Imagine pedaling a bicycle nonstop for almost four hours... specifically, imagine pumping the pedals through over 20,000 cycles without once coasting. Saturday night (September 21, 2002), after waiting three hours for the wind to die down, Mike Secrest of Scottsdale, Arizona methodically churned his GT racing bike for 3 hours, 54 minutes, 48 seconds at the San Diego Velodrome in Balboa Park to break the world 100-mile outdoor bicycle speed record. There were more squirrels than spectators to witness this amazing exhibition of discipline and endurance. Actually, there were more judges than spectators: three judges and two spectators. If you think long distance running is lonely, try long distance biking.

While being held upright at the finish line shortly before midnight by his girlfriend, Leslie Nelson, Secrest's first words were, "This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life." This from a man who has done a few things that others would find difficult to even comprehend. Mike pedaled 532.74 miles to set the world 24-hour distance record on October 23-24, 1996. In 1987, Secrest won the grueling Race Across America from San Francisco to Washington, D. C., a distance of 3,117 miles, in 9 days, 11 hours and 35 minutes. During a previous RAAM from Huntington Beach, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1985, he did not stop to sleep for 64 hours until reaching Amarillo, Texas. When is the last time you drove your car to the Texas panhandle without pulling into a Motel 6 or at least a roadside rest stop for a few winks?

Mike Secrest, who will turn 50 in January, was disappointed that he had been unsuccessful in eclipsing the 100-mile world standard of 3:47:26 established by Rod Evans in May 1994 on a windless wooden indoor track in Australia. Averaging 25.654 miles per hour, Secrest broke the 4:03:05 outdoor record set in 1993 by Paul Solon in San Jose, California by better than eight minutes.

There was no questioning the Michigan native's determination and heart. During the 413th lap, an armrest fell off his aerobar. The aerobar is an attachment to the handlebars which allows a racer to hold both hands outstretched, almost touching in front, to reduce air friction. Secrest manhandled his bike for the final 70 laps to add another new world record to his list of accomplishments as both fans cheered him across the finish line. This event was sanctioned and judged by the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association.

Bill Swank
Baseball Historian