On the road again; naturally.

It may seem to some readers that I disappeared for a week. It’s kinda true. I’ve been in rural Ontario in the support vehicle for a record-breaking distance attempt. But before we get to that, I need to take you back a year or so.

I was standing on the finish line structure of the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon in 2009 when I saw this WILD contraption being ridden in the parking lot. From where I was I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it LOOKED like an elliptical bicycle. I was so curious I climbed down off the stand to get a closer look. And I rode it.

My first thought was “I’ve GOT to tell my wife, Jenny, about this”. For those of you who don’t know Jenny she is a former professional adventure racer, 3-time Eco-Challenge competitor and has done loads of multi-day endurance events. Most recently she was 10th woman overall in the TransRockies Run 3 60 mile staged solo race. This machine, which I since learned was called the Elliptigo, seemed like a perfect fit for her.

Fast forward a year or so and a bright green production ElliptiGO was sitting in our garage and Jenny was already imagining new challenges for herself and the machine. Not content to simply ride it for training, Jenny set out to find a ride that would test both her endurance and the machines. When the US distributors said that the ElliptiGO was going to released in Canada, that the Canadian distributor was located in Mississauga just outside of Toronto, and Jenny was already planning to go to Toronto for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, it just made sense for her to ride the 500 miles from Chicago to Mississauga. Well, it made sense to Jenny.

So the plan came together in less than two weeks. I was already scheduled to be in Philadelphia for the ING Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon and couldn’t crew for the first three days. Enter Deborah Dean, a friend from Chicago who volunteered to crew Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I flew home to Chicago Sunday evening, hopped in Deborah’s car and drove to Dearborn Michigan to meet up with Jenny.

The ride was amazing. Mile after mile [or kilometer and kilometer once we got to Canada] Jenny pushed herself and the ElliptiGO to the limits. After a rough day on Monday, Jenny decided to go for broke on Tuesday and rode for nearly 14 hours and covered – by my Garmin in the car – 140 miles. Astonishing.

Wednesday afternoon she rode into the RMP Athletic Locker parking lot to the cheers of the employees and broke the record for the longest consecutive day ride on an ElliptiGO by anyone, the longest distance in one day by a woman, the longest overall distance by a woman, and by my measure broke the undisputed 5-day mileage record. There’s no telling what’s next for Jenny and her ElliptiGO, but I can tell she’s not finished finding out what she and the machine can do.

Waddle on, John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.