 HOT OFF THE PRESS 3 Men Break Step Climbing Record Held By A Woman For 2 Weeks in December, 2009: Newspaper Articles on My 2009 Alaska Trip with Nephew Steven: 3 More Join Me in Cathedral of Learning Everest Club in February, 2009: 6 Time Dirty Dozen Winner Steve Cummings' November, 2008 Urban Velo Article on Danny: Joe Warner's March, 2008 Men's Fitness Magazine UK Article on Danny: Estelle Tran's February 11, 2008 Pitt News Article on Stepclimbing: Melissa Meinzer's May 10, 2007 Pittsburgh City Paper Article on Danny: Stepclimbed 44,444 feet in 18 Hours on February 10 & 11, 2007: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article on Danny's Stepclimbing Record: Article by Jack Kelly After the 2006 Dirty Dozen: Article by Abby Mendelson Just Before the 2006 Dirty Dozen: 1/19/2004 Daily Peloton Interview : Perry Stone Interviews Danny finisher and two-time champion, Danny Chew. The self-proclaimed million-mile man is here to discuss his ultra cycling pursuits and this year’s Insight Race Across America. DP: Mr. Chew, thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. You have ridden over 545,409 miles on a bicycle and you are still aggressively pursuing your goal of 1 million miles behind the saddle. In fact, your yearly mileage is increasing but your last appearance in RAAM, a race you have been so dominant in, was in 2001 when you finished second to Andreas Clavedetscher. When will we see you back in RAAM? Danny Chew: Let me tell everybody how we first met at the 1997 RAAM where you and Jeff Estes pioneered the 2 person Team RAAM by finishing some 4 hours behind 3rd place solo finisher Rob Kish. You called yourselves Team Dagger and rode the whole way across America on mountain bikes. The 2 person Team race has come a long ways since then, but still has a long way to go in it's relatively short life. How fast do you think Seana Hogan and I could cross America as a team? DP: Whatever you two could lay down for a time would be legendary I am sure. For those readers new to the ‘ultra world’ Seana Hogan has accomplished more than any women and most men in the history of RAAM. Danny Chew: I would definitely like to return to RAAM as a rider, however 8 consecutive RAAMs left me so financially drained that it could be a while before I can afford to do it. I would like to become the oldest person to win, which is currently held by Pete Penseyres who set that scorching 15.4 mph average speed record in 1986 at age 43. This is why you are not considered OLD in RAAM until you turn 50. DP: Tell us about your million-mile goal? Obviously a long-term goal, when do you forecast your completion? Will you do it? What obstacles do you worry about? Danny Chew: The problem with such a long-term goal like my million miles is that you have a lot of flexibility unless some disease or horrible accident (getting run over by a car) makes you unable to ride again. Allowing for a slow down from age deterioration, I should ride my millionth mile in my mid 70’s or by 80 at the latest. I have kept detailed training diaries since 1978 in which I write down the names of people I ride with in red ink the first time, and blue ink thereafter. I like meeting new people to ride with and watching them fall in love with cycling. Living so far North in such a COLD wintry climate really puts a damper on my mileage this time of year, but I know I can make up for it with extra long rides in the summer time. DP: What do you say to people that say this goal is too excessive to be considered for the magnitude of accomplishment it is truly worthy of? Danny Chew: If a person is doing something they truly love, not hurting anybody else, and not breaking the law, why not let them indulge? The beauty of a million-mile goal is that it keeps you riding and reminded that the bike is the number 1 goal or focus in your life. Maybe the accomplishment of finally reaching such a long-term goal is more about your journey getting there and how it transforms you along the way. Although my total RAAM mileage [roughly 24,000 miles] is less than 5% of my lifetime total, they are some of the best, most memorable miles I have ridden. DP: Beautiful. How would you describe the support you receive for this goal? Danny Chew: I have received e-mails from people telling me how much my million-mile goal has inspired them to ride more, and all they have to do is tell their spouse how much I ride after which, they don't appear all that obsessed about riding. DP: Excellent. I know a lot of people are pulling for you to reach this amazing goal and count me as one of them. You are an extremely competitive person. In 1995 you finished second to Rob Kish by less than 7 hours, in 1997 you trailed Wolfgang Fasching by a similar amount of time. In these races did you ever accept that you were not going to win and settle in for second? How did you handle this when you were on the bike? Danny Chew: I can't stress enough that the first and foremost goal is to FINISH, (Hear me Patten & Biasiolo & Solon?) RAAM above anything else! You owe that much to yourself, your fans, your sponsors, and crew members. How would it look if the million-mile man dropped out of RAAM? Doesn't Lance Armstrong say in his new book "Every Second Counts", that "Pain is temporary, but quitting is forever?" A RAAM DNF stays on the record books forever. DP: How does a person win RAAM? How does a person finish RAAM? What is the difference? Danny Chew: Every RAAM I raced, my goal was to win, but Kish and I have both lost far more RAAMs than we have won. Maybe it is true that you learn more about yourself when you lose than when you win. Once I realized that I could not win, my competitive spirit left me and I was riding instead of racing across America. This is how Mark Patten caught me in the middle of the country in the 2001 RAAM, and Alex Aichner (Meneweger 2000 RAAM Crew) had to really kick my ass to get me racing again. Not wanting to finish 4th place again for a third time, I convinced myself that 3rd place (Tatrai's most common finish) would be something new and worth fighting for. When I finally passed Patten's follow vehicle for the last time just before the time station in Kosciusko, MS, my crew was far more excited/elated than I was. I think this is more the rule than the exception. When a rider starts thinking why do I want to settle for an 8th place this year when I came in 4th place on my last RAAM, they are dooming themselves to a potential DNF. A big thanks goes out to Martin Lorenz for finishing the 2003 RAAM behind four rookies after he was rookie-of-the-year in 2000. Having to settle for 2nd place or lower after you have won RAAM is very tough to swallow. I do think I am able to dig deeper when going for a win as compared with a lower place. For both of my wins, I did not take the lead for the final time until the last 205 miles in 1996 and the last 170 miles in 1999. I had full nights (3 hours) sleep before each of those final days. When having to cut sleep late in the race, I have lost both of my battles - to Kish for 1st in 1995 and for 3rd in 1998. To win RAAM, one must find what strategy works best for them. I believe that training for RAAM and racing RAAM is a highly individualized thing. What works for rider A may not work for rider B and what works for rider B may not work for rider C and so on. It took me 3 years to find out that starting on the second night, 3 hours of sleep per night works best for me. Riders should be willing to experiment in training and RAAM to find out how to improve their results even if it isn't for a win, but maybe just an official finish. I think you also need at least one crew member who knows you well enough to know when you need a pat on the back and a good kick in the ass. Most of the people who win RAAM also have a lot of top 3 places, so once you get on the podium, you then have the potential to win. Sometime the difference between a win or finish and a DNF is simply ingenuity on the crew to keep their rider motivated and do whatever it takes, such as with Allen Larsen's crew faced with the dilemma of their rider developing horrible Shermer Neck, (rider can no longer support the weight of his own head) at mid race. Jim Miller saved the day/week by creating that now famous neck brace (Medieval Torture Device) which allowed Allen to finish both of his RAAMs. Had that problem not been solved, Larsen probably would have dropped out. DP: You have a mathematics degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Do you spend a lot of time crunching numbers when you are racing? Certainly crunching numbers in either the early stages of RAAM or in your million mile quest would be quite daunting, in the least, to most people. Do you find comfort in numbers? Danny Chew: I love crunching numbers while I am racing and especially afterwards. Being a math major, I like numbers and statistics, which is really what RAAM boils down to. By riding 1 mph faster than your competitor, you get to sleep roughly 90 more minutes per day than they do. The big advantage this provides is that you feel much better riding faster, and you have targets in front of you to catch which crushes them mentally as you go by. A pass (or lost place) while you're sleeping is not nearly so devastating. I know that Terry Lansdell likes to think in time instead of miles, but he wants to finish RAAM in a certain number of days, he is still going to have to ride x amount of miles per day. In either the 2000 or 2001 RAAM, I remember riding past the 2nd time station in Fossil, OR, and shouting out to John Hughes that I had ridden over 5% of the entire distance of the race. I also would read off my odometer miles every 12 hours the entire race and calculate my 12 and 24 hour splits. The way I look at it, both time and miles go by on RAAM, so why not embrace both of these variables, which can seem to stand still during your worst sections of RAAM. Part of why I like doing RAAM so much is you get like a whole month's experience out of just 8-10 days so that for each RAAM you complete, you get about 3 extra weeks of life. Kish has done 18 RAAMs so he has gotten a full extra year of life already! I have recently created a complete solo RAAM rider index with all 263 people who have ever started RAAM. Listed are their place(s), time(s), average speed(s), and their miles ridden before they DNF’d. It makes it very easy to see a certain rider's RAAM history and compare riders. I have also compiled a bunch of stats using my indexes. Both of these will be put on my website as soon as I figure out how to convert the files to HTML documents. DP: On your web site www.dannychew.com in reference to your PB 100 mile ride of 4.07 hours it says, “Is there anybody else out there man enough to attempt beating Chew's 100 mile record?” Are you familiar with English cyclist Andy Wilkinson? Danny Chew: I rode that 4:07 hour century after breaking my own Hell Week mileage record in 2000 at age 37. I feel that I had the most power and strength for short distance road racing back in 1987 at age 25 when I probably could have ridden well under 4 hours for 100 miles given today’s lightweight aerodynamic equipment. I believe that Andy Wilkinson holds the 24 hour unpaced time trial record outside on open roads of something like 525 miles. The year (2000) I rode 508 miles in Iowa, it was pretty windy and the wind howled all night long so I might have been close to that distance with calm conditions. I have tried to find more information on what year Andy set that record and what exact course he used, but had no luck. If anybody knows anything about it, please contact me at: DanChew@yahoo.com DP: What should people look for in this year’s Insight Race Across America? Danny Chew: My role in the 2004 RAAM will be about the same as I did in 2003 - going along as a writer, reporter, and interviewer. Kish still has a chance to win, but only if all the other top riders have serious setbacks. Being such a competitive person, Larsen needs other riders pushing him if he is to break my 14.7 mph speed I accomplished in 1999. If Fasching returns, I think Larsen will rise to the occasion and make Fasching really have to work hard for a win. A situation Fasching has never been in before since both of his wins were by such huge margins. If Robic returns, I think he will come with a much better prepared crew, which will make him a serious contender for victory. Fasching does however tend to have trouble in desert heat which is why I was able to beat him in 1999 but not in 2000 with the cool Portland, OR, start. Also, how HUNGRY a rider is to win plays a big factor in a race, which becomes more of a mental than physical competition. Having not won yet, Robic may be hungrier than former winners Larsen and Fasching. I have come to a conclusion that the weather (especially favorable tailwinds) has more to do with whether Penseyres' all time 15.4 mph average speed record can be broken than the course. Also, can the potential record breaker get by on only 1.5 hours of sleep per night like master Pete did. I was fast enough to maybe have a go at the record, but had to give up too much sleep time (3 hours a night) in order to be that fast on my bike both years I won. I badly wanted to beat Pete's record, but 14.7 mph (good enough for the 5th fastest solo crossing) was as close as I could come. Fasching, Robic, and Clavadetscher have proven that they can do with even less sleep that Penseyres, but that loss of sleep slowed their on the bike speed down considerably. I was AMAZED how Pete was able to stay so fast on so little sleep!!! He had everything down to a precise science, and his record may stand for the rest of my lifetime! In the women's race, I hope there is a finisher as there has not been one since Cassie Lowe in 2001. I am excited about the extra media attention former women's PRO road racer Giana Roberge will bring to RAAM in 2004. It will be interesting to see how she does against that woman, Luzia Evangelista from Brazil. DP: Danny, once again I want to thank you for your generosity in sharing your time and thoughts today. I know you have given us all more to think about. You are a true champion and possibly the most genuine ultra cyclist of our time. Harley Davidson coined the phrase “Born to Ride”, Danny Chew lives it. Perry Stone
Cyclist bikes from Pittsburgh, wins race Monday, June 21, 1999 By Steve Ungrey The Grand Rapids Press For Pittsburgh native Daniel Chew, traveling to the National 24-Hour Bike Challenge by plane or car was not an option. After all, Chew thought, why not have a pre-ride workout by pedaling all the way here from Pennsylvania? Chew traveled the 550-mile distance from Pittsburgh to Kent City High School on his bike. Once the event started, his pace didn't quit.He racked up 473 miles to take the men's overall top prize at the 16th annual event, which was held in Kent City for the first time this year after construction conflicts knocked the challenge from Douglas Walker Park in Byron Center. Chew, who missed the record in the men's 35-39 age group by 20 miles, didn't think twice about bicycling to Kent City. Chew planned on returning to Pittsburgh the same way he got here, with his two legs and a pair of wheels. "When I got here, I stayed with some friends before taking part in the event," Chew said. "It felt good to do well my first time out, I'm taking very seriously my goal of bicycling a million miles in my lifetime. Unrealistic as it may seem to most people, for Chew it is a lifetime ambition. The winner of the Race Across America event in 1996, Chew has also competed in ultra-marathon bike races across the country. In his lifetime, Chew has racked up 461,000 miles on the bike odometer. Now that's a lot of mileage. "Daniel is a completely different person running this challenge than most people are used to seeing," said event co-chairperson Diane Obermeyer. "Most people who take part in this are part-time bicyclists or those who are in this event for fun." |