On Saturday TT and the British Human Power Club(BHPC) travelled to Scunthorpe’s outdoor Velodrome. The track is 485m with an incline of 30 degrees. Most of the racers were riding recumbent but there were other forms of bicycles. It was amazing to see so many people riding so many varieties of bikes in different positions.
Barney, Rachel, Louise, Chris and Chris V all attended the event and thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone at the BHPC and their wonderful creations. The atmosphere was great and people were interested about the tandems and where we had travelled from.
Once the bikes had been sorted by our wonderful mechanic Barney, he familiarised everyone with the race circuit. Understandably everyone was anxious about their races but once we got on the bikes the nerves quickly disappeared.
The race was a solid hour constant cycling around the Velodrome in a pack of ten strong, this would push all five of us to our limits as we jostled for position. The atmosphere was amazing with so much support and friendly competition, pushing everyone on.
Once Barney and Chris had finished they dropped the bike and pegged it for a much need toilet break. Everyone had completed the race, doing Trekkers proud with their efforts.
It was a wonderful day of racing but it didn’t stop there. Barney’s friend Neil allowed Chris V to have a go on his recumbent trike with Barney jogging alongside shouting directions. Louise then had a turn in a pedal car (a four wheel recumbent) with Barney directing from the side. Both Chris V and Louise thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Due to our starting later than planned the final race was cancelled so we gathered everything up and headed home for a much needed rest.
Thank you once again Barney for organising this wonderful day for Trekkers.
Photo is Louise riding off solo in Crude 45 – a 4 wheeled fully faired pedal car.