“I like to set a lot of goals, knowing I will likely achieve the minor ones and probably never approach the loftiest ones.” after an overnight stop in Seattle. We had a small group of very intense PBP riders that year (including Sue Shook who was the second American female finisher in 77:10) who I could not keep up with beyond the first very brief “rest” stop. I completed most of the rides on my own. It was rather humbling, but a fresh new challenge. My first attempt at riding non-stop through the night was on my 47th birthday in 1992, a Lon Haldeman “Super Randonneur” event and RAAM qualifier in southern Wisconsin. I got very cold and spent some time in a warm bathtub and motel room before finishing the next day.
27
R2R: What is your approach to goal setting? Scharffenberg: Goals are a great incentive. I like to set a lot of goals, knowing I will most likely achieve the minor ones and probably never approach the loftiest ones, but they are strong incentives. I like to set a lot of goals, some specific and others more general. For instance, going into Furnace Creek 508 I will list my own past times, other Oregonian times, top age-group times. Then my goals can be to set an age-group record, personal record, top state time, top-3 time, or if I’m having a bad day (like last year), then the goals are modified to getting another, beating my worst time, etc. You can usually think of something
Photo by Larry Hopkins.
Planning for Cycling Success