tvguide gives Amazing Phil a shout out
The Ride of His Life
by Rochell D. Thomas April 27, 2009 05:08 PM EST
Holdrege, Nebraska: It’s early-bird dinnertime, yet Phil Keoghan is already bone-tired. And with good reason. The 41-year-old New Zealand native spent the last three hours cycling 75 miles through the Great Plains, and that was a short ride. While we’ve been watching the Amazing Racers make the 14th loop around the world, host Keoghan has been cycling across America to raise money for the National MS Society, a non-profit organization that funds research and helps people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. Next week he expects to cross the finish line in New York City, but in the last month he has braved 40-mile-an-hour winds, rain, snow and errant drivers while crossing 15 states and pedaling more than 3,000 miles. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he says, sleep creeping into his voice. Here he talks to us about his ride and the brutal week he spent crossing through Colorado and into Nebraska.
How are you doing?
I’m doing good. Today we entered Nebraska with south-easternly winds gusting at what must have been about 30 knots. The just really wears you out.
How far did you ride today?
It was down as a 75 mile ride but it felt a lot longer. We’ve had longer rides. I did 13 100-mile rides back to back without break.
What do your legs feel like right now?
Right now I’m wearing this devise, The NormaTec MVP. They’re like space legs. It’s like somebody’s rubbing my legs. It has five chambers and they squeeze and pulse, basically speeding up the process of getting the lactic acid out of your legs. I’ve been using it for about 30 to 45 minutes at the end of each day. It’s like a massage. I actually look forward to it.
So it makes sure you don’t get cramps?
It helps. But it’s really a combination of a lot of different things. A huge part of it, to be honest with you is the nutrition. Just having the right balance of food in my body. It’s one thing to be fit. But it’s kind of like having a really nice car. If somebody gives you a nice Porche but you put crappy fuel in the car or put bad tires on it and ask it to perform it’s only as good as the weakest link. So the nutrition has been hugely important.
How many calories are you eating per day
I’m nowhere near Michael Phelps who was eating like 12,000 calories a day. But I’m close to it. I’m on about a 5500-calorie-a-day diet now. The average person needs about 2000 calories a day.
You’ve cycled over 1300 miles so far. Day after day. How can you even sit down right now?
One of my seatbones on my butt is just raw from riding because I’ve done 17 centuries [100-mile rides] in the last 18 days. But I haven’t gotten the after-the-childbirth donut or anything like that either. I’m good. I’m using Belgium Butter [crème] and I just got some Second Skin. I’m going to try it tomorrow. It basically puts a protective layer over your skin. But my butt is definitely saying, “You’ve ridden too much in a row.”
What are your road essentials besides Beligium Butter, NOW bars and the Specialized bike?
Other essentials: Proper clothing. I don’t know if you saw the blog for Day 15 when we got caught in the storm. The air temperature dropped ridiculously low. Oh my God, it was horrendous. So you definitely have to have the right thermal gear. The challenging part is wearing something warm that you don’t overheat in. The other day I got caught in the storm. I came in and I was blue.
You’ve probably had a few flats by now. Are you getting better at changing them?
I’ve had ten flats so far. When I was in Utah, I kept getting flats and this guy Dave who ended up riding with me for two days, said “Phil you’ve got to get the Specialized Armadillo tires.” They’re a lot heavier but they can roll over absolutely anything. So I’m now riding on them. Since I’ve put those on I haven’t had any flats.
We’ve got a photo of your holding up one of your flight tires.
What’s funny is that in that shot [the photographer] said to me ‘Man you guys are getting really good at changing the tires.” And I looked down and my buddy Ben was changing my tire. Again. I said “I’m not sure if we’ve gotten better or if Ben, who’s always changing my tires, has gotten better.” He really looked after me when he was on the ride and I really miss him.
I’ve been watching you online and you seem to be really flying
I hit 56 miles an hour the other day on a flat [road]. I’ve never gone that fast downhill! They’d shut down the entire highway for us and we were screaming along the road.
That’s like Lance Armstrong fast.
I had a Lance Armstrong blowing wind [pushing me forward]. We did 100 miles in three hours and 53 minutes. The rest of the time I’m not that quick.
I’m told you did a 10,000 foot climb. What was that day like?
That day was just magical. When we went up over Wolf Creek pass. There were about 50 people from the local cycling club who rode up with us, including one guy who’d had a double hip replacement. It’s quite a climb. You end up at 10, 881 feet. It’s the Continental Divide. It probably took two and a half hours to get to the top. We took our time. The air is very, very thin. So it’s hard to breathe. And these guys from the Wolf Creek cycling club are incredibly tough. They live up there in that altitude. So I was riding with these very, very good riders. There was such a comraderie.
High altitude. The pressure of keeping up… I’m assuming this is where all that training kicks in.
I’ve been training very hard for this ride and I’m pacing myself. It was definitely tough. But I think cyclists, in general, are tough athletes. You have to be. The first day, when I left L.A., I was on a bike for 11 and a half hours. You’ve got to be hard. It’s not a wimpy sport.
What’d you do at the top?
As we got close to the top of the pass I heard Amazing Race music and everybody was waiting up there with drinks and food and everything. There was even an Amazing Race map right there at the top. I felt like I was in the middle of the Race. It was a huge sense of achievement. And the incredible response we got from people… I got very caught up in the whole emotion of it all.
It shows on your face in the photos. Speaking of your face, you’re getting so much sun you’re going to look like you’re a whole different ethnicity by the time this is over.
I’ve already got a bit of that look going on. I remember once when I went skiing for a day, I got really tan in the face. I was with this girl. I went and had a shower and when I came back out she saw me naked and started laughing because my body was all white but my face was brown as a berry. And I think that’s how I’m going to end up.
What’s on your arm? It’s either the largest iPod ever or—
That’s a walkie-talkie. Motorola has been helping us with tracking. That’s how I keep in contact with the support vehicle. I just wear it on my arm because it’s the easiest way to talk to them while riding.
Do you listen to music while riding?
No, it’s too dangerous. Too dangerous. I need so much focus. I had one day out of Fairplay, Colorado and the wind was blowing so hard that my weight was the only thing that kept my bike on the road. My weight was the only thing that kept my bike up! The other two cyclists that were with me kept getting blown off the road. My friend Ben, who is one of the toughest guys I know, had to give up early. That was also the day where I ran into a car. It was actually the scariest part of the ride so far. A freaky day—one of those where I didn’t speak much I just grit my teeth, knuckled down and rode. I’ve had a few of those days where it’s been incredibly demanding on me physically. It’s hard to get across to everybody. I’ve never ridden this much in my life. It’s hard. It definitely wears you out.
How many days has your wife been able to ride with you?
She ended up riding about four or five hundred miles with me. And I had my friend Ben with me for 1300 miles. And his wife Julie also rode about four or five hundred miles.
How important is it to you to have company on the road?
Very important. Thankfully I have the radio coverage and motorbikers with me all the time. And my dad, who’s driving the truck with the airstream trailer, will occasionally break into song over the radio.
Those Airstreams are nice.
Oh it has been amazing. When the storms get to rough and we have to stop. We can wait inside. Let me tell you I’m like a kid in a candy store with this. It’s got a double bed up front, a kitchen with a fridge and stove. A couple of single beds in the back. And a table. And lots of storage areas and a shower.
And most importantly, a restroom.
Yes. [laughs] But we haven’t actually been using that because we’ve been able to stop. For the most part we just pee on the road. I hope that’s legal because there’s something wonderful about peeing across the country. You’re able to stop and look at things even slower than bike riding. But with the strong winds you have to be very careful where you point.
True that. In your video blogs, you’re always shown leaving town with a whole bunch of cyclists. But then when you’re on the open road you’re usually only with one or two. What happens to those other people? Do they just drop out as they get tired?
It’s a little bit of a concern for me. I’ve been training for this for a very long time and there are days where we’re averaging over 20 miles an hour. Most avid cyclists cruise more at a 14 mile per hour average speed. And the difference between 14 and 20 is quite substantial. Especially over six hours. But I don’t ever want to discourage people from riding with me so what I do is I soft pedal for a few miles out of town. Then I stop and ask who wants to go on. By then I get a sense of who can ride. And I say to people “I don’t want to be rude but I’ve got to pick up the pace. I’ve got a schedule.” Because the longer I’m on the bike the less time I have at the end of the day to actually recover off the bike. So it’s more painful to ride slower. It takes more out of me over the days
I can imagine. What do you dream of when you sleep after a day of riding?
I sleep very heavy. I sleep extremely heavily and I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t pedaling in my dreams. The road is moving and the trees are waving and the birds are twittering and the wind is blowing. It’s all there.
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