Former Kalispell man breaks world mark for hands-free cycling
The key to a record-breaking, no-handed bicycle ride is simple: You have to be comfortable sitting for a long time.
That means no fidgeting. No shifting your weight. No standing on the pedals to give your muscles a break.
Former Kalispell resident Erik Skramstad knows this perhaps better than anyone in the world. Three weeks ago, he unofficially set a Guinness world record for biking with no hands.
He traveled 23.25 miles in 59 minutes, 14 seconds. That's 62 laps around a three-eighths-mile track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and 7.35 miles farther than the previous world record.
"Man, my butt got tired," Skramstad said Tuesday. "You're pretty limited when you can't hold on to the handlebars and stuff."
Skramstad, now a middle-school science teacher and college adjunct professor in the Las Vegas area, grew up in Kalispell. He graduated from Flathead High School in 1996 and attended Flathead Valley Community College before transferring to a Nevada college to finish his education degree.
He has been a cyclist for the last decade, and has long been interested in Guinness World Records.
"I used to just thumb through the big book and think, 'Wow, that's pretty amazing: Someone made a 4,000-pound cookie.' Stuff like that," Skramstad said.
"I'm also interested in cycling, but a lot of the cycling records are far out of reach for most amateur or recreational cyclists. This just happened to get me in the book."
His motivation, Skramstad said, was simply because he thought the old record for cycling with no hands was breakable. A man from India rode 15.9 miles in an hour without ever touching the handlebars.
"I thought, 'Wow, I could do that,'" Skramstad said. "I figured, why not? It was something I could do. I could knock it off."
On June 23, he set out to prove he could. He was up at 4 a.m. and at the track within an hour, hoping to finish his laps before the summer heat and incessant Vegas wind were unbearable.
In just under an hour, Skramstad finished his ride and became a world record holder. He joins people like Luxembourg's Jacques Fox, who completed a record-setting 14 Ironman races in one year, and Maharoof Decibels of India, who set a record when he finished a game of Operation in 21.87 seconds, according to the Guinness Web site, www.guinnessworldrecords.com.
The record isn't official yet; Skramstad just submitted his paperwork a few weeks ago. It could be four to eight weeks before he hears from Guinness, he said.
Even if they accept his ride as record-breaking, there is no guarantee Skramstad will make the next edition of the world record book.
"I'll buy it to see if I'm in there," he said. "It might be just my name and a couple little words."
He might eventually risk the saddle sores and attempt to break his own record. Guinness clearly states that a rider cannot touch the handlebars at all, and Skramstad was careful to make sure his hands were behind his back for most of his ride. But if he rode with his hands on his knees and pushed his legs, he said he might be able to get a little more power.
"I've been practicing different positions, how to be faster and get more power out of it," Skramstad said. "I didn't want to push it on this one."
On the Net: http://www.reviewjournal.com/media/video/world_record_biker.html
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com