Records fall at Texas Time Trials
If you've followed any of the debate about Cruzbike and how well our bikes climb, then you'll want to take note of the results of the 2011 Texas Time Trials, one of the biggest ultracycling events in the country. Even though Maria and I live and train in the flatlands of eastern NC, we decided to make the 1200 mile trip to Glen Rose, Texas to try our luck on the 26.5 mile course that has approximately 1200-1300 feet of climbing per lap. Results speak louder than words:
The existing recumbent record for the 6-hour race was 79.5 miles set by Paul Brown in 2009. I did 106 miles in 5 hours 44 minutes.
My Garmin data from the 6-hour event can be viewed here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117018873
Note the 5300 feet of climbing. The steepest grade I encountered was 11%. This was a tough course, with rough roads. Some of the downhill runs were spoiled by an intersection or a dangerous "bridge bump" that forced everyone (with sense) to shed speed a few times each lap. Nevertheless, my first lap average speed was 22.2 mph. The current "1-lap" recumbent course record was set in 2010 by Greg Gross, with a time of 1:13:40 for an average speed of 21.6 mph. My first-lap time of 1:11:34 will not replace this record because I didn't enter the 1-lap event, but lap times are recorded and available for comparison.
My Garmin Edge also records the temperature, and you can see it reached a brain-frying, leg-cramping 107F in the afternoon. Without that incredible heat, I think afternoon speeds would have been much faster. I really have to give a lot of credit to our crew who not only got our equipment in place and ready to use, but kept us cool and hydrated as much as possible. Thanks to Doug Burton, Rob Redfearn, and Will Parker.
Maria competed in the 12-hour event. A woman on a recumbent hasn't competed in this event since the course was moved to Glen Rose in 2009. But for comparison, the men's recumbent record was 171.9 miles and the men's DF (regular racing "diamond frame" bike) record was 204.1 miles. Maria did an astonishing 212 miles. This distance was matched yesterday only by Kurt Searvogel, one of the strongest male DF ultracyclists in the world.
My nephew, 27 year-old Kent Parker, is new to riding a Cruzbike and had never raced a bike before. He competed in the 1-lap event despite having a bad cold, and only two DF riders came in ahead of him. No other recumbents competed in this event.
What all three of us noticed was not only did we pass all the other recumbents very quickly on the climbs, but we also passed most of the DF riders on the climbs. The Vendetta is a great climber. I am writing this blog the day after the event. Yes, my leg muscles are a bit sore, but so are my abdominals, intercostals, and arms. The climbing gives my abs and upper body a workout that I'm not used to since I train in the flats. I wonder what we could have done with more hill-training on the Vendetta before this event. The ability to use the upper body to assist in climbing is a huge advantage of DF bikes... and now with the Cruzbike Vendetta a very fast and light recumbent now has this advantage, too. With these climbing results confirmed, there is more reason than ever to join the fun and get on a Cruzbike.
Maria and Jim ... You've
Maria and Jim ... You've demonstrated that the Cruzbike Vendetta is not only fast on the flats but is a climber as good as and better than upright / DF bikes. It is one thing to go fast on the flats and not get the credit for it because the common perception is that `bents can't climb.'
Well, not only can you and the Cruzbike Vendetta break records in familiar flat terrain, you've both proven --- incontrovertible evidence --- that the Cruzbike Vendetta is a `climbing machine!'
You should be proud of your effort and confirmed in your performance at one of the most difficult, hilly, boiling hot and competitive cycling events in the nation.
Congratulations.
"If I am reading the
"If I am reading the spreadsheet right, Maria's Solo Female Recumbent Record of 212 miles in 12 hours also tied the solo male [DF]record. She beat the 12 hour Solo Male Recumbent winner's new course record of 185.50 miles by 26.5 miles, +13%
"Jim Parker's 106 miles in 5 hours beat the previous Solo Male Recumbent Record of 79.5 miles by 26.5 miles or +25%!"
A nice interpretation by Codger from the brol commons.
Congratulations! That was a
Congratulations! That was a great effort...and what lovely bicycles those are! The SRAM S80 wheelset also looks aero and fast! Jim, your back looks more upright than Maria's is that a size issue or a a deliberate setup for your comfort?
Love the dropbar setup with SRAM force double-tap levers! Are they more comfortable in a Ultra endurance event than the bullhorn style bars? Please post some youtube videos of this event if you captured any. Thanks.
Congratulations to the whole
Congratulations to the whole Cruzbike team. I'm hoping to see more and more from you guys especially with teaser comments like this from John -
"The only thing I know of that is faster than the Vendetta we produce is the one I am prototyping."
Oh year - I am sure we can
Oh year - I am sure we can improve the technology and go faster. There is only one more development leap we can take. Recently it has become rather difficult to make improvements. The V has been just a simply huge huge design and development challenge. It has about 5 times the development investment spent on it than the Silvio. The Silvio is not at the extremes. The body is comfortably reclined, no further. None of the design is forced to the edge of the envelope. You could alter the body position quite a lot in the cockpit and remodel the tube layout without materially effecting the bike's performance or ridability. Vendetta is not like that. You try to do anything to make it faster and better and you hit problems almost immediately. Just one more trick up our sleeve to make the V more aero, by a real, noticeable amount, and then after that we are working at the margins and testing becomes extremely difficult.
Now, after the V design evolution is plateaued, once we know for sure exactly where the wheels, rider, structure and geometry need to be and how to engineer it, then we can migrate to carbon. But not yet.
Well done to all the team, rider's and support crew. Results like this are an inspiration to so many.
Jim, I am shocked. Your
Jim,
I am shocked. Your results are great! Until now "Jim Parker" was a kind, good-humored doc, obiter a hobby cyclist, potato in my mind. But now you look like a cyclist, in the photo (with Maria and Doug) above. Hat off!
http://www.youtube.com/user/RekuPapa?feature=mhee
http://picasaweb.google.com/reku.papa
John, IMHO still there is a
John,
IMHO still there is a huge area to develop Vendetta: The seat.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RekuPapa?feature=mhee
http://picasaweb.google.com/reku.papa
Care to bring the uninitiated
Care to bring the uninitiated 'up to speed' on what a "Codger from the broil commons" is?
There is a person (Codger)
There is a person (Codger) who posts at bentrideronline.com (or BROL), a message board which I liken to the commons area of a traditional english village. I was attributing the post to Codger at or from the brol commons or forum. Sorry, it was rather crypic wasn't it!!!!
Nicely done, Jim -- that's
Nicely done, Jim -- that's NOT an easy course, and the temps and wind didn't help. Four laps (106 mi) was my goal in 2009, but a heel blister forced me to stop after just three -- but that was at the 5:00 point, and I wouldn't have gotten a full 106 in that day even if I could have continued!! May just have to try it again next year... <grin> Granted, being the previous record-holder mostly came from being the only 'bent to have ENTERED the event... LOL. But seriously, NICE ride!!!! And definite kudos to Maria (and Kent).... awesome!
Congratulations to Maria. It
Congratulations to Maria. It has been a pleasure to read about her accomplishments. Super athlete. I'm sure she would have set the record on any number of recumbents: Carbent, CA 2.0, M5. Heck, she might have even set some record riding a classic BikeE!!!
All the better she set it on a Cruzbike to show what the bike and a top athlete can accomplish. Jim, you should feel proud of the bike you've built. That's for sure. Plus it's my favorite color!!!
Did you all use the eliptical
Did you all use the eliptical chain rings by Cruzbike or the Rotor "Q" rings?
Very proud of you three.
Very proud of you three. Congratulations! I live in Southern California so I do have hills to train on. I am absolutely going to be at the TTT next year, as this just sounds like too much fun. For now it will be on a Silvio, but I do have a birthday between now and then. Hmmmmm.....
Go Go go.... Now get up here
Go Go go.... Now get up here next summer and lets beat all the NW records on the STP, wanna talk about hills, I live in some hills. Let's do the 204 miles from Seattle to Portland and set a few of those records up here and show these "bikers" what they have been missing!!!!
The club is only comprised of 20,000 plus cyclists. I just want to have 15% of them riding our cruzbikes, am I too greedy? I think not.
Wesley
Congrats Team!!!!
Make Every Mile A Memory....
"The only way for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."