Back in the Saddle.

Its been a while since I've taken the time to write about my ultra cycling.  I've been off doing other things in the athletic world like triathlons and duathlons and taking a month long vacation to study alternate building methods for constructing harmonious living spaces at Earthship Academy.

But since the end of 2011 a little voice has been whispering in my head. Back in 2011 I had set a goal of riding more than 200 century rides and covering more that 25,000 miles (once around the earth) as a goal for the year and at the end of the year I finished up with 212 centuries and over 27,000 miles of ride. I was pretty damn proud of myself until someone posted about Tommy Godwin and his world record of 75,000 miles in one year. Was this even a real thing that could be done?

The record was certified by Guinness Book of World records and it was said they would not certify another attempt at the world record because it was not physically safe to try it. This turned out to be an incorrect statement as I contacted Guinness about the record. They would certify another attempt, but the rules that they were proposing and the documentation that was required was so onerous that it would require a person to have a full time crew of people just to film and document everything. So breaking the record with Guinness certifying the attempt would not happen.

This is when the UMCA or Ultra Marathon Cycling Association stepped in and at the behest of a couple of individuals  Steven Abraham of England and William Pruett of the US wrote some draft rules to govern the attempt in September. I talk with my friend Alicia Snyder about the record and she was certain that breaking the record was why we had been brought together thru RAAM.  

I was involved with the discussions on the rules, we didn't see eye to eye and I was a getting frustrated in the process. This was about riding the most miles in a year and not your standard record attempt. It got to the point where I stopped giving input. After a couple of weeks the rules didn't look much better than those of Guinness so I decided that this wasn't going to be a go either.

Life changed on Wednesday November 26, 2014. I was in California helping Alicia manage with her broken ankle and getting in some late season fair weather rides when I got a message from William that the rules for the Attempt were posted. William has been pushing me to go for this record since the end of 2011. I read the rules and said YES! With these rules I CAN DO THIS. I can set this record with the right team in place. I showed the rules to Alicia and WE decided that we were going to dedicate 2015 to the HAM'R  - Highest Annual Mileage Record.  

Stay tuned.....