If you want to race, you need to know that not all races allow recumbents. Word on 'bent boards is that upright riders don't want to get whipped, but that might be just the testosterone talking.

There ARE some pretty intense 'bent races, though. If you go, you'll find yourself in some pretty fast company. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think the woman who took her class at Battle Mountain this (last? 2005, at any rate) year had a speed something like ~60-65 mph. Men were running in the 70's. (I might be off by quite a bit, it's been a while since I read the article, and numbers don't stick in my head very well. )

Fast company, indeed.