Events: The Longest Day Challenge 2022: North America

Cover photo is lifted from Rapha’s website. It does not belong to us. Rapha’s Longest Day Challenge is open from June 18-26.

(2022) It is a monstrous undertaking to attempt to ride from sun up to sun down - or beyond - on June 21st, the most abundant day of sunshine in the northern hemisphere. As with any cycling event, things need to go perfect to pull off The Longest Day Challenge for 2022, where riders try to go farther than normal. No doubt there were riders who went the distance. Surely there were many participants who came up short. It was getting out that was the ultimate enjoyment.

Though it’s the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere, people in our area have been acting like summer has been around for a few weeks. It is evident in later group ride start times. Strava shows efforts going well past sun down to manage a metric century on a weeknight. The Longest Day is supposed to be an attempt at the longest ride of the year for many. Some have been planning for this day for quite some time.

I even entertained the idea of a fifteen-mile circuit that started at midnight and would be navigated for twenty-four hours. People could come and go, but a select few would continue to ride around the clock until a phantom checkered flag was waved and distances tallied. It was a neat idea but it would certainly become a concern of execution somewhere around mid-day. 

Today the route was loosely held together. An old Festive 500 goal came to mind, one that was part of the abandoned years. That year there was a goal to circle the reservoirs in Bucks County. With two large bodies of water nearby, it was decided to go around both of them. With perfect temperatures and an encouraging morning, the ride happened, plummeting down the ridge out of Plumsteadville, then back up it to loop around Lake Galena. These miles were where I came up with the middle portion to get to Lake Nockamixon.

Each mile was quietly executed. This event has no fanfare; it is a solo effort to explore just how far one can cover by bike. At one point I wondered how many miles could be added to the ride by looping around Round Valley Reservoir in New Jersey, but that more than doubled the day’s mileage. Ride in a certain direction in Bucks County and its down a ride then immediately back up another. This is how to go north to circle Lake Nockamixon.

There were roads that had not been visited in a while or at all. It had been a while since the last time the gigantic shoulder of 563, north of Lake Nockamixon and home to numerous cycling events, had been taken advantage of. It was an uplifting experience to roll over crisp asphalt from Perkasie to Ottsville. The traffic was heavier than usual. Hopefully these were people getting out on the lake for their Longest Day out. 

There were more ridges to navigate until finally I rolled up to the office around noon. My Longest Day Ride ended at lunch time after the sun had been above the horizon for nearly seven hours already and would have another nine to go. But that was enough for me. As far as I know, this was the longest midweek ride to date. 

One year will see a monstrous ride somewhere. Maybe it could be this summer yet. The sunrises and sunsets change little over the next couple of weeks. The best part is that it keeps me looking forward to new rides, but in the case of the 24-hour challenge, it even glamorizes those tired old routes by looking at them in a whole new light. Or darkness.