The human condition is what describes all the unique aspects that make us human. The unalterable, universal traits that make us aware of our own existence and also make us ultimately challenge this existence. When I asked Mark (Kram) Haimes and Reg Mullett what was their motivation was for trying to set the world record for '
Greatest Vertical Descent on a Mountain Bike in 24 Hours' by doing 100 000 feet in 24 hours, Kram's answer made me dig deep and contemplate life on this level.
 | Our intention was never to set a world record that we thought would last. Mount 7 is the last place you would choose if your intention was the biggest possible number. There's no chairlift and it has a steep uphill that added 5180 feet of climbing to our day. The opportunity existed to start something official with Guinness and bring exposure to our sport, so we wanted to set the bar on a track that is notorious for its punishing nature and really defines what DH means to us. It can easily be beaten elsewhere, but we hope to see someone try to take the title where it began; Psychosis on Mt 7. We'll even let you try it in the dry. - Kram |
-Kram and Reg are both 41
-Reg won masters psychosis in 2007 and 2008 (time of 13:57)with a 11th place overall for both those years.
-Kram placed 13th in pro twice in the early years and 27th in pro against Rennie, Kovarik, Smith and Moreland at the age of 32.
-Reg had a serious injury last year and it was causing problems the whole week leading up to the event.
-Kram calls Squamish home, Reg hangs his hat in Calgary
-Both Reg and Kram are two of the most positive people you will ever meet
Last year Reg and Kram did 40,000 feet on Mount 7 to celebrate their 40th birthdays. A few weeks later Kram came across an article with 2 guys claiming a record for only slightly more than 45,000. So Kram did the logical thing and contacted Guinness to see what the official record was for Vertical Descent on a Mountain Bike in 24hrs and there wasn't one. Guinness did however say that they would honour anything over 50,000 feet. So the idea was spawned.
| Our original intention was to ride 77,777 feet then skid to a stop and call that the record to honour Mt 7's namesake. You see, 40,000 was a big day, and at least for me, it was starting to hurt quite a bit. So even hitting that number was going to take specific training and applying things we learned from last year's effort. But it seemed reasonable enough so we were going to run with it. When we put up our facebook page to share our plan with our friends a couple of months out, we were informed that Alban Aubert had ridden almost 90,000 feet in only 12 hours in Chatel France. This is a big effort and hats off to Alban. We were disappointed to find that this number could not even be challenged in Whistler since the lifts are not fast enough. You'd spend almost the whole 12 hours on Fitz chair, leaving no time for riding. Even though this wasn't listed with Guinness either, we knew we had to at least beat this number, and the reality of the task that lay ahead sank in. 40,000 on Mt 7 was tough; more than 90,000 was going to be brutal. We had to really intensify our training program. - Kram |
Wanting to do a few cruiser laps on the Thursday before the big night, the guys ended up having to clear some significant blow-down which left them little time to organize for the next day. A quick nap after breakfast on Friday morning was all the extra sleep Kram and Reg got before dropping in at 8 pm. Mt. 7 had been getting pummeled by cold rain every day leading up to Kram and Reg's ride and anyone who rides Mt. 7 knows how insane it is in the wet. The conditions they started in were bad, but after a couple hours they got even worse. Bitter cold and sideways rain had transformed steep, rooty sections into clay, slip-and-slides, every corner felt like like a death trap. It was all out war on Mt. 7 that night.
| We dropped in at 8pm Friday for an evening lap without lights required. It was wet and slippery from the heavy rain a few hours earlier, but overall not too bad. The next lap required lights, but we had only fixed a bar mount light, but luckily the 800 lumen Light and Motion light got us to the bottom. We added another 2000 lumens on our heads and set out on lap 3 with the forest lit up, with the intention to blast out fast laps all night while we were fresh to buy us more time when the day drew on and we became exhausted. At least that was the plan.
Conditions were improving slightly and we had high hopes that it would continue that way until the end. A few laps later it was dumping sideways rain and was 2C at the top and not a whole lot warmer at the bottom. We were shivering until about 7 minutes into the track where the hike-a-bike is. It kept on coming and the track was a river of snot. Traction in the steeps was abysmal due to most of the steeps being clay based. We had to leave big gaps between us in case someone went down as there was no way to stop. The frigid temps and the survival mode riding was mentally and physically draining. The goal of 100K was slipping away as lap times increased to over an hour turn around and energy levels were dropping. It was already struggle town by 5am. How were we going to pick up the pace after 11 hours of darkness in these conditions? - Kram |
To help put the time in to perspective, things add up when you x27...
-Taking photos at the top and bottom plus checking the photos to be sure they are ok; messing with video cameras with battery changes and memory changes each lap amounted to about 3 or 4 minutes per lap. This is around 1.5 hours of time that Kram and Reg could have spent riding.
-Getting back to base camp from the end of the trail was 1min, so that's half an hour.
-Stopping to piss and drink water mid lap was about another hour and a half.
-All the messing around, plus the climbing, totals about 5 hours of time spent doing things other than riding down or driving up.
By 10am conditions improved significantly and the guys were really starting to have fun on their bikes. The relief of making it through the night along with the support of the spectators at the bottom gave them a connection to their bikes that could be felt, they were in the zone...
| We were significantly behind schedule. We planned to ride hard all night while we were fresh so that we had time to deal with the exhaustion during the day. We didn't want to ride the day first, leaving us beaten down and struggling at night when we'd rather be sleeping. It seemed like a good plan beforehand, but felt like a disaster at 6am when we were already feeling beat down from the conditions. My shivering muscles were aching, but we hadn't used our shredding muscles yet. And by about noon, although it was still quite slippery up top, the track had turned to hero dirt from about 1/4 of the way down, all the way to the finish. We had to pick up the pace to reach our goal, but suddenly this seemed easy. We started attacking the trail and doubling roots and rocks and playing around on our bikes. We both discovered the best way to get through this was to have as much fun as possible. As Reg always says "fun is the easy part". But even Reg said it was the hardest part just hours before, and that made it that much sweeter now. We made our rest times 2 minutes max at the top of the hike to piss, re-hydrate and snack, and no more than 10s at the other short climbs. We began hitting the last half of the track without stopping. We both were riding as fast as we ever have on Mt 7, and it was an incredibly satisfying experience. We didn't know where it was coming from, but we were in that special place where you always strive to be for the last 10 laps. - Kram |
| I was eating every lap, all that food has to go somewhere and I wanted nothing more than a chill visit to the outhouse at the bottom. We were behind schedule on our goal, so typically we were in a rush and getting rushed by everyone at the base of the mountain. After the hike a bike, my plan was to top to bottom and get down a minute or so before Kram, so that I would have the time to take care of business in a relaxing fashion. I was hoping he would just take a mellow pace, but that bugger's got more fight than that. He dropped in right behind me, I tried to lose him but wasn't making much for gains, maybe a little here and there and on the uphill bits but he kept the pace. So, it was pretty much a race on lap 24 and I didn't get my solo chill time at the bottom but was so satisfied by our pinned lap, that it didn't matter anyway. - Reg Mullett |
| My tires felt like an extension of my body, like they were hard wired into my central nervous system. Changing direction with ease, knowing the exact extent of the traction at all times, with every root and bump channeling through my reactions like it was a part of my synaptic system. The whole event was worth it just to experience this! - Reg Mullett |
| The final lap. We had a few riders join us at the top, but there was a surprise waiting for us. When we got to the hike-a-bike section there were people ready to grab our bikes and push them uphill for us. One beast of a man we call "Bigman" carried me halfway up and then pushed me the rest of the way. It felt like I was on a travellator at the airport. As we were about to take off from the top there, we realized there were 27 riders on the 27th lap, all ready to pin it down with us in a big train. It was a run we will never forget. - Kram |
Reg and Kram wanted to set a Guinness world record. They could have chosen an easier path but no, they had to do it in the pouring rain throughout the night on the notoriously unforgiving Psychosis race course on Mt. 7. The guys set the bar on August 30th in Golden B.C., a bar that transcends simple world record titles and firmly embeds them among the ranks of our sport's legendary. So if someone dares to try and beat the new record of 107 603 ft Vertical Descent on a Mountain Bike in 24hrs, they better do it without a lift and not on a smooth jump trail. Reg and Kram are true legends.
| Yes, the support was nothing short of magical. Huge cheers, even at 5am in the pouring rain and cold. Everybody kept the focus and contributed. Many stayed up for the whole 24hrs and with a smile on their face, it was and still is inspiring to experience that level of support. We were surrounded by amazing people on August 30th that truly believed in us, we're so lucky. I get goose bumps just thinking back on this aspect. - Reg Mullett |
Kram got a hold of Chris Kovarik (
Chris holds the current record for fastest lap on Mt. 7) to get his opinion on their attempt, his reaction was right on point:
| These guys are lunatics, just getting down this 13 minute long track once is a feat in itself let alone 27 times in the wet, overnight. I don't know how they got down in the wet as it was hard enough in the dry. One of my favourite tracks with some of the best terrain I've ridden. Huge effort! - Chris Kovarik of Kovarik Racing With (Claire Bouchar) |
Race Face, Calgary Cycle, DVO, NRG/Maxxis, Spruce Race Timing, Troy Lee Designs, Light and Motion, Santa Cruz.
Words: Josh Palmer
Photos: Robb Thompson
Videos: Connor Macleod - Kram and Reg
www.raceface.com
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www.calgarycycle.com
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www.robbthompson.ca
Mentions: @Calgary-Cycle @raceface @josht1 @robb @cmac @kramster @moolay @DVOSuspension @troyleedesigns
The view from the top of Mt.7 is nothing short of spectacular and sets the perfect stage for a challenge of this magnitude.
Member since Feb 22, 2005
^^^ That right there is the feeling I seek every time out on the bike. When it happens it is f*ckin' incredible and makes for great anticipation for the next ride. It's these special days that keep me pushing hard!!
Thats about 65% more than Reg and Kram did !
Then I carried on scrolling and was all like "Shut up Andy, just wait"
Riders during 24h Downhill at Semmering do ~179,000ft vertical descent in 24 hours.