Author Topic: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?  (Read 2751 times)

Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« on: 19 August, 2019, 05:31:18 pm »
https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-essex-49393888?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s


Speed record set over the weekend:

"The architect from Essex was pulled along at Elvington Airfield in North Yorkshire by the Porsche Cayenne, then released to go through the timing gate under his own power."

Seems to me the car did all the work, no?


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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #1 on: 19 August, 2019, 05:36:31 pm »
https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-essex-49393888?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s


Speed record set over the weekend:

"The architect from Essex was pulled along at Elvington Airfield in North Yorkshire by the Porsche Cayenne, then released to go through the timing gate under his own power."

Seems to me the car did all the work, no?


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I'm struggling to find argument with that.

Kim

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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #2 on: 19 August, 2019, 05:36:43 pm »
We had this discussion last time someone did it.  It's not human-powered (the Battle Mountain thread is over here), but it's riding a bike at ludicrous speed with imminent risk of splatty DETH, so credit where it's due.  (Although probably less credit than would be due if they achieved that speed by rolling down a mountain.)

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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #3 on: 19 August, 2019, 05:42:00 pm »
Maybe a little cheaty, but all the previous "Absolute Speed Record" attempts have been done in a similar way, right back to Mile-A-Minute-Murphy in 1899, who was towed by, and then slip-streamed a train to be the first cyclist to get over 60mph.
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #4 on: 19 August, 2019, 05:42:28 pm »
We had this discussion last time someone did it.  It's not human-powered (the Battle Mountain thread is over here), but it's riding a bike at ludicrous speed with imminent risk of splatty DETH, so credit where it's due.
So this isn't about riding a bike at the highest possible speed, but about something else. (Like wreckless risk taking) Yes?

Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #5 on: 19 August, 2019, 05:50:29 pm »
We had this discussion last time someone did it.  It's not human-powered (the Battle Mountain thread is over here), but it's riding a bike at ludicrous speed with imminent risk of splatty DETH, so credit where it's due.  (Although probably less credit than would be due if they achieved that speed by rolling down a mountain.)
I won't say he wasn't in incredible danger, or that it's not impressive.

It's just that I saw one headline - not the one I linked to - that said something like 'cyclist reaches over 174mph' and I just thought: he didn't really "cycle" he sat on a bike.

Anyway, I've said my grumble and poked some fun. If I'm honest I wouldn't do it!

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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #6 on: 19 August, 2019, 06:36:01 pm »
Does Denise Mueller-Korenek's 184mph record not count then? Is it coz she's a woman?  :demon:
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #7 on: 20 August, 2019, 09:42:41 am »
Does Denise Mueller-Korenek's 184mph record not count then? Is it coz she's a woman?  :demon:

The Graun has added an erratum to that effect to subsequent versions of said article, the sillies.
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #8 on: 20 August, 2019, 11:21:53 am »
It's setting a record according to the rules of that record.

The car certainly isn't doing all the work. I'm sure that if I were towed up to 90 or whatever mph, one of two things would happen the instant I released the tow hitch: I'd either fall to splatty deth (probably not deth cos they wear lots of protective gear) or fail to turn the enormous gear and cruise slowly to halt.
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #9 on: 20 August, 2019, 12:07:47 pm »
We had this discussion last time someone did it.  It's not human-powered (the Battle Mountain thread is over here), but it's riding a bike at ludicrous speed with imminent risk of splatty DETH, so credit where it's due.
So this isn't about riding a bike at the highest possible speed, but about something else. (Like wreckless risk taking) Yes?

Your view of wreckless risk taking is likely to be different to someone else's. He will have considered the possibilities of splatty deth, the likely chance of success and weighed up the options. I know nothing about him but it's possible he's already used to going fast.

Some brains are better tuned to operating at high speed than others. Motorbike racers - especially the closed road Isle of Man types go even faster on narrow twisty roads where splatty deth is far more likely than on a runway where all that protective gear (same as a m/bike racer would use) would allow him to slide gradually to a halt without too many friction burns or broken bones. Some injuries are likely but I'd suggest splatty deth is actually quite remote in this case.

Also, is putting only yourself at risk wreckless? If done down my local high street where innocent bystanders are in the path of danger then, yes in my view it's wreckless, on an empty airfield where the only injuries will occur to yourself then it isn't.

Didn't Guy Martin do this same thing a few years ago? I thought he held the record or did he not succeed?
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #10 on: 20 August, 2019, 12:45:57 pm »
We had this discussion last time someone did it.  It's not human-powered (the Battle Mountain thread is over here), but it's riding a bike at ludicrous speed with imminent risk of splatty DETH, so credit where it's due.
So this isn't about riding a bike at the highest possible speed, but about something else. (Like wreckless risk taking) Yes?

Your view of wreckless risk taking is likely to be different to someone else's. He will have considered the possibilities of splatty deth, the likely chance of success and weighed up the options. I know nothing about him but it's possible he's already used to going fast.

Some brains are better tuned to operating at high speed than others. Motorbike racers - especially the closed road Isle of Man types go even faster on narrow twisty roads where splatty deth is far more likely than on a runway where all that protective gear (same as a m/bike racer would use) would allow him to slide gradually to a halt without too many friction burns or broken bones. Some injuries are likely but I'd suggest splatty deth is actually quite remote in this case.

Also, is putting only yourself at risk wreckless? If done down my local high street where innocent bystanders are in the path of danger then, yes in my view it's wreckless, on an empty airfield where the only injuries will occur to yourself then it isn't.

Didn't Guy Martin do this same thing a few years ago? I thought he held the record or did he not succeed?
A quick google says that Guy only reached 112mph
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #11 on: 20 August, 2019, 01:22:54 pm »
Guy Martin had the UK record. Most of the faster speeds were at Bonneville salt flats.

As well as the cycling and risk taking, it is quite impressive engineering. Both for the bike and the pacing vehicle / fairing.

Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #12 on: 20 August, 2019, 09:08:08 pm »
It does quite clearly say in the linked article that it was only the Men's record and not the real record, which he will be going after next.
As to the risk of deth, anyone needing a view of how safe it is should watch MotoGP riders coming off, doing cartwheels, dodging or not the bikes that are also doing cartwheels, avoiding being run over by their mates and still getting up to walk away - usually swearing at their ill-fortune or stupidity. The biggest risk probably comes from the buffeting behind the fairing if you come out of line. Unless the driver selects reverse gear at 100mph of course  :demon:
I think it is still a cycling record provided he goes faster through the clocks than the speed he is released at. There's more cycling in that than there is hurtling down a snow-covered mountain on an mtb (where the skiers are still faster!) If he is just coasting through the clocks at high speed that doesn't count in my view.

Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #13 on: 21 August, 2019, 10:14:49 am »
According to the TTF thread about this, you get towed up to 100mph and then have to pedal the rest. That would make it more athletic than just getting towed to top speed and trying to not to die or slow down. Obviously, to push that giant gear from 0mph would be impossible.

Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #14 on: 04 September, 2019, 08:04:52 am »
I didn’t realise a Porsche Cayenne could reach 174mph!
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Re: Bicycle speed record - little cheaty?
« Reply #15 on: 04 September, 2019, 10:56:56 am »
I didn’t realise a Porsche Cayenne could reach 174mph!
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