The 5th Annual HPRA Florida Challenge Race is over. We had a remarkable turnout for the two days - 27 riders. Three people come down from Toronto, Ontario, and others from OH, NJ, KS, TN, and IL. Of the 27, 17 were Floridians, most from out of Broward County.
There was an amazing mix of machines this year, 4 streamliners (2 delta trike style and 2 tadpoles), 3 superstock (Reynolds T-bone, Sunset lowracer and Rans Stratus), 10 stock (4 Bacchetta, a Rotator Tiger, Zox 20x20, Rans V-Rex, M5 Tica, a Beauchamp foldracer, and a homebuilt, 4 women (3 Bacchetta and a Catrike), and 6 trikes (5 Catrikes, a Windcheetah, and a Rodaro).
The weather was really nice on Saturday for the Criterium track races which included Last Man Out, 1 Mile TT, and 25 Lap race. There was cloud cover most of the day which kept the temperature down, but no precipitation. The wind picked up mightily by the late afternoon, but this is the norm for winter in Florida.
Garrie Hill was again on hand and brought Warren Beauchamp with him to run the electronic timing gear. This made things a lot easier, as well as more accurate, for a few of the races. Registration and tech inspection went off well, thanks to Susan and Jose Hernandez’s organization and Walt Smyser’s computer skills.
The weekend turned out to be the “James and John Show”, with James Ossa and John Schlitter swapping first and second place over 4 races. James took Last Man Out over John by a nose. Top speed for the 1 Mile TT went to James with 26.517 secs, and John achieving just .4 secs off that mark. John bested James in the 25 Lap race with a time of 30:30:248 and speed of 24.587 mph to James’ 30:32.796 at 24.553 mph. On Sunday’s 200 M Flying Sprint, John took the top spot with a 13.785 time for 32.4545 mph, while James was hot on his heels with 14.15 secs and 31.6174 mph.
It was exciting to watch these guys duke it out, but it was so much fun seeing everyone test their mettle. The racer with the most heart, in my opinion, was Alan Bridges. Not only did he just start riding his Catrike 3 months ago, but he does so with only one arm. He came in 5th in the trikes class, racing each event that took place.
Three races were scheduled for Sunday: 200 M Flying Sprint, 3 KM Time Trial, and 30 Minute Lap Race. We’d end up getting in only one out of the three. The morning started out absolutely picture perfect with clear blue skies and a mild breeze. I heard reports that a big storm front was heading our way, but it was hard to believe, given how beautiful the weather was at 9 am.
Still, I wanted to get things going by 9:30 AM so we could finish all the races early, but no one seemed to be in a big hurry. It took several calls to line up NOW before the first racer for the 200 M Sprint got underway at about 10:15. The Velodrome is a great venue for this event, but it turned out to be a real problem for the trikes because of the banking. We had a couple of disqualifications due to riders steering below the black line, and a couple of other trike riders that declined to race.
One racer with a home-built delta streamliner named “Ground Shuttle” turned in a 22.348 sec time for the 200 M Sprint and somehow ended up doing a 180 and broke an axle just after he crossed the finish line. He was okay, but the bike was a goner.
It took nearly an hour to complete the Flying 200. As clouds started to gather and darken rapidly, I called several times for the riders to line up for the TT which I shortened to a kilo. Slowly, the line formed. The winds picked up. The clouds got darker and angrier, and by the time the 4th rider finished the TT, rain started pelting and riders ducked for cover, heading back to their cars much faster than they lined up for the races, and the rest of the event was cancelled.
I was able to get everyone gathered in the administration building of the park where we had a raffle and awards ceremony. My plan was to have a pizza party after the race, but the rain glitched both the pizza arrival time and the mood, so people were ready to head home after awards were presented.
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Check out Shari's Race Report