Author Topic: BHPC racing  (Read 59645 times)

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #50 on: 03 September, 2020, 10:49:32 pm »
Love the Pedersen.  :thumbsup: And some of the other offbeat machines. But I think the microlight is cheating by using an engine.  ;)

The hang-glider was cheating too, by getting a tow.  (Although an alarmingly ineffective one given how close it got to the trees.)  I reckoned it was low enough that if it had had a timing tag Impinj would have seen it cross our finish line.

Anyway, watch this space for an announcement about Gravesend on the 19th/20th of September...

Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #51 on: 03 September, 2020, 11:18:59 pm »
Jeff James, he say clicky.

Does no one turn up on upwrongs, or does no one bother to photograph them?

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #52 on: 04 September, 2020, 12:20:50 am »
Jeff James, he say clicky.

Does no one turn up on upwrongs, or does no one bother to photograph them?

There's an upright trike in the photos (we usually get a couple of those), and the Pedersen, which didn't race.  And one of our regulars was on a conventional road bike for Monday's racing (Jeff's photos are all from Sunday).

But, unsurprisingly, it's the unconventional HPV riders who are more inclined to  a) travel across the country  and  b) book in advance during a pandemic.  In normal times, we'd get more uprights (and spectators, which weren't allowed at this event under COVID-19 rules) at city venues when people can enter on the day. 

For obvious reasons, uprights tend to be well-represented among the Junior riders.  And we occasionally get a contingent on Lotus monocoque bikes, on account of the Mike Burrows connection.

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #53 on: 04 September, 2020, 11:11:36 am »
Anyway, watch this space for an announcement about Gravesend on the 19th/20th of September...

And we are now accepting on-line entries for Gravesend.

Saturday will be a 20min +1lap criterium on the oval track anticlockwise, and then 45min +1lap on the lower two circuits clockwise.

Sunday will be a 1-lap time trial on the lower two circuits clockwise, followed by a 90min +1lap criterium on the lower two circuits anticlockwise.

Spectators are permitted only if accompanying a rider.

All entries via the BHPC online shop, we will not be accepting sign-on on the day due to COVID-19: https://shop.bhpc.org.uk/bhpc-race-sign-on  As numbers are limited, we're opening registration to BHPC members first.

More details on the BHPC forum.

Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #54 on: 04 September, 2020, 04:15:27 pm »
Beware that you may need sunglasses for teh mitey ORANGE paint of the Trinity Zoomers.

I'm in the Netherlands, I am almost immune to orange, I don't need sunglasses for OH MY GOD MY EYES!!!!!

J
;D ;D ;D ;D
I assume that was 173 and 174... they are interesting, er, things....

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #55 on: 04 September, 2020, 04:24:44 pm »
Beware that you may need sunglasses for teh mitey ORANGE paint of the Trinity Zoomers.

I'm in the Netherlands, I am almost immune to orange, I don't need sunglasses for OH MY GOD MY EYES!!!!!

J
;D ;D ;D ;D
I assume that was 173 and 174... they are interesting, er, things....

Those are pedal cars.  They have their own racing organisation, but since they meet the requirements to participate in BHPC events, they were taking the opportunity to get some track time.

The rules for pedal cars are a bit interesting anyway, but these particular examples are firmly at the end of the spectrum where any speed they do manage to achieve is the result of youthful enthusiasm on the part of the driver, rather than lightweight, aerodynamic or particularly ergonomic engineering.   :D

(They were swapping drivers in a pedal car race style for the longer races, hence didn't get any BHPC championship points for those.)

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #56 on: 04 September, 2020, 05:20:00 pm »
Jeff James, he say clicky.

Does no one turn up on upwrongs, or does no one bother to photograph them?
In addition to the Pedersen and the trikie, there's a photo of a gnuprite, diamond framed, two-wheeled Carrera. Entrant 101.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #57 on: 04 September, 2020, 10:31:42 pm »
Jeff James, he say clicky.

Does no one turn up on upwrongs, or does no one bother to photograph them?
In addition to the Pedersen and the trikie, there's a photo of a gnuprite, diamond framed, two-wheeled Carrera. Entrant 101.

The Pedersen doesn't look right with a dérailleur gear and lo-loaders. I don't know what luggage carrying was on the original but it was a 3 speed (with very wide gears).
I didn't even notice the orange - do I have a vision problem (I was looking for bright orange!)

Question - do the streamers have launching and catching crews. There was one that I couldn't see how the rider got his feet down. Is he just very good at trackstanding?

All very inspiring. Makes me want to get my bit of scrap tube and the welder out! (Now where do they race in France - probably lightdays away from me  :-\  )

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #58 on: 04 September, 2020, 11:10:31 pm »
Question - do the streamers have launching and catching crews. There was one that I couldn't see how the rider got his feet down. Is he just very good at trackstanding?

Somewhere on the spectrum between fully retractable landing gear and a hole through which the rider may get feet down.  I think a couple have bomb-bay doors that can be released to stop but benefit from someone to hold them upright for an efficient doors-closed start.  Unlike the Battle Mountain machines, these have appropriate adequate gearing for a standing start, which helps.


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All very inspiring. Makes me want to get my bit of scrap tube and the welder out! (Now where do they race in France - probably lightdays away from me  :-\  )

My French is atrocious bordering on non-existent, but I believe https://www.afvelocouche.fr/ is the place to look.

Blodwyn Pig

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #59 on: 05 September, 2020, 09:42:00 am »
Anyway, watch this space for an announcement about Gravesend on the 19th/20th of September...

And we are now accepting on-line entries for Gravesend.

Saturday will be a 20min +1lap criterium on the oval track anticlockwise, and then 45min +1lap on the lower two circuits clockwise.

Sunday will be a 1-lap time trial on the lower two circuits clockwise, followed by a 90min +1lap criterium on the lower two circuits anticlockwise.

Spectators are permitted only if accompanying a rider.

All entries via the BHPC online shop, we will not be accepting sign-on on the day due to COVID-19: https://shop.bhpc.org.uk/bhpc-race-sign-on  As numbers are limited, we're opening registration to BHPC members first.

More details on the BHPC forum.


Oooooo!! seeing as how project Leyton is now drawing to a close, looks like I will be able to make this, entering on 'Grunhilda'.  never done anything like it before,and I expect to be well behind the very last person. Will have to look on the BHPC website. when I get home.

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #60 on: 05 September, 2020, 11:30:30 am »
If you can maintain double-digits miles per hour, you will not be behind the last person.

Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #61 on: 05 September, 2020, 11:36:00 am »
As in 10 mph?

Mind you have to remind yourself that the length of these events means you would be able to work much harder than you do on a long ride. So speeds should be higher than the averages riders put out when on the road.

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #62 on: 05 September, 2020, 11:40:56 am »
As in 10 mph?

Yes.

Remember some of the riders are as young as 10, some are arm-powered[1], and some are on Mildly Inappropriate Cycles™ or gas-pipe creations not designed for speed.  Sometimes more than one of the above.  Yes, things get serious at the sharp end of the fast race, but most people are participating as a social event or experimenting to see if their latest bit of fettling has improved performance.  It's mostly about Fun.

This year I'm riding a touring trike with a seat that doesn't fit properly, just to be different, which has absolutely ruined my performance, and is entirely in the spirit of the BHPC.


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Mind you have to remind yourself that the length of these events means you would be able to work much harder than you do on a long ride. So speeds should be higher than the averages riders put out when on the road.

This.

Combined with the fact that it's a smooth tarmac track devoid of potholes, gravel, oncoming traffic, muppets in wankpanzers and so on.  You can corner as close to Vmax as you feel able to without flying off, which does wonders for your average speed.

It's also pretty flat (the lower loop has a Dutch Hill-Climb, the oval is flat) compared to real life, and since you're going round in circles, you tend not to get an omnidirectional headwind.



[1] Though a couple who came to Darley Moor were Paralympic standard, and therefore A Bit Quick.

Blodwyn Pig

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #63 on: 05 September, 2020, 01:19:08 pm »
I enjoyed watching last year, so this year I might as well chip in, do I have to be a BHPC member or sign up as a guest?

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #64 on: 05 September, 2020, 01:25:03 pm »
I enjoyed watching last year, so this year I might as well chip in, do I have to be a BHPC member or sign up as a guest?

Yes :)

As numbers are limited (because COVID-19 rules) we've opened registration to members before opening it up to non-members.  So you can either pay £6 (or more if you want the paper magazine) to become a member (which gets you a £5 discount on race fees), or wait until Thursday and hope the event isn't full.  (We've currently got 18 for Saturday and 19 for Sunday, with a limit of 60, and expecting a mass-registration of all Rob's handcyclist friends at some point)

If you do join, pay for membership first, then come back and do the race sign-on as a separate transaction, otherwise the shop is too stupid to apply the member discount.

Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #65 on: 05 September, 2020, 01:33:50 pm »
Has someone sent Rob a link to theose pictures that Mr L posted upthread?
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Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #66 on: 05 September, 2020, 01:35:53 pm »
Has someone sent Rob a link to theose pictures that Mr L posted upthread?

They've been linked on the forum, and presumably on Friendface, so hopefully he'll have found them already.

Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #67 on: 05 September, 2020, 06:13:45 pm »
Interested to see the fellow racing an Orbit Crystal as I appear to have bought one of those myself in my first tentative steps to the dark side... :)

Blodwyn Pig

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #68 on: 05 September, 2020, 08:10:14 pm »
ok just joined , will book soon. What would Grunhilda be classed as, sports or street?  Or in this instance car free.?

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #69 on: 05 September, 2020, 09:16:10 pm »
ok just joined , will book soon. What would Grunhilda be classed as, sports or street?  Or in this instance car free.?

Street covers all bicycles that are practical (and legal) to ride on the road.  Sport is the same, but with restrictions on aerodynamic fairings (yes, I think this is excessively redundant).  So, in the absence of any fairings, you should qualify for both.

The webby SCIENCE will determine that you qualify for Sport (and indeed Part-faired and Unfaired) based on your answers to the Street and fairings questions.

Anyone who doesn't drive to the event qualifies for Carfree, even if your machine isn't road legal.  I recall a session at Derby where I passed David L'Hostis walking from the station with a carbon low-racer on his shoulder, and had that sort of creative scenario in mind (along with, say, towing a race machine on a bike trailer) when I proposed the class at last year's AGM.  It's a bit of gentle encouragement for people not to just drive to everything (which I've been awful at since I've been carting most of the timing kit around).

But yeah, the short answer is that a Streetmachine without any fairings qualifies for O/P/U/S/St, with the options for W/Wp/J and C depending on who you are and how you turn up.

Mr Larrington

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #70 on: 05 September, 2020, 10:19:22 pm »
David L'H has been known to turn up at Hillingdon with his race bike on a trailer too :thumbsup:
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Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #71 on: 05 September, 2020, 10:23:23 pm »
David L'H has been known to turn up at Hillingdon with his race bike on a trailer too :thumbsup:

Of course he has.

But it's okay, because during lockdown I molished a ludicrously heavy trophy for him to ride home with   :demon:

Blodwyn Pig

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #72 on: 06 September, 2020, 08:00:37 pm »
entered Sat and Sun.   :facepalm:

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #73 on: 07 September, 2020, 12:22:20 am »
entered Sat and Sun.   :facepalm:

Confirmed.  I've also managed to recruit gerwinium OTP for the Saturday.  Onna upwrong.   :demon:

Kim

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Re: BHPC racing
« Reply #74 on: 10 September, 2020, 01:42:49 pm »
After a brief period of suspension while we made sense of the government's latest change to COVID-19 guidelines, Gravesend registration is now re-opened for members *and* non-members.

(It seems extremely unlikely that Hillingdon will go ahead.)