The Ultra | Bright Lights 4 Kids

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The 200k The Ultra Ride

Mental Torture

Many will say they don’t want to do just laps (this is code for “I’m not mentally tough enough to handle this challenge”). JC developed this route for a few reasons including 10 Bright Lights, to create Mental Torture, and to emulate a World Championship course. Only those who are physically and mentally prepared for this physically and mentally numbing challenge will succeed. Many will learn what it is to be mentally and physically prepared the first year and while they won’t finish in year 1, they’ll come back prepared to finish in year 2.

10 Bright Lights - The original idea for 10 laps was for the 10 children who are Bright Lights that Charlie Criniere left behind. Charlie was hit and killed by a motorist leaving behind his family including an amazing wife, Megan and their 10 children. The goal is to ride at least 1 lap for everyone of these wonderful kids in order to honor the legacy of Charlie. The first official ride ever doing this is on Strava: 10 Laps 1 for Each Child

Mental Torture - Doing laps can become teadious. Just take a look at the insanity JC did to exemplify this: Strava 2,328 laps. JC is unquestionably crazy and he wants to share the crazy with as many people as he can. “Life’s better when we’re just a little not-all-there.” The Ultra riders will be doing laps alongside other riders who get to avoid the extra climbs (the 100 mile route isn’t adding extra climbs along the route). This will add some psychological pain. Passing your car, the food, the music, your favorite coffee shop, and so many other tempting reasons to quit each lap; just adds to the fun. Will you succumb to the desire to call it early, or will you Jason Abbott the course?

Like a World Championship Road Course - Prior to retiring, JC raced the Colorado Springs Stage Race which included two courses that had been used in World Championships. He thought he would do great in these stages considering his fitness was good (he finished top 5 in the crit from a field sprint after instigating and spending time in numerous breaks). His job was to work for his teammate Jeff Evanshine, who had won the 1991 Jr World RR Championships on one of the courses, but instead he got shelled faster than a pistachio at the National Pistachio Lovers Convention. Even with several National Teams from around the world with the likes of Tour winner Migual Indurain and lesser known riders at the time like recent World Champion Lance Armstrong, the race was more challenging than the high level he anticipated. However, it lived in JC's brain and he was never able to get those courses out of his mind. Thus, there will be an equal percentage of the time climbing, dealing with winds, pedaling hard on the false flats, and of course descending in an extended loop format just as riders find in a typical World’s course.