[HAMR] Tarzan (Kurt Searvogel)

[Karla]

Although I do rather like the idea of TEETHGRINDER SPEAKS TO THE NATION being broadcast across all the boards BBC.

FTFY

[The Seldom Killer]

An interesting thought is that, while Kurt has the weather advantage now, he will be forced north as it changes to fairly inhospitable levels. Avoiding the somewhat unforgiving Appalachian area means the he has to head into the prairie states where the weather can be a bit more extreme and sometimes a bit more difficult to run from. I wouldn't want to be trying to make a break across tornado alley at the wrong time of year.

In the meantime, the weather will steadily improve for Steve and his hard work should pay off as that happens. Of course during the height of summer the weather could push Steve out of his comfort zone here in the UK but the first and easiest option there would be to migrate up the east coast towards Northumbria. Hopefully Steve's team have considered this and are in the process of preparing a summer palace for him. At the end of February the tables will start to turn a bit. Steve will be finishing with the worst weather he will see during this challenge. Kurt will be moving into it.

[Mr Larrington]

Just about anywhere in USAnia can be uncomfortably hot in the summer.  And if it isn't hot, the rain can make The French Ride of 2007 look like intermittent showers.  In 2013 it started raining on me just east of Salt Lake City and I didn't get any proper sunshine again until Maryland

[Climberruss]

Just looked at Kurts tracker. Looks like he's flying today. Think he must be feeling better after his trials and tribulations of the last couple of days.

[IanDG]

I wonder if he will he take his scheduled easy day tomorrow?

[Hummers]

I have not read all the thread.
Kurt has realised that I am more capable than he thought and has changed his plan.
He is now a lot more dangerous than he was.
What he is doing is watching what I do and adding a bit on. He is copying me and is known for copying his rivals.
However. He currently has weather on his side. I loseabout 10 miles a day getting dressed for cold weather and am losing speed because of risk of ice.
I will launch an attack when things improve like when I rode to Yorkshire and he had no answer tothat.
I reckon by late Spring Kurt may run out of options and I hope to be catching him back up by then.

GO TOOFYPEG!

H

[Bobby]

My boss is American and used to cycle a lot in his younger days, but has lived in the UK for 3 years.  A little while ago he told me that he'd finally worked out why all cyclists in the UK seem to make rude hand gestures towards him...  He believes in the USA it's common to just overtake cyclists even if there is not really room to do so - he describes it as "squeezing past them" & thinks that all US cyclists accept they've taken up the road space intended for cars, so it's OK. 

It took him 3 years to notice that the roads are narrower here & we expect cars to wait for a safe passing place..! 

Hell, even if only 10% of US drivers think that like, I believe Tarzan has it rough.  As others have said, both riders have their own challenges & I wish them both well

(go Steve go!)

[Wobbly]

In the meantime, the weather will steadily improve for Steve

Is Steve planning on moving to another country then? Or are you actually referring to England where "the weather will steadily improve".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/10058672/British-summer-kicks-off-with-snow-flurries.html

[Von Broad]

Anybody think it was a race between these two only!
Please peoples, remember that the main pacemaker is Tommy Goodwin. They both need 205 per day to equal what he did. I hope [and I'm sure he won't] that TG doesn't get too drawn into what Kurt is doing and what everybody is saying about what he's doing in social media. He can't really do much about it now anyway, our winter weather dictates that. He knows he'll only blow up too early if he starts chasing too much too soon, especially with 94% of the challenge still to go [time wise].

Foundations, foundations. Tis a boring cliche, but all things that hold together have solid foundations.
This was always TG's plan, and this is actually what he's doing. Start slow [180 a day ] and build up from there. He must be well pleased with how he's started this whole venture. Sounds like bike, body and mind are holding up well.

It's quite remarkable to come back from work day after day, log on, find out where he's been and how many miles he's chalked up once again.

[LMT]

Interesting comments after the post by TG.

The weather conditions will improve in the US, Kurt will get stronger as the year goes on and I think doing races/randos throughout the year (which he plans to do) will break up the monotony of what he is doing now.

And the simple souls those on the other forum saying he has not got the will power - he holds the two person record for RAAM ffs and UMCA record.

Devils advocate: By TG posting what he posted I think he has given the psychological edge to Tarzan, was first to crack riding beyond his plan and is trying to second guess that he'll have no answer come the Summer like he did when he rode to Yorkshire. Did Tarzan even care? I don't think he did, just consistently banged out high mileage ride after high mileage whilst TG lagged slightly following his exertions up to York.

Just my opinion - keep pedalling chaps.

[Von Broad]

And the simple souls those on the other forum saying he has not got the will power - he holds the two person record for RAAM ffs and UMCA record.

He's a deadly serious endurance cyclist, make no mistake.

Devils advocate: By TG posting what he posted I think he has given the psychological edge to Tarzan, was first to crack riding beyond his plan and is trying to second guess that he'll have no answer come the Summer like he did when he rode to Yorkshire. Did Tarzan even care? I don't think he did, just consistently banged out high mileage ride after high mileage whilst TG lagged slightly following his exertions up to York.

I must admit, I had a similar feeling. I'd be happy to see TG not post messages like that here. It's a side show. The only thing he needs to devote his entire attention to is riding as far as he possibly, possibly can, holding it all together over the course of a year. That's it. Anything else is a distraction.

[Mr Larrington]

He's got past Lake Okeechobee without being et by crocogators

[Wowbagger]

He's got past Lake Okeechobee without being et by crocogators

Some people have been making allegation and we are out to catch the alligators!

[duncan]

I just got very confused with the trackers, Tarzan seems to be passing somewhere called Buckingham.

[mzjo]

Can I present an alternative logic, please? Tarzan's operation looks quite spendy to me, putting fuel in that van all the time. Could it be that a part of his plan is to put big miles in at the beginning to encourage sponsors to come in for the rest of the ride? It's going to cost a whole lot more than RAAM doing a whole year like that!
Just a theory

[jamesld8]

And the simple souls those on the other forum saying he has not got the will power - he holds the two person record for RAAM ffs and UMCA record.

He's a deadly serious endurance cyclist, make no mistake.

Devils advocate: By TG posting what he posted I think he has given the psychological edge to Tarzan, was first to crack riding beyond his plan and is trying to second guess that he'll have no answer come the Summer like he did when he rode to Yorkshire. Did Tarzan even care? I don't think he did, just consistently banged out high mileage ride after high mileage whilst TG lagged slightly following his exertions up to York.

I must admit, I had a similar feeling. I'd be happy to see TG not post messages like that here. It's a side show. The only thing he needs to devote his entire attention to is riding as far as he possibly, possibly can, holding it all together over the course of a year. That's it. Anything else is a distraction.

I just hope that Steve keeps his eye on doing best he can and not getting diverted into trying to outdo Tarzan---there could be a risk of (both ?) burning out if it becomes so competitive early on. I recall from Chris Hoys book that all anyone can do is do the best they can, don`t get diverted by what others are doing , just focus on doing the very best you yourself can do as you can`t control what your competitor does.

Steve is currently doing an awesome and fantastic set of rides and I feel that is what he should focus on as it what he can control, not what tarzan does . Bon courage Steve 

[LMT]

Can I present an alternative logic, please? Tarzan's operation looks quite spendy to me, putting fuel in that van all the time. Could it be that a part of his plan is to put big miles in at the beginning to encourage sponsors to come in for the rest of the ride? It's going to cost a whole lot more than RAAM doing a whole year like that!
Just a theory

I think Kurt is fairly well off TBH, won't cost a lot to fuel up the van (fuel is a lot cheaper in the US) and if he is staying in hotels then they are fairly cheap as well. Especially when all you are after is a bed for the night after riding 200 miles so no need to book into the four star Hilton.

[LMT]

And the simple souls those on the other forum saying he has not got the will power - he holds the two person record for RAAM ffs and UMCA record.

He's a deadly serious endurance cyclist, make no mistake.

Devils advocate: By TG posting what he posted I think he has given the psychological edge to Tarzan, was first to crack riding beyond his plan and is trying to second guess that he'll have no answer come the Summer like he did when he rode to Yorkshire. Did Tarzan even care? I don't think he did, just consistently banged out high mileage ride after high mileage whilst TG lagged slightly following his exertions up to York.

I must admit, I had a similar feeling. I'd be happy to see TG not post messages like that here. It's a side show. The only thing he needs to devote his entire attention to is riding as far as he possibly, possibly can, holding it all together over the course of a year. That's it. Anything else is a distraction.

Exactly, and this is where I think Kurt may have the slight edge over Steve at the moment.

IMVHO Kurt is looking at this as a mile munching exercise whilst Steve is looking at this as a bike riding exercise. Feet climbed per x amount of miles, whether you ride a recumbent or not as other members have said, has no bearing on the task at hand at all which is to cover as many miles as possible.

Steve's rides which now cover a good chunk of the Home Counties and East Anglia would no doubt be harder in terms of terrain then Kurt's exertions on the Florida Flatlands which is where you want to be at this time of the year with cooler weather and limited daylight. Least we not forget as well that Kurt's rides must be mind numbingly boring, yes the road is flat but looking at Streetview the roads are featureless landscapes with only a straight road going through them - nothing else.

If it was me I'd have probably stayed closer to home doing circuits on flat roads for the first couple of months or at least until BST. And I think this may of suited Steve more given his rather vast and extensive experience of doing 24hr TT's.
 

[mcshroom]

Just beware those who think Kurt won't be able to respond, that he's not inexperienced at doing consecutive long distances: -
http://www.arkansasoutside.com/the-race-across-america-tarzan-rides/

[LMT]

Just beware those who think Kurt won't be able to respond, that he's not inexperienced at doing consecutive long distances: -
http://www.arkansasoutside.com/the-race-across-america-tarzan-rides/

This has been mentioned already.

[Wowbagger]

Kurt was always intending to increase from his starting pace. If he gets stronger as the year rolls on then he will be a tough nut to crack.

It is far too early to be making predictions based on what we've seen.

This is a battle the like of which has never been seen before.

[drgannet]

There is some tosh written on forums these days (not necessarily referring to here). Kurt will not 'crack'. Similarly, there are plenty of places he can go in the rest of the year and ride in decent weather; he is not committed to a few months' heat wave, and it's quite possible he could have better weather than Steve all year.

Do not believe anything on Kurt's website about shcedule or tactics; as Steve says, he has changed his strategy. I personally would not be surprised if he didn't do many races this year, or had many pre-race recovery days. He has devoted a year of his life to the HAMR and will do everything he can to achieve it. His sole focus will be to ride a few more miles than Steve each day, and if that means not doing RAAM, I wouldn't be surprised to see him give it a miss (although 8 days at 350 miles a day would be pretty handY).

Steve knows what he is doing. He has made a fantastic start, and is in excess of his most optimistic schedule. I have been in awe of his ability for many years and am privaliged to have ridden with him (well OK, mostly behind him) a few times. I sincerely hope he sets a new record which stands for many years.

[Wowbagger]

This is a battle the like of which has never been seen before.

I thought there was a similar battle in 1939 when 3 riders set out to break the record.

This is international, and in 1939, the others didn't know what their rivals were up to on a day-to-day basis. It now becomes a fascinating tactical battle.

[Wobbly]

Ye olde proverbe: Many a slip twixt cup and lip.

[Hummers]

There is some tosh written on forums these days (not necessarily referring to here). Kurt will not 'crack'. Similarly, there are plenty of places he can go in the rest of the year and ride in decent weather; he is not committed to a few months' heat wave, and it's quite possible he could have better weather than Steve all year.

Do not believe anything on Kurt's website about shcedule or tactics; as Steve says, he has changed his strategy. I personally would not be surprised if he didn't do many races this year, or had many pre-race recovery days. He has devoted a year of his life to the HAMR and will do everything he can to achieve it. His sole focus will be to ride a few more miles than Steve each day, and if that means not doing RAAM, I wouldn't be surprised to see him give it a miss (although 8 days at 350 miles a day would be pretty handY).

Steve knows what he is doing. He has made a fantastic start, and is in excess of his most optimistic schedule. I have been in awe of his ability for many years and am privaliged to have ridden with him (well OK, mostly behind him) a few times. I sincerely hope he sets a new record which stands for many years.

Exactly.

Well said that man 

H