Every time I hear...

[Comshaw]

"That's so implausible! It could never happen!" about a story here, I stop and think about the limits of the human animal and reality. As a motorcycle rider I'm familar with most of that world. There is a thing called "The Ironbutt" rally. What's that you ask? The basic rally is an 11,000 mile ride in 11 days. No, that's not a typo, eleven thousand miles in eleven days.

To verify a rider does that, there are designated places they need to stop and take pictures of which must include the rider's bike and a numbered sign (usually printed on a towel for easy transport on a bike). There are also bonus places off the main course that a rider can stop at to gain more points. The 2025 rally was won by Nichole Meuse after riding 13,238 miles in the 11-day window. You can see why it's called The Ironbutt.
https://www.ldxrally.com/2025-iron-butt-rally

Now I thought that was pretty damned extreme, until I read about the Cocodona 250, a 253.3-mile ultramarathon. A woman, Rachel Entrekin won it with a time of 56:09:48. Yes, 56 hours, 09 minutes and 48 seconds. And she didn't just win the women's division, she won the overall race. She beat everyone else, even the men.

What point am I trying to get to? Just this: Every time I hear the comment "That couldn't happen!" I stop and ruminate on things like the Ironbutt and the Cocodona 250 and think, 'You have no idea of the limits of the human animal.'

Never say never, 'cause sometime along the way that statement will be proven to be wrong.

https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/a...-to-top-field-of-men-and-women-222914350.html

Comshaw

 

[TheLobster]

You can see why it's called The Ironbutt.
https://www.ldxrally.com/2025-iron-butt-rally

Guys, this link is bait. I clicked it expecting to see the butt in question and was left sorely disappointed

 

[MrPixel]

I had a GF who was into the Ironbutt, though that was well after we broke up. Rode a BMW something. No idea where she is today and don't really wanna know. She was a piece of work.

 

[StillStunned]

Never say never, 'cause sometime along the way that statement will be proven to be wrong.

Just today I was telling the redhead about a friend who walked into his office one morning, still reeling from his wife leaving him, to find that his company had launched a new promotional campaign, with large posters everywhere. The employee they'd chosen to be the face of the campaign was the hunky colleague that his wife had left him for.

True story, not the plot of a romcom.

 

[liliput1]

"That's so implausible! It could never happen!" about a story here, I stop and think about the limits of the human animal and reality. As a motorcycle rider I'm familar with most of that world. There is a thing called "The Ironbutt" rally. What's that you ask? The basic rally is an 11,000 mile ride in 11 days. No, that's not a typo, eleven thousand miles in eleven days.

To verify a rider does that, there are designated places they need to stop and take pictures of which must include the rider's bike and a numbered sign (usually printed on a towel for easy transport on a bike). There are also bonus places off the main course that a rider can stop at to gain more points. The 2025 rally was won by Nichole Meuse after riding 13,238 miles in the 11-day window. You can see why it's called The Ironbutt.
https://www.ldxrally.com/2025-iron-butt-rally

Now I thought that was pretty damned extreme, until I read about the Cocodona 250, a 253.3-mile ultramarathon. A woman, Rachel Entrekin won it with a time of 56:09:48. Yes, 56 hours, 09 minutes and 48 seconds. And she didn't just win the women's division, she won the overall race. She beat everyone else, even the men.

What point am I trying to get to? Just this: Every time I hear the comment "That couldn't happen!" I stop and ruminate on things like the Ironbutt and the Cocodona 250 and think, 'You have no idea of the limits of the human animal.'

Never say never, 'cause sometime along the way that statement will be proven to be wrong.

https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/a...-to-top-field-of-men-and-women-222914350.html

Comshaw

There’s also Race Across America, where people ride bicycles from the east coast to California. When I was a kid someone got below a week to finish. From then on most of the winners were hallucinating from lack of sleep on the last leg. Not something you want to happen while you’re in the Rockies for sure.

 

[AStrangeDesire]

Speaking of things that are unbelievable @Comshaw did you see what the Fortnine guys accomplished? Recent record for circumnavigating the world. They made a movie of it, and it's worth a watch

Even for those of us that ride a lot, and long distance, 16 days to go around the world is insane.

@liliput1 There was a netflix documentary about the race across America a few years ago. IIRC, it was a good watch.

 

[StillStunned]

Now I thought that was pretty damned extreme, until I read about the Cocodona 250, a 253.3-mile ultramarathon. A woman, Rachel Entrekin won it with a time of 56:09:48. Yes, 56 hours, 09 minutes and 48 seconds. And she didn't just win the women's division, she won the overall race. She beat everyone else, even the men.

Some years ago I saw an interview with an ultrarunner who'd just completed the Australian coastline, and shortly after I saw a bit of a documentary about a guy running coast to coast in the US.

How do you even train for something like that? "Honey, I'm just popping out for a run. See you next month!"

 

[Duil2]

Mad... mad... they're all mad.

I'm am so getting old - it's taken me longer to find that blasted emoji than write and post the message.

Zany-Face??? Really?

 

[liliput1]

I wrote a draft for the intro to an “Inspired by real events” story and lost it. I’ve been procrastinating on rewriting it because all the true parts suddenly sounded absurd to my ear when I tried to recall what I wrote. The part I made up is the logical conclusion to a story I chickened out of before it could play out.

I should stop fucking around and rewrite it.

Many of our memorable stories are the most implausible ones. There’s survivor bias there. I wouldn’t tell you about the really boring ones.

 

[Actingup]

Just today I was telling the redhead about a friend who walked into his office one morning, still reeling from his wife leaving him, to find that his company had launched a new promotional campaign, with large posters everywhere. The employee they'd chosen to be the face of the campaign was the hunky colleague that his wife had left him for.

True story, not the plot of a romcom.

...and that was how he becaume a grafitti artist?

 

[TheLobster]

Just today I was telling the redhead about a friend who walked into his office one morning, still reeling from his wife leaving him, to find that his company had launched a new promotional campaign, with large posters everywhere. The employee they'd chosen to be the face of the campaign was the hunky colleague that his wife had left him for.

True story, not the plot of a romcom.

On one hand, this is terrible.

On the other hand, we're looking forward to your LW debut because holy crap, that is some story!

 

[StillStunned]

On one hand, this is terrible.

On the other hand, we're looking forward to your LW debut because holy crap, that is some story!

Nah. I'm not going to parody my friend's pain, and anyway, readers would dismiss it as implausible and contrived.