Epic Human Powered Adventures

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The most miles bicycled in one year, set in May of 2017, was set by a woman named Amanda Coker. She did her on a flat loop in Florida, doing the same 7-mile loop over and over again! Her total was 86,500 miles.

Links: Gear Junkie, her Blog or Velo News Q&A.

The prior record was set by Kurt Searvogel in 2016, cycling 76,076 miles (yes the numbers are symbolic).

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Around the world in less than 80 days. On a bicycle. With support. Mark Beaumont (UK) accomplished this feat in the fall of 2017.

His saddle looks down right painful (I have tried a similar model). I am surprised it didn’t use several bikes…a full-on time trial bike (instead of a road bike with clip-on aerobars) and then a road bike with no aerobars for climbing.

Incidentally, he holds the record for the longest distance cycled in a month: 11,315 km (7030 miles) set in May of 2017.

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Chris Bertish was the first person (I believe) to cross the Atlantic on a stand-up paddleboard. 4,600 miles over 93 days in 2017.

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Crossing Antartica 100% self supported in 60 or so days. Ben Saunders is going to start this journey in November of 2017.

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As of 2015, this woman set the record for the longest distance on a stand-up paddleboard. Seychelle Hattingh, a Floridian, set a new world record: 177kms (110 miles). Her average was 4.5 MPH. I have struggled to maintain 5 MPH for 30 minutes!

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In September of 2017, a 70-yr old man kayaked “an almost” self-supported across the Atlantic…for the third time. He is Aleksander Doba from Poland. During his last attempt, he had some mechanical issues and accepted help from the crew of a nearby container ship, which knocked him out of the Guinness World record for a 100% self supported crossing.

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Bryan Allen (Calif.) set a human-power record for air flight in 1977. Above is his plane, the Gossamer Condor (as seen in the Smithsonian Air & Flight Museum, photo copyright 2017, Richard Stum). He received the Kremer Prize for flying a prescribed distance in a figure 8 pattern for about 7-1/2 minutes. He traveled 2.17 km (1.35 miles) going between 10 and 11 miles per hour. Power for the propeller was done by pedaling, similar to a recumbent bicycle.

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Some local acquaintances in Salt Lake City set a new climbing/skimo record on Mount Rainer for a Liberty Ridge ascent (normally a 2 to 3-day trip) and descending down the Emmons route. Sub 8-hours. Brothers Jason and Andy Dorias. May of 2017.

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Author: Rando Richard

I’m an old guy (age 69 in 2023) who enjoys aerobic, endurance sports. I call myself a cardio-junkie. Perhaps the more appropriate term would be “ultra” endurance sports. Since I was a teenager I have always enjoyed “slow twitch” outdoor sports like backpacking, ice climbing, running, mountaineering, hiking, alpine skiing and randonnée skiing (alpine touring, backcountry skiing or skimo). In 2005 I starting running with more regularity — except this time it was not for the intent of getting ready for a mountaineering trip, but as an end to itself. From 2005 to 2007 I managed to eek out two seasons of ultramarathons — that is competitive trail runs up to 50 or 100 miles. Due to a nagging ankle injury from the 80s (an accident while ice climbing in the 1980s where my lower tib and fib were badly broken), I had to cease that grueling, but rewarding activity. I then migrated into ultra distance road cycling or randonneuring. The rides are called brevets (pronounced bruh-VAY, it’s French) and are minimally supported — they are similar to ultrarunning and backpacking where one must be self reliant. Although brevets are non-competitive, they do have have cut off times to qualify as a finisher. They are usually are done in groups, which can have a competitive slant to them. Today, I continue to participate in long distance cycling including some ultra-racing, randonnée skiing (a blend of cross country and downhill disciplines) and still get out on an occasional mountaineering trip. Since 1996 I have been designing, manufacturing and selling camera bags. That is Kinesis Photo Gear (kgear.com). In 2005 I started selling cycling bags under the Kinesis label and eventually expanded it to including other sports like SUP (stand-up paddle boarding and some skimo). Consequently, it become eoGEAR — the “eo” stands for endurance outdoor. My wife and I are empty-nesters now and we live and work out in the boondocks of central Utah, half way between Salt Lake City (great powder) and Moab (great red rocks). Well, I guess that is all for now. Safe travels mate! Perhaps I’ll see you on the road or trail. — Richard Stum

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