Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Rider to tackle toughest race in US
Blenheim-based road cyclist Craig Harper is getting ready for an endurance race billed as the toughest in the world.
Harper is in the final 100 days of training for the Race Across America, a non-stop bike race that goes between America’s east and west coasts.
Starting on June 11 in Oceanside, California, riders will cross 12 states along a 4828km course, finishing in Annapolis, Maryland on the East Coast.
Harper is no stranger to extreme endurance racing, with the builder and amateur cyclist having won the Taupo Cycle Challenge 640km Maxi Endure in 2018, and setting a new world record for cycling the length of New Zealand solo (2170km in under four-and-a-half days).
‘‘The Race Across America is more than twice the distance,’’ Harper said.
‘‘And it’s not just a race against the clock – this time I’m racing alongside the best endurance riders in the world."
Competitors are given a maximum of 12 days to complete the Race Across America, where they will traverse three major mountain ranges and cross four of the United States’ longest rivers.
The Race Across America is about 30 per cent longer than the Tour de France, with racers completing the course in about half the time.
The main difference between the two races is that unlike the Tour de France, the Race Across America does not have daily sections or rest days – the race is one continual stage.
Harper’s training includes intensive 24-hour monitored sessions in a heat chamber at the University of Waikato’s Adams Centre for High Performance, where he is acclimatising to the anticipated 40-degree desert conditions of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.
During the event, Harper will have a crew of nine on-hand to ensure he stays safe on the road and in racing condition throughout the event – where he will have to contend with physical exhaustion, extensive sleep deprivation, desert temperatures and high-altitude racing.