a health care provider and a navigator who plots the exchanges and potential obstacles on the street forward.
“When you concentrate on RAAM you suppose it is two guys driving bikes,” O’Brady mentioned. “However as I zoomed out just a little additional on it, and we interviewed a bunch of different individuals who had accomplished RAAM, everybody’s story was probably not about their bike or their health. It was all in regards to the logistical elements of this mission.
“You rapidly begin to understand you are asking folks to take basically, two weeks out of their lives, away from work, in a van or an RV, and in addition not sleeping. Like, people do not essentially do nice below these situations, both.”
Whereas the race itself is simply a 5-6 day occasion, the Sub Six workforce has arrived early in Southern California and had a “costume rehearsal” within the Texas Hill nation which required the complete workforce to make a second journey collectively to iron out any kinks or could-be hiccups earlier than the primary occasion.
(Picture credit score: Pranalens)
When the rubber meets the street, RAAM received’t simply be a race towards the clock. A brand new report is an thrilling aim to attempt for, sure, however for O’Brady and Clarke it’s a celebration of a lifelong friendship and having the bodily health to compete – at the same time as “middle-aged dads.”
“Lucas and I coincidentally walked right into a first-grade classroom after I was 5 years previous, and now we have been lifelong associates. That’s fairly uncommon in our tradition that pulls us in one million completely different instructions. We have been by way of so many issues collectively–from the delivery of our youngsters to weddings to shedding grandparents and shedding family and friends. We have grieved, we have laughed, we have adventured. We simply have 35 years of life expertise collectively,” O’Brady mentioned.
“So the fantastic thing about this mission, and I believe that that extends past simply the six days on the bike, is that setting an enormous aim collectively has allowed us to weave the tapestry of our life collectively all through the final couple of years. I believe there is a actually stunning story about two guys who should not solely greatest associates, however middle-aged dads nonetheless having the ability to push their physique on the highest, highest efficiency and hopefully set a world report.”
