Wow! That's far. I saw the photos on the website you provided, but am
not sure of what I was looking at (I expected to see a rider decked out
with his aero suit and helmet, but didn't see a single photo of anyone
wearing a helmet). Was that the rider? If so, aren't there rules
somewhere that state that in order for such a record to be official,
you need to wear a helmet? Seems like somebody mentioned that before
in one of the newsgroup discussions. Can someone shed some light on
this?
Of course, if there is NO SUCH RULE, it could be an advantage NOT
wearing a helmet. Can anyone say, "heat dissipation?" Especially in
an indoor facility and after such a long time. Of course, I anticipate
that now that this issue has been raised, quite a few people will try
to post "credible" (yet unfortunately invalid and ultimately
unresolvable) arguments regarding physiologic effects versus mechanical
(aerodynamic) effects of a helmet on such a performance. Regardless of
your position, it seems a bit odd that someone would go to all the
trouble of attempting such a record FOR 24 HOURS and NOT wear a helmet
if such a rule was in place.
Regardless of ultimate outcome in terms of Mr. Nagel's record being
considered official or unofficial, his feat is impressive; particularly
when you consider the incredible increase in speed noted on his website
during the final hour(s) of his ride. Can you imagine increasing your
power output by that amount after riding for almost 24 continuous
hours? It's incredible! Nobody else has apparently come even close to
performing that well at the end of such a long ride (most of the
information provided by these types of rides demonstrates a clear
decrease in performance with advancing time - a normal physiologic
response).
Perhaps he should be thinking of joining Le Tour? He might look good
in yellow.
And, if HE doesn't want to sign up, let's get Secrest to do it. Even
though Michael is 53 years old, he is apparently riding pretty strong.
He might actually be the only athlete to have set world records in
three separate decades - in 1985, in 1995, and again in 2006! And if
he's not the only athlete to do so, it seems clear that he's the only
cyclist to do it. Let's hear it for Michael - showing us "old farts"
that life isn't over at 40 (or 50)!
Nick Payne wrote:
> Unfortunately for Secrest, a Swiss named Samuel Nagel has already ridden
> 872.8km (542 miles) in 24hr on the Aigle velodrome on 6-7 October 2006, so
> 534 miles is a few miles short of the record. http://www.thisguysnuts.ch/.
>
> Nick
>
> "Poiter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news
[email protected]...
> >
> > It seems that the 24 hour track record held by Aussie Rod Evans since
> > 1994 has been bettered.
> > 12 years to go 7 miles further! Shows how good Rod Evans was.
> > http://tinyurl.com/ycuxd8
> > Snip "Michael Secrest, one of the superheroes of the ultracycling
> > world, broke the 24-Hour Indoor World Cycling Record Sunday-Monday,
> > October 21-22, 2006. Beginning at 9:10am on Sunday, Secrest circled the
> > indoor velodrome at the ADT Event Center in Carson, CA for 24 hours,
> > covering 534.7 miles (exact distance to be certified soon). This
> > bettered the 530.41 mile mark set by Rod Evans in Australia in 1994. "
