One Lap around the Daytona Speedway, Bike Florida 2007

here's a video taken during Bike Florida 2007 during the Speedway day. It's about four and a half minutes and is just about a full lap around the two and a half mile tri-oval track. All riders were required to stay below the yellow line, for safety purposes. The track is banked everywhere other than the straights and since most of us cyclists don't travel in triple-digit speeds, we would lack the ability to grip those banks safely.

The video shows only a few of the many recumbents attending the Bike Florida week-long ride. There's a Ryan tandem, or it might be a Longbikes tandem, as well as a Rans Screamer tandem. The video starts with the clip posted elsewhere on YouTube of Puppy, the dog and his cycling-driver on a cargo bike. It ends with a speedy rider passing me, as I tuck into the draft and have to focus on control, rather than video-ing the track.

The track was ridden in an Alligt Alleweder with the Stokemonkey power-assist removed, no motor, no battery. The winds at the track were pretty severe and may be visible on some of the flags. I was able to reach 25 mph more than a couple of times, during the five laps I pedaled.

There was a near collision as I approached the start/finish line.(2:40) The dull clunks you hear as I approach other riders are my bell ringing to alert the riders. The wind and limited frequency response of the CVS camera make the sound almost vanish. The start/finish line became a very popular photo site and the grass at the edge of the track was soggy with water, so riders were hesitant to stand off the track, causing a bit of congestion at one of the narrowest points on the circuit. Shortly after this video was taken, perhaps on the next lap, officials of the track were managing the bottleneck. I was firmly warned to "Slow it down! Slow down!" as I passed. Understandably, the safety of the riders was the concern, but it was amusing to be told to reduce speed on a race track!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• bikeflorida
• bike
• speedway
• daytona

[thug0gr3]

yo, cool ride man, really nice!!!

and tha one with tha dog is so cool!

[wildfire305]

any day you can go to one of the biggest raceways/superspeedways in the world is more than awesome

[AirRaider59]

LOL!!!

[BEJAN92]

COOL