Meet the family

The new baby

Compare the wheel size to my 26 inch Anthem X1. More rubber on the trail = better traction in many cases

Hey Ryan,

Used your socks (referring to my Sock Guy socks) for the first time today on my toughest workout of the week, a hill repeat trail run. It was motivating having them on thinking of what you’ve accomplished athletically! They’re really good socks – didn’t bunch up. I enjoyed catching up on Friday. Hope your feet are doing better…

Ciao,
Scott

“I’ve a related question from the perspective of what I understood to be your long-term goal to make the Olympics: How would attempting this record–which surely takes considerable preparation and months of recovery–bring you any closer to your long-term goal? It seems incongruent to me unless of course, your goals have changed. To be clear, I say this out of respect and curiousity–not to stir negativity. “

My response:

On the surface, it doesn’t make much sense – I get that. On the other hand, it helped me bring together the community and allow them to see every side of me. These new friends may never get such an opportunity again. So often, I just go whizzing by on a bike or speak to them casually in passing. The key to this event was IMPACT…and the connections made, I would like to think that they will form an important support network for many years to come. Community support IS an important keystone in my Olympic path. Good question!

Started new partnerships with Giant bikes, Hammer Nutrition, SpiderTech, and several businesses around the great community of Sylvan Lake.

Building awareness and interest for cycling continues through writing about my adventures for the Sylvan Lake News, holding weekly group rides from Cast Away Source for Sports, and exploring mountain bike trails to the west with new friends (I take no responsibility for any broken bones or near hypothermic descents).

Upgraded to Cat 1/2 on the road and Elite in cross country mountain bike racing. These are the highest categories of racing in North America! That said, I got my butt handed to me at road nationals and my first Elite mountain bike race…not about to gloat too much.

Placed 9th at TransRockies in the TR3 solo race. The result netted me 20 UCI points, a world ranking (albeit, way down the list), and exposure to a couple of big name pros.

Came close to achieving a new indoor spin world record by riding for 6 days and 20 hours. The record that I was shooting for was 8 days 8 hours. Despite falling short of my goal (hallucinating ended it), a new purpose was established in bringing together the community.

As I write this update, ten weeks after the last pedal stroke, my body is still recovering from nerve and soft tissue damage in my feet.

Looking Ahead to 2011

Early in the New Year I will be working towards becoming a certified personal trainer. My friend Scott (owner of Best Body Fitness) and I have been discussing some exciting online training options.

There have been some initial discussions about coming down to Arizona to train in April. Seeing how long it is taking me to recover from the record attempt, I may need to consider this trip a necessity rather than a good idea.

Now racing at the highest level, the next challenge will be to find the best competition. For mountain biking that means starting to race on the Canada Cup circuit. For road, I am looking at some stage races abroad. My finances and health will dictate how focused of a push I make outside of Alberta.

Big races of the season will most likely be TransRockies, trying to qualify and race for the national team at the marathon (mountain bike races typically over 100 km) world championships in Italy, and possibly taking on one or more pro road races in the U.S. Initial breaks in my schedule are pointing towards two stage races in Oregon.

Instead of planned weekly group rides I am going to focus my attention more on organizing a couple of weekend clinics, probably in Sylvan Lake, Edmonton and/or Canmore. I have seen a strong demand for an introduction to basic skills and bike maintenance. It would be great to hold these around some of my races so that participants can consider entering the citizen category and get a feel for racing themselves.

Of course, there are bound to be a couple of surprises.

Looking forward to growing as a cyclist and friend!

Ryan

During the past two weeks I have been able to stand being at work for more than two to three hours at a time. And thank god for that, because bills do not take a break!

As far as I can tell, the nerve pain has pretty much subsided. Only soft tissue issues remain. The discomfort makes for awkward walking on hard floors, at least when I don’t have shoes or slippers on.

This could quite possible be my last blog of b*tching. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Tomorrow morning I’m headed to Arizona to spend Christmas with my family. It will be nice to practice walking around outside…my sister just pointed out, “to practice walking?” Yes, it is exactly how it sounds. The task is surprisingly difficult when you can’t curl your toes or rely on your calf muscles for power.

At some point this week I hope to write an end of the year report and give you an idea of where I am headed in 2011.

Enjoy the break!

Each week that I’m not on the bike I get a little more aggressive with finding a solution. My mind is determined that the answer is simple. Part me actually believes that it may be as simple as relaxing a pressure point that I haven’t been able to find on my own. Enter the trigger point massage therapist two weeks ago and a chiropractor this past week.

The pain, I have learned to manage. It is the perception, the part where friends and family begin to think of me as a victim that is bothersome. Granted, at times I catch myself feeding the fires when asked how I am doing.

There is a unique learning experience at hand. Never has my body gone through such trauma. So, how do I find a balance between telling the truth and not creating ill will towards the record attempt? One thing that I will say about being honest about my condition, it’s that it has opened up the flood gates for suggestions, contacts, and a better understanding of the health community.

For record keeping purposes, I have come to learn that many appreciate my honesty. Often when researching what to expect from such events, I find that many of my peers sugarcoat the brutal truth in an effort to mask the fact that, yes, they are in fact human (and not invincible). Neglecting the hard realities does little to help those wishing to pursue similar challenges.

That said, no one that I know has said that they want to challenge the record! Each day that is added on to my recovery, I can’t help but agree.

Speaking with a college class in Calgary not too long ago, I asked if any of the students would take on a world record if, no matter the result, they would badly break their arm…I find that broken bones are more familiar than speaking of nerve damage. Needless to say, the severity gets across pretty quickly.

That’s the difference between ultra and one day events. I rarely enter a one day race and assume that I will come away wrecked. With the Race Across America and the spin attempt, it was a given.

So why put myself in a position of pain? Because I thought that I could achieve a new record and bring the community together in the process. That seems like reason enough.

And even though there are many who are concerned about my wellbeing, never have I felt so alone. The worse part of it is that I don’t have the mental fortitude nor strength to focus on tasks of any significance. It is a waking purgatory of rolling around in bed and bitching to everyone around me.

But 6 days and 20 hours, that is a hell of a long time to be doing any one thing. I suppose that there is a certain comfort in knowing that I feel anything at all…

This past Saturday my friend Nicole held a potluck dinner for all the volunteers that could make it. Thirty or so of us gathered to share “unfathomable” stories, many laughs at my expense, and a bevy of delicious home cooked goods.

Such bonding amongst team members (afterward) is uncommon in my books. Even in the best of circumstances, I am accustomed to friends and family wanting to be alone, even if it is just for a short while. Challenges like these bring about many honest emotions. It is important to give everyone the time that they need to reflect on the experience and make it their own.

This event was a bit of an anomaly in that regard. Both witnesses and my sport crew could not wait to get together again. On the opposite end of the spectrum, not a single soul expressed any interest in making their own attempt at the record.

After each of my adventures, there are at least a couple of people that enquire about taking on a similar challenge.

Not a peep this time.

That said, the line of emails to jump back on the support wagon stretches around the block. Smiling from a short distance away, I quietly keep those expectation at bay – a second attempt is not possible before the 2011 racing season. As for further down the road, I never say “never again.”

Recovery time aside, hallucinations are what intimidate me the most.

Imagine looking someone you love in the eyes and having them look back in anger, not knowing who you are, and furious for having forced them into such a situation. Such was the case when I stared hallucinating in the final two days.

Permanent mental damage scares me.

You would think that coming to terms with this feeling would be enough to draw a line in the sand, knowing now where not to cross. My reality is not so.

Although I may not shoot for this record again, rest reassured that another challenge will always come calling. The mental stimulation of having purpose supersedes any fear.

On that note, it should only be another week or two before I can start riding again. Trying to average three hours a day doesn’t seem like such a tall order anymore!

by Carson Papke
Sylvan Lake News
Ryan Correy is disappointed he was not able to complete his world record spinning attempt but he felt an even bigger goal was achieved, bringing the community together.
Correy put a stop to his Guinness World Record attempt at 4 a.m. last Wednesday (Oct. 13) only 36 hours short of the world record of 200 hours. He rode for six days and 20 hours which amounted to over 3,200 kilometres travelled on a stationary bike at Best Body Fitness. Lack of sleep took its toll and diminished his mental capacity to a point where he didn’t know who he was and why he was riding the bike. Finally his support crew stopped the attempt.
“I am happy with what we did,” said Correy. “I think it was a success. I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that says I wish I could have gone a little longer even knowing how much worse it could have gotten.
There was two objectives going into this attempt — bringing the community together and then the world record. “Looking back I didn’t think there would be this big of an impact on the community as I think there has been. From what I have been hearing and the responses I have been getting I think it has been a success.”
Correy said in anything else he has done there hasn’t been this much feedback and support from people. He wasn’t able to see a lot of that support until after he had a chance to recuperate but said he has been getting a lot of e-mails that have touched him and shown there was a great amount of support.
“It has been really cool to hear parents say their kids were really inspired and some of the kids themselves have gotten up the courage to e-mail me directly,” said Correy. “It has really enlightened me and helped me positively.”
Scott McDermott worked as a director and organizer for Correy’s attempt and felt he should be proud of the impact on the community.
“I saw a lot of things from the community that were impressive,” said McDermott. “People coming together from all flavours. Ryan said parents bringing in their kids was huge but it goes beyond that. The big guys who come to the gym were inspired. Some people come to the gym put on their headphones, they go and lift their weights, they are in their own little world and they leave. All of a sudden I saw them pull their headphones off and they were talking. They were coming up and talking to Ryan. Some of the strongest guys in the gym were coming up to Ryan and saying ‘you are an inspiration’ and I was like, wow. That has been really huge and it has affected everybody. Everybody was buzzing about it.”
McDermott said there was still a lot of talk and support for Correy three or four days after the attempt was stopped. He related stories about how people were inspired by Correy and wishing him a quick recovery. But McDermott said there is another gift that has come with the attempt and that is awareness.
“Not only is it a phenomenal achievement but one of the things I think that has been the gift of Ryan’s suffering was the awareness of how hard something like this really was,” said McDermott.
He added people don’t usually get to see what happens when people go out and do the extreme things. For Correy to be open to the public the whole time it gave them a sense of what kind of mental and physical exhaustion these athletes go through.
Correy said that was an aspect of the attempt that could have been difficult but before the event he came to terms with the realization that people might see him in an exhausted state.
“I never really put much thought into how I would be feeling in those moments,” said Correy. “I just thought about people looking in on me and not me looking out. There were days where mostly because of sleep deprivation my body started playing tricks on itself.”
He remembers one day he felt really jittery and he admitted it was tough when everybody who came through the door of the gym would look right at him. He added that some days it was a motivator to see all the people who came to visit him and cheer him on but then as the days wore on there were times he wished he could have been by himself.
“I realize these people weren’t there just to stare at me,” said Correy. “These are people I know and they are not just staring at me, they are encouraging me and supporting me. They want me to do this. I would take that energy and try to make it my own.”
Correy never had much doubt about his physical ability to complete the attempt. He studied the people who previously tried for the world record and knew there were factors that he couldn’t train for.
“Its hard to train on 20 minutes of sleep and actually train because you are wearing your body down,” said Correy. “Its hard to train for these things but physically I felt it was achievable. The sleep deprivation was always something that intimidated me, it was the unknown factor. It is something that is still playing with me now.”
Correy is still feeling the effects close to a week after stopping. He has not been able to sleep comfortably. Some nights he unconsciously thinks he is still riding and his legs move like he is riding the bike. It is something he said goes to the parts of his attempt that he couldn’t predict. He wasn’t prepared for what lack of sleep would do to his mental state.
“Physically there was never much of a doubt because I have done things that were longer,” said Correy. “From a sleep deprivation point and maybe even mentally this one was probably more challenging. I never had that competitor out in front to motivate me to keep going, it was always just the clock.”
McDermott said there were challenges to help keep Correy focused on the record attempt but believes a lot was learned through the process.
“You almost need to do a world record attempt once and then do it for real again,” said McDermott. “Not to say this attempt wasn’t for real but we, as volunteers and support, learned a ton.”
They had a nutritional plan but then after 50 to 60 hours the body gets tired of the same thing so they had to change things up on the fly, he said. It was also a learning curve on how to handle bathroom breaks and sleep breaks. It wasn’t very hard to keep him entertained as there were a lot of people around to chat with him during the day and in the evening there were things like movies that helped Correy.
“One of the things that really impressed me about Ryan was his willingness to keep going,” said McDermott. “On the Tuesday morning he was just about unconscious on the bike and still pedalling. He asked questions like ‘who’s bike is this?’ and ‘why am I doing this?’ and we would reassure him to keep pedalling.”
That is where Correy’s support crew played an important role.
Correy credits a lot of what he was able to do to his support crew. They were able to step in and take over the event when things started getting difficult for the 27 year old. He started as the organizer and director but as his days on the bike wore on the support crew stepped up and helped him in all aspects of the event.
“One of the things I took away from this was how important it is to have a good support crew,” said Correy. “I felt there were a lot of people there who were willing to learn and be there to help with anything. There were a lot of people who wish they could have done more to help. That was a great thing to see. I never got the impression that it was a burden on people. You could tell they wanted to be there even at the difficult shifts like at four in the morning.”
Correy felt blessed to have such great people helping him and just being there to cheer him on. He thought it was an interesting opportunity for people to see first hand a world record attempt. He said he is always going to feel a little conflicted because he didn’t reach the ultimate goal but he is getting help from McDermott to see the overall impact his attempt has had on the community.
“I am always the guy on the bike and you can kind of see the impact it was having but I was looking from the outside in,” said Correy. “One of the strong indicators for me, that shows the strong support, was all the e-mails and support through Facebook and Twitter. That is something I can compare to other events I have done. It was to the point that I had to say at one point I can’t respond to all these e-mails. There were some really heart felt messages and I really wanted to.”
Correy appreciates the support from the community and beyond. He has not ruled out trying for the world record again and has received a lot of support from people saying they would be there to help him. He also had some great sponsors that helped with the event and stepped up with really generous donations to make the attempt run that much smoother. But in the end Correy is hoping to carry forward the impact he has had.
“The door is still very much open on a second attempt but I would say that is very much because of the support I have gotten,” said Correy. “The fact that people are e-mailing me and saying not only do they want to help but they want to help in a bigger capacity than they did before. That in itself has encouraged me to leave the door open. But at this point I am just trying to recover, answer all those e-mails and focus on my main goal which is to make the Canadian National Mountain Biking team and hopefully go to the 2012 summer Olympics.”