Author Topic: Battle Mountain 2017  (Read 10228 times)

Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #25 on: 11 September, 2017, 12:12:25 am »
The solution to every Italian problem is lunch, or coffee, or lunch then coffee. I can entirely relate to that, as my new triple front mech suddenly worked after having returned from dinner

You took your mech out for dinner?

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #26 on: 11 September, 2017, 12:54:00 am »
Shiny smoothness seems to be de rigueur in the persuit of the fastness. Has sharkskin finish like that Australian chap Mr Thorpedo and his ilk use for going much fast through the water been tried on the windowless machines or should I be heading to the patent office?
This is a serious enquiry by the way.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Auntie Helen

  • 6 Wheels in Germany
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #27 on: 11 September, 2017, 05:22:04 am »
Great photos Mr Larrington 👍🏻
My blog on cycling in Germany and eating German cake – http://www.auntiehelen.co.uk


Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #28 on: 11 September, 2017, 05:47:53 am »
Shiny smoothness seems to be de rigueur in the persuit of the fastness. Has sharkskin finish like that Australian chap Mr Thorpedo and his ilk use for going much fast through the water been tried on the windowless machines or should I be heading to the patent office?
This is a serious enquiry by the way.
Sharkskin/dimples are used to keep the boundary layer attached for longer, ie think golf balls.
But you don't want the boundary layer to ever detach, hence the shape is so critical.
So I would think any type of dimples would slow you down.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #29 on: 11 September, 2017, 07:21:19 am »
The solution to every Italian problem is lunch, or coffee, or lunch then coffee. I can entirely relate to that, as my new triple front mech suddenly worked after having returned from dinner

You took your mech out for dinner?

I went back I to the house for dinner, left the front mech in the shed to think about its attitude. Obviously "tough love" worked in this case.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #30 on: 11 September, 2017, 09:27:03 pm »
Photos from this morning's qualifying runs.  Nearly all from the start coz that's where I ended up after driving the sweep car.  About 156 mph, since you ask.

FTD to Eta Prime/Calvin Moes (University of Toronto) at 68.32 mph - this with only a 2.5 mile run-up.  Only other bike over 60 was Andrea Gallo in Taurus with 65.45, Yasmin Tredell in ARION3 next up with 58.03.  Nearly 5 mph quicker than Ken Buckley :demon:  Wind started to pick up for the later runs though - a crosswind to boot.

First day jitters got the better of not a few people with Toronto have a pretty torrid time.  Five starts in two bikes, 3 DNFs.  Iris Slappendel managed to deck VeloX 7 at both ends of her run.  The machine from Mexico's De La Salle Universidad b0rked its transmission very early in the run and new rider Shinsuke Kouzai fell with his first start attempt in Super Ketta Machine 162, restarted and then went off the road near the 1 mile marker, bloodying his nose and scarring the bike somewhat.  Even Barbara Buatois and Ellen van Vugt had a few wobbles at the start.

But we did get a new world record, with John Mumme cranking his unfaired handcycle to 27.6 mph with only a 600 metre run-up :thumbsup:

Lovely and warm this morning, no woolly jumpers needed and it should be Scorchio! this evening.  I'm going to have a snooze now coz I only got four hours last night because poxy slow Internets...


Taurus by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

This is the most beautiful bike I have ever seen here, bar none.  Sooner or later I'll get a good picture of it or die trying.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #31 on: 12 September, 2017, 05:42:18 am »
Not much to add from this evening.  Only two bikes in the first heat; Ken Buckley got away OK in ARION 3 but blew the rear tyre halfway down the course when doing about 65 mph.  Not too much damage to the bike and none to the rider.  Bill Kong in Toronto's old warhorse Bluenose did 67.8 with non-legal wind and blew straight through catch at some ludicrous speed.  Not sure how they managed to stop him coz I was still up the road at Ken's incident.

We closed the road for the second heat but it started raining when I was still four miles from the start area.  Not heavily compared with what we could see over the mountains but enough to cause us to halt proceedings for the day.  At least we get an early night tonight.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #32 on: 12 September, 2017, 06:51:20 am »
Shiny smoothness seems to be de rigueur in the persuit of the fastness. Has sharkskin finish like that Australian chap Mr Thorpedo and his ilk use for going much fast through the water been tried on the windowless machines or should I be heading to the patent office?
This is a serious enquiry by the way.

Several years ago, When Mike Burrows was famous for designing Chris Boardman's Lotus bike, we (my boss used to organise the lectures) got Mike to do an evening lecture at Cambridge's Cavendish Physics lab. Someone asked him about laminar flow, and he gave a great explanation, including golf ball dimples, why you can't acheive it on a jumbo jet, but almost can on a (streamlined) bicycle, and used an analogy of crowds walking along Oxford Street, with interesting shop windows, as an explanation of what was happening to airflow. He suggested the satin finish of the lecture theatre's whiteboard was good enough - no need for polished gloss surface, and pondered that a headbadge might save you a second on a 10 mile time trial...
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Arellcat

  • Velonautte
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #33 on: 12 September, 2017, 09:37:52 pm »
Shiny smoothness seems to be de rigueur in the persuit of the fastness.

Someone asked Mike Burrows about laminar flow, and he gave a great explanation, including golf ball dimples, why you can't achieve it on a jumbo jet, but almost can on a (streamlined) bicycle…

Shiny smoothness is good, as long as you can keep the laminar flow attached to the surface for lower skin friction, but keeping it attached is the tricky bit.  Whenever the flow breaks away, it becomes turbulent.  Fortunately bicycles don't go very fast, compared with jumbo jets, although BM speed bikes are a whole other league from domestic bicyclists.  A highly refined body(shell) shape that operates in reasonably well standardised conditions, that is, IHPVA-legal wind velocity and air pressure, on a road surface that is without curves, can be expected to behave more predictably, although the conditions are equally no substitute for a wind tunnel, but on balance there is less need for micro-textured surfaces a la golf balls.

The dimples on a golf ball take laminar flow at the leading portion of the surface (and thus highly turbulent flow downstream, because the rate of change of radius after the leading portion is too great) and pre-turbulate it.  This micro-turbulent layer is more stable than the laminar, even though the skin friction is higher, and so the overall drag is reduced.  You have dimples all over a golf ball because every point on a ball can be the front or the sides.  What is not commonly realised is that the dimples aren't all the same depth: those on the 'equator' are very slightly deeper.  Given the correct positioning on the tee, and given the correct amount of backspin, this can net you a couple more seconds of flight time, which is good for an extra 20 to 25 metres on the driving range.

Shark skin, and its arrangement of dermal denticles, is optimised for reducing hydrodynamic drag by applying the same turbulising effect.  You find that the crowns of the denticles are smooth and nearly flat on the leading edges, like on the snout or the fins, which helps preserve stability where the boundary layer is minimal, and relatively thick and pronounced elsewhere on the shark's body, and in addition, are naturally aligned to the flow direction.  The reduction in eddies, which translates to reduction in drag, also means a reduction in the noise of eddies, which is critical to the success of being an oceanic hunter.
Quote from: Morningsider
I like that you think any of your conveyances might qualify as "a disguise".

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #34 on: 12 September, 2017, 10:35:14 pm »
Rain threatened this morning but didn't materialise on the course itself so we got a full programme run off.  Still a few starting issues, notably from Barbara whose Varna camera back seemed to have developed an unnatural fondness for the right side ditch.  After six failed attempts we ran out of time.  Phenomenal save by Larry Lem diving under Macquarie Uni's MQ1 to bounce it upright when it looked like Charles Easton-Berry was going down - apparently the Italians have it on video so I'll keep my eyes peeled for the link.  And Andrea decked the Taurus while starting, though happily damage is barely noticeable.

The Super Ketta Machine 162 has an equally perverted love life, but for the left side of the road, as Shinsuke Kouzai went off in much the same place as yesterday, and the Mexican String-Driven Thing has also yet to complete a full run even over the short course.

FTD again went to Calvin Moes in Eta Prime, whose 75.96 mph was into an illegally-stiff headwind.  The wind calmed down for the final heat on the long course and Yasmin Tredell got the second-best speed of the morning with a fully-legal 66.66 mph in the repaired ARION 3.  Ken managed to keep it on the road for a confidence-building 60.69 and the Liverpool PSOs will now be spending the afternoon painting, sanding, polishing and praying to the Weather Goddess for better conditions.

John Mumme improved his 600/200 arm-powered record to 28.87 mph, but he's through for the week, I think because Real Life.

Photos from this morning's runs and the Show'n'Shine at the Civic Center are at here: clicky.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Arellcat

  • Velonautte
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #35 on: 12 September, 2017, 11:49:25 pm »
the Liverpool PSOs

Mostly P, probably.  Keiran at least even has a car1 now.

1 There was much japery going on at Woodford, in respect of how many cylinders it had2 and "wottle it do, mister?"3
2 Three, which was clearly not enough, in the view of the other Liverpool PSOs.
3 Allegedly 85mph4, which was clearly not enough, in the view of the other Liverpool PSOs.
4 Which I thought was suspiciously good going on a 0.6th of a mile of runway.
Quote from: Morningsider
I like that you think any of your conveyances might qualify as "a disguise".

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #36 on: 13 September, 2017, 05:10:25 am »
Give the ASBO full beans out of the catch area and it's doing 135 by the time you reach the timing traps.  A Corvette with similar power but about half a tonne less mass did 150 ;D

Anyway, no runs Tuesday evening because rain, wind, thunder, lightning and four blokes on horseback making a bloody nuisance of themselves1.
  • Last item may, technically, be Fake News
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #37 on: 13 September, 2017, 11:59:43 am »
Is there a translation engine or look up page to convert Larrington to human? Especially wrt the TLAs

I can usually work out something of meaning form the poetically constructed prose, but I'm stumped this morning. eg, what is a FTD, and who are the PSO?
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #38 on: 13 September, 2017, 12:11:23 pm »
FTD = Fastest of The Day?

PSO = Penniless Student Oaf
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #39 on: 13 September, 2017, 12:22:55 pm »
FTD = Fastest of The Day?

PSO = Penniless Student Oaf

Ta.
I thought the F might be fastest and the D day, the T had me stumped and questioning my thinkings.
PSO had me completely stumped  ;D

For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Arellcat

  • Velonautte
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #40 on: 13 September, 2017, 08:49:12 pm »
I thought the F might be fastest and the D day, the T had me stumped and questioning my thinkings.

Fastest Time of the Day.
Quote from: Morningsider
I like that you think any of your conveyances might qualify as "a disguise".

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #41 on: 13 September, 2017, 09:50:35 pm »
Young Keiran's pithy phrase used to describe a fellow Oaf's attempt t find $IMPORTANT_ITEM in the back of the Scousers' truck this morning, viz. "like two monkeys trying to fuck a football" might almost have applied to the whole day.  Starting when the Oaf responsible for the care and feeding of ARION 3's transmission failed to plug the derailleur's battery cable back in.  Yasmin made a faultless start in perfect conditions and then couldn't change gear.  Spun out after 200m, coasted the rest of the way and still did 42 mph.  Ken went down at his first attempt and a communication cockup led to us thinking he wasn't going to run.  When he had another go he went down again and then really packed with "something rattling" in the bottom of the bike.

Bad luck settle on Toronto as well; Isaac Chung didn't start because of "something rubbing" around the rear wheel of Bluenose, Mr Sir Lord Professor Jun Nogami decked the same bike three times and DNS'ed and Thomas Ulph snapped the old dog's final drive chain.  Then the timing system went wonky for current fastest rider Calvin Moes in Eta Prime.  Which fate also befell Aniek Rooderkerken in VeloX 7, though the bike's on-board GPS had her at over 70 with legal wind.  Jun is going to try to salvage data from the depths of the timing box of tricks for both riders this afternoon.

The luckless Japanese team didn't start for reasons unknown while the Mexicans made two unsuccessful attempts to get their bike down the road, and Barbara Buatois yet again failed to get the new Varna off the line, going down a further six times.  She's going to qualify the old Tempest tomorrow morning.  Fastest of the session was Andrea Gallo in Taurus with a wind-legal 75.15 from Alan Petit in Eta Prime at 67.63.  The Aussies are improving, with Charles Easton-Berry doing a 55.77, though this was only a whisker ahead of 60+ year old Peter Borenstadt in his almost-stock DF velomobile.  Hot and sunny at the moment; should be OK for tonight but the forecast for tomorrow morning looks a bit iffy.

Stay tuned, kids!
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #42 on: 14 September, 2017, 08:08:14 am »
Wednesday night continued Toronto's piss-poor fortune with Bill Kong decking Bluenose shortly after a near-69 mph run, Calvin Moes unshipping Eta Prime's chain again and Alan Petit falling into a dry stream bed only a few yards from the start.  Liverpool's main sk8r d00d is on the sick with heat stroke, so Ken nobly sacrificed his run to launch Yasmin instead; she was close to 70 mph in spite of "something rubbing".  Fastest run of the evening was Andrea Gallo in Taurus at just under 76, and currently we have more thunder, lightning, rain and a wind Mighty and Rushing enough to have ripped the Customs paperwork off one of HPT Delft/Amsterdam's shipping crates.

And we had a surprise visit from Axl Rose1:

Axl by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

  • Lie
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #43 on: 14 September, 2017, 09:54:28 pm »
This morning we did the five mile runs before the short course ones, because wind.  The wind, being fickle and capricious, failed to do as it was told.  Barbara finally managed to get the Varna camera bike down the full course with a respectable 65.81 mph while Shinsuke Kouzai completed his first run of any kind with 67.17 on the short course in Super Ketta Machine 162.  He then locked the brakes coming into catch and slid into the brush yet again.  Isaac Chung in Bluenose managed to crash while slowing down too, taking his eye off the ball to change gear!  "No" said long-suffering team captain Calvin Moes, "you can leave it in top after timing..."  Calvin was fastest again today, 73.22 with non-legal wind; Aniek was also over 70 but with similar wind issues and Ellen and Iris both did legal 68s.

"Was it rubbing or burning this time ha ha" I asked one of the Liverpool PSO's after Yasmin's ~65 run.  "Both" quoth he.  Ken decided not to run.

The second Mexican bike made its debut.  Not sure if they were using both arm and leg power but we had to pull it off the course.  The ASBO does 10 mph when in gear at idle.  I was having to brake to avoid getting too close, and we needed to re-open the road.  I do not see either of the Mexican bikes even completing a qualifying run.

Weather forecast for tonight: windy
Weather forecast for tomorrow morning: bloody freezing
Weather forecast for this afternoon: not torrential thunder and gale-force hail.  Guess which idiot left his car parked with the roof down just now...  Big shout-out to John Jackson for being handy with a tarp.

Edit: Have a shufti at Larry Lem's Save of Awesomeness at the start of this vid.  Hopefully no Farcebok login needed to view...
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #44 on: 15 September, 2017, 02:53:15 am »

P9150290 by Mr Larrington, on Flickr

This came a-visiting just about the time we were supposed to start the first heat, and brought some of its friends too.  Match abandoned.  Bah!
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #45 on: 15 September, 2017, 09:08:54 pm »
Pretty calm but bloody freezing this morning.  Like 6 Celsius.  Send thick woolly socks.  Calvin Moes once again quickest with a wind-legal 79.28 mph, no doubt inspired by the presence of Todd and Jenny Reichert in catch.  Shinsuke Kouzai seems to have got the hang of the Super Ketta Machine 162 with a bangin' 76.82 on his first run down the full course.  Early runs were all a bit too windy as well as cold and neither Ken nor Yasmin got a legal run in.  Isaac Chung continued his investigation of the local flora, once again putting the much-crashed Bluenose into the brush after going through timing.

Sadly Barbara Buatois still hasn't regained her starting mojo and was unable to make a run in either bike.  More Bad Gallic Swears ensued.  Forecast for the remainder of the event is no rain, low winds, moderate evening temperatures and even colder tomorrow morning, with riders filling just about every available starting slot for the final three sessions.  No further short course runs unless we can find space to squeeze in Natasha Morrison's unfaired bike in the 600/200 class.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #46 on: 15 September, 2017, 09:43:59 pm »
How does unfaired work then? I thought the roolz sed that the pilot had to be protected?

Looking about 8C tomorrow when I plan to be heading out
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #47 on: 16 September, 2017, 05:37:37 am »
How does unfaired work then? I thought the roolz sed that the pilot had to be protected?

Looking about 8C tomorrow when I plan to be heading out

Teh roolz is that more or less anything goes so Natasha has been running a couple of unfaired bikes (Barcroft Oregon Ti and Morciglio Velociraptor) over the short course and/or from Badger Ranch Road, which fits neatly into the 600/200 metre category - 600 metre runup to the start of the timed 200 metres.  She may be able to squeeze one more run in tomorrow morning.

Tonight was not as windy as we'd feared but all runs were into an illegally high headwind.  Which didn't seem to hinder Calvin Moes in Eta Prime, who got 79.3.  The 80 mph hat beckons if a half-decent bit of weather can be had.  Shinzuke Kouzai in Super Ketta Machine 162 now also appears to be over his earlier problems, with 74.94 mph.  No-one else was over 70, so that's all a bit meh by current standards.  Of the BRITONS Ken decided not to run, partly because of the wind - he was down for heat one when it was strongest - and partly because he is a Gentleman and didn't want to break the bike before Yasmin had a go.  She did 68.27 in the penultimate run of the night.  At the moment, though, it looks like Aniek Rooderkerken in VeloX 7 is most likely to break the women's record of 75.69 mph.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #48 on: 16 September, 2017, 08:17:59 am »
Came across this article wot has some relevance http://www.strongher.cc/news/hpt2

Re: Battle Mountain 2017
« Reply #49 on: 16 September, 2017, 09:45:46 am »
Lot's of weather frustrations around this year. It must be disappointing for people who have planned, at some cost too, to make their way down there only to be met with circumstances they can do nought about.

Sadly Barbara Buatois still hasn't regained her starting mojo and was unable to make a run in either bike.

But what's happened to Barbara? I can't imagine she's any less the athlete she was, but It's like I'm reading about somebody whose never been in one of these things before. Is the new Varna, just so different from the old one, as to make handling verging on the 'not possible?. Is it built by George [sorry I've forgotten his surname]?
Garry Broad