Sebring 12 Hour Bike Race Report

Bikes take over the raceway for one day every year. Today was the 12 and 24 hour bike race. Both races start at 6:30 AM in semi darkness, the 12 hour ends in semi darkness. Sorry no photos, I was solo and self supported today, not much of an issue for the 12 hour race. The rental car was near pit lane and I had a $2 Walmart cooler full of Walmart junk food, I fit in well there I think. Ordering 3 kids meal take outs (grill cheese) the night before in the Outback restaurant set me up well.

The 12 hour race starts with 3 laps of the Sebring track then a 100 miles out and back to Sebring. That's followed by a 12 mile loop that you repeat over and over till it gets near 6:30 PM, then back to the race track for the last few laps. It's supposed to be draft legal but I spent almost the entire time solo, the only people riding in packs were a few teams. The first 100 miles were done in about 5:47, decent time for a solo 100. The wind was blowing at 20 to 30 mph, made for a hard day. Recumbents of course dominate the podium, it's really strange riding with them. Have to say the day was uneventful, just one flat.

The 24 hour race is a RAAM qualifier, non drafting. Those guys are still out there on the track, lap after lap till 6:30 AM. I think 12 hours might be enough, I can't imagine going 24.

I racked up 190 miles, good for 4th in my age group. The winner with 236 miles on a regular bike was in the 65 to 69 age group, seems like old dudes fair well in these events. You see all kinds of cyclists there, many RAAM types you see on tv with aero bars mounted high, a mix of road bikes, tri bikes, a few discs, and some real old school set ups. There was a fixed gear bike there as well, did way more miles than me.

Here are the 12 hour results. Did I mention I had done no training for this. http://racesmith.com/results/2013results/BikeSebring12Hours021613.html