Usually, I do not write about my cycling adventures on LinkedIn. As a matter of fact, I do not often write about my work adventures here either. In this case I want to make an exception, as I’m genuinely proud I achieved my (crazy) cycling goal in 2026 – a 412 km distance ride, in one day, from Eindhoven to France and back again, thus appropriately called “Retour de France”
To enable my LinkedIn connections to read to about my crazy sports challenges, since the only other social media I use is Strava, I would like to share this insane ride with you here.
I often find that the challenges and triumphs I face in cycling mirror those I face at work so I will point out those parallels to you. Just to stay in the LinkedIn spirit.
The vision
Cycling more than 400 km in one day, that was the plan. Why… would you ask? Because… I think I can..! Seriously, I have heard a lot of friends refer to my goal as ‘gekkenwerk’ (‘madhouse’) and yes indeed, it surely was. More than anything, I wanted to prove to myself that it is not as crazy a goal as everyone might think. It is a tough challenge, but definitely not impossible.
So on June 20th 2026 – I started my bike ride at 4 AM exactly, only to finish at 0:20 AM early the next day, a bike ride totaling over 20 hours. My vision was to have a goal that may sound crazy at first but prove it is possible simply by getting it done.
Using AI
I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with ChatGPT. It was my plan to stop every 50 km (roughly every 2 hours with an intended average speed of 25 km/h) for a longer break. I uploaded my route in .gpx format to ChatGPT and asked a simple prompt: “Act as my guide and give me either a petrol station, a coffee stop, a supermarket or a bakery every 50 kilometers. It should be open on Saturday June 20th somewhere between 7 am and 10 pm. The margins are roughly 1-2 km from this route, repeat every 50 km”. Lo and behold, after some adjustments, I got a neat Excel file with those shops, Google Maps links, opening times and more, spread over the 50-100-150km and so on distances.
The only thing left to do was to manually adjust my route based on this Excel. By combining Google Maps and Garmin Connect I re-routed a few spots but quickly got fed up with the effort. In the end I saved the Excel as a backup. I probably went to two of those Excel places in the end. However, it was good to have such a back-up in place. Exactly what AI is good for, a helpful back-up, not to determine the goal itself.
Persistence is key
When cycling these extreme distances, persistence is key. There are many moments you would like to stop and be done with it, but what I love so much about cycling – those moments pass, and before you know it, you forget about the meltdown you had earlier. And in this case meltdown was quite literal, with the max. temperature of 31* C that day it was pretty brutal!
Cycling to me is more of a mental game than a physical one. When you feel you are ready for this type of a bike ride, and in my case even looking forward to it, you are already halfway there. Difficult phases rarely last long, and progress depends on staying calm, keeping momentum, and trusting that a better stretch will come.
Training, training, training…
Ultra-distance rides require serious preparation. I began training at the start of the year, focusing on long indoor rides in heart rate & power zone 2 to build endurance. I spent many hours on the Tacx trainer bike, only made bearable by watching every season of ‘Breaking Bad’ and other series. As soon as the weather improved, I moved outdoors for two- to three-hour endurance rides, at least once a week.
To make sure I would do the proper training, I became a member of the BRM – Brevet Randonneur Mondiaux, a long-distance ride organization that organizes 200 km, 300 km and even longer rides. As preparation I biked two 200+ km of their rides early in the year. And as a final prep I did a 300 km BRM from Alkmaar about one month prior to the 400 km attempt, its sole purpose being a check if was ready and how it feels again, that strange feeling of hope, despair, stupidity and persistence all at once. In short, preparation is key!
Collaboration
Cycling 400km can get a bit lonely sometimes, so I was grateful that Patrick the super domestique joined me in Dinant for the stretch to France and return to Dinant. After listening to a bunch of podcasts and maybe exchanging a few words with the shop assistant at a petrol station, it was wonderful to chat with Patrick, get distracted, and simply cycle together. As a bonus Patrick took the great pictures like he always does when we ride together.
I was also quite impressed to find a couple of volunteers providing water and sponges next to the long-distance ‘ravels’ (cycling paths) in Belgium. These guys were an absolute life-saver. I never realized how much having water poured over your helmet and face can refresh and reinvigorate you instantly! Another case of how teamwork makes the dream work.
Chop it up in parts
The trick is to not boil the ocean, or your brain in these extreme temperatures, but make everything digestible by slicing up the challenge. In my case it was quite simple: on my Garmin I did not have the distance or total time ever in view, but my route map with my current speed, but above all my lap timer. Every 1 hour my Garmin auto-lapped me, and around that time I looked for a place to stop for a break, and so on. At a certain point in time, I switched to 45 min laps, and finally it became 30 min laps. That was the only thing I looked at on my Garmin, the entire time, and it really worked to keep my focus.
I find that grand ambitions become achievable when you cut them up into focused steps, regularly checking your progress, and by keeping it moving so the size of the challenge doesn’t overwhelm the work that can be done right now.
Thanks for reading! I truly enjoyed this bike ride, even more so after I had achieved it!
Who wants to join me next time 😉
For data-lovers like me…
| Distance | 412,87 km |
| Average speed | 26,2 kph |
| Cycling time | 15:44:40 |
| Moving time | 20:18:59 |
| Elevation | 937 m |
| Total Calories Burned | 10.533 |
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