Mike Across America

For Gut Check 2009 I was planning to team with Dick Beardsley for the 2 person relay division of the race. The first biker(me) would ride from the Wyoming/SD border on highway 212 to Gettysburg, SD – 226 miles and the second rider(Dick) would ride from Gettysburg to the SD/Minnesota border – 188 miles – all on highway 212.  Dick had back surgery one week before the race so my training buddy Jason Cox filled in for Dick. My son Ben and his friend Nick crewed for me and we started at 3:00pm MST on Friday, August 7 with approximately 12 solos riders and two “leap frog” relay team. To make a long story short – I rode my 226 miles in 11 hours, 45 minutes (29 minutes of that was “off the bike” time – eating/bathroom/etc.) My on the bike average was 20 mph.  Jason rode his 188 miles in 10 hours, 31 minutes (41 minutes “off the bike”) so his  average while riding was 19 mph. So we totalled 22 hours 16 minutes total time – breaking the old 2 person record of 25 hour, 37 minutes by 3 hours and 21 minutes. This was a fun event and great training for my 24 hour race in 1 month, where I hope to cover at least 400 miles, within 24 hours, and qualify for the 2010 Race Across America. More to come. Go to gutcheck212.com to learn more about this  SD race.