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Frank Geyer cranks down Rt 305
and blasts through the traps in the Big Gun speedbike. Frank's
best speed was 63.57MPH.
You can click on each of these pictures
to display a larger image.
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| You need lots of gears to go
60+ MPH. Here's a look at the Big Gun's front wheel drive drivetrain.
The Big Gun was built by Steve Delair of Rotator
recumbents. |
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Steve Delair adjusts the
Big Gun's canopy in preparation for a qualification run. The engine, or
"velonaut" Frank Guyer is suited up and ready to go. |
| Ron Layman powers the Cal
Poly Velox Solium down Rt 305, heading for the timing trap. Ron now owns
the collegiate 200 meter speed record at 59.89 MPH. |
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Here's the drivetrain of
the Velox Solium. |
| As the sun sets on Rt 305, the
wind dies to practically nothing. This is a major requirement for
setting speed records with human power. |
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Paul Gracey and crew man
the delicate HPVA timing system. The poles have hotwires mounted to the
tops, which are used to determine wind speed in the timing traps. pressure
sensitive tapes on the road are affixed 200 meters apart and connected
to a computer to determine the racer's speed. |
| Ellen van Vugt of the
Netherlands races the Varnowski streamliner on Rt 305. This Varna clone
was built from by Steve Nash and Joe Kochinowski in the amazing time
period of 2 weeks.
Ellen
broke the Women's 200 meter speed record during this event, at 65.89
MPH!
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Ellen prepares to qualify on
Muleshoe road. Her Elan
teammates determine if Ellen can fit in the bike. |
| Ellen was jammed into this
bike like a sardine. The bottom bracket was too close, and her helmet
was jammed into the canopy.
How fast could she have gone in a bike
that she could actually stretch out in? She may find out soon as it is
rumored that she has placed an order for a (slightly larger) Varna clone
of her very own.
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"Fast" Freddy
Markham makes a run on Rt 305. Freddy's best speed for the week was an
amazing 72.92 MPH. |
| Here's the drivetrain of
Freddy's Varna clone. Deceptively simple, the standard Varna drivetrain
only has 4 gears. |
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Freddy's Varna clone was
specially repainted for the event and emblazoned with the bentrideronline
logo. |
| Tom Nowak races a Coroplast
bodied Rotator Super 7 and runs a respectable 45.64 MPH. |
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Tom poses with the Super 7 at
the qualification site. |
| Orin Macquarrie races his
Varna Clone on Rt. 305. Orin's high speed for the week was a personal
best at 49.88 MPH. |
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The parking lot behind the
race motel was busy. Like any other vehicle racing event, racers are
busy preparing their vehicles for the race. |
| The Easy Racer Tri-Rush gets
some last minute tweaks. Dean Peterson's GoldRush based Rotator Coyote
just waits for the moment. |
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The Varna Diablo is ready to
race. People mill about and discuss racing strategies and how to cut
apart derailleurs and put them back together as mid-drives. |
| The Tri-Rush needed no mid
drive, just a huge chainring. This is about as simple a drivetrain as
you can get, but only works if you have rear wheel steer! |
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Here's the Tri-Rush Rear
wheels and steering. Note the extremely narrow wheelbase. Unlike a
single track speedbike, this bike goes straight without many pilot
corrections. |
| Here's the Tri-Rush while
qualifying on Muleshoe road. It's tiny. |
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The pilot looks between his
legs, through the drivetrain, and out that tiny window to see where he's
going. On the Rt. 305 course, Mackie Martin pushed this bike to 51.79
MPH. |
| Mark Mueller of Mueller
Human Power (makers of Windwrap fairings) passes by Garrie Hill's .decimach
timing system in his Coroplast bodied Greenspeed SLR. Mark was timed at
44.10 MPH. |
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Race
Director Jonathan Woolrich took this picture of Mount Lewis on Sunday before
he left. This shows how much the weather changed
during the course of the event. |
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WHPSC2004 Photos by Ruben Garcia of LampLightPhoto.com
Thanks to Rueben for the
obviously professional great photos below.
|
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Frank Geyer blasts by the
timing traps in Steve Delair's Big Gun. |
| Ron Layman in the Velox Solium. |
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Sam Whittingham scorches
past the timing traps at 70+ MPH. |
| Orin Macquarrie in his Varna Clone Highracer. |
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A happy Orin Macquarrie out of
the Varna Clone Highracer... |
| Georgi Georgiev makes himself
a big target for Sam to aim for before catching him. |
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A happy Freddy Markham
after a speed run. |
| Hans Wessels is extracted from the White
Hawk after a record attempt. |
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Ellen van Vugt on course in
the Varnowski Varna clone. |
| Ellen van Vugt passes the
timing traps on her way to a new women's world speed record of 66.02
MPH. |
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Ellen waits at the end
of her run while the top is removed. |
| Ellen recovers from a record
speed run. Top racers give every ounce of energy to their 5 minute speed
run. |
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Racer catch zone volunteer
George Leone holds Ellen while she recovers enough to stand up. |
| Varna tops. Notice how much
narrower the canopy on Sam's Diablo is. The Diablo body is a bit
narrower too, though not obviously so. Otherwise the tops look pretty
similar... |
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