Congratulations to Joe Barr for breaking the current 24-hour road record in the 60-69 age group on a Standard Bike with 473.797 miles

During a windy day and night on the road Joe eclipsed the current record of 471.111 miles set by Russell Mason on 2021-07-30.

Joe Barr Report 

The 24 hour road record has been my focus for some time after delivering 482 miles at Sebring 24  in my two appearances there (2019, 2022). 

I wanted to see what kind of distance I could deliver on a surveyed course designed especially for  24 hours. 

We landed on a 32 mile out and back course on Hutchinson Island, Florida. Flat, good bike path  marked on the road with two roundabouts or rotaries at each end to maintain a smooth turn  around. I have always raced well in the heat and heat brings with it low air density, all conducive  to speed. 

I built a Colnago Concept for this event using ovalized chain rings from Absolute Black and a  frictionless chain from GLF Waxed Chains. I used XeNTis Mark 3 5-spokes, my favourite  aerodynamic wheels. Clothing by Powerhouse Sport also took into account extra aerodynamic  qualities. 

My goal was 2-fold. Firstly, to break the current record of 471.2 miles and secondly to break that  elusive 500 mile mark. 

Unfortunately the Florida weather had a different 24 hour plan and provided a stiff, gusty,  unrelenting head wind on the 16-mile S-N leg of the route. We anticipated wind during the first 6  hours but that it would drop, as usual, in afternoon and throughout the night. This didn’t happen  and as the record progressed the toll from riding into the wind for those 16 miles started to  accumulate. I had a tailwind for the resulting N-S leg but the speed off-set was not adding up as I  became more fatigued. 

The team and I realised that the real goal was now to break the age category record and even that  was going to come close to the wire. 

I was extremely happy with my performance, with my equipment and with the performance of the  team. The route was a good choice with relatively low, managed traffic and if the weather  conditions were more favourable I do feel that 500-miles may have been possible.