Cycling 150 miles

I happened to see this dude called Dan cycle 150 miles in a day (in the video below).



Inspired by that, I set out to do something similarly crazy myself. I wanted to be well prepared gearwise. I had brand new handmade Continental Competition Black Chili tubular tires on my Hed wheels, and a new chain and cassette on my trusty old Cervelo P3. Everything was already ready to go, with the possible exception of me of course. I've done some training indoors on my Tacx Bushido, but not too much on real roads.

The first day I managed to ride 136 km (84.5 miles) before stopping in another town for a night's rest at my relatives' home. The weather was ideal, sunny 21 C (70 F) with a nice cool breeze from the sea. I drank mainly Nuun Kona Cola, and a small bottle of Coca Cola and a can of Red Bull. I wore Orca triathlon shorts, which felt great with just the right amount of compression. No issues whatsoever you know where.

I continued next morning, feeling good. It turned out to be a hotter day around 27C (80 F). My Suplest triathlon cycling shoes as well as my Giro helmet provided excellent ventilation for hot weather.

Nevertheless I perhaps overdosed caffeine (strong coffee for breakfast, 3 bottles of Kona Cola, and caffeinated gels). I started to feel dizzy after 90K. I took Salt Stick caps, but it had no effect on me - too late. I called it a day after 97 km (60.3 miles). Maybe I should have taken more fruit and water like Dan, instead of SiS Go gels and Clif Shot Bloks.

I know 233 km (145 miles) in two days is not that much, but it's by far my longest bike training this year. Overall it was a very pleasant and rewarding experience, except those big trucks zooming by occasionally inches from my body. I installed a red blinking Petzl led light on the back of my saddle. It probably didn't make that much difference, but it helped me feel a little safer.

Anyway I saw lots of cyclists out there, and everyone seemed to be having fun. Maybe not the best day ever, but certainly a couple of great days.

Zentri swims across Lake Tahoe - cool!

ZenTriathlon, the owner and host of the first, best and longest running triathlon podcast Zen And The Art Of Triathlon, swam about 36 km across Lake Tahoe (from south to north) last weekend in 13.5 hours.

That's almost ten times the Ironman swim leg and about the same distance as a straight-line English Channel swim would be. At almost 2K altitude.

ZenTriathlon swam with ultraswimmer Jamie Patrick. Very very cool - obviously, as I don't think the water was much warmer than 17 C!

Big River Man movie review

This documentary film came out in 2009, but I just saw it recently. It's a great movie, if you love open water swimming. Even if you hate swimming, it's pretty funny.

The star is Martin Strel, the guy who has swam Danube, Mississippi, Yangtze and Amazon rivers. This movie is about the Amazon project in 2007.



Swimming is not Mr. Strel's only addiction. His son Borut says the Slovenian Superman downs two bottles of wine every day. Nobody knows how much beer he drinks.

Mr. Strel is strong as a bull, and the size of one as well. His only weak spot at the time of shooting this film was mastering the delicacies of English language.



Mr. Strel is almost 57 years old, but he keeps on swimming. He recently swam 19 miles in Colorado river. The water temperature was 8 C (46 F). This feat will be featured in an episode of 'Stan Lee's Superhumans' TV show next fall.

Paragliding from Salzburg to Monaco

The Alpine weather hasn't been favorable so far for the Red Bull X-Alps paragliding/hiking contest. However day 5 gave a chance for some competitors to fly a bit longer.

Swiss Christian Maurer leads the race. He was notified of a 24h Forbidden Zone Penalty on Friday.

Finland's Jouni Makkonen damaged his glider on Saturday. He continues the race in 10th place with his back-up glider.

The first flyers are expected to reach Mont Blanc on Monday. From there they will turn south towards the final destination Monaco.

Homamade Hokas

Homemade Hokas. I guess extreme runners are extremely creative.