A few weeks ago, I came up with the idea of riding with a faster rider from northern Germany to prove that roads do matter how fast you can ride. Through Christian252 I quickly got quickly in touch with Timo, and so everything was easily arranged. I owe the ride itself to my sister because she owns a VW Passat. However, getting the Snoek into such a big car was quite a task. The headrest not being removable from the passenger seat is a big problem here. On the return trip, I had seen that that headrest could be moved back slightly, making it flatter and the Snoek fit better (no, you couldn't push it down/remove it, Timo tried it too).
Anyway, once I arrived in Germany, the reception by Timo was very nice, as was the whole stay for that matter. Quite a coincidence that Timo's Milan SL is about the same colour, with the black accent on the roof. Timo rides the pro one TT front and rear, tubeless. My Snoek had the CCS and GP5000 fitted, the former we were going to swap with the pro one TT with latex tyre and sealant. I deliberately waited to swap until I got to Timo's, as I feared it wouldn't be easy (and the fact I'm far from a handyman). Timo himself has not had much work with the pro one TT on his Milan SL, so I was hopeful. Unfortunately, but sadly, my rims were totally unsuitable for getting the pro one TT on, it took between 1-2h in total. It is half a miracle that the tyre slid on without damaging the inner tube or pro one TT, partly due to the help of 2 tools. The PTS that Sven Kroll recommended was completely worthless, but this was because the item I ordered came from Spain and did not look like the original (although I did pay 70 euros for it). The "claws" to pinch the tyre were way too far open, gripping function did not work at all. Timo luckily had a similar tool, in addition he had the tyre glyder, this item mainly ensured that the tyre slid on (with a lot of force). I cannot imagine replacing this on my own. If I have a flat, I have a huge problem.
Anyway, the focus could afterwards be put on the ride itself because I was looking forward to that immensely. Timo insisted on warming up a bit first and not going off like a madman right away. It was the first reality check for me that this is different for everyone, because after the first traffic light the speed went straight to 57 km/h. My heart rate made a big jump and it remained to be seen how I could cope with this. Timo himself told me after to overtake, pick up speed and set the pace. The road was straight anyway, so not much could go wrong. Instructions were sometimes passed on via walkie talkies, which Timo often used with his son, if they rode together. However, I could barely hear anything due to the noise, so it wasn't really optimal. 1 time this almost led to an accident, where I went straight instead of turning right. Luckily no car came from the other directions.
I told Timo I would try to keep the pace around 55 km/h. The intention was to make a 100-kilometer tour, so if I had to make it till the end, I had to save some energy. Timo his physical condition is way better than mine, I noticed. I could already tell by his Strava account, where he uses the velomobile much more (first excuse). Second excuse is the tyre setup, which is not optimal from my side, and 3th excuse is the “jet-lag” from driving 6 hours.
No, I could care less if anyone is faster, the idea was to have fun and so we did! Although the speed was relatively high, I hoped using the pro one TT, it would be a lot easier to get to 60 km/h. The roads are fine, but they're similar to the ones in Belgium (where cars drive, not bicycles). What I mean is, it's not really baby asphalt. I had the opportunity to ride on such asphalt in the Netherlands and it’s still a big difference, 100 watts at 50 km/h you can forget about it. In fact, it's simple math. If you can ride 50 km/h at 100 watts, your current BPM is very low. Mine was around 160 the whole ride. Accelerating after roundabouts naturally takes strength, but your heart rate will drop again after a while.
Although cars keep distance, sometimes one has no patience and honks his/her horn. Somehow, I can understand them, because on some parts of the road the speed limit 80 or 100 km/h. A velomobile riding at 55-60 km/h is something you probably won’t expect to see. That’s why Timo rides his Milan SL often to the left side of the road instead of right, to avoid cars quickly overtake you. Overall, what I would have done differently, is to drink more water. And to use an energy drink on top of my isotonic drink. Besides a coffee I haven’t used anything during my ride. I never got an energy dip, but this is due to the fact I rode at a constant pace (heart rate around 160 all the time) and the fact velomobiles are 10000% superior over any road bike on a flat track. Some specs: 137 kilometres, 52,2 km/h average speed. Average BPM 158. Thanks again to Timo! A video will follow soon.
@Reinhard Perhaps this belongs in another topic rather than personal experiences of the Snoek, that's for you to decide.