Nevada ultracycling record attempt.

In 2004, after too many years of thinking about it, I rode PAC Tour, Canada to Mexico. This event helped me prepare for the Furnace Creek 508 and gave me the opportunity to ride with the Haldemans, Steve Born, and many other endurance cyclists. After completing the 508 last year, I studied the UMCA records and noted that the vertical record for Nevada had not been set. This was good news. Nevada is reasonably close to my home in California so start/finish logistics would not be too complicated. Outside of Las Vegas and the Reno area, Nevada is pretty unpopulated, so traffic conditions would be ideal. I especially liked that, being the first to attempt the record, I could establish the course.

I mentioned this to my long-time friend and Furnace Creek crew chief, Larry Beck and he immediately took to the cause. We looked at the map and saw that the longest vertical route across Nevada was predominantly on US 93. At 528 miles, this route interested me because it was farther then Furnace Creek, my previous longest ride. This route would have end points near the towns of Searchlight and Jackpot, and we rather liked the sound of that. The question was, north to south or south to north? Larry, being a "do it now" kind of guy, suggested we drive the course, check the winds and decide from that.

Quiet desert scenery

We did this in March and found the wind blowing, south to north. Winds change, so we also researched weather history online, asked questions at the local airports, looked at the wind breaks along the road and checked the lean of the few trees we found out in the desert. The evidence seemed to show that, most likely, the wind would be from the south.

While driving, we also evaluated the terrain. Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state; fortunately, the ranges almost all run north and south and the highways follow the valleys in between. As it turns out, there is more climbing going south to north then there is going the other way; however, this was not readily apparent behind 225 horsepower. Driving home, we decided there was not enough difference climbing-wise in either direction to influence the decision.

The wind had us thinking "south to north", a south start was quicker to get to, it made the timing through the only big city, Las Vegas, predictable and put the (hoped for) single night stage in a deserted area. South to north was the decision.

Direction set, date picked, crew and officials recruited, I set about training and lining up my equipment and supplies. I've been riding bicycles for over 50 years (a bit hard to digest that fact, actually); however, I would not be able to entertain today's ultra rides if it were not for the great equipment and nutrition supplies currently available.

Fuel for the road

After saddle sore problems on PAC Tour and Furnace Creek, John Nugent of Saddleco encouraged me to try their "Flow" saddle. I've been using the "Flow" ever since and it works great. For fuel, I've been working with Steve Born and Hammer Nutrition for a long time for both ultra riding and ultra running events. I'd read about Power Cranks in UltraCycling. Frank Day and Andrew Weber of Power Cranks assured me Power Cranks would help both my cycling and running and they were right.

I trained steadily through April and May and ran 50-mile and 100K trail races for cross training. My start date was June 3 and as it approached, I submitted the record application and other required forms. I was ready to go. "How long will it take?" asked one of the "new to this sort of thing" team members. "Well, Furnace Creek 2004 had the strongest headwinds ever and it took me 40 hours. This is 20 miles longer, however, the wind couldn't be like Furnace Creek, so, 36 hours is a good guess" I replied.

Well, it was a pretty good guess. Perhaps as good as one can expect with these sort of things. In the end it took 45 hours38 minutes to reach the "Jackpot". My on-the-bike time was 36 hours, so my guess about the time was kind of right. However, our guess on the wind was more than kind of wrong. For more than 400 miles of the 528, there was headwind. It beat me down and caused more off-bike time than I'm used to. For the first 200 miles, I stayed on the bike pretty well and hoped for a change in the conditions. We had started an hour before daylight to get through Las Vegas before the heat and daytime traffic. This worked well and after a brief ride on the shoulder of I-15, I was ready to turn north and find something different with the wind.

Stevenson looking strong with a positive attitude

When nothing with the weather changed, I could feel my attitude change. I was not going to set a fast time as I'd hoped. Fortunately, Larry, my crew chief is a great motivator and he knows how to keep me on track. Just before we started this ride, Larry handed me a Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" band and suggested I look at it anytime my attitude was heading wrong. This worked like a magic charm and while my attitude changed, it didn't deteriorate. My resolve was to ride to Jackpot and I did.

Our miss on the wind was the only big miss we had. Just about everything else was on track. We used my new van, a Honda Odyssey, as the crew vehicle and it was well suited to the task. I purchased a new set of Topolino wheels a week before the ride on the recommendation from Steve Dozier of Sundance Cycles and they provided the comfortable, reliable ride I needed. My bike worked flawlessly, thanks to preparation by my friend, Chuck Cryor of Pedal Power Bicycles in Santa Maria.

A chilly desert dawn

The daytime temperatures were moderate and I was prepared for the freezing temperature at night with several layers of clothing. The road surface was quite good, traffic was light and every driver seemed courteous and attentive. As it became apparent that we would miss the time target, my crew adjusted and did everything that was needed to keep me going to the end.

And, there was a bit of good fortune that came from my slower pace. About 150 miles into the ride I was passed by a "wide load" tractor/trailer carry a huge industrial boiler. The driver passed me carefully and I watched him disappear only halfway interested. An hour later, as I rounded a curve, I was much more interested to find the rig stopped, the shoulder full of debris and the boiler down the right embankment. It had slid off the trailer, across the shoulder and through the guardrail. Had my pace been quicker, I could have been at that spot when he passed.

Rider and crew are anxious for the next event!

We finally got to our finish line hotel about 3 a.m. on night number two. We slept about six hours, had breakfast, and then headed out for the drive home. We traced the route back to Las Vegas, and of course, we had a headwind most of the way back. The van gave little notice to this condition that I had found so distracting. With just a little extra push on the right foot, we got home right on schedule.

One of the nicest indicators that this was a successful event, is the fact that crew and rider alike are anxiously looking forward to Furnace Creek and, perhaps, to again trying to get on the road in Nevada in a favorable wind!

Nevada ultracycling record - the end!

Official record: June 3 - 5, 2005, 528 miles, 45 hours 38 minutes, 11.57 mph. Nevada Southern Border, US95 near Searchlight to Northern Border, US 93 near Jackpot.