Law Practice
May 31, 2001
A Lawyer Spins Wheels to Break Record
SAN FRANCISCO - Employment lawyer and bicycling enthusiast Robert Sturm says Tour de France marathon cyclists are out of his league. The 33-year old Littler Mendelson partner can't claim to match the speed of those international race competitors, but he created a league of his own over the long Memorial Day weekend. While many of his colleagues were in bed dreaming of barbecues and parades, Sturm was setting a new world record for stationary biking.
The 33-year old Littler Mendelson partner can't claim to match the speed of those international race competitors, but he created a league of his own over the long Memorial Day weekend. While many of his colleagues were in bed dreaming of barbecues and parades, Sturm was setting a new world record for stationary biking.
At 6:15 Monday morning, Sturm completed a 45-hour workout that bested the world record for stationary bike endurance. Sturm had peddled a stationary bike at a San Francisco 24 Hour Fitness health club since Saturday, with only a 15-minute break every eight hours.
"Each break went by so much faster than I would have expected," he said. Sturm used each break to go to the bathroom, take a shower, change his clothes and stretch.
He said hour 32 - 10 hours before he would break the world record - was the hardest.
"I was dying - my knees, my rear end, my Achilles [tendon]. And I kept switching cycling shorts because the seams kept chafing into different parts of my rear end," he said.
Last year, a South African woman set the previous record of 42 hours and 15 minutes. According to London's Guinness World Records, Sturm has applied to have his record certified in the company's "spinner/static cycling marathon" category.
Sturm broke that record at 3:31 a.m. Monday. At the end of his ride he had covered a "distance" of 944 kilometers, which beat the previous record-holder's distance of 938 kilometers.
Sturm's performance was part of an annual fund-raising event held by his health club, which is on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco. Donations amounted to $1,300.
Andy Chance, San Francisco sports manager for the Special Olympics, said he checked in on Sturm around noon Sunday, the halfway point of his ride. "I asked if he was feeling good, and he said, 'I can't honestly say that I feel good ... .'"
"On behalf of the Special Olympics we were amazed at what Rob was able to do and happy to be a part of his accomplishment," Chance said.
Before the event, Sturm said was most nervous about sleep deprivation. In hindsight, he said, "the physical wear and tear was much, much harder."
Sturm said he could stomach little beyond the required water and caffeine. For food, he consumed precisely one "Power Bar," one and a half bananas and a piece of bread during the entire ordeal and lost nine pounds during the ride.
After the race, he immediately showered, and he is pretty sure that he then called his mother and a CBS news reporter who had asked to be alerted to his feat. "Gosh, I was delusional at that point," he said as he tried to recall details.
In his spare time, Strum, who practices full-time in the San Francisco home office of Littler Mendelson, has also been teaching "spinning," choreographed exercise classes set to music along the lines of traditional aerobics routines, at the gym since March. He said he came up with the solo fund-raiser idea when the club began soliciting last-minute ideas from the staff about three weeks ago.
Sturm said he was already in training for the 200-mile Davis Double Century race, so he decided instead to pursue a world record and collect pledges.
"I didn't really think too much about it, but when I got the fund-raising note, I thought it might be an interesting way to make money," he said.
Strum has been cycling since he came to the West Coast to join Littler Mendelson in 1992. He said he likes to employ his cycling expertise for charity. He has participated in fund-raising rides for organizations such as the American Heart Association and American Diabetes associations.
"I like to have a balance of legal and non-legal work. My pro bono work is typically nonlegal," he said.
Strum said he'd never thought about doing work for the Special Olympics, an organization that trains and provides competitions for athletes with mental retardation, until his health club put him into contact with the organization.
"I think it's a wonderful organization," he said, recalling that he had a childhood friend with Down syndrome who competed in the Special Olympics.
Strum, raised in Chappaqua, N.Y., had been a baby-sitter and playmate to Jason Kingsley. Kingsley, 27, was probably best known for his childhood role on the public television series "Sesame Street," for which his mother was a producer.
Before his big ride, Sturm said, he expected to be back at work Monday preparing for a labor commission hearing Tuesday. On Friday, he joked about the possibility of needing a wheelchair after the event.
On Tuesday, he said, "I'm moving the equivalent of half a mile an hour and not in a straight line, but I'm not in a wheelchair.
"My walk is like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz."
Karen Coleman
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
Jeremy_Ellis@dailyjournal.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 213-229-5424
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com