Here's a link with her on the Schlitter recumbent Friday. Her father says she is faster on the diamond frame. The recumbent is basically for saddle sore prevention.https://www.facebook.com/connie.swinson.3/videos/10210970694845579/
Dropped in on Flatwoods park yesterday to see how Amanda was doing. I must say their entire set-up is perfect for this kind record setting. Team Amanda is on cruise control, the logistics, track, and athlete are as good as it gets. This loop is a very clean and smooth track which has to help with bike maintenance and safety. Amanda is riding effortlessly at 20 mph. Expect to see a new record come 15 May.
I think it was Kurt who came up with the Flatwoods Park. From what I can tell, I think it looks very good. It looks like it's very sheltered from the wind and flat with no risk of ice. I'm not sure I'd say perfect. It seems to be prone to flooding and Amanda has had to cut a few days short because of storms, but definitely very good.
The other thing that I'm not sure about is the wildlife. Amanda seems to have had a few near misses with animals running out on her. I know she's had at least 4 crashes and I think I heard that in August, so she may have had more since. I think she also has some tough days as well.
Team Amanda don't really put anything out what is going on. We get little more than stats from Strava and no story, which makes her the least interesting of all year record riders to follow. The only thing that makes her worth following is that she is doing such a good job. Very consistent rides, but they would be with very consistent conditions. I often heard people say that consistency is key, but I would argue that balance is key because you can only have consistency in consistent conditions, which even on the Flatwoods course, doesn't appear to be possible.
I'm guessing that Amanda will do about 83,000, maybe 84,000. She is getting faster. Not very easy to tell without knowing any expected changes in riding conditions. I doubt that Amanda is riding effortlessly; though I expect she appears to be; just as Andy Wilkinson has done on his record breaking rides.
Here's a link with her on the Schlitter recumbent Friday. Her father says she is faster on the diamond frame. The recumbent is basically for saddle sore prevention.https://www.facebook.com/connie.swinson.3/videos/10210970694845579/
I'd have thought that would have been pretty obvious anyway. I did hear that people said I should have used a recumbent because they are much faster and that Kurt was using one. If they give such and advantage, how come Kurt didn't ride his all the time and neither does Amanda?