The Florida 500. Well it’s actually 530 miles but who is going to argue about 30 miles.
My next cycling adventure starts in a week’s time. I’m racing (well, riding against myself, the none stopping clock, the road and the weather) 530 miles from Jacksonville to Key West. The official time limit is 5O hours and the cutoff is 8am Sunday morning 23rd February.
Why do I take on these big challenges, you might ask, I ask myself this often?
Why push yourself to your physical and mental limits when you have an incurable lymphoma, diabetes and emphysema, if you don’t have to?
Why spend so much time training/riding when you aren’t really interested in competing against others?
These and many other questions have occupied my mind for many hours, since I started cycling in 2017 and my diagnosis of Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia.
The simple answers are:-
Why not.
It makes me feel alive.
It gives me a reason to stay active and as healthy as possible.
It’s a challenge.
This year I have entered three Ultra Distance cycling rides. The Florida 500, The HooDoo 300 and The Natchez 444. Hopefully, this time next year I’ll be far more experienced and much better at this Ultra-distance cycling stuff. The furthest I’ve ridden so far in a single ride is 216 miles in 20 hours, back at Psycho in 2023. So next week’s adventure will be 2.5 times farther than my best if successful. A big ask, but why try simple things eh.
This will also be the first time I have a support crew with me. Marc Poland (BarrUltra) will be my crew chief and he has many years of top level Ultra-Cycling experience. Marc also has a wonderful fully equipped support van which is an added bonus for sure. My brother Tim, Nephew Joe and a good friend Don Coughlan are also along for the ride, three solid men I can truly rely on. Last but certainly not least, Deirdre will be in a 2nd vehicle supporting and supplying the team along the route.
With just under a week to go, my preparations have been going well and I think I’m as ready as I probably could be. Let’s see how things go this week and what the race brings. Whatever happens it’s going to be an adventure for sure.
