For the remaining 23 hours of the race, he was unable to move his head or summon any upper-body strength. As far as I'm concerned, that describes everything that matters. People don't understand how riding for 24 hours straight can be a rush, but it is. Much of the rush comes from Stamstad's ability to thrive in situations that tend to break other people down. In long-distance races, all sorts of Jekyll and Hyde acts occur.
Friendly people get nasty.
Quiet ones get belligerent. What gives Stamstad satisfaction is that at the end of a race, he seems to be the same person he was at the beginning. Because he struggled with depression as a young adult, the fact that he can keep it together at such high stress levels is no small prize. But that all changed for me as soon as I started winning bike races. My self-esteem improved tremendously.