I suppose 592 miles in 24 hours is possible, but pretty amazing. That would be 24.7 mph or almost exactly 40 kph. IIRC, In The Day 25 miles in one hour was sort of the standard to consider oneself a strong time trialist, perhaps still is. But few could duplicate that for another consecutive 23 hours. Flat stages of the Grand Tours are sometimes run off at 45 kph or better, but those are sledom longer than 300 km, so that pace would be sustained for 7 hours or less. So the record you site would allow a rider to drop the pace 5 kph from a fast TdF stage, but force him to sustain it more than three times as long. Sounds like to set such a record, one would have to have the speed of a top pro and even more stamina than most of them. If it's true, I'd be interested to know who set it, and how he trained for it. Was this done on the road or on a velodrome? A sheltered velodrome would remove road surface, traffic, and much of the wind issues, and make feeding, drinking, and receiving coaching much easier. Still seems pretty amazing to me though.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA
Tom Sanders <tesanders@comcast.net> wrote: I met good buddy Mark Agree at Matt's shop as we both had some bike repairs to get done and then planned a lunch. Matt was, as always, his pleasant and generous self. He showed Mark and some really neat stuff.
He showed us how to disguise a Campagnolo drop out to look like a Columbus dropout and it was really clever, his ability to do so.
He showed us the Assenmacher bike, now on his wall, that the 24 hour record (592 miles.does that even sound possible?) had been set with in Montreal.
He showed us a really special track bike he was donating to a museum (tried valiantly to buy it, but met with no success) that still had the owner's name written on the rims "Sweet Sue Novara", I believe. Matt said she had won two championships on this very bike. I have a decent picture for anyone wanting to see it.
I have a few friends wanting a tall Assenmacher bike and I asked him about one. He disappeared into the back room and came back carrying the fanciest Assenmacher frame I have ever seen. I immediately tried to buy it, but it belongs to a client and he was planning to E-Bay it. He said he'd contact the owner and see what he would sell it for outright. I need to get back with him about this one.maybe the nicest Assenmacher I am aware of.
Mark and I had a great lunch and a wonderful time was had by all.Now I need a nap!
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA