26.2 mile Long Beach Marathon, 10/17/10 (Bike tour)

[MuniAddict]

My first one! Got up at 4am to make the 6am start for the Long Beach 26.2 mile marathon! There were about 3,500 two-wheelers, and I was the only unicyclist! I was expecting at least a couple more, so unless they just got a really late start, I was it! About 25,000 runners started at 7am.

There was the expected bottleneck of bikes at the starting gun, and it took me a good 5 minutes just to get pass the start line, since I was about 1/2 way back in the pack. It took about a mile after we started for things to open up enough to get up to speed.

I was passing lots of bikes on the the hills, and the spectators were going wild! I filmed this video while I was riding, and rode the entire 26.2 miles non-stop, with no dismounts or falls. (Got lucky!) Even with the filming and the slow start, I managed to finish in 2:08. (corrected from 2:04) I was pretty happy with that.

Hope you enjoy and comment.

YouTube - Long Beach Marathon 10.17.10. On...

[Doc Doo]

Wow! Go you MuniAddict, what a feat. Ok, Ok so I know you've done a century but a marathon is pretty darn good to me who can only just get round the block without a upd or three!

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by Doc Doo

Wow! Go you MuniAddict, what a feat. Ok, Ok so I know you've done a century but a marathon is pretty darn good to me who can only just get round the block without a upd or three!

I think even though the century was longer, my average riding speed was a lot faster and totally non-stop on this ride All was well until the last 3 or so miles...my right sit bone started hurting all of a sudden and the pain was almost unbearable! I think I must have pinched a nerve, but I was able to finish in relative comfort after some shifting around while riding.

Afterwards though, it was extremely painful even to walk, let alone get back on to ride to my car, lol! This is why it's probably a good idea to stop now & then to stretch, and to let the blood get totally circulating again! I just wanted to go the whole way non-stop.

[Doc Doo]

26miles nonstop is quite something MuniAddict and I totally understand the 'need' to want to do so despite the discomfort caused. Another goal achieved!

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by Doc Doo

26miles nonstop is quite something MuniAddict and I totally understand the 'need' to want to do so despite the discomfort caused. Another goal achieved!

Haha thanks, next time I'll take a break or two along the way, even it's it's for just a minute or so. Can make a lot of difference.

[scott ttocs]

Hey MuniAddict,

I considered riding it but decide not to because the course is completely flat, and the first hour would was in the dark.

Your video makes it look like fun.

Scott

[Doug]

Great job Terry!

I see an ungeared 36. What crank length?


Doug

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by scott ttocs

Hey MuniAddict,

I considered riding it but decide not to because the course is completely flat, and the first hour would was in the dark.

Your video makes it look like fun.

Scott

There were several climbs, but flat for the most part, but why would that be a reason for not riding it? It was a blast and tons of fun and the crowds LOVED it! And yes it was dark for the first 30 minutes, but the streets were lighted so It was no biggie. I really expected to see you and Loren (IceDaddy) there since he had made a thread about it (that's how I became aware of it! ) and in that thread you said you might go too.

Originally Posted by Doug

Great job Terry!

I see an ungeared 36. What crank length?


Doug

Thanks Doug. Yeah, ungeared and I was running 110mm moments.

[johnfoss]

Nice vid. I like the effect of the camera at the end of a stick; it's like we (the viewers) are the boat, while you, and the world behind you, are the rudder!

My one nonstop marathon experience is similar to what you described. Though mine wasn't a specific sit bone problem, it was just my crotch area getting increasingly angry with me. If my crotch had had an arm, it would have punched me in the face. But that was a race, so time was of major importance. One could probably alleviate at least some of the crotch pain by doing some standing-up riding, though you'd still have to slow down to do that. Another option might be to get off and jog a bit, but same problem with loss of time.

It was great to finish the ride without a dismount, which is probably why you did the same thing. But according to our bodies, that's too far to go without stopping! I'm sure more training would make it easier...

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by johnfoss

Nice vid. I like the effect of the camera at the end of a stick; it's like we (the viewers) are the boat, while you, and the world behind you, are the rudder!

My one nonstop marathon experience is similar to what you described. Though mine wasn't a specific sit bone problem, it was just my crotch area getting increasingly angry with me. If my crotch had had an arm, it would have punched me in the face. But that was a race, so time was of major importance. One could probably alleviate at least some of the crotch pain by doing some standing-up riding, though you'd still have to slow down to do that. Another option might be to get off and jog a bit, but same problem with loss of time.

It was great to finish the ride without a dismount, which is probably why you did the same thing. But according to our bodies, that's too far to go without stopping! I'm sure more training would make it easier...

Thanks John. I actually did do some stand up pedaling to try to alleviate the pain, which helped a bit, but was slowing me down too much.
I finally just scooted myself up on the saddle, to the narrowest part, so there would be as little contact with the sit bones as possible. This helped a lot, and allowed me to finish with a lot less pain.

For some reason, my gopro did not shoot the footage smoothly as usual. I used the exact same 720p 60fps setting as always, but when I go home and started editing the raw footage, I immediate noticed the playback was "choppy" and not smooth.

To make sure it wasn't my flash player or something else with my computer, I played back previous footage and it was smooth as silk, both in raw and editied form. Youtube the same thing. This video is choppy, but my other one's are smooth. So I took the battery out of the gopro to reset it, and now it films and plays back fine. Weird. Had a fully charge on it as well.

[uniShark]

Nice one, Terry!
On Friday I did my longest yet continuous ride at about 9 miles. I was definitely getting to the end of my happy time in the saddle when I finished the ride. I think I'll be able to do a marathon-length ride in the forseeable future, but I'll probably be stopping at least once.

[naturequack]

Excellent ride Terry. Of course the most amazing part is that you did it while carrying your camera on the boom. I think that might be a first!
Geoff

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by uniShark

Nice one, Terry!
On Friday I did my longest yet continuous ride at about 9 miles. I was definitely getting to the end of my happy time in the saddle when I finished the ride. I think I'll be able to do a marathon-length ride in the forseeable future, but I'll probably be stopping at least once.

Congrats on your non-stop ride! When I first started, I could go only about 3 miles before saddle soreness forced me to stop! So yeah, if you can do almost 10 continuous, a 26 miler with a few breaks should be very doable! (In hind-sight, I should have stopped to stretch and take a breather at least a couple times during the marathon, even if just for a minute or two each time. )

Originally Posted by naturequack

Excellent ride Terry. Of course the most amazing part is that you did it while carrying your camera on the boom. I think that might be a first!
Geoff

Thanks Geoff, I actually did the same thing when I rode my first century back in June. Of course, that wasn't non-stop, and I my average speed was slower as well.

[deadbeatpope]

Great job once again Terry! Glad someone represented in my home town...I thought about it for about 10 seconds. Too far, too early, too many people, no money.

You made great time, way to keep it up!

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by deadbeatpope

Great job once again Terry! Glad someone represented in my home town...I thought about it for about 10 seconds. Too far, too early, too many people, no money.

You made great time, way to keep it up!

Thanks Kevin. I also thought those same things, but finally decided to go for it, since it was such a unique experience, and riding among 3,000 two-wheelers was insane!