Gone on any long rides lately? Three hours? Four? Maybe five? I bet you didn’t go for 24 GD hours. But Coldwater, Ont.’s Ben Sweet did—and ended up winning the 24-hour North American championships in Bayboro, North Carolina.
“It was my first ultra race, but I knew I was capable of being competitive and had a chance at winning. I went in with the goal of 500 miles or 805 km,” he said. “Knowing that the winner the year before only did 475 miles (764 km), I knew that sticking to this pace would put me in a really good position to win.”
Format of the race
Forty brave souls competed in the 24-hour event, which is a non-draft race. All riders start at the same time and place, and the goal is to ride as far as possible. Drafting is not allowed, making it a pure test of rider versus rider.
The win also means he can ride in the Race Across America (RAAM)—but that was never his goal.
Pain from head to toe
“I came to prove that I am a rider to watch in the ultra scene, gain some exposure, and try to win the North American championship jersey,” he said. “It was a super hard race. The course was pancake-flat, so you were pedalling the entire time and crammed in an aero position. I was feeling pretty haggard around hour 8 in the heat of the day. I was riding on a borrowed bike from a teammate and hadn’t had much time to really dial in the position, so my shoulders and butt were feeling it.”
Between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m., he began to feel drowsy. Around 3 a.m., second place caught up to him.
The race for the win
“I was getting time gaps to who I thought was second, but was actually third and knew I had a sizable lead,” he said. “But the actual second place rider was having timing chip issues, and I had no way of knowing where he was on course. The shock of him pulling up next to me snapped me straight back into race mode, and I felt as if I had just started.”
That meant the last five hours of the race were a max effort as he knew he needed to open the gap and had no way of knowing how big his advantage was.
“Those last five hours hurt so bad,” Sweet said. “I just wrung myself inside out trying to get everything out and ensure the win, and I ended up putting 20 km into second place over those five hours.”
By far the most painful part was the three days following the race, he explained. “I was so incredibly sore; every joint and muscle was super stiff and on the verge of…
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