The Story of a Record-Breaking Race Across America

騎車

September 20, 2024

Photography courtesy of: Ali Rogers/Pranalens

Americans Colin O’Brady and Lucas Clarke tell us how they redefined human limits in this year’s Race Across America.

Three-thousand and sixty four. Just consider that number for a second.

It’s the distance in miles from Oceanside, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the grueling Race Across America (RAAM), and is considerably more than the total of each year’s Tour de France. It’s an unfathomably long distance to cycle.

It’s all the more impressive, then, that in June, American duo Colin O’Brady and Lucas Clarke completed it as a relay team in a world record time of 6 days, 6 hours, 43 minutes.

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You may know Colin as an adventurer who, in recent years, has been racking up world records across the globe, including the Explorer’s Grand Slam, the speed record for the Seven Summits, and the first solo, unsupported crossing of Antarctica. This led Lucas — an experienced cyclist and long-time pal of Colin’s — to pitch the idea of joining him for a record together.

He asked me, ‘What’s the biggest, hardest cycling challenge?’ ... The first thing I thought of was the Race Across America.

“I said to Colin: ‘I love all these amazing world records you've done. We should do a project together — how about biking?’”

At first, Colin wasn’t sure if he could cycle an exceedingly long distance. “He asked me, ‘What’s the biggest, hardest cycling challenge?’” said Lucas. “The first thing I thought of was the Race Across America.”

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RAAM: The dream of Sub-6

The RAAM, held annually since 1982, requires entrants to cycle from the West Coast to the East, non-stop as quickly as possible, via a defined route featuring 54 checkpoints. It can be done individually or, as Colin and Lucas did, in a team. As part of the prep, the duo looked at the existing record of 6 days, 11 hours and figured it was beatable. In fact, they went a step further and aimed for the seemingly impossible: going sub-6 days, which required a steady average of at least 20mph throughout.

“RAAM is an interesting challenge,” said Colin. “There are two parts to it. One is the prep, as it's not like you can just show up at the start line. The fact that we were dreaming about this in training all year gave us a daily touch point.”

The second part is during the race itself. “You need a deep level of trust. Lucas and I only saw each other a total of a few minutes throughout the entire six days - the moment one finished their shift and the next person started theirs. If you didn't have a deep relationship with that person, you might be wondering, ‘Am I dropping the ball? Do they need me to go harder?’ All those insecurities. But because Lucas and I know each other so well, it was almost intuitive.”

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The duo have been buddies for more than 30 years, since back in first grade. “Colin’s always been an incredible athlete — way more of an athlete than I ever was,” said Lucas.

The finer details

Once they’d decided on entering, the preparation began one year before they took to the start line. The logistics were mind-boggling, to say the least, and they attempted to map it out via a series of in-depth spreadsheets detailing every minute detail, from aerodynamics, including wind-tunnel testing at Silverstone in England and bespoke kit crafted by Le Col, to days and days of Zone 2 heartrate training.

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“One of the keys to the training was weaving it into our everyday lives,” said Lucas. “I have a full-time job, three kids, and a complicated schedule. I was doing 14 hours-plus a week training, and 10 hours of that was Zone 2 – on the turbo for 90 minutes, putting in what I call the steady, boring work. We built our aerobic capacity to a point where I could sit at 280 watts for 10 hours. It felt like I could go for days, which was exactly what I needed to do.”

I have a full-time job, three kids, and a complicated schedule. I was doing 14 hours-plus a week training, and 10 hours of that was Zone 2 ... putting in what I call the steady, boring work.

“Our coach, Gary Hand, is legendary,” added Colin. “He was monitoring every pedal stroke, every heartbeat, through all the tech platforms.” Gary was part of a team of 13 behind Colin and Lucas, helping them prepare in the run-up, and during, the race.

The pair even worked on building neck strength by hanging weights off their head, ensuring they eradicated any potential aches and pains during the challenge.

Another key team member was Finnian Kelly, who walked everyone through a manifestation process and “energetic alignment” around the project. “It resulted in us coming up with a rallying cry: ‘We are world record holders!’” said Colin. “It’s a simple statement but has significant meaning, as it was all of us together, believing it’s happened. Almost like reverse-engineering. The power of this team is what got us through this record.”

RAAM: The challenge itself

During the race, each rider would put in a shift of around 90 minutes, covering anything from 40km to 60km. Then the other rider would take over, setting off as soon as their wheels crossed. It meant that neither of them got more than around an hour’s sleep at a time for the entire challenge.

For Colin, one of the most difficult parts of the six days came just four hours in. “We were in the Californian desert, around Durango Springs, and the temperature was 115F. There was a tailwind, which I thought was great, as it helped me rip along this section at 36mph. But the wind was in the exact direction we were traveling, so there was zero evaporative cooling effect. It was like sitting in a sauna working out as hard as you can. After an hour, my heartrate was 195bpm. It took me around 24 hours to recover and rehydrate.”

After dealing with brutal crosswinds for 600 miles through Kansas, which knocked them behind schedule, Colin had to think fast to avoid another unscheduled hazard: a pair of deer in the middle of the road in the Appalachians. “It was a good reminder that all it takes is one second of losing control, you’ve broken your collarbone and it’s over.”

For Lucas, the biggest challenge was keeping focus through the night as sleep deprivation kicked in. “At one point I was on the side of a highway for two hours with all kinds of debris in the road. It was two o'clock in the morning, my brain was fried, there were big trucks coming by — it was extremely nerve-wracking.” He was thankful for his team in the van following behind, helping him through by constantly talking to him and reminding him to eat and drink.

The final push

Following the winds in Kansas, the team knew that achieving sub-6 was unlikely, but the world record remained in their sights.

“About 300 miles from the finish, we knew we were well up on the record, but we still had a lot of riding to do,” said Lucas. “Gary told us to dial up the pace. I put in one shift where I picked up about 12 Strava KOMs.” For his last shift, Lucas was at full threshold, cycling at 350 watts, as hard as he could.

“Colin and I crossed the line together, and the whole team was with us. It was total elation, a pretty special moment.”