Bike Riding in Mexico
On Wednesday, September 13, I attempted to break the world record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on a velodrome track without other competitors present. Because the time limit is one hour, the distance traveled is also the miles per hour.
The motivation to do this came from a documentary about Giuseppe Marinoni that I saw seven years ago with PBC friends. Marinoni was the top racer in Canada in the late 1960s, and in the documentary, he is training to do the hour record for the 75-79 age group. He trained for the event and was successful, setting the new record at 22.2 miles. I thought, “Maybe I could break that record if I gradually trained up for it over the next seven years.” With some encouragement from fellow cyclists, I started participating in Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) time trials. ✎
Checking my VO2 max
Dialing in my fit
I was able to win a few races including the state championship when I was 70, holding 23 MPH for 20 kilometers.
However, my end goal of breaking the world hour record ran into a couple of snags. I expected to hone my track skills at the Alpenrose Velodrome. But it closed a few years ago requiring me to travel to other states for practice sessions. Also, the world record was bumped up twice, from 22.2 to 24.1 miles.
Optimizing aerodynamics
I decided to keep after it though and was helped substantially by Mike Sinyard and Specialized Bicycles where they dialed in my fit for my time trial bike, tested my VO2 max, and helped me with aerodynamics in their “Win” tunnel. That really helped to keep the dream alive in the face of changing circumstances. 😊
Finally, this year, I turned 75 and went with a group to the Aguascalientes, Mexico, velodrome to make the attempt.
It’s a big production as the track has to be rented in advance, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) officials have to be flown in, drug-testing personnel needs to be present in case you are successful, and an ambulance needs to be on hand.
It was a wonderful experience. The group I came with and also the track employees were super-friendly and supportive.
Leading up to the attempt, I tried to increase my speed each year and felt good about my power output on the road just before the event. But I had a problem: Your distance is calculated by laps, not how far your bike goes. Because I didn’t have much track experience, I was having difficulty staying close to the inner black line during my practice sessions.
When it was my turn for the attempt at about nine in the morning that Wednesday, I warmed up a little on the track. Then the officials measured my bike to make sure it complied with the UCI limitations for track bikes.
Next, they moved the starting gate onto the track and positioned me in it.
While they were getting ready to start the countdown timer, I heard an explosion and thought maybe I was supposed to go. But it was my back tire. This was a bit unnerving because the day before two other riders had blowouts while practicing for the one- or two-kilometer records. One was going more than 35 MPH and crashed, breaking 10 ribs and rupturing his spleen. He almost died and had to be life-flighted out of Mexico a couple days later.
However, several people helped me off and got my bike down to the warmup area. Peter, who along with his wife organized this event, went back to the locker, and brought another wheel for me to ride on.
Once I got going, I tried to keep up sub-23 second laps. Each lap is 250 meters and I needed to do 156 of them to break the 24.1 MPH record. One of the track employees called out my splits, and there were a few 22+ second laps, but many more in the 23s.
After a couple dozen laps, I could see that the record was just beyond my reach. Mainly because of my lack of track experience and inability to stay close to the black line without raising my head.
In the end, I did meet my original goal of breaking Marinoni’s 22+ mile record. My distance was just over 23 miles. But I fell short of the 24.1-mile current record.
The other participants, who broke world records that day, had all made previous attempts. They encouraged me to come back, saying that if gained more track experience I could trim my lap times enough to be successful.
But that is not to be. This seven-year pursuit has been interesting, challenging, and I have enjoyed having the goal to look forward to. But in that time my interests have shifted, and I am greatly relieved to have this chapter become a fond memory.
Jeremy Wilson, Club Member