I had the honor of riding the Cascade 1200 and Rocky Mountain 1200 this summer with Ken Bonner, one of the most decorated endurance/Brevet riders around. According to the BC Randonneurs homepage, he has recorded over 178,000 kilometers of lifetime Brevet distance. (The BC Randonneurs have established a separate award that is reserved for riders who record long distances "other than Ken", to make sure others get some kind of recognition and he does not monopolize things.)
More accurately, I should say that I had the honor of riding the first ninety minutes or so of the Cascade 1200 with or near Ken... then did not see him again, as I slowed to a more sustainable pace, bonked on the first day's late afternoon long climb, stopped each night, etc., while Ken just "rode through", then returned home for some grandparent duties.
Likewise I did not see him on the Rocky Mountain 1200, where Ken's group started 6 hours later than mine, and finished 18 hours+ sooner. I think he probably passed at Jasper while I was sleeping.
So I was interested to learn that Ken just celebrated his 70th birthday by doing 70 hours of riding ... another 1600 kms.
Most important, he looks happy!
Is that 1200km of continuous cycling without sleeping... it couldn't be?
ReplyDeleteBonner is a true iron man.
Not continuous. He takes 60-90 minute naps along the way. Ken Bonner completed the 1200 Cascade1200 in 68 hours - a slow time for him.
ReplyDeletehttp://seattlerando.org/C1200/?p=919
Ken did the RM1200 in 62 hours 43 minutes. Nigel Press managed 52 hours 52 minutes. In 2008 Ken had the "course record" of 50 hours 34 minutes.
http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/rocky/results-archive.html
I try to use as much of the 90 hours as possible ... for getting more sleep, and riding in a fully awake state.