25 Miles In 50 Minutes!? We Ride The World's Fastest Bike Course

Cycling 30 miles per hour for 25 miles on a bike is ridiculously hard, but on a standard road bike, it's almost impossible, but we're going to try. By using the power of tech, teamwork, and with the help of the fastest bike course in the world, plus our unimaginable fitness and power, can we do it? Probably not. No, probably not actually. Good work, boys. Right behind you. Looking good. Easy, easy, easy. Come on, Ollie. Don't quit on me now. To give this challenge some context, riding 25 miles in less than 50 minutes was, until relatively recently, considered to be an unbreakable barrier. A little bit like running a sub-two-hour marathon or a sub-four-minute mile. In fact, much like running a sub-four-minute mile, it was considered unbreakable until suddenly it wasn't. The first man to do it was Alf Engers in 1978. He averaged over 30 miles per hour. What makes that feat even more incredible was the bike that he was using. In fact, it's probably one of the greatest feats of time trialing ever recorded. It deserves far more credit than it gets, but the trouble is in cycling, technology has moved on so rapidly that Alf's time was bettered more and more frequently until today, where even people like Ollie can do it. That's how much technology has moved on. Alf's record was set on a drop bar road bike because that's all they had available in the late 1970s. Remarkably, his feat was only bettered on drop bars this year in 2025. What makes us think we can do it? Well, there's three of us for a start. Yes, but we're all rubbish compared to Alf. Fair, but we do have modern super-fast aero road bikes, which is going to make life much, much, much easier than it was for Alf in 1978. Yes, plus we have carefully selected our route. This course in Wales is arguably the fastest bike course on the planet. The quickest ever 25-mile time trial was ridden right here in a time of 42 minutes and 58 seconds by Marcin Bielobocci. That's over 56K an hour. Yes, but what we've got to say is that was riding a time trial bike, which is basically cheating. Is literally cheating. Yes, but we have a couple of secret weapons up our sleeves in the form of science and communication. Now, I know what you're thinking, what on earth is that? Well, my friends, that is a Senna Becom 20, a cycling-specific Bluetooth communication device, which will allow us to seamlessly communicate with one another while riding. This is in spite of wind noise, in spite of riding behind one another, and it will allow us to communicate with DS Connor Dunn in the team car. Best of all, if one of us gets dropped, it has a radius of two kilometers. It essentially allows you to communicate with your riding buddies without having to ride directly next to them or shouting, but the great thing is for us that we're really hoping that quick, clear, and effortless communication is going to help us succeed today compared to our many, many, many previous failed super nerd challenges. Have you guys ever succeeded in one of these? No. Yes, I don't think we actually have, but today could be the day. We've also worked out a pacing strategy, which, again, we've not actually done before. You see, we know the demands of this course so we can work out how much power it will take to ride at 30 miles an hour, and we know how much it'll take for each of the key sections, be they flat, downhill, or the dreaded uphill finish. What we didn't know, though, was who could generate that power and for how long, so we did a bit of testing. Taking a GPX of the route, we've been able to recreate it exactly using our smart trainers simply via the Wahoo app. However, as well as simulating the course, we wanted to find out what we were all capable of. Right, guys, super nerds boot camp time. We're going to do a session in Wahoo's system that's actually based on real data from a world tour team time trial. Normally, when you do this session, well, the system app would tailor it to your own abilities to make it a beneficial training session. However, we want to find out exactly what we're capable of in a team time trial, so guys, you're going to have to do 410 watt turns. Oh, ouch. What are you going to do? 350. How's that a thing? Why? Everyone knows I'm more aero than you. I'm more aero. Come on, put it up. You can do more. Okay, I'll put it up a bit. Two, one, go. How's that, guys? This is a big turn on the front. 370-watt turn for me. 405. I said 410. The next one's harder. You're cruising. Me? No, Peyton. I'm just trying to get the heart rate monitor on, mate. Peyton. I think you're dead, apparently. I'll tell you what, BMC are well-drilled, aren't they? Yes. Monoculars. These turns are the same length. I think you should meet your father, Alex. Alex is in zone three now. I am actually starting to struggle here. Good. You're only 150 beats. All right, guys. I'm done. All right, mate. That's all I got. There's nothing more left. Come on, guys. We've got a super old time trial record to beat here. Someone's got to do it. This will be me. Come on, Si. Come on. Only one of us has got to make it to the finish in the real time trial. I'm not going to get there. Come on. Gather the breathing. Oh, mate. Good job. Good job. You've done well. I think we've got a bit of work to do. I shouldn't have allowed myself to be bullied by YouTube and go up to 370. I think 350 is me. I think we all ate a slice of humble pie, didn't we? Yes. Let's make a plan. Guys, I've come up with a plan now. I've broken the course down into key moments that we're going to do. We can put that then on the Wahoos to give us tips. I've looked at the wind. I've analyzed what power we need to do and how we need to allocate our resources. You two have got considerably more horsepower than me. No surprises there. What's the bad news then, mate? What are you wanting on the front? Well, Alex, 400 watt turns. Brilliant. Si, 380. Okay. All right. What are you doing? Sitting on. How's that a thing? How's that a thing? Because aerodynamically, I'm still contributing to the team effort making it easier for you guys. By sitting on. We need to basically conserve me so that then I can still be there contributing aerodynamically. Then hopefully, in the back half, I can then do turns. There is a problem actually here in that having got a sneak peek of the course, if one of us gets dropped, it pretty much means certain death. Yes. Because you'll be outside the relative safety of our follow car. Therefore, basically, you'd be like a lamb waiting to get eaten by lorries. I get a feeling that this road is actually more dangerous than death road that you guys have literally just ridden on. 100%. I'm terrified of this particular road. It might be the fastest race course in the world, but that's probably because people are scared that they will get run over. Well, seeing as we can forget about Ollie's pacing, how long turns do you want to do if it's just me and you? Minute and a half each? Minute? Should we start with a minute and see how we go? Whilst the nerds talk wattage and CDA, my role today is team manager, director sportive, if you will. Now, I'll be communicating with them during their effort with Senna's intercom system, but from the comfort of the team car or minibus, which is what I've got today. You see, I don't need to get cold because I've already done this route before and I've already gone faster than 50 minutes, which I'm pretty proud of. I think it was about 13 years ago, I managed a 47-minute, 18-second, 25-mile TT here. I'm going to enjoy watching these clowns make an absolute haze of this. All right, should we get kitted up and see if Ollie's ready? Let's drink up, shall we? Here he is. You ready, guys? What is that? What have you come as? Literally, what is that? You have brought a time trial bike. It's nice for road bikes, drop bars. What about the wheel situation? Yes, Princeton disc wheel. Did it for America, right? I didn't get to properly ride it, so I thought, oh, I'm going to use it now, and 58-tooth chainring, 1x. Look at that aero oversized pulley. Careful, you can get run over, they might not have spotted you. Seriously, disc wheel, is that not cheating? Isn't that loud? I need all the help I can get. Yes, but there's all the help you can get, and then there's cheating. It's not cheating. Is it in the spirit of the rules? It's not not in the rules. It's against all rules from the UCI cycling time trials. Disc wheels are fine in time trials. Not in road bike time trials. This is, as you know, a very, very fast course. My memories of it, you start and pretty much immediately, you're absolutely flying. I'm glad Ollie's got the 58. I think my tips are just to keep on top of that speed and don't take it too easy. You need to press on the whole time, which means high speeds. I quite like that in-depth analysis there, get the speed high and then keep it high. Yes, very high, but also save a bit for the end because there's a little sting in the tail because obviously, whilst you're going downhill, you have to go back up. Not quite as far as from where you started, but still, save a bit for those last three kilometers. Okay, Conor, make sure you're muted before telling us what time you think you're going to do. Over. All right, get a warm-up in, boys. Get those legs moving. High cadence work. I feel like the poor relation with my 50-tooth chainset. Mic off. I've got a 50-tooth chainset on. 50. 50? Yes, that's like a sportive chainring. 50-10. 50-10? Yes, sportive gearing. Oh, you're spinning a bit there. I think the boys are going to give it a good effort. I'm going to do my best to help them as best I can. I'm really up for it, actually. Do I think they're going to go sub-50? No. I think they'll be lucky to get under 52 minutes. That's my prediction. I'm going 50-30. Before we start, we've got to give a little shout-out to Insta360 as well. Not only will we have our amazing filmmakers today, but we're also going to be recording it from our bikes. Alex has got an Insta360 Ace Pro 2 on the back of his bike. I'm going to be having one, but on a chest mount. Apparently, it's not quite as aerodynamic, but someone has to wear it. Ollie's got a Go 3S Ultra, and Conor will also have an Ace Pro 2 filming him as well. I've got to say, the best bit is knowing that I can let it run for 50 minutes, and I'm not going to have to stress about battery life. That's a win. Okay, right, guys. Good luck. Keep it tight. Let's do it. Three, two, one. Let's go. Up, up, up, up, up. Yes. Good work, boys. Coming up to the turn now. Nice and tight through the roundabout. Then we're going up the slip, so stay together around this. It is fast. Ease a little bit for the turn. It's quite tight. Okay. You're all through together. Make sure Ollie's on the back. Ollie's just off the back. Ease it off side. Back on, back on. Okay. You're all together. We're behind you now. Behind you in position. Good work, boys. Keep it rolling. Keep it rolling. From this point on, it starts to get much faster. You need to get that speed and maintain it. Ollie, how are you feeling, mate? Good work, boys. All together. Boys, you need to try and lift it if you can. You need to try and lift it. Okay. I'm out of gears. That's it, Alex. Up it, mate. Up it. Keep it moving. Come on, Ollie. We're going to need some turns from you here, mate. I'm coming through. I've got the big gear. Yes. You need to make the most of it. Up, up, up. Keep pushing. Really push it here. We're a little bit down, so we need to make up some ground. Just keep that speed and pull off when you're done. Don't let it slow down. A little squeeze side. Good job. Behind you. Looking good. Straight over the roundabout. Good work, mate. Get straight back on that wheel. Ollie, he's on. He's on. Good work, boys. Going up to 10-mile mark. I think we're in a good place. I think we're in a good place. Easy, easy, easy. Ollie's in difficulty at the back. Stick to that wheel, mate. I'll do what I can. Third exit, A465 again, straight through. Boys, I put you at 30 seconds up at the 10-mile check. I think you're 30 seconds up. We've gone through the first 10 miles, actually looking pretty good. I think we're up by about 30 seconds, which if I'm honest, I wasn't sure we'd be in this position. I saw them set off on the first couple of K, but some solid turns by Alex and Si. Ollie's been doing well when he can, but he's suffering after each turn. Stay on those wheels, Ollie. Stay on those wheels. Recover, mate. All good. All together. All together. Good work. Keep it going, Si. I think they can do it. If they can keep this going, they can do it, but they've still got a long way to go and also kicks uphill at the end. Still all to play for. Keep it steady because we're on target. Si, you've got an average power of 318. Good, mate. Solid work. Alex, you're also looking good too. 296 watts. I think we've got a bit more from you, Alex. I think you've got more in the tank, mate. Thanks to Wahoo's live track feature, Conor was able to see our power and heart rate data in real time from the car. This would help him direct us and tell us when to do turns, or in my case, when to skip them. Remember what David Corgan says. Don't stop when you're tired. Stop when you're done. Good work, boys. That junction is our turn. One mile to go. Ride through. Good work. Nice and calm through this now. Left. Left here. Left here. Steady, Si. Steady, Si. Dropping Ollie. Si, ease off, mate. Ease off, Si. Ease off your captain. That's it. Stay together. We don't need to take risks. Okay. Keep it a short turn if you want, Ollie. Yes, keep it short, Ollie. Keep it short. We still need you for the last five miles. Make sure you recover from the turn. Alex is coming through. Si, get on Alex. Ollie, ease off straight on Si's wheel. Good work, Alex. Good work. Nice and smooth. Steady, Si. Steady, Si. Ollie's skipping. Ollie's skipping. Alex, get on Si's wheel. Yes, Alex. Yes. This bit's always going to be slow, but we're well up. Ollie, dig in, mate. Come on. You're not done yet, mate. Good job, mate. 9K left. Looking good. Okay. Si on the exit on my left. Come on, boys. Focus. Five miles to go. You're still up. You're still up. You just need to keep it smooth for the finish. Come on, Ollie. Don't quit on me now. Remember, it's a bit more uphill, so you are going to have to really push it. You're going to have to work to the tanks for this last bit. It's not going to be pretty, but you can do it. Good work, Si. Keep it moving. All together. Keep it going. You might be wearing football socks, but they're definitely working for you. Good job, lad. Good work, boys. Good work. Ollie, still save a bit if you can. Just keep the speed and get back on the wheels. Still need you, as you know, for that last drag. Ollie's missing. Ollie's missing. Alex on the side. All together. All together. Good work. Keep it going. Keep it going. Keep it going. You're digging now. Really need to go for it. Two miles to go. A little bit of downhill, and then you get that drag to finish. Pick up the speed here if you can. Pick up the speed here. Inside the last mile. Come on, Ollie. Get on the wheel. Get on the wheel. He's easy. He's easy. He's up. He's up. We're dropping Ollie. We're dropping Ollie. We're dropping Ollie. Momentary wait. He's up. He's up. He's up. Stay together. Stay together. He's up. He's up. He's onto Alex. Si, wait. Si, wait. Come on, Ollie. On, on, on. Come on now, boys. This is the last drag. This is it to the line. How far? Not now. This is it. Go on. Yes, that's it. Stop here. Save it. Save the ride. Is that? End ride. Save ride. Yes, please. Super nerds have actually done something. Si. You guys. Haven't we got to talk to each other? You did it. Under 48. We're a minute quicker. I can't believe that we did that. I can't believe we did that. Do you want to know the official time? Yes. I uploaded it. Because I think it's a bit faster than what you guys said from my calculations. 48.35. This is the first thing we've ever succeeded at. I know. Good job, boys. Good job. What was that? We're a bunch of losers. I was a bit worried because the first 3K, I was looking at you and the times. I was like, oh, I don't know. We're a bit down here. Were you just trying to judge us off the first 3K? Yes, but it's just that first bit is really important to get your speed up and then you need to use the gift to your advantage. Are you saying that we were a bit slow until we went down that massive hill at 80 kilometers an hour? Yes. It's funny how that made us faster. That was crazy. You were flying down it, but then I was like, they need to keep it going after this if it drops off. To be fair to you, you brought it back and after those first 10 miles, I was like, game on it. Well, these two brought it back. Absolute heroes. I was dying, just dying, just hanging out of my car trying to hold on to you two. That's the thing about team time trials though, isn't it? I don't think anyone ever feels good because it's just that you constantly give it everything and then everyone else looks so strong. Do you know what really made the difference for me was doing that team time trial practice on the indoor trainers. That was good. Remember how if we cast our minds back all the way to our first team time trial session at GCN Megabase and then you guys turned mine up to the max, then I died a thousand deaths. I did, I think, two or three of those workouts at home afterwards and honestly, it was like night and day. No surprise though, really, is that if you practice something, you get better at it. Can I also say as well, Conor, having you on the radio was absolutely wicked. What a DS, that was brilliant. I thought you were going to be rubbish, but you were great. There were some bits, particularly on roundabouts where you hesitate, different amounts of gaps form, and then with me being the weakest of the three, I was struggling to get back on, but being able to tell you that a gap had opened up, I made all the difference. Plus, it was just fun just having mega bounce on the radio all the time. I think that's what's key because when you do lose the gap in those places, you can lose a lot of time if you don't immediately pause, get back together, and go again. I think having the communication really helped you guys actually. For me, the most safety net was knowing that you could speak to the person that was doing your turn and you could let everyone know that you were about to finish your turn. It meant it was just smoother in general rather than being like, all right, I've got to go now because it was really helpful. You were like, right, Alex, you ready? I was like, okay, concentrate, size and finish. I could tell you when I was missing a turn. Yes, that was good because there was one time when you didn't do a turn and you didn't speak. I was like, for God's sake, he's been saying every time. Then the one time you didn't say, I had to fill the gap. Sorry. Could I ask, Conor, what did you think that we were actually going to do time-wise? What was your prediction? I feel a bit bad. I predicted 52 and a half minutes. It's just like- Good to know you believed in us. Cheers, coach. I came here to get the job done. I was coming to get the job done, but I just felt it's so fast and you have to really stick it together. It's a cold day as well, isn't it? It's a cold day as well. Ollie was giving it the beans on the way here about how he wasn't feeling good. You came around, he brought it through. That's what counts. Was it cool having our live data as well on your laptop in the DS car? Yes, it was amazing. It's the first time I've ever done that. It's a lot to think about because I was trying to keep on the maps, keep on your data, keep on talking to you. I didn't want to mess it up because you guys are the ones putting the effort in. Yes, it was a lot of pressure, but I enjoyed it. Have we finally discovered today that the missing link to all of the super nerds challenges has been Connor? Quite possibly. Basically, yes. We should have guessed that before, shouldn't we, really? Thank you, mate. Yes, that's right. I don't know why I wasn't invited before. You might get lost in the post. We didn't want you to show us up. You thought we could only do 52 and a half minutes? We didn't get to 47.18, which is what I did. On that, we should probably wrap up. If you've enjoyed this video, please give it a big thumbs up. Once again, thank you very much to Wahoo, to Senna, and also to Insta360 for supporting this video. Much appreciated. Let us know in the comments, what is your next super nerds challenge? Good point. We're out of here. See you.