2024 Bike Sebring is a wrap – and it was great in so many ways!

Bike Sebring is the name of a race that, if you follow the recumbent scene, you have to notice sooner or later.
There has been a major change for this year. Originally, this race was organized by The Rotary Club and Mark Andrews, respectively, but after many years, they have passed the baton to Larry Oslund. Larry is an avid recumbent rider, racer, and record holder, so the race fell into good hands. The location and a few other details changed with the organizer. So, read the report directly from Larry.

Written by Larry Oslund – the race director
Photos: Sergio Ruiz

The full event saw 54 riders from 5 countries.

The weather forecast up to the night before was predicting possible thunderstorms during most of the daytime hours. This produced much conjecture as to how the event day would play out! However, the front moved through with much force the night before and we were greeted with a beautiful partly cloudy day in the low 60’s (F) and high about 80. Wind was minimal but got brisker in the 10-15 mph range during mid-day. It slowed down to a steady 5-7 mph at night.. The nighttime riding was beautifully lit by a near full moon with temps in the 60s!

The “main” day course was the 36-mile long loop that incorporated the beginning and end of the “original” Century from years ago, plus a lap through the 3.7 mile Duane Palmer Blvd neighborhood circle in the Spring Lake subdivision. Because of the forecasted thunder showers and possible dangerous conditions I gave the OK for riders to complete one “long-loop” then divert to the short course if necessary. Most riders in the 12-hour event made that choice, but many riders in the 24-hour event stayed on the long course, which was definitely a little harder due to the terrain and longer head-winds.

The 3.7 Mile Duane Palmer Blvd continuous loop in Spring Lake neighborhood stole the show. The course was delightfully flat, with wonderful road surfaces, and equally wonderful residents who welcomed the riders with nothing but pleasantness! They are eager to see us all back again next year!

Kudos to all the participants – When I went to clean up the start-finish and pit-stop areas at 12 noon – I could not even tell we had been there. THANK YOU EVERYONE SO MUCH for cleaning your area!

The full results can be seen here: https://www.secondwindtiming.com/result-page/?id=277188
Marked with * are self-supported racers

Overall Male 6-hour – Drafting (4 riders – 1R,3U)

M – Recumbent Holzhausen, Ken: 127.50 miles / 205.52 kilometers
F – Upright Petrillo, Kathy: 110.00 miles / 177.03 kilometers
*M – Upright Hack, James: 51.80 miles / 83.31 kilometers

Overall Male 6-hour – Non-Drafting (4 riders- 1R,1T,2U riders)para

M – Upright Reisfield, Gary: 112.76 miles / 181.43 kilometers
M – Recumbent Parker, James: 102.60 miles / 165.07 kilometers
Mixed – Tandem Lawyer, Jim & April Riegle: 54.50 miles / 87.67 kilometers

Overall 12 Hour Drafting (7 riders – 5R,2U)

F-2x Team – Recumbent Maria Parker & Laura Crawford: 274 miles / 440.96 kilometers
M – Recumbent Schlitter, John: 243.23 miles / 391.71 kilometers
M – Upright Zamboni, Valerio: 198.50 miles / 319.58 kilometers
*M – Upright Eddlemon, Gerald: 147.46 miles / 237.34 kilometers

Overall 12 Hour Non-Drafting (8 riders – 1R,7U)

M – Recumbent Huiest, Robert: 212.60 miles / 342.02 kilometers
M – Upright Toner, Jimmy: 245.84 miles / 395.77 kilometers
F – Upright Obermeyer, Kari: 232.10 miles / 373.78 kilometers
*M – Recumbent Brownlow, Dominic: 389.90 miles / 627.69 kilometers

Overall 24 Hour Drafting (5 riders, 5U)

M – Upright Murray, Eric: 311.50 miles / 501.06 kilometers

Overall 24 Hour Non-Drafting (24 riders, 1E,4R, 18U)

M – Ellipticycle Brewer, Britt: 294.95 miles / 474.58 kilometers
M – Recumbent Crawford, John: 408.45 miles / 656.60 kilometers (RAAM qualified)
*M – Recumbent Brownlow, Dominic: 389.90 miles / 627.69 kilometers
M – Upright Rupinski, Marek: 479.64 miles / 772.32 kilometers (RAAM qualified)
F – Upright Summers, Kristie: 396.50 miles / 637.84 kilometers
*M – Upright Reeves, Marshall: 362.13 miles / 582.69 kilometers
*F – Upright Sharpe, Elizabeth: 119.10 miles / 191.63 kilometers

Century
M – recumbent Larsen, Kyle 4:40:16.00

The support team waiting for the racers to come

My Personal Highlights and Kudos (These were hard to pick as everyone was amazing):

Longtime Ultracyclist and friends to all – John and Nancy Guth (although not riding this year) were there to sign-in all the 24-hour riders and stayed on course for the entire event greeting everyone and providing encouragement all the time

Seeing Britt Brewer ride on an Elliptigo for 24-hours (and 294.95 miles) – all after driving here from Arizona!

Watching 78 year-old Gerry Eddleman take the top honors 12-hour drafting category in the Self-Supported category! The guy is unstoppable!

Witnessing the amazing female team of Maria Parker & Laura Crawford on Cruzbike V20C’s riding a combined 274 miles!

Thanks to all these wonderful people who helped make Sebring happen:

Joe DeCerbo, the District Manager of the Spring Lake Improvement District for helping me secure this wonderful Venue.

The Rotary Club (and Mark Andrews) for starting this event and passing it onto me.

Jerry and Gail Melendy (owners of local Coker Fuel) for hosting me during this event and earlier times when I came to map out the new course.

Robert Huiest, Andrew Clayton, Ken and Lisa Holzhouser, Laura and John Crawford, John and Nancy Guth, and Mary Savage who all helped with registration, Awards, and clean-up.

Josh of 2nd Wind Timing for keeping all the laps and timing straight.

Sergio Ruiz – A professional photographer who just happened to be around and took amazing photos of the event for us!

Last but not Least – “EVERYONE OF ONE” who came as a rider or crew – It was great to see old friends, and make new ones! I hope to see you all next year!

Here is the link to the Google Shared Photo Album where you can see all the photos taken by Sergio. https://photos.app.goo.gl/QQveE9ZfTcvjvMyz9

SPECIAL NOTE:
2024 Calvins Challenge is also scheduled this year on May 18-19 in Springfield, OH. Same Venue and courses as were made famous in 2016 and earlier, with a new special 26 mile loop for 24-hour riders. Here is the link for full event info and registration: https://www.bikereg.com/calvins-challenge-2024