Congratulations to Michael Ricci for breaking the existing 200 Mile Road Trike Record in the Male, 18-49 age group.
Michael also broke 5 other existing Trike records.
All of Mike’s records are also new Guinness (non-age Group) records.
| Distance Event Kilometers | Time | Avg Sp (Km) | Avg Sp (Miles) | |
| 100 Km Road | 02:40:20.04 | 37.42 | 23.25 | |
| 200 Km Road | 06:00:22.23 | 33.30 | 20.69 | |
| 300 Km Road | 09:18:46.25 | 32.21 | 20.02 | |
| Distance Event Miles | Time | Avg Sp (Miles) | Avg Sp (Km) | |
| 100 Mile Road | 04:28:52.57 | 22.32 | 35.91 | |
| 200 Mile Road | 09:57:48.00 | 20.07 | 32.31 | |
| Timed Event | Miles | Kilometers | Avg Sp (Miles) | Avg Sp (Km) |
| 6 Hour Road | 124.179 | 199.847 | 20.70 | 33.31 |
My name is Mike Ricci and I am a disabled Marine Corps veteran.
I broke my L4-S2 causing partial paralysis and debilitating chronic pain. I spent 1 month in the hospital and 3 months in a nursing home recovering, and had to re-learn to walk with a modified gait.
Since my hamstring is close to spastic, my quads constantly fight against my hamstrings to deliver power to the pedals. The best way of describing the effects of my injury would be comparing it to attaching a bunch of therabands between the pedals and frame of my recumbent bike. These injuries have caused issues with walking and limit the amount of time I can spend on my feet. However, since discovering and obtaining a recumbent trike (Big thank you to Wasatch Adaptive Sports for getting me into cycling, and Challenged Athletes and Hi-Fives Foundation for providing me with an ICE VTX), my back pain has been alleviated due to its laid back position.
For me personally, this record is about finding out what the human body is capable of, and what I am capable of, despite the barriers that have prevented it from reaching its maximum potential.
I reached out to Caleb, who set the initial trike world record. I wasn’t really sure what to expect since I would be going for some of his records, but he was excited that there was so much competition in the recumbent trike category. I met Caleb in Cali and we talked and went over strategy and he helped me with the course survey. I have no doubt he will be reclaiming his records soon hahaha
I spent many weeks scouring Google Earth for a flat area of the Intermountain west region that is flat, has low winds, and decent asphalt. Since Utah is too cold now, I expanded my search and found Death Valley. While not perfectly flat, Death Valley historically showed temps in the upper 60’s and winds in the low single digits in late fall. After doing a test run, my search was over,
I had constantly changing dates which made finding a support crew and officials difficult. I work as an adaptive ski instructor in the winter, and with my job starting soon, I locked in a date of December 1st despite the forecast showing stronger winds than I would have liked.
For the ride, I used an ICE VTX recumbent trike, which had a streamlined aerodynamic profile and contouring seat that served me and my back well on previous endurance rides.
Initially, I wanted to tackle the longer endurance records. But with the constantly changing dates, staying in peak fitness was impossible. Given that the winds would pick up and the temps would drop dramatically later in the evening, 200 miles would be my goal.
Unfortunately, we started a little later than I would have liked. Before I even started my ride, I had a flat. I injected some sealant in the tire and performed some last minute checks, and rolled out at 10:32AM. Conditions were pretty good initially, with temps in the mid 60’s and winds only blowing 2-3 mph.
I started strong, and hit my targets for 100k. This was the best part of the ride where I felt like I was in the “flow state” and my legs were pumping effortlessly. After that, I felt like I was drinking too many electrolytes and started taking in just water. After 100k, the winds started to pick up a bit. They remained between 5-8 mph the remainder of the ride. I hit 100 miles, and then everything started falling apart. I felt like I was starting to bonk but my body just couldn’t ingest any more gu. My speed started to drop dramatically. I switched to a drink with less electrolytes and more salty foods like goldfish and some pickles which brought me back to life.
Shortly after, my front tire went flat. My support crew quickly inflated it, but a few miles later, it went flat again. We decided to just swap the entire wheel. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an aero cover so I would have to ride without one for the rest of the ride.
There was decent cloud cover the entire day. I could spot virga (rain that evaporates before hitting the ground) in the distance, which is usually associated with strong, gusty winds that concerned me. While the gusty winds held off, it unbelievably started raining, in Death Valley. Literally the most arid place in North America. Thankfully the rain was light and didn’t last more than 20-30 minutes. But it was cold, so I put a warming layer on while my support changed out my head and tail light.
I took it easy after mile 100. Around mile 150, I noticed my average speed had dropped to 20 mph. If I wanted to complete 200 miles in under 10 hours, I would have to keep my average speed over 20 mph. I increased my caloric intake and pushed harder for the last 50 miles, which was a little bit uncomfortable, but I was able to finish mile 200 at 8:30PM with a time of 9:57.
Upgrades were a Kogel oversized pulley, EZ gains aero disk, single chainring setup, and tubeless tires.
Things I learned during this ride:
-Follow Murphy’s law when prepping. Bring a spare everything.
-It’s impossible to eat potato chips when you are going 20+ mph
I can’t stress enough how important a good support crew is. My crew was able to adapt with the numerous audibles I threw at them. We had all the food bags set up with a certain amount of carbs that they were going to hand off to me, but we had to scrap that plan due to my evolving dietary needs throughout the ride. They were supportive, patient, and just as invested in the record as I was.
Tucker and Elijah, I could not have done it without you. YOU GUYS ARE ROCKSTARS!!
When dealing with a disability, whether visible or invisible, there is a time for self-pity and sulking. I’ve been in some dark places where I did not expect to find anything resembling a silver lining. But if you let the weeks of feeling sorry for yourself turn into months (or even years), there’s a good chance you will fall into a deep depression.
You can choose to sulk, or you can get off your ass and try to make the best version of yourself. What the best version of yourself looks like is defined by you. Write down reasonable, obtainable goals. What is out of reach, but achievable with a bit of work?
These don’t have to be physical achievements; it can be something as simple as trying to tolerate the discomfort of leaving the house for a couple hours a week.
Growth doesn’t happen in the comfort zone. Until you test yourself, you won’t know what you are capable of.
Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you have a ceiling
