Six hours in to what would eventually become a more than 30-hour, 620-mile ride, Ballard resident and ultra cyclist, Chris Ragsdale, virtually alone on a rural stretch of road outside La Conner, Wash., was feeling confident. Then the weather changed.

"The winds kicked in," Ragsdale said. "It was traumatic."

This epic ride, taking place July 31 and Aug. 1, was an attempt to set world records in road cycling for most miles ridden in 24 hours and fastest time to 1,000 kilometers.

Ragsdale, a 33-year-old Michigan native who has lived in Ballard for the past eight years, started cycling in 2001 after Sept. 11 convinced him to commit time to doing the things he loved.

In 2008, after setting a competition record in the National 24 Hour Challenge, he told the Ballard News-Tribune his ultimate goal was to attempt a 24-hour world record within the next three years.

This summer was his shot at that goal.

Ragsdale's challenges to setting two world records started before he even mounted his bicycle.

Originally hoping to set the records on a track instead of the open road, he was stymied by poor track conditions, steep rental prices and other obstacles. Ragsdale even looked into a handful of NASCAR tracks from California to Atlanta, but it was no good.

He shifted his sights from track records to road records and began researching courses near Seattle. After an exhaustive search, he settled on a 10.8-mile course outside La Conner that had at least eight miles of great surface, was totally flat and had only one stoplight.

On the morning of July 31, Ragsdale set off on his world record attempts, sanctioned by the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association, with support crew and judges in tow.

"Both of [the records] are daunting for an endurance cyclist, even someone as fit and motivated as Chris is," support crew member Jon Muellner said in his blog of the event. "They are basically individual time trials on the open road with just your mind, body and crew – a fairly lonely endeavor and exceptionally challenging."

Things were going well for Ragsdale for the first quarter of the 24 hours. He wavered between eight minutes and 10 minutes ahead of the world-record pace for miles ridden in 24 hours.

As soon as the wind hit, he went from well above pace to well below pace.

He said he lost seconds to mechanical problems, such as flat tires, but lost hours to the wind.

Ragsdale realized during the long, dark night that he wouldn't be able to break the 24-hour record, Muellner said in his blog.

Ragsdale said it started hurting him mentally when he knew he couldn't make the times he needed on each lap to break the record.

He said he kept trying to give it everything he had on each lap, but continuously failing to hit his time goals lap after lap sent him into a mental spiral.

"There were points when I was feeling like there was no end to it," he said.

At the 24-hour mark, Ragsdale had ridden 494 miles, approximately 46 miles short of the world record, held by Italy's Orlando Borini. That left the 1,000-kilometer record for a consolation prize.

Ragsdale was able to overcome his disappointment in failing to set the 24-hour record through the exuberant support of his crew. He said there were so many amazing people cheering him on that he needed to push forward and complete the challenge for them as well as himself.

"I told myself I'm not leaving until I finish that 1,000 kilometers," Ragsdale said.

Thirty-one hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds after he started his ride, Ragsdale hit the 1,000-kilometer mark, becoming the fastest cyclist to ride 1,000 kilometers on the road in the world.

"It feels good," Ragsdale said. "But, I'm a little bit disappointed because I know if the conditions had been better, I could have done so much more. I'm accepting but not excited."

The outcome may have left Ragsdale underwhelmed, but it did not have the same effect on his supporters.

"It was honestly one of the most emotionally and physically intense efforts I have ever witnessed," Muellner said in his blog.

For world record-holder Ragsdale, his 24-hour goal is still out there waiting for him. Though he's not sure where or when it will happen, he said he knows he's got another shot at it in him.