Author Topic: Battle Mountain 2018  (Read 13412 times)

Mr Larrington

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Battle Mountain 2018
« on: 17 August, 2018, 11:07:12 am »
It's still a Several of weeks away, but Chairman Al has just posted this in Mr Zuckerberg's Walled Garden:

Quote from: Chairman Al
Is anybody interested in an all-expenses paid trip to Battle Mountain?

All you need to be is roughly the same size as Mike, fast and willing to ride the Soup Dragon...
Mike will be at Darley Moor1/Leicester2if you'd like to have a chat with him about it there.

I have phone numbers if you can't make it in person.

The Automatic Diary should be open for business at BRITONS' breakfast time on Wednesday if the Canuckistanis let me into their lovely country.

1: Tomorrow, off the A515 south of Ashbourne, Derbyshire
2: Sunday, New College Sports Village, Leicester
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Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #1 on: 17 August, 2018, 11:50:35 am »
Well, I'm interested in an all expenses paid trip to Battle Mountain and have oggins of free time, I'm willing to ride anything and I think I'm probably near enough Mr Burrows size. Where I fail though, is the fast bit. In fact I'd go as far to say I'm slow. Ah well :D
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

pdm

  • Sheffield hills? Nah... Just potholes.
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #2 on: 17 August, 2018, 11:58:02 am »
Sounds like a great outing (even if it is in Trumpland  :)) but:

Sadly too large.....
Only 3W/kg too....
Claustrophobic in very confined spaces...

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #3 on: 17 August, 2018, 03:41:54 pm »
Alas I'm probably a bit wide and would need a lung transplant and a great many more laps of the M6 before I'd count as 'fast'.

Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #4 on: 17 August, 2018, 04:02:10 pm »
Alas I'm probably a bit wide and would need a lung transplant and a great many more laps of the M6 before I'd count as 'fast'.
Aren't you a worlds silver medalist? :)

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #5 on: 17 August, 2018, 04:17:16 pm »
Alas I'm probably a bit wide and would need a lung transplant and a great many more laps of the M6 before I'd count as 'fast'.
Aren't you a worlds silver medalist? :)

That's because I've spent the last year honing my being female and turning up skills.

Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #6 on: 17 August, 2018, 04:20:11 pm »
Alas I'm probably a bit wide and would need a lung transplant and a great many more laps of the M6 before I'd count as 'fast'.
Aren't you a worlds silver medalist? :)

That's because I've spent the last year honing my being female and turning up skills.
Those are definitely skills not everyone possesses. I suspect at least one of them is also required for this mission as well. :)

Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #7 on: 17 August, 2018, 07:37:31 pm »
I don't meet any of the criteria, though I might pop along to Darley Moor tomorrow for a look.

Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #8 on: 26 August, 2018, 01:03:07 am »
My Sinister Agents tell me that Russell Bridge has been signed to power the Soup Dragon at Battle Mountain.  Hurrah!
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #9 on: 09 September, 2018, 12:24:24 am »
Just arrived in Battle Mountain to the news that the Soup Dragon has been held in in Customs  - in Cincinnati of all places - and won't be here until late Tuesday.  This in spite of DHL saying it had been delivered to the motel in BM $HOTEL in Las Vegas prior to being brought up here.

Bah!
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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #10 on: 09 September, 2018, 10:06:26 pm »
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #11 on: 10 September, 2018, 07:30:38 am »
Possibility that Soup Dragon may arrive late tomorrow in Elko wot is about an hour's drive away if they've finished the roadworks on I-80.  Just about everyone else is here and ready to qualify tomorrow morning except IK3 (Universidad de la Salle, Mexico) which still needs some work on the bike and Altair 6 (IUT Annecy, France) which still needs some work on the rider.  Fabien Canal is apparently very useful on a mountain bike but hadn't even tried to ride a recumbent of any kind before last night :o

HPT Delft/Amsterdam have two strong female riders and are intending to snatch Barbara Buatois' record, which they narrowly missed on the final night last year.  And they actually had their bike finished in plenty of time.  With Todd Reichert having shifted the outright record out of sight two years ago, the competition between the Chaps is expected to be between Andrea Gallo in Taurus and last year's fastest rider Calvin Moes in Eta Prime, with a possible dark horse in the form of first-timer (and unfaired hour-record holder) Matthias König who is sharing the VeloX XS with Ellen van Vugt.

Karen Darke is expected to shift the women's arms-only record upwards by a considerable margin; hopes are high for Ken Talbot to break Greg Westlake's men's record and hopefully raise it over 50 mph in the process.  They are both riding the ARION 4 from Liverpool Uni.

I'm assisting in timing for at least the first part of the week as regular 2IC at the timing desk Danny Guthrie is currently sidelined by a wildfire threatening his father's house in northern California :(  For speedy access to the results, either come to the Civic Center in Battle Mountain or keep an eye on Jun Nogami's blog at https://jnyyz.wordpress.com/category/hpv/.

I'm going to bed now.
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Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #12 on: 10 September, 2018, 06:10:06 pm »
With our very own Kim being absent from the proceedings I reckon the ladies will have an easy time of it.  ;D ;D
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #13 on: 10 September, 2018, 08:36:24 pm »
Results now up from Monday morning qualifiers; Andrea Gallo in Taurus set the pace with 69.77 mph; the second fastest run ever over the short course.  Karen Darke would have smashed the women's handcycle record with her 39.11 mph but the wind was too strong for it to count :(  Jennifer Breet, Lieke de Cock (both in VeloX 8) and Matthias König (VeloX XS) also over 60 mph.  Calvin Moes had issues with the brakes on Eta Prime working when they weren't supposed to and vice-versa - now sorted.  Sole Junior rider Ishtey Amminger dropped the chain in Garrie Hill's trike CO2 (a replica of the former trike record holder Completely Overzealous) and a couple of people when down at the start but got going at the second attempt.  All went pretty smoothly, which is probably a first for the opening day of the event.

DHL say the Soup Dragon may reach Reno tomorrow; since they can't actually state with any certainty whether it's in Cincinnati or Las Vegas we are taking this with a large dose of NaCl.  Russell is going to have a run in Greg Cantori's Milan SL velomobile over the short course tomorrow morning just to keep his legs in.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #14 on: 11 September, 2018, 09:53:01 pm »
Executive summary of Monday night and Tuesday morning: wind.  And p*nct*r*s.  No wind-legal runs in either session.

Things ended up running very late last night because People and She Who Must Not Be Named.  She attacked Eta Prime, VeloX XS (Matthias riding) and ARION 4 (Ken riding), so the teams of the two-wheelers have a fair bit of sanding to do today.  Eta Prime was particularly scary as it looked like it was never going to stop spinning.  "I was starting to get bored" said a remarkably sanguine Calvin Moes afterwards.  Taurus was fastest with 78.something in spite of a close call with a couple of deer running across the road in front of the bike.  Both VeloX 8 riders were also over 70 mph.

This morning it was Taurus' turn for a Visitation, three miles from the traps.  I'm not sure whether they managed to retrieve the bike mid-course before it fell over and they're planning to run tonight.  When the wind forecast is also Teh Suxx0r.  Best runs over the full course this morning were again the two VeloX 8 riders; 67.6 for Lieke and 66.2 for Jennifer.  Ken in ARION4 is closing in on record pace with a 45.2 mph pass in a crosswind well over twice the legal maximum.

Latest on the Soup Dragon Saga is, after threats of exposure on CNN*, that it's promised in Reno for 9 am tomorrow.  Russell Bridge had a run on the short course in Greg Cantori's Milan SL and clocked 55.6.  Greg is having to fly back east to rescue his boat from incoming hurricanes but the Milan is staying here for now and Russ will ride it again tomorrow morning.

At the moment I am taking advantage of everyone being over at the Civic Center encouraging the Smalls to poke their bikes with little jammy fingers so as to upload photos and have a snooze.

* who do actually have a crew filming us.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #15 on: 12 September, 2018, 06:24:18 am »
Windier than previously thought possible for the first part of Tuesday evening's session with only a handful of riders electing to run.  Fabien Canal in Altaïr 6 the quickest at a fraction under 100 km/h.

Wind dropped to "legal" for all machines in the third heat.  Andrea Gallo's 82.80 mph puts him fourth on the all-time list behind Todd Reichert, Sebastiaan Bowier and (just) Sam Whittingham and makes him the seventh rider to crack 80.  And it's Tuesday.  Lieke de Cock's 74.21 is still a little way off the women's record, but the Delft/Amsterdam team are getting closer.  Ellen van Vugt's 70.64 wasn't quite a personal best, but Ishtey Amminger's 60.94 in CO2 is a new world record for Junior Men's Multitrack.  Calvin Moes let the side down with only 75.32 in Eta Prime.

This is more like it.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #16 on: 12 September, 2018, 08:56:21 pm »
Flat calm for the short course runs this morning; Karen Darke got a legal run in and duly smashed the Women's Arms-Only world record with 41.86 mph.  An increase of 17 mph over the previous record :thumbsup:

Wind mostly shit by the time we shifted to the five-mile course.  Matthias is now starting to get the hang of it, though, and did 73.28 when the wind temporarily dropped, the jammy git.  From the second heat, Eta Prime and Altaïr 6 both pulled up on the course before being blow over; Ken Talbot in ARION 4 was having to steer into the wind so much that he blew his front tyre from it rubbing on edge of the wheel cutout.  Heat 3 was cancelled.

Soup Dragon update: collected - with some pretty ugly heavy damage - from Reno this morning and currently on its way up I-80.  Master fettlers Steve Nash and George Leone have been roped in to help fix it and Russ hopes to qualify it tomorrow morning.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #17 on: 13 September, 2018, 06:51:11 am »
More teh suxx0r weather for Wednesday evening.  It's turned cloudy and cooled off from 90 F to about 75, but the wind still refuses to cooperate.  Only two riders were mad enough to try starting in either of the first two heats and only Jennifer made it to the other end.  Calvin fell at the start and loosened Eta Prime's stem, unless it was the other way round.

All change for heat three.  Andrea scratched which allowed Calvin another run.  Lieke is tantalisingly close to the record with a 74.3, Ishtey's 60.85 was a fraction slower than his world record from last night, Calvin did a 76.78 which we think is his best so far this week.  And Ken Talbot in ARION 4 smashed it with 51.58 for the Liverpool team's second arm-powered world record of the day :thumbsup:  Big ups to Karen, Ken and the whole Liverpool squad and to Soup Dragoneer Russell Bridge, who qualified faster in Greg Cantori's Milan SL but declined to ride on the long course tonight in favour of Ken.

ETA Soup Dragon update: It's here and undergoing major fettling.  Russ has tested the chassis out on Poo Road and all seems to work provided he doesn't attempt any violent manoeuvres.  A crack team of fettlers is working on the body, led by George Leone (surfboard maker, recently retired from running the workshops at Cal Poly, HPV designer and builder of a Several of decades lying down).  We're running the five miles heats tomorrow before the qualifiers so if all goes well Russ can qualify tomorrow and ride in earnest Friday morning.  If all goes very well he could ride tomorrow night.
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LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #18 on: 13 September, 2018, 07:02:57 am »
So United breaks guitars but DHL damages Dragons?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #19 on: 13 September, 2018, 10:40:06 am »
All v entertaining M Le Maire, but what of stroopwafels? There is no mention this year as far as I can see. 
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #20 on: 13 September, 2018, 11:58:55 am »
Probably banned under some Trumpistani decree.

Withdrawal. The horror, the HORROR!
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #21 on: 13 September, 2018, 08:56:53 pm »
Arms only, I wonder if anyone has talked to the wierwolf, or is he too busy contemplating Tokyo?
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #22 on: 13 September, 2018, 09:28:08 pm »
Courtesy of Marieke and Arnold Ligtvoet I have an as-yet unopened packet of stroopwafels sitting on the shelf behind me.  I do not know how long this state of affairs will persist.

Cloudy overnight meant higher than usual temperatures for the morning and the wind was mostly benign.  But it failed to warm up properly and as I had a sedentary job back in timing it was almost cold.  Fastest time of the morning went to Fabien Canal in Altaïr 6, at 76.99 mph, just ahead of Matthias König's 76.44 in VeloX XS.  I think we can expect Matthias back next year for a serious effort :D  Karen Darke ran for the first time on the long course and added more than 5 mph to yesterday's world record.  Her new mark of 46.05 is higher than Greg Westlake's arms-only outright record that existed until last night.  Mike Sova, co-designer/builder of Greg's machine, is going to e-mail him this afternoon to take the piss.

Soup Dragon update: after some heroic overnight work Russ qualified the Soup Dragon at 53.81 mph on the short course, describing it as "far and away the most terrifying thing I've ever done".  It seems that the steering needs improvement redesigning from scratch.  And the whole thing is somewhat flimsy.  Other people, Russ says, build crash structures and put drive trains inside them; Mr Burrows has built a track bike and put a plastic bag round it.  The landing gear worked well though.
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Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Mr Larrington

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Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #23 on: 14 September, 2018, 05:07:49 am »
No wind-legal runs Thursday evening chiz.  Double chiz, in fact, as Fabien Canal has gone from total recumbent n00b to 80.83 mph in less than a week.

Soup Dragon update: The team has decided not to take any further part in the event as the bike's wheel bearings are shot, making it perilously wobbly to ride.  Russ says they need to recruit a rider who is:
  • younger, and
  • stronger, and
  • childless
as well as not making the whole machine out of cheese.

Piss.
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Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Battle Mountain 2018
« Reply #24 on: 14 September, 2018, 10:34:38 am »
That a dam shame. I've enjoyed following the dragons development and progress.