Battle Mountain 2018
 

The high-speed racers are out in the deserts of Nevada this week!

Day One:

https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2018/09/...018-monday-am/

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...46839e3584.jpg

That's on my bucket list. Amazing!

Monday afternoon:
https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2018/09/...018-monday-pm/
Tuesday morning:
https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2018/09/...es-am-results/

Italian rider Andrea Gallo clocked in at 82.80mph this afternoon. (I think.)

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...387eb0262d.jpg

THX. :thumb:

Tuesday midday Show 'n' Shine. Gotta keep the kids interested!
https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2018/09/...how-and-shine/
Tuesday afternoon runs. Italian Andrea Gallo does indeed do 82.80mph!
https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2018/09/...ay-pm-results/
Wednesday morning:
https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/2018/09/...-wednesday-am/

https://jnyyz.files.wordpress.com/20...3380.jpg?w=500

What was the highest speed achieved this year?

Andrea Gallo riding Taurus went 82.35mph on Saturday, so his 82.80mph on Tuesday stands as fastest for the week.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9345ef8d12.jpg

Amazing human powered vehicles, all. But gives me the claustrophobic creeps imagining being inside of one! :eek:

As cool as those machines are, I'm more of a purist and would like to see camera bikes disallowed in favor of requiring direct vision.

Yeah... there are a number of ways they could change the rules. But I think constructing the vehicles and managing the logistics of getting to Battle Mountain is pretty freakin' complicated as it is. Accurately shaping a piece of transparent material and then joining it to the rest of the shell seamlessly would be a dramatically more difficult proposition.

Some of my close friend that I have worked with for 30 years and more find my cycling peculiar. Now and then I ask them what they would say if they were out on the Interstate doing the legal 75 and a bike (velomobile) blew by them doing nearly 90 mph? :)

New Standards Needed
 

Y'all know why folks go to Battle Mountain? It has the elevation for a good aero advantage, but also, it has almost exactly the allowable downslope before the timed section. That slope was enshrined in the rule books because of the 1975 speed championships being run on the long-gone Ontario Motor Speedway, and that's what it had. I would like to see this "boasting" record be made obsolete by a new standard. The venue should be near sea level, and nearly flat. This would make it far easier to compete. Rather than an absolute cap on elevation, we could just require a minimum barometric pressure, so teams would not sit around waiting for freak conditions.

The UCI recognizes high- and low-altitude records; so there's nothing wrong with having a high-altitude record. I suppose if the HRPA were larger they might be able to justify a low-altitude one too; but as it is now, there is a very small core or organizers who essentially finance this out of their own pockets.

People should be able to find a local course any time they are ready to go, and cover the cost of a certified timing cheaper than going to Battle Mountain. Maybe we need to call it the "Real World" record, and get the stock velomobiles going for it.

When and where will you be making your attempt?

Neither my trike nor my body are in competition form these days, but if I were thinking of buying a velomobile, I'd love to see some race results. "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" was the premise of the motor trade for decades.

I started the Human Power Challenge races in Portland, Oregon in 1999 and they were held every year through 2015. Ultimately they were discontinued due to lack of interest and participants- our last year we required more people to run the event than we had participants.

I think you underestimate the challenges in organizing and operating an event of this sort and especially one of the magnitude of the WHPSC.

My shop chair seat is still upholstered with the tee shirt I got at the 1990 Portland IHPSC, where I was initially disqualified from the Practical Vehicle event for having a car-like turning circle, and then allowed to run but lose. The steering was no problem at all on your bike routes, but there was a lot of local enthusiasm for sidewalk tricks.
However, I am NOT asking volunteers to run another HPSC, I am suggesting that people make record attempts near to wherever they are, and then pay for certification if they expect to want it. The ads could then show the unmodified velomobile being used for shopping, traversing bad roads, being locked, shedding rain, and other features.

Complaining and criticizing are completely effortless activities.

Battle Mountain is the Burning man , Or Bonneville speed weeks for the human powered competition among like minded & motivated people ..

getting together is just adding to the project, as I See it..

I think you underestimate the logistics and cost involved in shutting down several miles of public road for such a record attempt. I would be willing to bet that it's cheaper and easier to transport a velomobile to Battle Mountain than to set up one's own venue.

I think that most practical vehicles will have no trouble finding a highway with a sufficient legal speed limit. Runs could be done before dawn, when the wind is often still. All the instruments could be in a following vehicle providing headlights. Two could block both lanes for the critical bits. You don't need much more than useful markers, accurate clocks, and a camera to watch the vehicle pass the marks. There are also airports to consider. I, for one, would not care if the fine print in one manufacturer's ads said that due to space restrictions, the vehicle had been given a boost up to 80% of its final speed. I'd just estimate a small advantage for the fresher rider, but there's fairly wide variation in "motors" anyway.

It is ironic that for years, my only use for a car was to go to championships, and I eventually bought one to haul human powered boats. Then I used it to find my new abode, and I'm stuck needing one, even though the boats are gone. (they actually increased oil use, getting hauled around by customers) The meets may be justified by the social churn there, but there may be better ways to do that.

Now, if there were FIA and FIM motorsports money involved ... shutting down public roads is a given...

.Grand Tours all use public roads... probably Tour of California has more disgruntled drivers because of it, than France, Italy , Spain...





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