Race Report Psycho 48 2024 Part 3
Some cool numbers: My first 100 miles I did in 5 hours and 5 minutes. The first 12 hours I was able to get 221 miles in and for the first 24 hours I was able to get 422 miles in. Some might wonder why not keeping it up that way after the 24 hours. OK it is a 48-hour race and as of my experience it starts getting seriously tough after about 35 hours riding without sleep. And as the competition shows it is seriously tough and sounds easier than it is for real. Also, cool numbers to me I am 60 years young and did win across all age groups, genders and bicycle types. So next best racer was a woman with 610 miles, next best male racer was at mile 581 miles and best recumbent bike at 571 miles. Most impressive result (not mine) was Jeff Chaffin doing hand cycling and pulled off 501 miles. That number is amazing to me. So, it’s my second year I did win across all other racers. What’s next to me on the 48-hour racing? I guess I won the second year and better prepare to defend my title again in 2025. For 2025 I may have to do some better preparations since the 750 miles is the minimum milestone for me while a dream distance would be 800+ miles in 48 hours. I know some may say based on what I have done it should be easy or when watching some 24-hour racers yep … shall be easy to get. But 48 hours is a different situation then 24 hours and you cannot simply double the distance. The body system his giving us a hard time after 35-40 hours and I need to work on overcoming some of those issues. If anyone has questions related to the race … feel free to ask since I will try to answer those. I believe getting across 700 miles on a race like that is extremely tough and requires good physical and mental training and preparation as well as solid crew support. In the race a racer must stay focused all times, be dedicated and keep pushing even when power level goes down. Being only a short time into such racing and not sponsored as some top racers, it means I do train around a full time work schedule, and work keeps priority over my training. To me it’s still hard to realize that I seem to be very good in those type of races and looking forward to a race season 2025. For 2024 it was my last race. Borrego Springs, I had to skip due to race being too close after Psycho48 (with driving across the USA) and I had personal things and work to define and take over my schedule. It feels amazingly cool to finish a season with such a cool and clear win. It does not put me into the top ultra cyclist category, but I realize that I seem to be very good at those things. For those who finished behind me. Be realistic –> you have done an amazing job in this race. Anyone getting to the start of a 48-hour race must be a ‘Psycho’. It’s insane what we try to do and sticking to it the 48 hours. I have an amazing respect for all of you and its all of you who keep pushing me to new records and such cool results. I am very thankful for that. In addition, I cannot thank my crew chief Heidi enough. Results like that would be impossible without her. She keeps motivating me and she is responsible to straighten out my nutrition schedule and my pace. That’s very cool for me to have you on board and get all your support. Also big thanks to my coach Giovanni. He helped preparing me for the race and I know I am not always a good student and might ignore some advice well knowing he is right. Ohh … and as a cool side note talking about nutrition … I can pull the additional power levels due to dedication, amazing training and due to a major change in nutrition. Also changed my diet over 18 months ago to use vegan food only. Some may shake their heads, but my results (both medical and race results) clearly show that the change in diet helped me a lot. Did receive lots of help and advice what to eat to make sure I am on track. That’s also thanks to Heidi and Giovanni.
