Guinness World Record - 5,000 mile e-bike ride across US

[Timpo]

Okay so this guy is setting up a Guinness World Record for e-bike touring ride.
5,000 miles in 30 days, which is 166 miles/day.

He's using the Stromer ST2S.

Good for him for showing the world what ebikes can do.
But at the same time, I have a mixed feeling.
No disrespect to him, but I'm not that impressed... is it actually that hard to do or what?

More info: https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/student-begins-5000-mile-record-breaking-e-bike-ride-across-us.html

 

[J.R.]

No disrespect to him, but I'm not that impressed... is it actually that hard to do or what?

Incredibly hard! My 1st ebike year, commuting 34 miles a day and fun runs, I rode about 6000 miles and I felt I was always on a bike saddle. The next 2 years I put in about 4k miles total.

@Ravi Kempaiah's record, in my opinion, was a massive achievement.

 

[opimax]

I would suggest if you aren’t impressed with Ravi’s record you should try to beat it.. I am sure it could be done, not by me or very many others though. I am impressed that anyone can spend that much time is the saddle on any bike, the amount of support that had to be organized, the amount of practice he did, and many other aspects it takes just to attempt this much less actually doing it!

 

[Over50]

No disrespect to him, but I'm not that impressed... is it actually that hard to do or what?

I don't know if its hard for a young and experienced cyclist. I do know it would be extremely difficult (if not impossible) for me so I have a lot of respect for the accomplishment. My commute is approximately 35 miles. Maybe I could handle 50. But commuting 2-3 times per week at 35 miles per commute I felt it at the end of the week. 166 miles per day? I couldn't get close to that.

Aside from the athletic accomplishment is the increased visibility it brings to e-bikes. He's an ambassador for the industry by doing what he did. So, yeah, I think it is a great accomplishment both physically and for promoting the bikes and the industry (and Stromer in particular). I have a lot of respect for the accomplishment and I imagine it wasn't easy to pull off.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

@Timpo ,
Happy to answer any questions you may have. @J.R. , @JayVee , @opimax are my friends and they have kind words to say

But, do I think it is hard to beat.. no? It is not easy either. Actually, managing the logistics, time, weather, food etc on top of the rules and regulations set by Guinness is little challenging. With a good team, a fit person can have a successful attempt at it.
There are thousands of superb athletes who can crush this record, so in that context, this is a not big athletic achievement. If you have some stern determination, it could be done.

The point was to show even an amateur can do something special. E-bikes do empower people in a superhuman way and it could really make a positive change to your daily commute.

 

[Reid]

E-bikes do empower people in a superhuman way

And that is so true. And you are a super human to do what you did, and do what you do, Ravi. You are a light of this forum and your every post is of interest to me. You know what you say and you say what you mean and you mean to enlighten. And you do.

 

[John U]

Ravi. You da man I am inspired by your attitude and your accomplishment. The ebike community is lucky to have you. Keep shining brother.

 

[Captain Slow]

@Timpo ,
Happy to answer any questions you may have. @J.R. , @JayVee , @opimax are my friends and they have kind words to say

But, do I think it is hard to beat.. no? It is not easy either. Actually, managing the logistics, time, weather, food etc on top of the rules and regulations set by Guinness is little challenging. With a good team, a fit person can have a successful attempt at it.
There are thousands of superb athletes who can crush this record, so in that context, this is a not big athletic achievement. If you have some stern determination, it could be done.

The point was to show even an amateur can do something special. E-bikes do empower people in a superhuman way and it could really make a positive change to your daily commute.

That sounds right to me. It would not be an easy record to beat, lots of logistics to work out, you need some support, etc ........

But yes, get some former or even current pro attempting this and I would guess they could beat the record pretty easily. As a comparison in the Tour De France they do roughly 3,300 km's in about 22 days, though I suppose it is hard to compare. They're not using motors so that makes it harder for them, but they're also drafting each other which makes it easier. They undoubtedly have more support which makes it easier, but they have days where they climb over 20,000 ft. which makes it much harder.

Maybe a better comparison is Race Across America which is about 3,000 miles in 12 days riding solo so no drafting. Put one of those riders on an ebike and they would likely easily top 5,000 miles in 30 days. But an average person? Think it's not that easy to do.

 

[Captain Slow]

Actually I was wondering about how much battery Ravi used each day.

Ravi can you share details about how often you charged, etc ...... On the 200 miles days, even with conservative use of the battery you would have likely depleted the battery or rode a significant amount of time without the motor on, so you'd be just carrying dead weight. Or did you ride in the morning, recharge mid-day and then ride in the evening? I saw a reference to hot weather and not riding in the middle of the day. Were you able to charge then and use more than one battery worth of power on those days? I'm very interested in what your battery charging strategy and use was.

If you had a cycle satiator to charge that obviously would have made quick charging a lot easier and given you much more range.