Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Sebastiaan Bowier |
Born | Rotterdam, the Netherlands | August 23, 1987
Team information | |
Role | Rider |
Jonkheer Sebastiaan Bowier (born August 23, 1987) is a Dutch cyclist.
In September 2013 he achieved a speed of 133.78 kilometres per hour (83.13 mph) in a human powered vehicle (HPV), breaking the previous world record. [1]
Bowier has been a member of the Human Power Team since 2011. In 2011 he won the Battle Mountain race, but failed to break the world record, instead taking the European and Dutch records with a speed of 129 kilometres per hour (80 mph). [2] He was for the second year running the strongest cyclist during selection, and both an experienced recumbent rider and road cyclist. [2]
On 15 September 2013, Bowier broke the International Human Powered Vehicle Association record, previously set by Canadian Sam Whittingham in 2009, by 0.6 kilometres per hour (0.37 mph). [3] The speed of 133.78 kilometres per hour (83.13 mph) was achieved over a 200 metres (660 ft) stretch of road in Battle Mountain, Nevada, on a recumbent bicycle named VeloX3, designed by students from the Delft University of Technology and the VU University Amsterdam. [3] He required a run-up of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) before setting the record. [4]
The VeloX3 bicycle he used has a profiled carbon fibre shell covered with the same type of coating used on Formula One cars. [4] It experiences approximately one-tenth of the drag of a conventional bicycle, and uses a camera on the top for navigation. [5] It was found that hard pedalling led to deformation of the shell, which had to be corrected before the record could be set. [6] Two new shells were used for the racing, with parts from the testing vehicles being reused. [7]
He trained for 15 to 20 hours every week for a year, under a regime chosen by Human Movement Sciences students from VU University in Amsterdam. [8]
Bowier works for bicycle component manufacturer BBB Cycles as a product designer. [9] [10]
A bicycle, also called a bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area and the Randstad.
Jan Bos is a Dutch speedskater and sprint cyclist. In the late 1990s he was world champion in speed skating and he competed in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics.
Human-powered transport is the transport of person(s) and/or goods using human muscle power. Like animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human-power.
Battle Mountain is an unincorporated town in and the county seat of Lander County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,635 at the 2010 census. Its primary economic base is gold mining and to a lesser extent, legalized gambling.
A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by back and buttocks. On a traditional upright bicycle, the body weight rests entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands.
Sam Whittingham is a Canadian cyclist who has held several world records on recumbent bicycles.
The International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) is a US-based organization dedicated to promoting the design and development of human powered vehicles (HPVs) and the keeping of speed and distance records for these vehicles and bikes.
Vehicles that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of transport making use of two wheels arranged consecutively, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817. The term bicycle was coined in France in the 1860s, and the descriptive title "penny farthing", used to describe an "ordinary bicycle", is a 19th-century term.
Graeme Obree, nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish racing cyclist who twice broke the world hour record, in July 1993 and April 1994, and was the individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995. He was known for his unusual riding positions and for the Old Faithful bicycle he built which included parts from a washing machine. He joined a professional team in France but was fired before his first race. He also competed in the men's individual pursuit at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Mike Burrows is a bicycle designer from Norwich, England.
Cycling is a common mode of transport in the Netherlands, with 36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day, as opposed to the car (45%) and public transport (11%). Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips nationwide. In cities this is even higher, such as Amsterdam which has 38%, and Zwolle 46%. This high frequency of bicycle travel is enabled by excellent cycling infrastructure such as cycle paths, cycle tracks, protected intersections, ample bicycle parking and by making cycling routes shorter and more direct than car routes.
A bicycle's performance is extraordinarily efficient. In terms of the amount of energy a person must expend to travel a given distance, cycling is calculated to be the most efficient self-powered means of transportation. In terms of the ratio of cargo weight a bicycle can carry to total weight, it is also a most efficient means of cargo transportation.
A prone bicycle is a bicycle which places the rider in a prone position. The bottom bracket is located at the bicycle's rear; the rider lies either on a pad or in a hard-shell seat. The prone position of the rider's body can reduce aerodynamic drag and therefore increase the efficiency of the vehicle. It can also be more comfortable or ergonomic than other bicycles.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to bicycles:
Cycling infrastructure refers to all infrastructure permissible for use by cyclists, including the network of roads and streets used by motorists, except where cyclists are excluded, along with bikeways from which motor vehicles are excluded – including bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Cycling infrastructure also includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. Cycling modal share is strongly associated with the size of local cycling infrastructure.
TerraCycle, Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of recumbent bicycle parts based in Portland, Oregon in the United States. TerraCycle is known for its idlers and Cargo Monster load-carrying extensions.
The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered perhaps the most prestigious record in all of cycling. Over history, various cyclists ranging from unknown amateurs to well-known professionals have held the record, adding to its prestige and allure. There are several records, one of which is the record for streamlined human powered vehicles, also known as recumbent bicycles.
Denise Mueller-Korenek is an American cyclist. As of September 2018, she holds the world record for paced bicycle land speed and is considered "the fastest cyclist on earth". She set the record on September 16, 2018, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, by traveling an average of 183.932 mph on a custom-built carbon KHS bicycle behind a custom-built vehicle to minimize air resistance. The previous record, 167 miles per hour (269 km/h), was set in 1995 by Dutchman Fred Rompelberg. Two years earlier she set the women's bicycle land speed record, pedaling 147.7 mph. She is the first and only woman in history to hold the world record, which was first established in 1899.