Buy your number and book your hotel early. You can always sell the
number and cancel your hotel if you can't do it.

It's really hard. It's the hardest athletic endeavour I've ever
done...

It was incredibly satisfying...

Has anyone here every thought of(or attempted) making the entire route
in one day on a 36'er?

I've thought about it, but I haven't done anything that put me in danger
of succeeding. Doing it in 17-18 hours would be a world-class ride. I
only know of three riders who have done 200+ miles in 24 hours, and one
or two that might be able to do it in 17-18 hours.

But hey, go for it. If your training tells you it might be possible
then make sure you start as early as possible and have your support
vehicle prepared to tailgate you with floodlights so you can ride into
the dark if necessary (they'll kick you off the course if they think
it's not safe). It would be an awesome achievement to do it in one day.

that's what I've been thinking... I'm going to keep pumping out the
miles and we'll see as the date approaches if it will be possible for
me.

Sounds good. You should come up to Seattle some time and do a training
ride with a few of us. PM me if you want an e-mail address, as I don't
read RSU very frequently.

Hey straightarrow, where are you based? If you're anywhere near the
Seattle area, there's a good possibility of connecting with folks in the
local group for some training rides. Sounds like Joe is in, I'm giving
serious thought, and even some of the locals not riding it would get out
and do some long rides just 'cause.

Hey ducttape: just remember that stopping to talk to other riders while
on your quest will break your concentration and undermine your goal.
Seriously though, if you are seriously thinking about going for it, good
luck to you. You'll enter a pretty small club, even if the other uni
riders will miss the benefit of your company during the ride. One thing
you might do in prep is read all the posts by Ken Looi and Sam Wakling
on their 24 hour records, and try to calculate how many hours in they
were when they hit the 200 mile mark. Or PM them with the question. I
can't remember reading that level of hour-by-hour breakdown, but knowing
it would give you an idea of how long it took world class riders in peak
condition who knew they were going for a world record to do it, and you
could then figure out the do-ability for you, and what it would take to
prep for a successful run at it.

TB

The biggest liability for me is the left knee. I had an aggressive 10 cm
tumor( A ripe peach is about 10 cm) removed from that knee... I have
some permanent lifelong challenges but life is really, really good. I
feel strong... If I make good decisions and apply myself the STP could
happen.