Florida Challenge 2013

This was a flat out fun weekend!  The Florida Challenge is an HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) event held at the cycle park in Cooper City, FL every year.  This would be my first time going.  I had just spent the previous weekend at Sebring and I was a little tired to say the least plus I was fighting off a cold.  I arrived in Sarasota and helped John and Jacquie load the Team Vite van and then slept over.  We got up early and drove the 3.5 hours there and were ready to race by 9 or so.  Fun is all I can say!  I had a great time with old friends and I met some great new ones!  Even Mia, the dog, was there for the missed licks between races and to play with the Team Vite mascot Bella, the Great Dane. 
My aching legs were screaming, but I had some great experiences!  A couple fond memories were the last sprint of the 20 minute race between me and Kent (he won by a few hundredths of a second!), The 50 lap event at the Velodrome where I got spanked by TT specialist Mike Mowett (Upright Mike) and his low racer, and my first experience on the Velodrome with no warm up.  We showed up a bit late on Sunday morning so we didn't get to warm up.  The advice given was good, but scary!  I would get a one lap speed up where I would have to stay above 18 on the wall or risk falling down the corner and dive for the start line at full speed, hang on the black line and crank like crazy.  It was scary and exhilarating!
Here are some pics to describe the fun!  All the pics were taken by Jacquie Schlitter with my camera.  It would appear she has some talent other than riding bikes!!!!

 

The whole Weekend was a blast!  Thank you so much John, Jacquie, Lexi, and Lilly for putting up with my grumpy old self!!!!!  You are one in a million!!!!!

My Story Will Be Published! Update

Due to the validation process, my story will now be up today at 3pm.  We wanted to be sure my numbers didn't change.
My Sebring story will be published tomorrow on Ultraracenews.com.  I am so excited.  I had a really good ride and want to share a little preview of the writeup.  I hope you enjoy it enough to hit on the link and read the rest.  I will also be posting it on my sponsors website as soon as it is up.  Enjoy!...

Team Vite after the 12hr ceremony!  We did GREAT!!!  I couldn't be more proud of a great group of people!!!

 ...It was congested as people, including me, were checking their chips.  I had barely sat down on the bike when the start signal was given.  Everyone was off like a shot.  I managed to put myself right behind the leaders and then Kurt crashed right in front of me.  I had to break and swerve and hope I wouldn’t get hit from behind.  I was saddened by him crashing as I was looking forward to riding with him.  Next time, Kurt!!!

The track laps were fast.  I managed to snake my way up to the front enough to take a couple pulls.  Everyone looked strong.  The noise from the tires and disc wheels echoing off of the barriers was awesome!  Troy Timmons soon passed us and caught up with the pace car on his M5 CHR.  John Schlitter was on an M5 as well, but didn’t seem anxious to make a bold move yet.  Both he and Troy were competing in the Century this year and this would make decision making harder for everyone during the race.  

After the track, everyone settled into a comfortable pace.  I fell in line, thinking this would be a good move and see how everyone feels at the turnaround.  There were about 5 or 6 diamond frame bikes including a riding buddy of mine, Julius Jubie Aulisio, who was doing the century and Craig Prather in the 12hr.  The list of recumbents was JV, Kristy, Jim Parker, Uwe Brockman, me, JS, and sitting about 100 ft back, Kent Polk who was in the RAAM qualifier.  Kent looked impressive!  He stayed right with us and...Read the rest here.