Congratulations to Nicola Walde for setting a new Female 24 hour record in the 50-59 age group, in a Velomobile on an outdoor track.
She also set the 1000 Km, 500 Mile, and 12-hour records shown below. All are also non-age group Guinness World Records!
| Distance Event Kilometers | Time | Avg Sp (Km) | Avg Sp (Miles) | Existing records : Female, Velomobile, 50-59, outdoor track | new record | New GWR | |
| 100 Km Outdoor Track | 01:56:48.08 | 51.37 | 31.92 | none for 100 Km | yes | Yes | |
| 200 Km Outdoor Track | 03:52:05.44 | 51.70 | 32.13 | none for 200 Km | yes | Yes | |
| 300 Km Outdoor Track | 05:46:51.15 | 51.90 | 32.25 | none for 300 Km | yes | Yes | |
| 500 Km Outdoor Track | 09:33:36.63 | 52.30 | 32.50 | none for 500 Km | yes | Yes | |
| 1000 Km Outdoor Track | 20:11:10.13 | 49.54 | 30.78 | none – but Nicola Walde, 48 07/23/2022 – 00:21:06:42.24 – 29.43 mph | Yes | Yes | |
| Distance Event Miles | Time | Avg Sp (Miles) | Avg Sp (Km) | Existing records : Female, Velomobile, 50-59, outdoor track | new record | New GWR | |
| 100 Mile Outdoor Track | 03:07:08.04 | 32.06 | 51.60 | none – but 18-49 grp – Barbara Buatois, 37 – 2014-07-13 – 3:10:27 | Yes | No | |
| 200 Mile Outdoor Track | 06:10:59.22 | 32.35 | 52.06 | none for 200 Mile | yes | Yes | |
| 300 Mile Outdoor Track | 09:14:08.74 | 32.48 | 52.28 | none for 300 Mile | yes | Yes | |
| 500 Mile Outdoor Track | 15:57:22.64 | 31.34 | 50.43 | none for 500 Mile | yes | Yes | |
| Timed Events | Miles | Kilometers | Avg Sp (Miles) | Avg Sp (Km) | Existing records : Female, Velomobile, 50-59, outdoor track | new record | New GWR |
| 6 Hour Outdoor Track | 193.893 | 312.04 | 32.32 | 52.01 | none for 6 Hour | yes | Yes |
| 12 Hour Outdoor Track | 382.980 | 616.346 | 31.91 | 51.36 | None – but Nicola Walde, 48 – 2022-07-23 – 379.20 miles 31.60 mph | Yes | Yes |
| 24 Hour Outdoor Track | 729.552 | 1,174.101 | 30.40 | 48.92 | None – Nicola Walde, 48 – 2022-07-23 – 702.07 miles – 29.25 mph | Yes | Yes |
Therefore only the 1000 Km, 500 Mile, 12-hr, and 24-hr records will appear in WUCA and Guinness record books
Report on the 24h record attempt performed by Nicola Walde on Aug. 31/Sep. 1, 2024 on the Aldenhoven Testing Center (ATC), Aldenhoven, Germany
If you already hold a world record, why would you want another one? With “Looking for a woman for 24 hours” Daniel Fenn, my partner and crew-leader had been looking for a woman who would cycle the 24 hours, preferably at 50 km/h. This was how we met. it is possible for a normal-sized person, but I’m too small. Nevertheless, an average of 47 km/h was possible in 2022, and potentially more under good conditions. This “more” haunted us since then. So everything all over again, training, preparation, and once again everything at far too short notice. But I know that 24 hours are decided mentally. Hence, I did just short, relaxed training, focused on rest, sleep at night if possible, and mental preparation.
Things like this are always stressful and going crazy is part of the daily routine, but this time I just thought, it was the last time and it wasn’t that bad.
On Saturday, the first day of the record attempt, I was almost in a good mood. The day before, the decision had been made that I would not take the much more comfortable and spacious new prototype velomobile called “Pippi Langstrumpf” built by Daniel. Instead, I chose to take my record model “M” velomobile, also built by Daniel. It was a gut feeling, the vehicles were almost equally fast. It was safer to do so and take, what I was accustomed to. Daniel had worked through the night optimizing the vehicle. Food (pasta, muesli, grapes, cookies and honey) and drinks (water with some black tea and orange juice) were prepared.
In the morning, it dragged, but we were actually ready to start shortly after 9:30am. After start, the first few laps it took forever to get going. The M was going a little over 50 km/h only, due to suboptimal wind conditions and with temperatures around 17°C (63°F) in the beginning. I pedaled more than I wanted to, exerting up to 96 Watts, but otherwise I simply would have been even slower.
It didn’t warm up until the afternoon, when temperatures went up to 27°C (81°F). Then, I could ride at 52+ km/h, with 94 Watts. After 10 hours I still felt great, only a blister on my foot was driving me crazy. I’d lost a cover of one of the maintenance hatches, which I was supposed to get back during the break. My crew called me to come in, they’d forgotten my rear light. Crap!!! If I had gone past the 12-hour mark without break, I would have set a new 12-hour record of over 52 km/h. Now it was only a few km more than the old one. On the other hand: the early break (about 10 minutes with physio and a patch for the blister) did me good, I was able to stay at 93 Watts until hour 15, with a very good average speed, still. After the second, slightly longer break, it’s night, temperatures are warm for night (not below 18°C/64°F), but too cold for fast tires. I was still running in my comfort zone, but less, and the M became slower. At night, similar to the record run in 2022 at DEKRA Lausitzring, I sighted two animals on the track. Maybe a mouse and something like a fox – fortunately without collision this time. Because my bladder won’t rest and I was getting tired, I wanted to stop again around hour 18, but no one of my crew was available. Actually, this was good – the fewer breaks, the higher the speed average remained. But I also just slowed down without the break. When the crew called, I finally decided to take the break. My circulation was noticeably affected, but I could continue after a few minutes (again with a physio-kick). I resolved not to stop again. I managed less power, but more kilometers. My bladder hurt like hell, and by now my muscles were hurting too, because I was taking it easy. Nevertheless, I still ran at over 90 Watts, and I rode steadily lap after lap. My stomach always could be calmed down, when it grumbled. Overall, I was riding like I’d hit a wall, but I was doing much better than on any previous record. I didn’t enjoy it anymore, since I’d ruined my chance of reaching 1,200 km due to the last break. However, I was on course for a new record. I fought my way up to 1,000km, then 1,100.
Everything dragged on. I got Disco and Chippendale entertainment, but I hardly knew where I was. I could keep up the pace until about my old 24h record distance. After that I had to reschedule. There still were 50 minutes to go. I played it safe. It was better to ride really slowly to the end, than to keep going and risk running out of steam. My muscles were bone weary and I tried to ignore the blister on my foot. There was one position for the foot that was bearable. I crawled to the end. When the last lap was finished and my reception committee helped me out of the vehicle, I could no longer walk, but I could grin, because we had beaten the old record by approximately 45 km, and the average of my pure driving time was over 50 km/h. That’s all I can do with this vehicle!
That’s as fast as this vehicle can go!
I wanted to end my career.
But after a great event with an unbeatable team, Daniel suggested that there COULD be a really small, pure record vehicle for me, he had some ideas.
Well, if that’s the case – then we MIGHT not stop after all. But for now, we’re happy.
Nicola Walde
