Wives vs. Husbands Showdown on the Fastest Recumbent Road Bike: 24 Hour World Time Trial Championships 2024

The race started at 5:00 PM on Friday, with Maria leading out for the women and me taking the first lap for the men. Personally, I like being the underdog, with low expectations of me. Maria set a blistering pace and I had to work hard to keep her in my sights. About ten miles into the first lap, as the sun sank below the mountain peaks, I caught up with Maria and slowly passed her. I finished the first lap only about 10 seconds ahead of her.

My stats on lap 1: Avg Watts 164. Normalized Power 182W, Avg Speed 22.8 mph.

John took over for me, and Laura took over for Maria on lap two, with John holding and slowly extending the lead. Now the sun was down, the headlights were burning, and a long chilly sleepless night was starting. We continued alternating laps. We had to hand-off the tracking device at a full-stop in the pit area.

The Crawford’s RV/camper vehicle was a pleasant refuge from the cold night air. The head unit on my bike registered an overnight low temperature of 41F. We had excellent support from Mary Savage (John’s sister) and from Lucia (Maria’s and my daughter). They kept us fed, hydrated, and comfortable during our breaks (thank you Mary and Lucia).

The best time of the whole race was after the sun rose and began to illuminate and warm everything. Late on Saturday morning, with about 6 hours to go in the event, this weather alert came out:

The wind went from very annoying to rather frightening by the mid-afternoon. Racers were being blown across the road, with some walking their bikes at the higher elevations of the course where the wind was the most intense. Speeds really slowed down. On parts of the course, sand was being blasted across the road, making it both hard to see and hard to breath. A steady wind is easier to ride through than a gusty wind, and this was a gusty wind. Tents in the pit area and the huge RAAM start/finish arch tumbled away. All four Cruzbike racers continued to ride through the wind and found having a lower center-of-mass is an advantage. However, the wind certainly cut our mileage down. On my last long lap, I rode very conservatively in the raging wind storm, averaging 90 Watts and a speed of 15.3 mph. Then the race organizers decided that for safety reasons they would end the race at 4:30 PM instead of 5:00 PM.

The final mileage for the Guys was 442.8 versus 429.6 for the Gals; a difference of 13.2 miles. There were nine 2-person teams in the event, and only one team (Rusty Dogs of War) came in ahead of us, smashing the course record with 506 miles. The two guys on that team were about half our age (in the 30-39 age group) and are inspiring disabled veterans and great athletes. The Cruzbike Gals 429.6 miles was more miles than any women’s team over the age of 60. Setting an age-group record under the circumstances is quite an achievement. The Gals didn’t beat the Guys this time, but they left a respectable mark for women in the future to aim for.

Thanks to everyone for following and thanks to those of you who donated to our banner charities. If you want to give a congratulatory gift in honor of the victors, it's not too late to do so here. And in case you missed our coverage on Instagram you can catch up here (and be sure to follow us!). Included in the Instagram coverage is John Crawford's take on what it means to win when you're racing your wife.