When childhood buddies 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” purpose, 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 all the width of the USA 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 file for the pairs class by roughly 5 hours.
“What an journey. A lot to mirror 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 finest buddy…wow what a present!”
Along with having been finest buddies since first grade, the 2 riders have amassed a formidable cache of athletic achievements over the previous a long time. 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 prime grasp’s cyclists within the nation with three grasp world observe titles to his identify. He’s additionally a former single-speed file 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 the USA. Open to novice and professionals alike, as a crew 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 file try was a full-scale crew operation that took over a 12 months to arrange. It concerned quite a few workers members, a number of bikes, varied automobiles, intensive 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 crew sport. I really feel humbled to be one member of a 15 particular person crew that collectively achieved this success,” O’Brady acknowledged. “Greater than crew this group…appears like a household in spite of everything we’ve been by way of this week. My cup is overflowing with love and gratitude.”
The newest race content material, interviews, options, opinions and professional shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
Learn all in regards to the Sub-Six crew’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 file sits at 6 days and 11 hours, or, extra exactly for the reason that precise mileage of the race modifications barely yearly, 19.85 miles per hour for all the crossing.
“We have been buddies, finest buddies, since first grade and we have been doing every kind of cool stuff collectively for many years,” Clarke instructed Biking Weekly.
Collectively Clarke and O’Brady have climbed Mount Rainier, executed 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 huge” on a motorcycle as a unit.Clarke advised 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 excellent for a run on the RAAM file.
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 prime grasp’s cyclists within the nation with three grasp world observe titles to his identify. He’s additionally a former single-speed file 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 file.
“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, , sadly, dropping buddies from a tragic climbing accident, I’ve been undoubtedly form of in a life-or-death stakes form of recreation, so to talk,” shared O’Brady.
“In most methods, RAAM is loads completely different, I’ll say, as a caveat, I do assume using your bike in the course of the USA, 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 features for a 3,000 mile check
(Picture credit score: Pranalens)
Once you get into the weeds, the complexities of a RAAM file boil down to a few common pillars for fulfillment: the endurance of the using, the tools selections and the crew construction. The hassle is pretty simple: O’Brady and Clarke will conduct a crew relay wherein every rider tackles 90-minutes at a time all through the length of the journey.
Whereas each riders are extraordinarily match athletes, using 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 using 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 groups 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 potential.
The technical features of the race and the crew development are extra complicated and it’s additionally the place large features might be made.
The Sub Six mission has a full slate of technical companions which incorporates Princeton Carbonworks, Ventum, and Le Col package. With the backing of these model companions, the duo has been capable of 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 latest biking expertise.
The crew has spared no element with the 2 riders spending time within the Silverstone wind tunnel within the UK to optimize all the main points of their technical package. On the planet of RAAM, which is generally contested by amateurs, this quantity of dedication is uncommon.
“Colin labored arduous on dialing his place in a number of bike matches, ensuring he was comfy for lengthy rides on the bike. We have been capable of make some tweaks and add some helmet integration stuff in there, together with working with Le Col on the pace go well with improvement.. So yeah, loads of that was on me, determining the elements and whatnot, and bringing that complete bundle collectively from a motorcycle standpoin,” Clarke mentioned.
“However, by far, the most important a part of the RAAM is the crew dynamic.”
Teamwork makes the RAAM dream work
(Picture credit score: Pranalens)
To be exact, the crew will likely be round 15 individuals who will likely 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 frequently each 90 or so minutes, with Clarke more likely to tackle a barely greater workload on the bike given his biking expertise.
Past Clarke and O’Brady, the crew features a crew director who manages the crew of workers, 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 assume it is two guys using bikes,” O’Brady mentioned. “However as I zoomed out slightly 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 shortly begin to understand you are asking individuals to take primarily, two weeks out of their lives, away from work, in a van or an RV, and likewise not sleeping. Like, people do not essentially do nice beneath these circumstances, both.”
Whereas the race itself is just a 5-6 day occasion, the Sub Six crew has arrived early in Southern California and had a “gown rehearsal” within the Texas Hill nation which required the complete crew 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 gained’t simply be a race in opposition to the clock. A brand new file is an thrilling purpose 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 outdated, and we’ve been lifelong buddies. 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 beginning of our youngsters to weddings to dropping grandparents and dropping 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 feel that that extends past simply the six days on the bike, is that setting an enormous purpose collectively has allowed us to weave the tapestry of our life collectively all through the final couple of years. I feel there is a actually lovely story about two guys who usually are not solely finest buddies, however middle-aged dads nonetheless having the ability to push their physique on the highest, highest efficiency and hopefully set a world file.”
