He's won the Race Across America three times.
On Saturday he set a new world cycling record: 556 miles in 24 hours.
Five hundred and fifty six miles!
That's farther than Pennington to Montreal. It's like Pennington to Charlotte, NC.
In twenty four hours!
By bicycle.
He did that.
Let's try to get our heads around his record.
556 miles in 24 hours means averaging over 23 miles per hour. Even if he didn't stop the entire time, he must have slowed a little bit to relieve himself sometimes. There must have been some wind or elevation changes that required him to drop below 23 miles per hour. So at other times he was necessarily going 24 or 25 miles per hour.
Without the engineering details, wind drag increases geometrically in proportion to velocity. Gut-feel language: when you increase speed, it takes much, much more energy to sustain that speed. That's why drafting is so beneficial. Christoph rode solo. No drafting.
My typical commute might average 12 - 14 miles per hour. I get pretty excited when my speed is above 20 miles per hour -- instantaneously! I've done several multi-hundred-mile rides and averaged less than half his pace! In my best cycling shape ever I've ridden a hundred miles without stopping and averaged 20 miles per hour --- and every cell in my body felt like applesauce by the end. Christoph did more than FIVE TIMES THAT DISTANCE at a much faster pace.
DUDE! You rock.
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