|
Recumbent Newz Wheelz Newsletter October Issue 2003Vol. 1 No. 4October 2003 Issue Copyright © 2003 Alan W. Jarrett Please feel free to pass this newsletter along to your friends. However, I do ask you keep it intact and forward it in it's entirety.
----------------------
Steve Frick, of HellBent Cycles Inc, tells me if all goes well I should have a Spitfire RS 24 in time to do a test ride after Interbike, which is the big show for the bike industry. Look for the ride report in the November Issue. For those who can’t wait, check out the trikes newsgroup at trikes-request@ihpva.org , the trikes section on the BROL message board, or look for a new page under the Yikes! Trikes! heading on the website.
Battle Mountain and the 2003 International Human Powered Speed Challenge is officially in the record books. New records set! Read more in “Off to the Racez!”
OK…...this is the fourth issue of Recumbent Newz Wheelz, and the number of subscribers who read this grows every month. Funny thing though, all those readers remain silent! Heeellllooooo! I know you’re out there. While the fact that you open this up and read it is wonderful, letting me know how it can be improved, or something you would like to see added would be great. Remember, this gets added to the website, so literally thousands of visitors see this every month. Your comments are important and encourage others to get involved. Unlike a newspaper, you can have an active voice here. There may come a time when it gets so big that may be limited. Right now is your chance to help shape this newsletter to include anything that may be missing. While my ego would be inflated beyond all reason to think I actually got this 100% right the first time, common sense tells me that’s not likely. Sooo…….. This is where you get to sound off. Got questions, comments, newz, this is where it gets posted. As the replies grow, popular/repeat questions will be addressed in the FAQ section. Some topics may be condensed, but all topics of interest will be covered here.
------------------------------------ If you haven’t checked out some of the homebuilder sites on the Web, let me direct you to just a few. The first that comes to mind is John Tetz and his Zote Foam project. John has built a couple of SWB streamliners from this material, and they are pretty cool. Check John’s site out at http://www.recumbents.com/mars/pages/proj/tetz/projtetzmain.html. Ready for some beautiful carbon fiber work for a recumbent, low racer style frame? Take a look at Jim Scozzafava’s site for some really awesome photos of the Velokraft. Jim has devoted ton’s of time and energy to his projects, and they are worth the visit! His site can be found at http://www.jjscozzi.com/. Thinking about building a wooden bent? Check out http://bikerodnkustom.homestead.com/woodeye.html for some really unbelievable wooden bikes and recumbents.
Homebuilding is one of the favorite topics. Already several of those who have signed up are asking about plans for building. Check out http://www.recycledrecumbent.com/.” There are some great photos of the TE Clone. Plans are also available at http://www.recumbent-bikes-truth-for-you.com/dirt-cheap-recumbent.html . Click on the **FREE** to download the PDF files. This is the section where you want to look for homebuilder forums or discussion lists that will be a huge help if you are building your own bike. Need parts or supplies? Post a question to mailto:Alan@recumbent-bikes-truth-for-you.com.
As in all things, there are those who have made their mark in history. In the world of bikes, one of our American heroes is Lance Armstrong, who now joins the elite as a five time Tour de France champion. Other than Greg LeMond, we have had few Americans who have reached the pinnacle of winning The Tour. In the recumbent world of bikes there are yet other heroes. David Gordon Wilson, and his apparent discovery of the recumbent history would surely be at the top of the list. Right along with him would be Charles Mochet, who will be credited with the invention of the first recumbent. Then there is Dick Ryan of Avatar fame, one of the first production recumbents. Gardner Martin, owner of Easy Racers, Inc., builder extraordinaire, and recumbent visionary. Gardner will go down in history as the builder of the famous Gold Rush, which broke the 65 MPH barrier in 1979. And it is here that we stop to hear from the pilot of that famous recumbent, “Fast Freddy” Markham. Freddy is every bit the Icon in the world of recumbent bikes, as Lance Armstrong is in the world of DF bikes. The achievements of both are exceptional. Now comes the 2003, International Human Powered Speed Challenge, and the attempt to break the 81 MPH mark. But let Freddy tell it in his own words. Battle Mountain by Freddy Markham It’s never been easy riding a bike over 70 mph. Oh yeah, Sam (Whittingham) does it so regularly that it starts to look easy. But it’s never easy. Sure I’ve been over 70…there are about six moments I can think of where I broke 70…..but never when there were a pair of timing strips around. So when Sam called offering me the use of the Varna Mephisto to race at Battle Mt, I just couldn’t refuse. My plan was to race Monday through Wednesday and then head home as time is scarce for me right now…what with the Calfee Stiletto coming on line and trying to get ready for the bicycle trade show. What followed was not exactly the way I envisioned it. In fact the whole week was a lesson in perseverance, but finally on the last night of racing I was able to officially crack that 70 mph barrier. I’m going to spare you the details of the week and all I had to go through to get the fit and feel back from the Varna and go straight to Saturday night. As I complete my warm up I watch as Sam leaves the starting area perfectly and accelerates down the road. Several minutes later we got the first report that Sam has crashed just past the 4 mile Ranch Road. I figure Sam is probably ok because he shouldn’t have been going faster than about 55mph. Several minutes later as I’m getting ready to climb in the Mephisto, Chris Broom comes by and says Sam crashed at over 80mph just before the trap. I’m hoping Chris is wrong and try not to become unfocused what with my final run only minutes away now. Every night I was using George Leone to launch me and we had no problems until Friday night when I had a bad launch. You crash a streamliner once and it’s no big deal, but twice and now you have a trend starting. It wasn’t George’s fault…it was just inexperience between him and me and the Mephisto. Saturday night I lost it not only once, but twice! At some point George said he could no longer launch me….it was at this point that I had the start of a very bad feeling…..you know, how in the hell am I going to go 70 mph if a can’t even get going? So here I am in the middle of Hwy 305 leaned over on Larry Lem, who had the quick thinking of throwing his body under the Mephisto so it wouldn’t damage the bodywork. I look at Larry and say, “Can you launch Me?” His looks said, “No, he couldn’t.” But Larry came through big time, and I wobbled off on my final run. After all the hassle it took to get going , you know I completely forgot about it probably 5 seconds later as I started down the road. So here I go gaining speed just like I did every night. What did I think about? First, you try and keep the bike in the middle of the road. Second to watch the mile markers and hit your target speed for the sign and also watch the paper streamers tied on the signs to show how strong the wind might be. I always had just enough wind to make it a little uncomfortable, but hey if Sam can go 75+ in this wind I guess I ought to be able to do 70. Mile 4 I’m at 53 mph, mile 3 I’m at 63 mph, mile 2.5 I’m at 65 mph, mile 2 I’m at 69 mph. This is where I have trouble every night. On Thursday and Friday not far past this point I hit over 70 mph only to lose control and have to soft pedal to bring the bike back in shape. But every night I get better at controlling the Mephisto, and every night I get farther down the road before I start to bobble. And on this night I hit 73.5 mph before I have my first bobble with about 1000 meter to go. That was by far in a way the longest 1000 meters I can remember….I could only hope I would cross out of the traps before I bobbled to bad. That moment seemed to last a long time and I’m kinda glad it did now. I remember thinking just how badly I wanted this. I remember missing my little girl Mary Rose’s birthday party for this, I remembered bets made as to if I would or not break 70 mph. And I was fully aware of just how exhilarating this whole experience was and just how much fun I was having at that moment. And then boom you’re through the traps and I knew I’d done it, but I knew before I get to excited I better wait and see what the official timers came up with. And they came through also…71.8mph. As I write this I’m still happy about the achievement. I’m so indebted to George Georgiev and Sam Whittingham. It would have never happened without their support and knowledge. It was dream come true and who knows, perhaps I can do it again and break 75 mph.
Freddy is just one more example of athletes making significant achievements well beyond what would be considered a productive age. He encourages all of us who are on the “far side” of 40. I really appreciate Freddy’s willingness to take time out to contribute to Recumbent Newz Wheelz.
------------------------
Eating huge amounts of pasta before a cycling event may produce some stored energy, but the real benefit is how you eat the weeks before the event. Energy you get from loading up on carbs is only part of the story. Don’t buy in to the fable that you will get “superhuman” energy from doing this.
5. No-bake power bites recipe
Dried fruit provides the bulk of the carbohydrates and calories in the bites. Because it contains a significant amount of fiber (more than 8 grams per serving), they are best eaten before and during sports that do not stimulate the gastrointestinal tract. These sports would include cycling, swimming, and hiking. They may not settle in your stomach if you're going to participate in high-impact types of activities such as running or aerobics. Recipes that you can make will be included in each issue of RNW. Send me your favorite if you have one and we’ll add it.
No need to reinvent the wheel, or in this case a list of FAQ’s! Check out www.bentrideronline.com/FAQ/index.html Any question you have that is not answered there, send it to me at: mail to:Alan@recumbent-bikes-truth-for-you.com.
*Update* Steve Frick of HellBent Cycles tells me the delivery of a Spitfire RS 24 will be delayed until after the Interbike manufacturers show. I’m really looking forward to doing a good test ride and see just how well this trike performs. Look for the preliminary report on the website under the Yikes! Trikes! Page. *Update* You know, there is just no amount of advertising in the world that does as much to promote something as just being visible. Being seen! When you consider there were about 40,000 recumbents sold worldwide in the year 2000, compared to all bikes that number is barely a drop in the proverbial bucket. Those who ride recumbents, whether it is a LWB, SWB, Low Racer, High Racer, Trike, Tandem, we all know why. More than any other reason, because it’s comfortable! The Low Racer may be the exception, but even that is an improvement over a DF Racer. Now I freely admit, for me the idea of being different, or “geeky” as some would say, doesn’t upset me a bit. The more people who get recumbentized take away from my “geekiness!” So maybe I shouldn’t be too excited about others finding out why recumbents are so great. But I can’t help myself. The attention is great, and I love it when someone asks, “What is that?” I carry pictures in my Daytimer, just so I can show anyone who even acts interested. There are pictures of a TE Clone, a street streamliner, and a recumbent trike. If it were possible to give someone a test ride at that moment, while their interest is high, it’s just possible there would be more converts. Easier said than done. Bike events are great opportunities to let other riders see what recumbents are all about. Peer pressure is too strong for most, who might otherwise show interest in our strange looking bikes. Few who make an honest effort to give a recumbent a good test ride can say anything bad. A short ride is hardly enough to convince a dyed-in-the-wool road biker. They need to do 30 to 40 miles. Those who do, don’t know how to act when they don’t experience the pain and soreness customary on a road bike. Perhaps one of the greatest contributions the recumbent has made, is getting more mature riders out of the house and on the seat. Cruiser bikes are great for bringing back memories of days gone by. There is no comparison when talk starts about how far the rides go on a recumbent in contrast to a cruiser. For the last two years I have taken recumbents to school for the Great American Teach-In. The elementary kids love it, and it’s a great chance to expose them to this idea at a young age. The ideal would be for them to ride a recumbent trike made for kids, but liability prevents that.
The idea has occurred to try something like that at work, sort of a show and tell, or sit and ride! Or maybe to offer rental recumbents for people to ride during lunch hours. Rentals along trails, parks or other areas where people could ride might work too. Anything to draw attention to these incredible machines in a positive way, can only be good for the person who makes a change.
Racing seems to be the event that always draws attention to most sports. For recumbents, that would be the various events such as those in Wisconsin, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Colorado, California and Florida. These events are beginning to draw more and more spectators. The ultimate event is the International Human Powered Speed Challenge, which unfortunately is so remote that it’s almost like the speed trails for Craig Breedlove at the Salt Flats. For now, there won’t be too many spectators.
But who knows, that event may be the spark of something greater. All it takes is the vision and imagination of someone who knows how to promote an event like this. Perhaps what’s missing is the noise, and the bigger than life personalities these events create. And then there is the track. It’s pretty tough to spread out spectators along a stretch of five miles.
Then there is the Watkins Glen Gran Prix, or the many world class bike events, where spectators line the route for miles. Not too much noise there, other than what the fans make! Only time will tell.
So keep talking, keep riding, encouraging and promoting! It could help change a life, or maybe even save one! ----------------------
KNOW IT ALL! Hey….hey you! Yeah you….no, it’s not your eye talkin’! It’s that small voice you listen to every now and then. Well I’ve got somethin’ to tell ya! You think you’re pretty smart and all that, and if the truth would ever come out of your mouth, you really think you know it all! Right? Of course I’m right! I’m the one that’s inside here all the time listenin’ to ALL your thoughts! Not just some….ALL of ‘em! You don’t think so? Ok Mr. Smartypants, try this one on for size. That young woman you were behind this afternoon at Wal-Mart, the one with the not so bad legs and the short shorts. The Kaki colored shorts! What were you doin’….countin’ the freckles on the back of her leg? And how hard were you lookin” at the seam of those shorts? Huh? Oh sure…you were lookin’ at the magazines…they weren’t even remotely in that direction!! Alright alright! You think that was just luck? Hah! Here’s another one. That Van you bought a year and a half ago. You thought you really had that guy at the dealership good. You thought you knew somethin’ because you spent a few months sellin’ cars. You thought you saw right through his game, and you were takin’ the van back and getting’ your pickup. So what happened? You ended up with the van and he still got you for $3000! Want some more? HUH? Had enough? OK. Now get your adrenalin under control so we can talk, and don’t try to turn me off like you do most of the time. Look. For once you gotta listen to me. This is for your own good…ya know what I mean? It’s about getting’ on the Internet. Yeah…enough already with the excuses. I’ve been listenin’ to those way too long. Hellooo! Do ya want me to get rough here? That’s better. You’ve been strugglin’ along with your business just like all small businesses. You keep lookin’ for an edge or a gimmick that’s gonna get you a leg up on the competition out there. Yeah, I remember when you got burned by the one yeahoo that said he could get you on the Net and disappeared with your money. Things have changed. Look, how many of your competitors are on the Net? Two? And do they seem to be doin’ better than you with their business? Yeah…they do? Well why do you suppose that could be? How about that one competitor across town, and Joe the Whistler that has the business over by the college. They don’t have a website. Aren’t they havin’ the same problems you are? Hah! Why do ya suppose that is? So OK brightboy…listen up! The other day you were talkin’ to this guy who told you about a company that does it all for you, so you can keep takin’ care of business. Remember that? That guy you always see at the bank…yeah, that’s the one. And by the way, you noticed he was making a pretty nice deposit? Huh? Yeah, the kind you ought to be makin’!
So anyway, he told you about how thiscompany could take you through all the steps to do your own website! And he said if you didn’t have the time, there were these guys who could help you, because they were experienced with their own successful websites. Yeah, now that makes sense. And you know what else? You can afford it. Stop! Stop! You’re breakin’ my heart with this poor-mouth routine. Look, all the money you spend on advertising, it only reaches people in this general area. What if you took just a little of that and set up your ownsite! Now think a minute, where does the Internet go? Where? Riighhht! Oh! There it is! I see it! Man that thing’s bright! I haven’t seen that for so long I forgot all about it! Yeah baby….you see the light! You got it! You got it! What? The name of the company? Hey what do you think I am? Of course I know. It’sSBI! Site Build It! And just so you know who’s lookin’ out for ya’ baby, here’s how ya’ find ‘em. Check ‘em out at sitesell.com . Ya know, you really should tune me in more often! I only have our best interests in mind!
http://myks.sitesell.com/Alan1-html10.html and check it out.
Battle Mountain 2003 is in the books, and what an interesting event it turned out to be. Nothing that people thought would happen….happened! Matt Weaver didn’t even run. Sam crashed at 80 MPH! And “Fast Freddy” Markham broke 70 MPH. Jeff Bales and the Lunatic Fringe never came close to the 40+ mph speeds achieved on the maiden runs just prior to BM. Tanya Markham wasn’t available to defend her title, and the first ever “head first” HPV to participate at the IHPSC set European speed records. All in all, those who attended would say it was a successful event, thanks to the heroic efforts of George and Carol Leone, and the volunteers who stepped up to the plate to make a difference. Jeff Hunn did a great job of getting daily reports to Warren to update the IHPSC website, utilizing rather primitive connections. Larry Lem, Dave Larrington, Bill Cook, and many others all helped to make it a hit! Job well done folks. Even though Sam crashed, he wasn’t even scratched!! That is an incredible testimony to the Varna construction. Read Sam’s account of the crash as part of a thread on tires as follows ver batum.
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 00:10:06 -0700
From: Sam Whittingham
Hello all, Finally starting to calm down, nearly a week later. I was hoping to post earlier and also get out some of the SRM data for everyone to look at. In the mean time I will address some of my thoughts about our tires and tires in general.
In my experience, there is a great difference in tire rolling resistance at speed. The more aerodynamic the bikes become and the faster we go, the more rolling resistance becomes a factor. I can't remember the exact numbers but I seem to recall 25-30 percent drag at 80mph. At this speed, small differences add up.
In 1998, in Montreal at the PMG test track we had the luxury of testing many things over the few weeks we were there including different tire configurations. John Tetz showed us how to do some low speed roll down tests that transferred quite well to the higher speeds (60mph).
At that time we found the best rolling tire to be a continental tempo track tubular at 175psi ($100) we still use this on the back of Diablo. Last year when I went 81mph we tried some Vittoria track tubulars ($125) because they pumped up to 240psi. We gave up on them because they were as much as 1/4 inch out of round!
The tire that performed almost as well and has been my front tire for 7 years is a panaracer technova clincher at 135psi ($11.99) very cheap! This is also one of the roundest tires I have ever found. Obviously cost has nothing to do with performance!
We also tested the tufo tires. They seemed like the perfect solution. They could take ridiculous amounts of pressure. Because they are rolled in there construction rather than sewed they are the most round and uniform tire I've ever seen. They also have sturdy side walls and are reasonably inexpensive. Seems perfect right? One big flaw, slow as molasses. I was as much as 4 mph slower on these tires even at 200psi. I spent a few days trying to top 96km/h in Montreal. I switched to the panaracers and immediately went 101km/h several times. This was shown in our rolldown test as well when I rolled nearly 50% further on the cheap panaracers. Even On my road racing bike I could feel that the tufo's where sluggish.
I soon realized that you could easily guess a tires rolling resistance by the suppleness of the sidewall. The lighter and more flexible the faster it rolls. Problem is, it doesn't give you much room for scrubbing the fairing. So to go fast you need a tire with an inherently fragile sidewall and pray you don't knick it. Hence, my 80mph blow-out It was one of my beloved panaracers that gave out on me. Several factors caused this:
First: they tire was old. We also found older tires roll better. probably because the sidewalls have broken down a little. We had checked it before every run and it was still good but not great. I could see some threads starting to fray, but nothing I considered dangerous. Second: The pressure on the side said 125psi we were running them at 175psi. We had tested several the panaracers at over 200psi for several days with no bulging or any deterioration. We ran at 175psi all week and the tires were fine after every run. Slightly larger but still round. Third: About 1 mile before I crashed, I got knocked very hard by a side gust. I heard a brief rub and smelt that awful rubber smell. I didn't think too much of it as this is a fairly common occurrence. Our wheel wells are built to hit the rim before the tires or at worst the tread but NOT the sidewall. I have often inspected the tire after a rub like this to find a slight scuff of the tread, nothing to worry about. I am convinced now, and you can see it on the side of the tire that this time I actually nicked the sidewall at that time. Unknown to me the tube started to creep out of this very small hole until it popped with 750m to go. I heard the air go pht-pht over about 5 wheel revolutions. I was then immediately pitched on my side.
No time to react or "try and ride it out" just straight down. I don't know if the type of tire would have made a damn bit difference at that point. The first thing that happened after I hit the deck was that it felt like I was picked up and flung in the air as everything got deathly quiet. I was airborne, staring at the road 3 feet below me! 100 years after the Wright brothers, we are still haphazardly flinging people into the air to see if they fly! I touched back down and spun around many times before sliding off the road about 250 meters later in big cloud of dust and stopped in the sage brush. Kim, cut me out of the bike. The amazing part to this story is that I emerged with not so much as a scratch or a bruise. I was still holding onto the handlebars with my feet clipped into the pedals. Physically I was fine, mentally I was and still am, a bit of a wreck. I was very, very lucky I didn't hit anything, and they bike stayed in one piece. Thank God for Kevlar! So what will we do about it? Fix the bike. Make it impossible for the sidewall to contact anything as best we can. I am convinced that these tires can handle the speed, just don't let the sides touch anything! The real question is whether I will ever get back in that thing. Sam, shaken but not stirred.
To The Top of Newsletter October 2003 |