Twenty-and-two-tenths seconds of pure athleticism.This how Ohio State cyclist Mike Schaefer finished in the Big Ten CyberCycle Challenge on Oct. 24, which broke the conference and the state of Ohio’s record.”He is an amazingly strong person,” OSU cyclist Hans Hacker said, who placed sixth in the OSU challenge. “He was the Midwest Cross-Country Circuit Champion, and he also ran track for Case Western Reserve.”Taking his lunch break to compete in the challenge, Schaefer was astonished by his achievement.”It was a great surprise, of course,” he said. “But I was too tired at that moment to care.”Schaefer was only three-tenths of a second off the national record of 19.9 seconds, which was set by Olympic Silver Medalist Marty Nothstein.The best time in the state of Ohio was set in 1996 with a mark of 25.1 seconds by Benjy Edwards of Columbus.The two-year-old CyberCycle Challenge is a program which was started by PowerBar, combining sport and technology. This challenge was made available to all students and non-students. Non–students were permitted to participate in all events except the Big Ten Challenge.”PowerBar put it together to gauge fitness,” Hacker said. “It was used in Colorado for Olympic training.”There was a malfunction during Schaefer’s first attempt to ride the CyberCycle.”They gave me a second chance and it still malfunctioned a little,” he said. “I don’t think I would have broke the national record.”Schaefer was awarded $500 for Ohio State champion, $5000 in cash for Big Ten champion, PowerBar clothing and a year’s supply of PowerBars, and a dual-suspension GT bike. Grandview Cycle helped sponsor the CyberCycle event at OSU and supplied the GT bike. The one-fifth mile sprint is a virtual ride on a stationary bike.”While riding the stationary bike, you watch a three-dimensional virtual screen in front of you,” Hacker said. “And you can race a person next to you if you want.”After Schaefer finished the race he was approached by PowerBar Representative and cycling coach, Roger Young. “He asked him if he had any aspirations to go pro,” Hacker said.Schaefer, who is currently enrolled in medical school at OSU, is contemplating his future as a doctor or a racer.Young invited Schaefer to participate in a spring training camp, which ran from Feb. 20-25.”It was interesting, we learned different kinds of riding, worked-out with pro cyclists and had one-on-one coaching sessions with Roger [Young],” Schaefer said. “It helped me to improve my technique and time, and I also learned some training philosophies.”Upon returning from camp he jumped right into his cycling season for OSU.”It gets difficult juggling med school and racing,” Schaefer said.PowerBar traveled to over 50 events across the nation in 1997.The CyberCycle Challenge will start up again in April and will last through August. The first stop will be on April 1, in Port Lucie, Fl.”I talked to them about coming to Ohio State again, but it is still in the workings,” Schaefer said. “But we had a pretty low turn-out, about fifty people showed up.”