Congratulations to Ruben Schütze for setting a new Male 12 hour record in the 18-49 age group, in a Velomobile on an outdoor track.
He also set 8 other embedded records shown below. All are also non-age group Guinness World Records!
| Distance Event Kilometers | Time | Avg Sp (Km) | Avg Sp (Miles) | Existing records : Male, Solo, 18-49, HPV Trike | WUCA record | Guinness Rec | Extisting Overall Record | |
| 100 Km Outdoor Track | 01:41:46.93 | 58.95 | 36.63 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | Roland Schell, 58, 08/25/2018, 00:01:47:5.39 | |
| 200 Km Outdoor Track | 03:24:37.98 | 58.64 | 36.44 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | Roland Schell, 58, 08/25/2018, 00:03:53:16.94 | |
| 300 Km Outdoor Track | 05:12:08.73 | 57.67 | 35.83 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | none | |
| 500 Km Outdoor Track | 04:42:55.74 | 106.03 | 65.89 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | none | |
| Distance Event Miles | Time | Avg Sp (Miles) | Avg Sp (Km) | Existing records : Male, Solo, 18-49, HPV Trike | new record | Guinness Rec | Extisting Overall Record | |
| 100 Mile Outdoor Track | 02:44:16.70 | 36.52 | 58.78 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | Roland Schell, 58, 08/25/2018, 00:02:59:24.04 | |
| 200 Mile Outdoor Track | 05:40:08.50 | 35.28 | 56.78 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | Manfred Raich, 53, 07/26/2014, 00:06:41:12.7 | |
| 300 Mile Outdoor Track | 08:51:01.87 | 33.90 | 54.55 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | none | |
| Timed Event | Miles | Kilometers | Avg Sp (Miles) | Avg Sp (Km) | Existing records : Male, Solo, 18-49, HPV Trike | new record | Guinness Rec | Extisting Overall Record |
| 6 Hour Outdoor Track | 211.567 | 340.483 | 35.26 | 56.75 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | none |
| 12 Hour Outdoor Track | 411.002 | 661.444 | 34.25 | 55.12 | none for 18-49: | Yes | Yes | none |
Part 1: Before the race
About three weeks before the record run, my friend Thorsten Kirchhoff, who also looked after me and accompanied me during my 24-hour world record attempt at the IHPV last year, told me that Holger Seidel was unfortunately unable to undertake the world record attempt as planned for professional reasons and offered me to step in at short notice. I was very grateful for this opportunity and we discussed the situation with the velomobile designer Daniel Fenn of the targeted record vehicle, a W9s. Daniel Fenn offered to set up and adapt the vehicle for me on site in southern Germany near Augsburg. I had never driven the W9s before. We made an appointment and were able to set up the vehicle, test it and take it with us to Hamburg on the weekend of August 17th/18th. Up until then I had only done a few short test drives on a single day.
In the week of August 19th-23rd, I did a first somewhat longer test drive of about an hour. I have to drive through the city to train, so the journey home and the return journey through the city took another hour. I noticed two problems: firstly, the ventilation was significantly worse than in my Milan SL and secondly, after about an hour of driving, I noticed that my thighs were rubbing a little on the support of the beam with the bottom bracket (we call it “water slide” for its appearance). I told Daniel Fenn about the massive ventilation problem and its relevance. Daniel quickly made a ventilation flap for the record drive, which represented a significant improvement (but unfortunately was not yet sufficient, as it turned out later). We were able to solve the rubbing on the water slide by using a 2mm washer on the pedal axle and by pushing the water slide back about 5mm. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another opportunity to drive the vehicle in the week leading up to the record weekend. What made the record run even more difficult was that my employer had me work early shifts before the record run, so I didn’t get much sleep in the last few days of the weekend. The journey to Aldenhoven from work also took a long time. I arrived in Aldenhoven late in the evening before the record attempt and handed over the vehicle as planned. Daniel installed the changes (new ventilation, new tires, aerodynamic optimizations). He was also busy with the technical preparation of Nicolas Walde’s record vehicle. I arrived at 9am on Saturday and wanted to start at 10am. Since Daniel was still busy preparing Nicolas’ vehicle beforehand, I didn’t start until around 10:18am to complete the last small adjustments and preparations. I drove with a 5 liter canister filled with isotonic carbohydrate mixture from the drugstore. I had also baked my own oat/energy bars and brought grapes as a supplement. About the vehicle itself: The vehicle was slightly modified at the rear compared to the standard W9s, the tires at the front: Michelin Blue Flange (35mm), at the rear Vittoria Corsa Speed. The wheel arches at the front and rear were well taped by Daniel.
Part 2. During the race.
It was a sunny, warm, dry day with moderate, steady wind. The latter hardly played a role: the W9s is very stable in wind. The temperature in the shade at the start was around 20°C (68°F) and rose sharply over the course of the race. Inside the vehicle, temperatures were well over 30°C (86°F).The first three hours went without any problems (according to my speedometer, my average speed for the first 4.5 hours was about 60 km/h), but then I noticed that two problems were getting worse: my muscles had not yet adapted to the new, completely different sitting position and I was getting pain in my knees and thighs. In addition, although Daniel had significantly improved the ventilation in the short term, it was still not at the level of my Naca duct in the Milan SL. The temperature inside was constantly rising and I was starting to have problems with the heat. My pulse increased significantly, much higher than during the last record ride in 2023. My cadence became more irregular. After about 5 hours I had to take my first short break (7 min): my 5-liter canister was empty! The canister was refilled and I continued. After about 5 further hours I stopped again for a few minutes to lift my helmet because of the heat and to freshen up a bit. From then onward, things went worse and worse and I was about to give up when I realized that I could still break the world record of 12 hours. Since it was not possible to continue riding in the W9s due to the ergonomics and ventilation, I switched to my Milan SL after about 8:15 hours. During the break (about 15 min) my team member Thorsten Kirchhoff gave me physiological care: the over-the-counter pain ointment for tension in the knee area was particularly good and relieved the pain for a short period. Only with great effort I was able to get through the remaining hours. My muscles were already very tense and my circulation was also somewhat affected by the heat. My pulse had risen to over 140 (otherwise, last year it was around 124 on average over 24h). There were no problems at all with Nicola on the route. We were always a long way away from each other. I regularly overtook her and went around her generously. This meant that my actual distance measured by my bike computer (over 680km) was significantly higher than the officially registered distance.
Part 3. After the race.
After the race, I lay down for a while and after a short rest in the morning, together with my crew members Martin Lux and Thorsten Kirchhoff, I cheered Nicola Walde on until the end of her world record attempt. The muscular and heat related complaints disappeared after a shortly. In total, I drank around 13 liters of liquid during the 12-hour ride. Kind regards, Ruben Schütze.
