What Is The Most Extreme Bout Of Physical Exertion You Have Done In Your Life?

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(Edited)

Mine was cycling 350 km in one go. The longest stop I made along the way was 90 minutes. This happened in July 2001. I was much more fit than I'm now. :)

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I woke up in a hotel in Pori (the green mark) at about half past eleven am. I packed up and went for a brunch. I must have eaten around 1500 kcal.

I set out for the north at about two pm. The bike I was riding was an ordinary women's bicycle I had borrowed from my mother. The riding position was upright and very comfortable, which was very important.

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I made my first stop about forty minutes later in Merikarvia. I bought an ice cream pin from a kiosk, ate it and continued. My second stop was at the small town of Kristiinankaupunki/Kristinestad. I had a small ice cream and a diet coke. After resting for maybe ten minutes I continued.

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I stopped about 20 km before Vaasa at a gas station and ate an ice cream. I think it was about half past nine pm. At about half past ten pm I arrived in Vaasa. I went to a McDonald's in central Vaasa and had a BigMac Meal. I ate and rested there for about an hour and a half.

I made a short stop in Oravainen about 50 km after Vaasa. Then I continued and kept riding through the night.

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I didn't stop until I arrived in Kokkola at about eight in the morning. It was a sunny and warm morning. I sat down at a cafe at the market square and had, you guessed it, an ice cream (with coffee). I rested for about 45 minutes.

The last leg of my journey was the 40 km ride from Kokkola to Kannus. The weather was really nice and the tailwind made it easy to ride. It took me about one hour and twenty minutes to reach my grandparents' house in Kannus.

I took a shower and had 2-3 full plates of rice pudding with strawberry soup made by my grandmother. Then I went to bed and slept uninterrupted for 20 hours. After getting up I talked with my grandparents for a few hours. Then I continued my journey but that's another story.

A few weeks prior to this, I had attempted to ride from Tampere to Kannus in one go but failed.

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The reason for my failure was going too fast. During my journey from Pori to Kannus, my heart rate was about 120 bpm on average. From Tampere to Kannus my heart rate was about 150 bpm on average which was a stupid mistake. I was in Lappajärvi about 190 km from Tampere (the large lake to the east of Vaasa on the map) when I felt glycogen in my body was about to run out. I felt weak and I had to stop every ten minutes. I decided to take the train in Kauhava about 30 km to the northwest of Lappajärvi. I was lucky to make it to station on time. I was disappointed at the failure and decided to try again in a few weeks.

All images were taken from openstreetmap.org.



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