Holger Seidel Velomobile Record Ride

* All participants who wish to attend “Holger Seidel’s Velomobile Record Attempt (Germany South-North)” are kindly asked not to obstruct Holger or run into his way, on the route and especially at the finish line. Of course you can take pictures or videos, watch and cheer. Thank you in advance to all the people who will come to support Holger in his attempt. See you there!

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The route & relevance of such an achievement The record attempt & vehicle The driver The purpose of the record attempt Articles, news & discussions Video journal More info Contact Sponsors

Crossing Germany from South to North by Velomobile.

1.094 Km in less than 33 hours.

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Later edit: Holger Seidel managed to break the record and improve the World Record, in the brand new Bülk Mk 1, by more than 3 hours (1094 km in 29h:57min).

The route

Germany south to north, that is about 1,100 km from the mountains of the Allgäu to the Danish border behind Flensburg. Travelling by car it is a long trip; by bike, you would allow 1-2 weeks for the tour. Very sporty riders tackle it in 3-4 days! The record attempt is looking at the current record set by Roland Schell in October 2017 with a Milan SL and wants to beat the total time of 32 hours and 59 minutes.

The relevance of such an achievement

At the time, Roland Schell rode through the whole of Germany at an average speed of 32.4 km/h in normal road traffic. Every stop at a traffic light, a stop sign, a turning car and other incidents immediately reduce the average speed. The total time is the gross time and thus includes necessary breaks such as toilet stops, refilling food and drinks, any breakdowns. This means that the actual cycling speed must generally always be above 40 km/h in order to achieve the gross time of 33 h.

The record attempt

The record ride will take place on Aug 27th /28th 2022. The starting point is at Birgsauer Hof in the small Bavarian town of Birgsau. The finish line is the border to Denmark on the National Road no.5. The record attempt will run under the flag and rules of the World Ultracycling Association, the world association for record-breaking rides on bicycles. The rider will be accompanied by a crew in a support vehicle. The crew is responsible for following the record rules, accompanying the rider, taking care of him and maintenance of the vehicle.

The vehicle

Velomobiles are among the fastest and most efficient muscle-powered means of transport. Due to the small cross-sectional surface and excellent aerodynamics, speeds and distances are possible which regularly are reserved to professionals on racing bikes in larger groups. The drive technology is based on conventional bicycle technology. The vehicle is fully equipped for everyday road use with lights, indicators and horn. It is a standard vehicle that can be purchased from a velomobile dealer.

The driver

Holger Seidel has an expertise of almost forty years of cycling experience. At the beginning he competed as a sprinter in track cycling and later in mountain biking. In addition, he has travelled the world on cycle tours lasting several months. For many years, his focus has been on long-distance cycling. He has competed in numerous brevets (distances from 200 to over 1,000 km), including the long-distance Paris-Brest-Paris race over 1,200 km. He has been riding velomobile very intensively for three years and is currently preparing for the record attempt.

He has always carried out his sport in his everyday life. Even for long distances he rode the bicycle to school and university. As managing director of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Erlebnispädagogik e.V., he rides the velomobile on many professional occasions. From the middle of 2022, he would like to do forego his company car completely and thus set an example for a more environmentally conscious approach in a professional context.

The purpose of the record attempt

Covering this extraordinarily long distance in the shortest possible time is intended to illustrate the possibilities of muscle-powered vehicles and to give an idea of their possible positive effects on the climate. The record is intended to act as a lighthouse that can point the way to a more climate-friendly transport policy and serve as an example for people in their everyday lives.