Nearly 400 bike riders put themselves to the test in The Day Across Minnesota endurance race, a sometimes-brutal single-day journey with only one reward, getting to the finish line before the clock strikes midnight. MPR News rode along during Saturday’s race. Here’s what we saw.

Anthony Williams stepped off his bicycle late Saturday morning and let out a soft groan as he sank into a red folding camp chair on the side of a gravel road. A fine layer of brown dust covered him, from his pink helmet all the way down to his patched, black leggings.

Someone handed him a paper plate with two tortillas filled with peanut butter and honey. He slowly took several bites then paused, too exhausted to notice the honey dripping onto his lap.

“I’m having a really hard time staying awake,” he said.

The 25-year-old St. Paul man had just bicycled 124 miles in roughly nine hours — but he was only halfway to the finish of The Day Across Minnesota, a 242-mile ultra-endurance cycling race known as “The DAMn.”

The goal is pretty straightforward: Push off at midnight from Gary, S.D., a hamlet on Minnesota’s western border, and pedal to Hager City, Wis., just across the Mississippi River from Red Wing, Minn., before midnight strikes again.

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  • perishthethought@lemm.eeEnglish
    10·
    3 months ago

    Wowww… I rode 13.5 miles today. “The race across my town”, haha.

    I can’t even imagine what 242 miles must feel like.

    • fpslem@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      I know, part of me thinks I’m still 20 years old and I think, “hey, maybe I could train up and do that!” And then my back aches from just doing housework and I snap painfully back to reality!

    • Showroom7561English
      3·
      3 months ago

      I can’t even imagine what 242 miles must feel like.

      The most I’ve done (so far) is 200 km in under 10 hours. It feels like 50 or 100 KM, but can be an absolute nightmare if anything on your body starts hurting or gets sore early on! LOL

      Granted, I’m not racing anyone, so the added pressure of being in a race is probably stressful at any distance.

    • Cort@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      I did my longest day ever with 50mi/80km on Saturday. Even riding an ebike that far just kills my back and knees, I can’t imagine doing 5 times that much.

      • perishthethought@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        Congrats! You have to name that ride now to make it official.

        Might I suggest something like, “Around the world in 80 k”?

    • Pulptastic@midwest.socialEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      I did the ride across Indiana (RAIN), 160 was tough but doable. Lots of training and preparation. I didn’t have to contend with the dark and lack of sleep though.