Eventually I decided I would go, and make the most of it. I do it for the fun. It doesn't really matter if I perform less well than usual because I'm never in contention for any prizes anyway.
Harry also decided to ride there on Friday, so we went together. However, because I had a meeting to go to on Monday morning I decided I must come back early, missing Sunday's events. That left only Friday and Saturday.
Friday's event was a one hour time trial, held on the same 2.8 km long high speed test track as Cyclevision had used at the 2002 and 2003 events which I also took part in. Therefore it was a chance to see if I could go faster than back then. Due to having a much faster bike, I was sure I would do so, and so it turned out. However, my speed wasn't particularly impressive. Perhaps 130 km of "warm up" is just too much.
Anyway, here's the video I made going to, during and after the race. Apart from the race itself, there's quite a bit showing the cycle paths I came home on afterwards:
There are many other reports, videos, photos of the event. You can find them on the ligfiets.net website.
Many thanks to all those involved in organising this excellent event.
Grotere kaart weergeven
The last part of the video shows most of the first third of my route home. It is (more or less) as shown on this map.
Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.
5 comments:
The race reminds me of the pod race in "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace", as all of the vehicles have different designs.
I can't get that Big Audio Dynamite track out of my head now. Fantastic! ... "Come on every beat box, la la la" ... :-)
The speed difference is amazing to watch. Both when you overtake some of the slower unfaired riders and the faster velombiles.
But even tired you managed to overtake another velomobile.
Some of those faired two wheelers look scary.
Neil: I'm really not quick. The quick people there would beat me on much lesser bikes.
The faired two-wheelers are specialized racing machines. They're not safe for use on the street as side-winds are dangerous. There is also usually nowhere to carry any luggage.
Similar things go for the racing hoods and other adaptions for improved aerodynamics on some of the other velomobiles. In many cases these also make them unsuitable for use off a track - especially when you can't look around. Also some are a bit close to the ground to get over speed-bumps.
As Todd says, not two bikes are identical in these races. It's a lot of fun.
I was there, but I missed most of the races. Spent most of my time just socializing at the campsite.
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