My First Endurance Cycling Race: 2023 Texas Stampede 200

#stampede200 #ultraendurance #roadcycling #cyclingrace #texashellweek
This was the big one - my first endurance race (and my first race in seven years). I've been working up to this, since I started my channel at the beginning of the year. The Stampede 200 is a 200 mile bike race with a whopping 9,000+ feet of climbing! It's my first ever ultra endurance race, the farthest I've ever attempted to cycle, and the most elevation I've ever tackled. It's part of Texas Hell Week, a week-long event in the hill country of central Texas.
Check out the ride on Strava: / strava
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Follow me on Instagram: @ericbarnettcycling
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Equipment used:
Bike: Specialized Tarmac SL6
Cycling computer: Garmin Edge 1040 Solar: amzn.to/40KeXJS
Heartrate monitor: Garmin Dual HR: amzn.to/3UejcL3
Nutrition: GU Energy Gels: amzn.to/41372a8
In my water bottles: XTEND BCAA Powder: amzn.to/3UdsXsS
Camera: Sony ZV1: amzn.to/3nVLdec
Action cam: DJI Osmo Action 1: amzn.to/3zEdgBQ

[@TrekMTBikeRider]

6:39 you’re in what I like to call “no man’s land”… a group in front of you, a group behind, and you are all alone in the middle. No matter what kind of group ride I do it seems like I always end up there.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Twice I had fully given in to the drop, only to catch the pack again. I actually felt a little better during the last 50 when I was just riding my own ride.

[@durweshkhalfe5446]

6:13 - the best timed chain drop in history! Haha great video Eric.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Ha! What a hill for that to happen on - that was definitely one of my pits of despair on that ride! Great meeting you, Durwesh and great ride!

[@erod707]

Nice! Congrats on your ride and elevation not bad flat like a pancake.

[@BreakawayB]

Epic ride and an excellent video. 👏Congrats, Eric.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks so much!

[@marcorufer2342]

You can be really proud about this ride Eric. There's one thing making you and your Videos so special for me: so human with all the pain, success and defeats and allways going foreward. I began with Zwift almost the same time as you did. And your improvement is incredible. Ride on, share your experiences, i always enjoy. This one especially

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thank you, Marco! That’s exactly why I started the channel - it can be intimidating to see all these top level cyclists doing fantastical things. I wanted show what a normal person could do with some determination (and quite a bit of stubbornness)!

[@laurippt]

Incredible ride! Congrats on finishing! …“painful sense of accomplishment” love that

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thank you! It was definitely that; 100% would do it again!

[@MarkyMarkZwifts]

Great achievement Eric, I haven't even managed 100 miles yet, I can't imagine ever doing 200, chapeau!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks Mark - I definitely can’t imagine doing 200 again for awhile!

[@SherryOram72]

Congratulations Eric! What a fantastic accomplishment. You are truly an inspiration. Looking forward to seeing where your cycling journey takes you 👏🏻☺️🇨🇦

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thank you, Sherry!

[@maxmarkin141]

That's awesome! Congrats Eric!

[@fgewfee]

Great backroads! I hope you enjoyed the journey! One tip for this kind of rides, better go slowly (really slowly) than walk. 😉😉

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks João! Walking actually helped me unburn some matches, and at one point I actually caught a rider! On the first hill, I had lost all momentum and was on the verge of cramping.

[@RoyImahara]

Epic ride my friend! 19mph wasn’t exactly what I was talking about when I said “pacing”. 🤣 Finishing 11th in a double century is mind really really fast. I have many friends that have done 200 miles and their times were in the 17 hour area. You are strong and fit. Mad respect!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks Roy! I hadn’t planned on going out that fast, just caught a draft. I thought a group would peel off, but that group was left in the dust! I felt like a turtle on a fence post. Didn’t belong there, had no idea how I got there, and felt kinda stuck!

[@ItsBugsy]

Huge achievement, nice work Eric.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thank you, Mike! There were a few times during the race I definitely wasn't enjoying myself, but looking back, I'm so glad I did it!

[@mumblecake251]

Massive respect. I just did the Gran Fondo in the Zwift Fondo series which was roughly 100km, so nothing compared to the 320km you did, but that was definitely painful enough to never make me want to do what you just did 🤣

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Congrats, man! Indoor miles are harder than outdoor miles, in my opinion. No coasting, boring, and saddle time is rough if the bike doesn't move at all. Of course, weather come into play outdoors... either way, great work!

[@mumblecake251]

@@ericbarnettcycling thanks a lot but really didn't mean to fish for compliments as we are here to celebrate your achievement. It just gave me a very different perspective to appreciate your accomplishment than what you'd be able to get from just being a couch potato or a "backseat gamer"

[@twowheelsandawoman]

I just found your channel because of your zwift videos. But this is a truly great achievement! Congrats! Greetings from the Netherlands

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Greetings and thank you! This was definitely a milestone goal for me - hopefully many more to come!

[@ZwiftyZwifter]

That Sir, is a very long way to ride a bike. It’s a very long time to do anything, or even nothing. It’s just long. Many congratulations and thanks for such a great video. As someone has pointed out, you can’t really enjoy doing anything for that long. But you’ll remember and look back on the achievement for a very long time.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

I think there’s an inner masochist in most of us cyclists. I’m not good at the quick suffer, recover, suffer of going all out in short races - I’m more into prolonged pain! 😂😅

[@molec9657]

Your amazing and inspirational!!! I've been training for over 10 years.... and not sure if I could have done that ride...mostly confidence issues with not many events that past few years... and our never ending winter here in Canada, I am still awaiting to get outside. Love your videos and lets me know....... maybe I do have a chance :)

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks! You definitely have a chance, BTW. I was nervous going in, and in many ways unprepared- and still made it! Give it a try!

[@PeterMcMullan01]

Great Acheivement! I never want to do 200miles!! 😀

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks! I never thought it was in the cards for me until, on a whim, I just signed up one night.

[@markbeacham2232]

Great job. Inspiring!!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thank you, Mark!

[@DyeProto1234]

Congrats, really impressive performance. Can't wait to see what's next.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks man! Maybe I’ll have to figure out swimming and do a sprint tri, sometime!

[@simonknights9145]

Congrats! You are an inspiration. Can’t wait to see where you go from here!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks so much, Simon!

[@jeffv4725]

Way to finish strong💪good job.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks Jeff!

[@stephenstrayer5257]

Great video! Nice to meet you on the ride! Hope to see you again some day!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Great meeting you, too! I wish I’d chatted with other riders more before the race, but I was intimidated at the meeting when nearly everyone said they’d done it before!

[@johnstypa8974]

Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment!! Your determination is very inspiring and you should indeed be proud of this. Thank you for sharing your experience of this adventurous challenge!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks so much, Johnnie - we’re all crushing our milestones this year, and it’s only April!

[@x118xdriver182]

Well done your mad in a good way keep the videos coming.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Will do!

[@ImGlossy63]

Awesome job Eric!! I can’t even imagine riding 200 miles, longest for me is 125 with 12k feet of climbing and I was done. Quite the accomplishment for sure!!! See ya back on Zwift!!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks Chris! It was more the climbing than the distance that got to me. I feel like a flat 200 would’ve been way easier.

[@OhioMTBTrails]

Awesome video! Nice job finishing your first double century!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

You're with me on the next one, right?

[@OhioMTBTrails]

@@ericbarnettcycling I'm not going to say no. But I'm not saying yes yet either 😅

[@johnwillome1840]

Good on ya! I hope you enjoyed the Texas Hill Country.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

I did! Wish I had been there for the whole week - there were some great group rides that I wish I had gone on!

[@MarkBruceUK]

Respect earned there Eric 👍

[@ericbarnettcycling]

🙏

[@AdamJennison]

Epic... I'm really proud for you, what an amazing achievement. And such a fast ride! Love the video, the storytelling, the editing & the music, all great The hardest part will be deciding what's next as I can see anything else seeming insignificant compared to that monster ride

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks so much, Adam! Having the support of you and the N+1 team has been so good for my progress! I’ve got some ideas for the future, but am looking forward to getting back home and doing some longer Zwift races & rides. One thing is for sure, it has to get more ridiculous!

[@TheLankyCyclist]

Crazy pace! Good work! 💪

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks, man. It was a tough day of riding!

[@DontGetDroppedCycling]

YESSIR!!! 💪🏽

[@ericbarnettcycling]

I owe you for use of one “spicy” in the video

[@DontGetDroppedCycling]

@@ericbarnettcycling this one is on the house. Congrats again buddy! Keep doing amazing shit over there and crushing those goals 💪🏽

[@oburrow]

Great job 🎉

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks!

[@Sloth2909]

Impressive. Good Job

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks OG!

[@chrisconte329]

well done!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

🙏

[@JMower]

Awesome effort & great video! 11+ hours of riding is intense, will be interested to hear how your legs are feeling in a few days!

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks man! Legs are good - lower back & neck not so much. I see a bike fit in my future.

[@JMower]

@@ericbarnettcycling Would be cool to see what you think of a bike fit. I've been putting off getting one too, but I imagine when you're out there for hours like this the small differences really add up

[@ericbarnettcycling]

It’s definitely time for a fit. One week later and my neck & back are garbage. Also going to get more into stretching & weightlifting.

[@gearmonger8616]

Congrats! Well done, hard day out, huh? I have tons of questions about your feelings on setup after this experience. Especially regarding the "alone time" you spent on course. Moving toward longer events may require some adaptations, as you demonstrated.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks! It was tough and had its highs and lows - maybe I should do a video answering any questions anyone has about the race?

[@gearmonger8616]

Wanted to ask you some questions, now that you've had some time to reflect. How do you feel about aerobars, wider tires and a longer wheelbase for a longer solo ride now?

[@MikeFreundMusic]

Good video

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks Mike!

[@shanegreen2583]

Great effort and really nice average speed

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Thanks - the speed was definitely a surprise, but it got the suffering over quicker

[@konstantinpapoutsidis6076]

I once did 206 km with Trecking Bike in one day. Congrats. 🎉 How many riders took actually part in the contest?

[@ericbarnettcycling]

That’s a lot of km’s - kudos! There were 33 entered, though I think it was 30 that finished.

[@konstantinpapoutsidis6076]

@@ericbarnettcycling Even better. Just a handful who even dared to ride the endurance race.

[@ruirodrigues9122]

Congrats dude...I once did 100km in 3hours and it sucked...now 320km in one ride...that's some Vegan Cyclist shit. Pretty soon you will be pulling impossible routes of your own. Keep it up

[@ericbarnettcycling]

Lol, I actually watched his ultra vid the night before for inspiration! Thank you, Rui!

[@waterdeptworker]

Eric this is all great and all but I dont see the enjoyment in this...I like to ride but after that amount of miles seems to have the opposite effect of enjoyment...Kind of like someone forcing someone to have sex with multiple women for a 5 hours straight when the last 4 and a half hours the man is limp...Or eating your favorite food but having to eat 5 pounds of it straight when you are full after the first 20 minutes but you have 2 more hours of eating it....Just over kill.

[@ericbarnettcycling]

There were definitely times I wasn’t enjoying it, that’s for sure. By the end, though, I did catch a second wind and ended up having a great time. Accomplishing something I would’ve never considered possible was a great feeling, despite the pain!