NHRA News: Dunn & Bazemore complete entire Gator Hell Week bicycle ride (1/4/2004)

Dunn & Bazemore complete entire Gator Hell Week bicycle ride

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
1/4/2004

Whit Bazemore and Mike Dunn completed all 770 miles of the Gator Hell Week ride.

Comparing the accomplishment to winning Indy, NHRA stars Whit Bazemore and Mike Dunn have successfully completed all 770 miles of the Gator Hell Week bicycle ride in Florida.

Bazemore, a two-time U.S. Nationals winner, and Dunn, who won Indy in 1986, years before his move to ESPN's broadcast both, are battered and worn after eight straight days on their bicycles. But the duo insists the feeling of conquering the mental and physical demons of the longest ride in their careers is well worth the effort.

Sunday's 65-mile final leg was flat and relatively easy as the group passed through sugar cane fields, citrus groves, and a huge ostrich ranch. They then crossed the Caloosahatchie River in Alva and proceeded through Lehigh Acres before returning to their place of origin, Fort Myers.

Both Dunn and Bazemore share their thoughts of the final day in this last installment of their Gator Hell Week experience.

Baze and Dunn's Hell Week: Day 8
Dunn: It's very satisfying to have finished. It's not unlike winning Indy. You put so much effort into something and you bust your ass in so many ways. If you can finish the day in the winner's circle when you're beat and the crew is beat and you know in your heart that everyone worked to their limits, you feel so good. You're hurting, but it's a good kind of hurt, you know? I think that's the best way to sum it up.

Dunn and Bazemore pass a roadside stop.

I always felt that my conditioning was good enough that I could do this. My concern was that injuries and soreness would catch up with me, and quite frankly it has. My ankle and Achilles are really messed up. I almost dropped out yesterday. At lunchtime I tried stretching it a different way and that helped just enough for me to carry on. It probably lessened the pain I felt today by half.

The experience of all these endurance athletes that are on this ride really helped. They've all felt the aches and pains that Baze and I were feeling for the first time in some cases. Neither one of us had ever done seven centuries in a row. That's a lot of time in the saddle.

Bazemore's goofy. He's already talking about his next ride. I'll give him credit. He got stronger as this deal went along and the last few days he was really pushing it. I personally will take a least a week off to help this ankle heal. I might spin real easy on the trainer a couple times, but my next 30-mile training loop is at least a week away.

Slipstreaming behind the tandem.

A 30-mile ride should seem like nothing now. It's ironic but Whit and I were talking this morning that we used to think of 65 miles as our long rides but today we were all happy that we only had 65 miles to do. That's how much this ride has changed us.

Knowing that we'd been keeping this online diary with NHRA.com and that there was a poll attached to the story where some people bet against us really motivated me. I wasn't going to let that group of people have the satisfaction of winning. It was the same feeling I'd get at a race. I didn't care who was in the other lane, I didn't want to let them win. Same deal here. It might not have been pretty but I finished.

Bazemore: Today I felt like I had an I.V. of POWERade going straight through me. I felt great and we flew through the course. It was a hard day but a good one and we finished by lunch. The thing I find the most interesting is that we did 65 miles today and it felt as easy as getting out of bed.

Injuries made it tough.

Mike compared this to winning Indy and I see what he means. At the end of the day you're real tired but you have the sense of accomplishment that is very hard to find in everyday life. We did it and we feel great.

Two years ago I never would have thought that I could have done something like this. No way. But we did it and we rode as hard as we could most of the way and it feels very good to have finished.

I'd do it again next week. It would be an awesome job to ride 100 miles every day. I can't wait to get home, rest a little bit and then get back on my bike and see how strong I am now. I bet right now that I'm five times as fit as I've ever been at any point in my life, which is pretty amazing.

I knew from the start that barring and injury I'd be able to do this. I wish Dunn hadn't opened his mouth and told the media because once [NHRA.com] started following along we had to finish no matter what. There was no out for us, but that ended up being good because that poll asking whether or not we'd fail pushed us through the down times.

We've already decided we'll do this again next year. I'll definitely train differently for it now that I know what it's all about but we'll be back for more punishment, no doubt.

NHRA.com Poll results: Will Baze and Dunn finish Gator Hell Week?

Yes
2385
(78.56%)

No
137
(4.51%)

Only Baze will
397
(13.08%)

Only Dunn will
117
(3.85%)

Total Votes: 3036

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