Ryan Collins just can't stop. He is always finding, pushing, and rewriting the limits of ultra-endurance efforts. He recently won the 6hr event at Ultra Cycling Worlds, setting a new course record. Here is Ryan's debrief of the experience and fueling lessons gained from this effort.
Brilliant idea of the hour: planes need massage chairs.
I’m wrecked.
Right now I’m cramped in seat 10E on my way back to Maryland after an exciting California adventure. Going into this I knew I would struggle but, you know, we live for the competition and will tackle future problems in the future. And here we are.
After winning the 12 hour ultra cycling world championship in 2023 , 2022 and 2021, I wanted to shift my attention to something different- the 6 hour event. My former coach encouraged me to race and thought I could break his course record. After he lost his battle with depression I knew this was the year to go after it. Plus, it aligned with my world record endeavors. What I didn’t take into account was the hellacious winds (25 mph winds and 30mph+ gusts), and resulting sandstorms, that awaited me in the desert.
Upon arriving in the California desert I was immediately reminded on the dryness, and my body showed the signs. In the grand scheme of things, this should be relatively easy. I’ve ridden my bike longer over multiple days. So just do what I did and everything will be fine, right?
Wrong! My hydration strategy was not enough. Actually, hydration has been the biggest challenge I’ve had with cycling for the past few years, I’ll get into that shortly. My combination of LMNT and Mortal during off cycling hours needed doubling with more water. Lesson learned for the next run.
But let’s talk about more fun things – the race. My race was beyond anyone in the field, it was also against the course record. This meant that I couldn’t waste a single moment. Stopping had to be minimized. I started with a 3.5L camelbak filled with 6x servings of PFH PF60 and 4x PFH PF1500 packets. I figured this would last about 3-4 hours and had my crew on notice for when I needed to stop in for my second one. I also planned on Maurten 160 / Maurten Caf 100 / Santa Madre Unusual Caf every 45 ish min.
That electrolyte level may sound ridiculous, and you’d be right. After testing with Leveln and validating with Nix we found that I sweat acid. Over 2000mg per hour. That’s crazy. Despite preloading with Osmo or PF1500 the night before and morning of I have always been challenged. I typically do better in the heat than competitors but have never gotten it quite right.
Leading up to the event I used sport beets mix before every session for 2 weeks, and loaded with SwissRX Nitric Oxide 2x per day. The last piece of the puzzle was Pillar Triple Magnesium to help relax at night.
After a nice warm up on the road I was ready to jump start from the line. And I did. The gun went off and I jumped, instantly off the line creating the fastest time splits. Everything was going according to plan. Until disaster stuck 3hrs in when the winds picked up. All of a sudden my pace slowed and the thought of breaking the course record was gone with the wind. To make matters worse, I could feel dehydration setting in. I tried to drink more and more frequently but it was too late. I couldn’t consume my Maurten 160 because I had overconsumed and my stomach started to feel ill.
All of these thoughts ran through my head. How could I let this happen? I’m better than this! But, this is reality and now I need to put my head down and push for the next two hours.
After the longest hour I received a text from my crew, “Course record close, GO FASTER!”. You know you’re in a hole when you receive that message and your reply is simply, “No! You go faster”. But then I proceeded to push harder. I saw that I was still above the course record and miss interpreted the text. I just needed to push for the next 20 min and no matter how poor I felt the lasting record would be mine.
And it is. I did it. On a hellacious day where no one came close to any course record or avg speed I defied the impossible and beat the record. I am proud and thrilled, although disappointed by what could have been without winds and dehydration.
But my adventure wasn’t over yet. I quickly grabbed my Victus After for something cool and not too sweet and started recovery with Ketones. I immediately grabbed my bottle of LMNT too. I had one day of recovery before back to back 4hr sessions on the velodrome. Oof.
So here we are. Seat 10E. Smashed, tired, slightly less dehydrated than before, and immensely proud of what we just accomplished.
While this would traditionally be cookie dough season I need to stay somewhat disciplined. One more event this year! All signs point to a great success.
Ryan
