http://www.blog.ultracycle.net Ultra Cycling Distance and Difficulty Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:48:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en by Susan Forsman The Furnace Creek 508 is the perfect experiment in how to discover oneself, especially when participating in the solo competition. I had crewed for Sam “Seal” Beal, Barley “Boar” Forsman and Bob “Bradan” Redmond, so I had some idea how tough the ride would be. I had also said that I wasn’t [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/10/furnace-creek-508-susan by Marcia Morrison In 2003, three avid cyclists, Paul Greene, Ray Low, and John Mazzella rode three double centuries to earn the Triple Crown Award. Ever since then I thought that someday I’d like to see if I could accomplish such a feat. Comments I heard were: “Double centuries really aren’t that much fun.” (That [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/10/bucket-list by Cristin Sohm Part of the ride was a total suffer-fest (lots of hills with extreme heat and not being able to eat). Part of the ride I thought the world was conspiring against me (flat after flat after flat). Part of the ride was scary as could be (riding alone in the pitch dark [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/09/knoxville I think you learn less when you succeed than you fail. Thus, this ride report might not contain quite the wisdom of last year’s. However, I think I still have a good story to tell. Was it worth it? I don’t know. I can say that having failed last year, it was definitely worth coming [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/09/hoodoo-500-russ-stevens by Deborah Hoag The Hoodoo 500 is an ultra-marathon bicycle race. The route passes through or around three National Parks, three National Monuments and several Utah State Parks. The scenery varies from majestic cliffs and striking red rock hoodoos to aspen and pine forests and high mountain meadows. The race follows a course starting in [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/09/hoodoo-500-turbodog by Dan Connelly Without a hint yet of the coming dawn, the lead police car led the main pack out of the Vallecito Elementary School parking lot, and we were off. The pack was considerably smaller than the 300 rider limit, but given the 10:30 pm finish deadline and the desire to minimize time spent [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/08/2010-mount-tam-double by Joan Grant Deitchman After DNFing Race Across Oregon last year due to pretty miserable weather conditions both days plus some major lower back problems (which turned out to be due to a saddle height change that had happened in the lead up to the race without me knowing), I needed to go back and [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/08/race-across-oregon-2010 by Deborah Hoag This is how the Stage Race works: Riders have to complete three of the most difficult doubles in the California Triple Crown. This year it was Mulholland, Devil Mountain, and the Terrible Two. The Total Elapsed Time from each of these grueling Doubles is then added together and the rider with the [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/07/stage-race-on-the-tandem by Franz Kelsch There has been a tremendous change in the technology for cycling lights. My first light was big and bulky and the battery was the size of a water bottle and very heavy.  It was difficult to ride on a very dark road. H.I.D. lights were much brighter but were very expensive and [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/07/magicshine-led-light by Franz Kelsch For many years I used a Polar heart rate monitor for both running and later for cycling. Starting with the Polar 720i, then the 625X, with footpod, it seemed like an ideal way to keep track of my speed and distance on both the bike and running. However I had become progressively [...]]]> http://www.blog.ultracycle.net/2010/06/poor-mans-garmin-forerunner-310xt