[HAMR] A new women's HAM'R challenger- Amanda Coker

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I seem to remember someone writing about how the greatest sporting achievers made things look effortless - for example David Gower's languid shots were actually the results of a lot of practice but that practice made them look as if they were an innate ability.  Or for that matter the way a top runner seems to accelerate past or away from a pack and glide to the finish leaving the others trailing in their wake.  Or in another field - Sprinter Sacre's Champion Chase victory....  I suppose the big difference is that all of those are matters of hours or minutes and not a complete year.

[toontra]

Assuming (and hoping) Amanda continues and completes the year of her challenge as she's going, it's surely looking increasingly unlikely that anyone in the foreseeable future will have the combination of location/climate/budget/equipment/support team/health and determination to surpass her likely target.

[Laid Back Rich]

Assuming (and hoping) Amanda continues and completes the year of her challenge as she's going, it's surely looking increasingly unlikely that anyone in the foreseeable future will have the combination of location/climate/budget/equipment/support team/health and determination to surpass her likely target.

isn't that just what we were thinking as we were mesmerized by Kurt not so long ago?

[Wowbagger]

No, I don't think it was. Kurt and Steve were both involved in a titanic struggle which looked, from the outset, as though it was going to be a very close-run thing. Had it not been for the moped driver, I still think it would have been.

Obviously, Amanda still has a long way to go, in terms of both miles and months, but the apparent ease with which she is bashing out these miles gives the impression of an athlete who is several levels above what we have seen before. Looking at Jo's latest map (Nov 10th) Kurt was still behind what was his final average. Amanda is 3500 miles (at least) ahead of it. She is about 7000 miles ahead of where Tommy Godwin was at the same stage.

[andyoxon]

As toontra says, a good team set-up/location.  The summer heat looked to be coped with well, I guess it will now have made way for some more pleasant daily temps. 

Go Amanda, what an amazing continuing effort. 

[teethgrinder]

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?

[Kim]

Given a flat enough course, a recumbent ought to have a speed advantage (though I remain sceptical that really fast recumbents are reliable enough for this sort of thing).  But as in all things, it's not just about the bike.  A primarily recumbent rider who was up to the job ought to do well on one, but first find your rider...

As in the real world, the recumbent's main advantage for a DF-trained rider is avoiding contact point issues.  Fair enough, I say.

[teethgrinder]

Unfaired recumbents are about the same as a TT bike.
I rode a few miles with my coach on the month record. I was on my Raleigh and she was on a carbon road bike without luggage. I maintained my usual power output and going down hills I sometimes left her behind. She had to go close to 25mile TT pace to keep up with me down hills. I was carrying my Carradice where she just had a small bag for tools. She reckoned that my bike set up was about as good as a TT bike, though not as fast as possible as it's set to be more comfortable. The wheels are pretty fast, as are the tyres. My Aero helmet would have helped as well, where she was wearing a road helmet.

[La Tortue]

(though I remain sceptical that really fast recumbents are reliable enough for this sort of thing).

Now there's a new one? Lots of  high mileage "really fast" recumbents have been smoking the roads for over ten years.  The Bacchetta CA2 is just the first one to come to mind.  The Schlitter Encore that Amanda rides is very similar to this design and there is no reason to suspect it isn't more than capable to knock out a 100,000 mile ride.

[Cmiller]

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.

Actually, Amanda has been a regular at Flatwoods Park since long before Kurt began his HAMR attempt. I introduced Kurt to the park early in his HAMR but he wasn't impressed at the time. I remember it being cold/wet/windy that day, so I'm sure that had something to do with it. He did ride there quite a bit towards the end and broke the record there, though. Amanda rode with Kurt almost daily during this time and put in more miles with him than anyone else while he was there. Riding with Kurt is when she got the bug and started thinking about going after the woman's record herself.

As for riding conditions at the park- the surface is in very good condition without any major defects, but it is definitely not well protected from the wind or the sun. It's a rare day when there are no or only light winds at the park and locals have given the loop well deserved nicknames like "Windy Woods" and "The Vortex". There is some relief from the winds during the summer months, but then there are the almost daily thunderstorms and temps that exceed 100 deg that she has to deal with. The major benefit Amanda receives from riding there is the lack of vehicular traffic. She suffered life threatening injuries in 2011 after being hit by a car and now has PTSD as a result. Riding the public roads for her HAMR attempt without a full-time follow vehicle isn't even an option for her.

And yes, she has has gone down very hard on a few occasions. While there isn't any vehicular traffic, some of the same clueless idiots who drive the roads around here also like to ride their bikes and/or run at Flatwoods.  Between these people, and the other wildlife, she always has to be on guard.

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.

This really just comes down to time. She doesn't have any.. She's as focused off the bike as she is on it and keeps to a strict refueling and sleep schedule to be able to recover well enough to what she does day in and day out.

[mrcharly-YHT]

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.

I do enjoy her daily photos and little jokes on facebook. She or her team make a good effort to post something about other people riding at Flatwoods who have beaten their own personal daily mileage record, usually with a photo of the person, quite often taken with Amanda. Then there are photos of wildlife, ranging from snakes to coyotes and a wild hog.

[teethgrinder]

Actually, Amanda has been a regular at Flatwoods Park since long before Kurt began his HAMR attempt. I introduced Kurt to the park early in his HAMR but he wasn't impressed at the time. I remember it being cold/wet/windy that day, so I'm sure that had something to do with it. He did ride there quite a bit towards the end and broke the record there, though. Amanda rode with Kurt almost daily during this time and put in more miles with him than anyone else while he was there. Riding with Kurt is when she got the bug and started thinking about going after the woman's record herself.

As for riding conditions at the park- the surface is in very good condition without any major defects, but it is definitely not well protected from the wind or the sun. It's a rare day when there are no or only light winds at the park and locals have given the loop well deserved nicknames like "Windy Woods" and "The Vortex". There is some relief from the winds during the summer months, but then there are the almost daily thunderstorms and temps that exceed 100 deg that she has to deal with. The major benefit Amanda receives from riding there is the lack of vehicular traffic. She suffered life threatening injuries in 2011 after being hit by a car and now has PTSD as a result. Riding the public roads for her HAMR attempt without a full-time follow vehicle isn't even an option for her.

And yes, she has has gone down very hard on a few occasions. While there isn't any vehicular traffic, some of the same clueless idiots who drive the roads around here also like to ride their bikes and/or run at Flatwoods.  Between these people, and the other wildlife, she always has to be on guard.

This really just comes down to time. She doesn't have any.. She's as focused off the bike as she is on it and keeps to a strict refueling and sleep schedule to be able to recover well enough to what she does day in and day out.

Thanks. I did hear that she had a very serious accident and won't ride on roads but I don't think I knew about the PTSD. Kurt didn't seem to like the cold, which I think was why he came back to Florida at the end and it made all the difference when he did.
Lack of traffic does make a big difference. I reckon I lost 2-3 miles a day from stopping at junctions.

I can definitely understand the lack of time time. After a few days, everything seems to take a surprisingly long time to get ready. I was lucky that I had Idai putting stuff out, but it was always an effort to co-ordinate with my riding and we often had to cancel stuff because we couldn't be in the same place at the same time. We ended up fighting off the media because they always robbed me of riding time. Strava were OK. They had a freelance journalist (George Marshal, who came 5th in the 24 hr with just under 500 miles this year) ride with me to talk and take photos. It was hard enough for me to even talk to my team. We tried a bluetooth device for my phone but I only got it to work once (it's now battered just from being on my helmet for so many miles) A conversation that would normally take minutes could take several days.

[teethgrinder]

I do enjoy her daily photos and little jokes on facebook. She or her team make a good effort to post something about other people riding at Flatwoods who have beaten their own personal daily mileage record, usually with a photo of the person, quite often taken with Amanda. Then there are photos of wildlife, ranging from snakes to coyotes and a wild hog.

Yes. She does have her 100 mile and 200 mile clubs, though it all seems to be at a local level. I can't blame her for that when she already has plenty to do. I had lots of occasions where I'd have liked to have taken photos for Facebook etc but didn't want to stop.

[andrew531]

Anyone else who's following Amanda on Strava not seen her rides on their daily feeds recently? Perhaps she's changed her privacy settings?

[red marley]

Seems fine to me. I can see her rides up to yesterday. Today's ride should appear early tomorrow morning.

[andrew531]

Weird, seems I'm no longer following her on Strava and no means to do so! Not sure how this has happened. I haven't commented on her activities, just given daily kudos. Time to get Googling to sort this out!

[StevieB]

Weird... not long ago we were all agog at the efforts of Steve and Kurt, and now... nothing?
HAMR-fatigue?

[Chris S]

Weird... not long ago we were all agog at the efforts of Steve and Kurt, and now... nothing?
HAMR-fatigue?

Probably inevitable. There's only so much awe one can extract from someone riding a bike round in circles, day in day out; no matter how awe inspiring it might be. I check in occasionally and allow my jaw to drop at Amanda's achievements. And Kajsa's. And the others.

[Wowbagger]

It seems that the UMC's pages showing the progress spreadsheets aren't available either. That's a pain.

[Phil W]

She passed 50,000 miles in the last week. Knocking out 235-240 mile days at moment. Average 229.28 mpd and average speed just over 20mph.

[woollypigs]

Hmm I see her daily on strava. Amazing stuff!

[Cmiller]

It seems that the UMC's pages showing the progress spreadsheets aren't available either. That's a pain.

While not the official UMCA stats, these are accurate and updated at the end of each day-
https://goo.gl/reemOY

[StevieB]

Thanks for the link.... (yea, I've run out of adjectives too!)

Steve succeeded in encouraging others to have a go,
but surely Amanda must be having the opposite effect!

[mrcharly-YHT]

And is currently posting a witty christmas ditty per day on facebook

She Is Some Machine

[orraloon]

She is smacking out these consistent daily mileages, got her regime and support nailed.  Drama free, little of the 'will (s)he, won't s(he)' questions and discussions of previous HAMRs.  222 days in, just short of 51k miles, unless she hits health issues looks like she will get a new record by a considerable margin.

Just phenomenal.