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Week 1 Recap: Who’s Leading in the National Bike Challenge?
Can anyone keep up with Leonard Wright? That was the question at the end of the pre-season for the National Bike Challenge.
- Leonard Wright: Catch him, if you can
By the time the flag went up on May 1, the Challenge had already drafted 12,000+ riders from more than 500 cities who logged a staggering 1 million miles. At the end of April, Wright was way out front of the rest of the pack, racking up more than 5,000 miles in less than three months. Will the 66-year-old from Florida continue to dominate, we wondered, as we rolled into the real-deal competition on Tuesday?
Well, Leonard is still on top, but a surge of new riders threw their helmets in the ring — and it’s anybody’s game.
Just four days in, the team is looking strong. If the NBC were the NFL we’ve already dashed past the 30 yard line, headed to the goal post of 50,000 riders. On Wednesday alone, more than 1,550 riders registered in a single day and, as we close the work week, we’re bumping up on 18,000 participants.
So who’s on top?
- In the individual arena: Wright’s morning spin kept him atop the leaderboard today, but two competitors from Columbus, Ohio — Evan Schieber and Mike Grote — are right off his back wheel. Ohio is also on top when it comes to women riders: Katie Schanz from Cleveland is leading the ladies with more than 220 points.
- Among teams: Trek Varsity is out front but the Kamikaze Squirrels are nipping at their toe cages, just 10 points behind as I write this post. And with teams like the Front Range Freaks, the Leg Breakers, and the Henry Street Pirates, it could get cut-throat.
- In the race among states, some major surprises: Since the Bike Challenge made its pilot run in Wisconsin last year, the safe money in the national race was clearly on the Badger State. But, sharpen those teeth, cheese-lovers, because, right now, the Maple State is planted firmly in your path. Vermont has claimed the #1 spot among states. But the top two, better watch their backs. There’s another dark horse, galloping up the ranks. Nebraska isn’t far behind at #3.
- For civic pride: The Cheese Heads take the cake. Six out of the top 10 communities are in Wisconsin, but there’s plenty of momentum building in cities across the country. Bike Pittsburgh, for one, is looking to paint the challenge black and yellow, rallying hundreds of riders for the Steel City. Which leaves us with another question as we close the first week: Can BikePGH get this guy to switch helmets and join their team?
How will the drama play out? Stay tuned, Challenge fans. And, if you’re not part of the excitement yet, join the National Bike Challenge today!
Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director
Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.
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May 4th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
50,000 Miles? That would be over 500 miles a day. I think we might have one too many 0′s.
May 4th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Good catch! Leonard’s good — but he’s not THAT good!
May 4th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Leonard’s doing great. He’s retired, so he’s got lots of time to ride and hard for us working guys to keep up. But I’m giving it a shot.
May 5th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
I am trying to figure the math on 500 miles a day @ 25 miles per hour that would be 20 hours of riding and only 4 hours for everything else… IS that what everyone else is seeing too..Sound like a numbers game to me…IF you cant ride and enter honestly…. just saying !!!!
May 5th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Yeah, that would be impossible! Who’s riding 500 miles per day?
May 6th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
[...] to celebrate the end of 30 Days of Biking and the beginning of National Bike Month along with the National Bike Challenge. Brent met us there from work. London was riding with the neighbors who were going to feed the [...]
May 7th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
The 50,000 was a typo that has been corrected. 5,000 miles in 3 months is easily do-able (actually I’ve done 5,000 miles in 2 months and have friends that have done 3,000 miles in 9 days). They participate in the Race Across AMerica (RAAM), google it for more information.
As for riding 500 miles in one day, the local record is 523.9 miles set this year by Doug Morgan. For more information, go to http://www.bikesebring.org/records.html
As far as entering ride information, I believe everything should be backed up with GPS plots that include heartrate, cadence, speed and altitude – you might be able to fake a GPS plot but I doubt you could match it with heartrate, cadence, speed and altitude…..just saying!!!!
May 11th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
There is a broken link in this posting to the nationalbikechallenge.org site you may want to fix it – How will the drama play out? Stay tuned, Challenge fans. And, if you’re not part of the excitement yet, join the National Bike Challenge today!
I think any effort people make to ride is great! Winning is an amazing high I’m sure, but there can be other admirable goals, such as encouraging new cyclists, riding twice a week to work instead of driving, etc.!