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Indian Pacific Wheel Race

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Posted on March 18, 2017 at 21:27:34
JDK
Audiophile

Posts: 19654
Location: Sydney
Joined: June 26, 2000




Some of you might be familiar with RAAM - The Race Across America - a 3,000 mile unsupported cycle race from Oceanside CA to Annapolis MD.

Well, our first equivalent event started yesterday morning in Fremantle, Western Australia. They race from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Sydney. 5,500kms - The winner, if you can believe it is expected to cross the line in around 12 days.

It started yesterday morning at 9am WA time, and after about 27 hours, the front runners have already covered ~750km. Fark!

It's going to be great following this. I've ridden through the Victorian Alps, and these lunatics, after already racking up 4,500km in the previous 8 or 10 days, have to ride up a couple of the most merciless mountain climbs Australia has to offer, and with several kilos of camping gear and supplies!

There is a great tracking page on the website if anyone wants to follow it live.


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John K

 

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RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 19, 2017 at 12:52:04
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 RAAM is a supported ride. And the worst climbs are nearer the start than the end, though don't discount the Appalachians.

Is the Australian version?

A few guys DO ride unsupported while others detour to run thru a McDonalds Drivethru for some lunch.

I was in Huntington Beach where the RAAM rides started after previous starts somewhere else. The race has changed these days to include Tandem and Team divisions. The Ladies are not forgotten, either.

'Plutonium' Pete Penseyres lived up the hill from me in a town called Fallbrook. He worked about 50 miles away at the San Onofre nuke power plant. Thus the 'Plutonium'. He biked back and forth to work when in training, which was most of the time. He was a 2x winner of RAAM and set an average speed record which stood for years.
Too much is never enough

 

RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 19, 2017 at 14:04:45
JDK
Audiophile

Posts: 19654
Location: Sydney
Joined: June 26, 2000
 Uh. Yes, The Trans Am Bike Race is the self-supported one!
The IPWR is the Aussie equivalent I guess.

Self-supported in the case of IPWR means that you can't organise anything for yourself that the rest of the competitors can't access also - So McDonalds or gas stations or restaurants are OK, but having your own team following in a van and feeding you and sleeping you is not OK.

And yes, the climbing in the IPWR starts after 4,500km! Not as high or as much climbimg as the Rockys, but it will hurt.
The whole race will be a lot more desolate / isolated with a lot of the time, the nearest towns more than 200 or 300kms away.

They are freaks. 48 hours into the race and the leaders are 1,100kms into it.

There are 8 women in the race. This is one sport where a woman could easily win it. I think an Alaskan woman won the Trans Am last year.





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John K

 

RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 19, 2017 at 17:27:39
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Self Supported adds a real extra degree of difficulty.

Supported riders can STOP and sleep in the team van or simply relax, if that's the right word, for a meal. I really doubt anyone in any of these 'single stage' races sleeps more than 3 hours at a whack.
I couldn't imagine carrying a front Panier full of camp gear as well. I'd hope the rules made allowances for WATER for the riders. A big barrel of it every 100km or so for the 'duration'.
Water goes 1000gm per liter or about 8.3lb per gallon and you DO need at least a gallon per day for such exertions. In hot weather? ADD water until soaked.
Too much is never enough

 

RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 19, 2017 at 19:18:09
JDK
Audiophile

Posts: 19654
Location: Sydney
Joined: June 26, 2000
 The front riders are onto the Nullabor Plain now - At the worst spot there is just one water source about 200km into a 450km stretch!
It's pancake flat though, so they will load up!



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John K

 

Limited water .... Maybe a little more isolated than a lot of competitors are used to , posted on March 19, 2017 at 22:47:32
JDK
Audiophile

Posts: 19654
Location: Sydney
Joined: June 26, 2000




Norseman to Ceduna - That's a distance of 1,180kms.




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John K

 

RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 20, 2017 at 00:47:16
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Best Bet would be to TIME the race start so this section was done IN THE DARK.

Cooler temps and NO broiling sun. Careful you don't run over that TaiPan in the middle of the road!

200km is over 120 miles which at 'race pace' of maybe 16mph is about 8 hours.
Add another 250km = 150+ miles or another 10 hours or so.

Sorry, I think it would be Humane to place a water tank at the 375km mark, or midway between the 200km water source and the 'end' of that segment. And a BF umbrella, too, while your at it.

I rode the Tour De North County here in San Diego for several years. Part of the 50 mile route was up a 7 mile grade. Water was at a fire station well before that and again right at the TOP. One year it was 100f on grade without a Farts worth of Wind. The demand was so extreme that the water station on the TOP of the grade simply ran out and I and many others waited for water to arrive.
My jersey was CRUNCHY with Salt Encrustation by the end of the ride. I rinsed it out using the garden hose PRIOR to laundry.
Too much is never enough

 

RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 20, 2017 at 14:37:29
JDK
Audiophile

Posts: 19654
Location: Sydney
Joined: June 26, 2000
 It's autumn now here and the temps down there have been friendly - mid 20s.

You couldn't do it there in summer. It would be deadly! And salt depletion can hospitalise you despite being hydrated. Nasty stuff. On big rides I always mix sugar/salt powders in my bottles - every other bottle.

They seem to be going OK - timing their night rides to rack up a hundred or two kms and hit a roadhouse at dawn for breakfast.

The race strategy is pure evil. Whoever has the ironest constitution to avoid sleeping and just ride at the front puts so much pressure on everybody to behind to get even less sleep to stay in touch. You can't make up 100km by riding faster - only by sleeping less .............


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John K

 

RE: Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted on March 20, 2017 at 14:51:02
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Agreed. One VERY successful RAAM rider was a 'pro' who had ridden in the Tour De France.
He treated it as one LONG stage.
The name Jonathan Boyer comes to mind, but don't quote me.

The guy would take meals while riding. Change to a clean Jersey, too.
I'm guessing that 'when 'ya gotta go', you must STOP.

Making up time is a bear. The further you have to go, the less you need make up per 10km or whatever.
If you are 30 minutes behind with 100 miles to go? That's a LOT of time per mile. The only person I know of who did such a feat was Greg LeMond in the Tour De France when he was in 2nd place with ONE stage remaining. It was 'the race of truth' for all time.
Too much is never enough

 

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