TRAVEL STORY OF THE MONTH
*EVERY @#$% MILE*
Jeff Linder: 163 mile/day Elite Tour Finisher
E.F.M.! Jeff makes it to the end with 19 others.
Jeff Linder needs no introduction to ultracycling watchers in the Friday fold. One of Bike Friday's original patrons, he distinguished himself in 2006 by coming first in the gruelling 24-hours Of Adrenalin mountain bike race in his age class. In this year's PACTOUR Elite Tour, a rite of passage for serious ultracyclists, this 'elder statesman' of the group was one of only 19 finishers in a starting field of 51. His secret? A scant need for sleep ("very useful for flying"), a handbuilt Air Friday, and a resolve to always always do E.F.M. ...
Could I do it?
Would I do it?
Did I want to do it?
Questions that had elicited such a vibrant affirmative response months before had diminished to, I said I would, so I guess I'd better.
Does this sound like the way you'd wanna be thinking as you threw your leg over the top tube and rolled out for a 2820-mile life adventure?
Coast to coast in 17 days - not for the faint of heart!
Let me explain.
It all began simply enough when my two old cycling friends, Ed Pavelka and Fred Matheny announced on the Road Bike Rider web-site that, they were going to do PACTOUR's 2007 Elite Tour, a 17-day trip from San Diego, California to Savannah, Georgia in June 2007.
They planned to cover an average of 170 miles a day.
It was now only November, and I accepted the advice to place my name on the necessary wait list. I wrote to Susan Notorangelo, RAAM record holder and co-founder of PACTOUR with her husband and multi-RAAM champion, Lon Haldeman.
Training had to begin in earnest if I was going to get my just-retired-from-the-airlines sleepy head honed to the fine edge of uber-fitness that was strongly encouraged/demanded by the literature. I could see there were going to be no shortcuts during this quest, just miles and miles and miles of concentrated conditioning, bringing me in line with the test of tests: back-to-back double centuries in under 12 hours each!
I was able to remain pretty faithful to the prescribed conditioning routine, comparing my progress each week to that of Ed and Fred as they shared their progress each week in the Thursday issue of RBR.
Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo have crossed the country at speed and leisure, as RAAM champs and expedition leaders.
At first, I felt pretty good checking my hours/miles of training up against theirs, but as the months rolled by I began to see something of a divergence in the x-axis of their training logs. Theirs kept getting steeper while mine seemed to be flattening out. In fact, just a month before D-day after I had finished a challenging ride of 150 miles/10,000 feet of climbing, I sank into such an "over-training" pit that there seemed to be little hope of my eyebrows ever being seen by another human being. I was down, down, down.
My training slammed to a halt. I took three weeks off the bike. To add worry upon worry, this unintentionally dove-tailed too nicely into the original three weeks I had scheduled to use as a taper. I was facing the start of this Herculean task with six straight weeks sans training.
Needless to say, my anxiety meter really got a shock and the needle pegged flat out to the right as I read Ed's last training entry where he had logged a 1000k brevet over the weekend! I was solidly intimidated and not just a little concerned. The old Ray Stevens song, "Please Mr. Custard, I don't wanna go" started rolling around inside my noggin and the thought of fighting my way from coast to coast aboard a two-wheeler began to take on a dark foreboding encased in a sluice box of commitment.
It was time to throw caution to the wind and soldier forth. After all, the only thing I could ask of myself was to ride as long and as hard as I could. If I needed the aid of the sag wagon to keep me in the game, so be it ... I mean that's what it's there for! Right? Right.
Day one came, and I called upon every trick I've ever learned about putting together my riding kit for a big event such as this. Each and every piece of gear and clothing had been packed and re-packed. I had weighed my bike, weighed my suitcase, re-packed my suitcase, dropped the number of cycling shorts down from 6 to 4, jerseys from 8 to 5, pairs of socks from 7 to 4 and sunglasses from none to one - good catch, Jeff.
Lon Haldeman was an early Air Friday adopter for overseas touring, and RAAM officiating.
As Lon began the countdown for our initial departure on Day 1, I secured the chin strap on my helmet, slipped on my gloves and got the shock of my life when I realized I had two left gloves in my hands. I turned to find Coach Fred Matheny next to me - you know, the guy who has written tens of thousands of words on how to train for and execute a b-i-g ride.
He saw the helpless look on my face and asked, "What's the matter, Jeff?" In what might have easily been the most embarrassing moment of my cycling career, I confessed my stupidity. Ah, but I was in front of the right man. Fred simply suggested that I turn the "bad" glove inside out. What a stroke of genius. But you might imagine how I could interpret this as a possible sign of things to come!
Finally we were on our way. Ed, Fred, Lon and myself ... now there's an "elite" group. I was basking in this wealth of speed, stamina and experience that these mighty icons of cycling were laying down on the road. I knew all in the world was right. I was going to really love this ride ... no, really, I was sure of it now. All I had to do was push on the pedals, they'd do the navigating, the pacing, even the topic of conversation ... everything was good. And by gosh, it stayed that way for at least another six hours! Hmm, let's see, that just left about 180 hours of riding to go. I began to worry about what was waiting down the road for me ...
Read more of this story at http://www.bikefriday.com/jefflinder/elitetour07
We caught up with Jeff after he'd rested up after his feat ...
Jeff, how many finished the tour?
There were 51 listed starters and 10 dropped out along the way. 19 of us actually pedaled every mile (E.F.M.). The balance of the riders had to avail themselves to the moving sag support at least once along the way.
So why did you choose to ride an Air Friday, Jeff?
The Air Friday would be my first choice of a bike for all of the reasons that it has become known for ... titanium beam comfort, ease of transport and uniqueness. Oh, by the way, I just finished competing this weekend in the 24 Hours of Adrenalin World Solo Championships. I finished 2nd place in my age category, 55+, covering 160 miles and appr 30,000' of climbing ... Read more about Jeff Linder's escapades.
The Air Friday: Bike Friday's smoothest ride.
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RELATED LINKS
Before the Tour Jeff gets prepped and pepped
RoadBikeRider.com The roadie's bible and the gospel according to Ed and Fred
Bike Friday Boosters Patron Saints of Bike Friday, like Jeff
Paris-Brest-Paris and other Brevets The classic European brevet on a Friday
Air Bikes Bike Friday's smoothest ride
Read this email online: www.bikefriday.com/images/email/2007-09-jefflinderelite07-1377
This newsletter's magic code is 1377
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