The Steven Abraham watch thread

marcusjb

He's a lot lighter than when he started. He got to somewhere around 68kg I believe.

They are amateur attempts. Kurt self financed and Steve was helped out by donations from the community he has put so much into for years.

Certainly I do not think money was tight on Steve's attempt and he was able to use food supplements etc. and he had people supporting him with fresh food etc. At home.

I am sure plenty of lessons have been learnt and further advice will be needed before any further attempts by anyone.

There just is not a training manual for something of this magnitude. Most dieticians, coaches etc. Will never have worked on anything so demanding. Steve got things right, he got them wrong. I am sure he knows the areas he needs further professional support on if there is a next time.

It is easy to be an arm chair expert and say 'they should do this or that', but there are only really two people in the world currently that know what it is like to ride 200+ mile days for months on end.

ugo.santalucia

marcusjb wrote:

He's a lot lighter than when he started. He got to somewhere around 68kg I believe.

They are amateur attempts. Kurt self financed and Steve was helped out by donations from the community he has put so much into for years.

Certainly I do not think money was tight on Steve's attempt and he was able to use food supplements etc. and he had people supporting him with fresh food etc. At home.

I am sure plenty of lessons have been learnt and further advice will be needed before any further attempts by anyone.

There just is not a training manual for something of this magnitude. Most dieticians, coaches etc. Will never have worked on anything so demanding. Steve got things right, he got them wrong. I am sure he knows the areas he needs further professional support on if there is a next time.

It is easy to be an arm chair expert and say 'they should do this or that', but there are only really two people in the world currently that know what it is like to ride 200+ mile days for months on end.

Although these attempts are unique, there are people who run multiple marathons over long period of times and other similar challenges, so I believe there is a pool of expertise out there, in terms of nutrition and coaching, the problem is how easy or cheap it is to access it

DeVlaeminck

First thing is you make it as easy as you can, that means flat roads, warm weather, no mudguards unless it is forecast to rain, recumbent where useful etc etc. I really don't see anyone beating the record in the way Steve attempted to - I doubt he'd have smashed it if it weren't for the accident wasn't he already down on Kurt's average anyway?

mpatts

marcusjb wrote:

He's a lot lighter than when he started. He got to somewhere around 68kg I believe.

They are amateur attempts. Kurt self financed and Steve was helped out by donations from the community he has put so much into for years.

Certainly I do not think money was tight on Steve's attempt and he was able to use food supplements etc. and he had people supporting him with fresh food etc. At home.

I am sure plenty of lessons have been learnt and further advice will be needed before any further attempts by anyone.

There just is not a training manual for something of this magnitude. Most dieticians, coaches etc. Will never have worked on anything so demanding. Steve got things right, he got them wrong. I am sure he knows the areas he needs further professional support on if there is a next time.

It is easy to be an arm chair expert and say 'they should do this or that', but there are only really two people in the world currently that know what it is like to ride 200+ mile days for months on end.

I watched his Q&A and a couple of things struck me:

1) What a catch 22 - to do the distance you need to go faster, but to do this he needed to rest, which meant he didn't have enough time to do the mileage
2) his "I thought I would get fitter as time went on" was very interesting.

nigeldoyle

mpatts wrote:

I watched his Q&A and a couple of things struck me:

1) What a catch 22 - to do the distance you need to go faster, but to do this he needed to rest, which meant he didn't have enough time to do the mileage
2) his "I thought I would get fitter as time went on" was very interesting.

He was riding at a very low heart rate and less than what I do a recovery ride at. I doubt that there was much training stress. I wonder if he should have ridden with his rate in the 120's? still low but he would have been quicker and there would have been more aerobic stress placed on his system.

IGH

Steven Abraham is officially a record-holder. See http://www.ultracycling.com/wp_news/?p=978

pinno

It's a real pity. He looked shattered in the vid. He was cruising before the accident and the physical effects of being nearly a year on the bike with 180 + days left to run is hard to contemplate, therefore. it is totally disingenuous for us to sit here and suggest diet/speed/training/preperation etc.

marcusjb

Well, Steve's back riding and helping out others:



Kasja (who is trying to break the women's year record (http://www.ayearinthesaddle.com/" target="_blank)) and he, rode together a couple of days over the weekend.

Great stuff!