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The out-of-print bicycle land-speed history "Racing the Wind" by Cecil
Cripps arrived much sooner than expected, so I'm wallowing in lots of
interesting pictures and details.
There are extensive accounts from the riders, probably from old
magazines and newspapers. I'll try to pick out some interesting ones,
but it's so dense that it will take a while.
***
Here's an amusing refutation of the theory that land-speed bicycles
must merely coast in the draft because their gearing is so high that
they can't be pedaled and must be towed up to speed.
(They aren't towed up to anything like full speed--typically, tows are
dropped around 60 mph for 110 to 162 mph runs.)
In 1941, Alfred Letourneur averaged 109 mph behind a windscreen on a
midget racing car in a one-man Critical Mass run down a 40 mph
California highway with side traffic being blocked. (There are lots of
details about evading the police.)
Here's a picture of the car and rider:
http://imageevent.com/dernysportuk/stayerpictures?p=1140&w=4&c=2&n=0&m=-1&s=0&y=1&z=2&l=0
The pace car itself had to be towed:
"These midget racing cars had only one gear, being designed for high
speeds and skidding around tight bends on dirt tracks. Consequently,
[Ronney] Householder's car had to be towed to a speed of 25 mph before
the record attempt start."
--p. 89
Here's a picture of a 1950's midget racer about to get his tow-start:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1950s-MIDGET-RA...sPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
***
A detail that will be harder to pin down relates to the claim that the
Howard bike had a radio-control throttle for the pace car, allowing
John Howard to control it directly.
The more I look into this, the more I think that this is a
misunderstanding. There was certainly a radio--it's mentioned in
Howard's accounts and what looks like an antenna shows up in pictures.
But it seems to be a voice radio for talking to the driver (which
often failed with the noise), not a direct throttle.
So far, I can't find any mention of Howard or Rompelberg or anyone
else running the pace car throttle directly, even in detailed accounts
that go for several pages.
***
Here's Major Taylor on a weird bike in 1903:
http://i23.tinypic.com/jqqhcx.jpg
The big front tire and normal fork were a handicap in pacing. I have
no idea what the strange front idler gear is for, unless it's a
chain-tension mechanism.
Whatever the reason, the idler gear stuck out so far that Taylor
couldn't use the reversed drafting fork and small front tire that were
already quite common.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel
Cripps arrived much sooner than expected, so I'm wallowing in lots of
interesting pictures and details.
There are extensive accounts from the riders, probably from old
magazines and newspapers. I'll try to pick out some interesting ones,
but it's so dense that it will take a while.
***
Here's an amusing refutation of the theory that land-speed bicycles
must merely coast in the draft because their gearing is so high that
they can't be pedaled and must be towed up to speed.
(They aren't towed up to anything like full speed--typically, tows are
dropped around 60 mph for 110 to 162 mph runs.)
In 1941, Alfred Letourneur averaged 109 mph behind a windscreen on a
midget racing car in a one-man Critical Mass run down a 40 mph
California highway with side traffic being blocked. (There are lots of
details about evading the police.)
Here's a picture of the car and rider:
http://imageevent.com/dernysportuk/stayerpictures?p=1140&w=4&c=2&n=0&m=-1&s=0&y=1&z=2&l=0
The pace car itself had to be towed:
"These midget racing cars had only one gear, being designed for high
speeds and skidding around tight bends on dirt tracks. Consequently,
[Ronney] Householder's car had to be towed to a speed of 25 mph before
the record attempt start."
--p. 89
Here's a picture of a 1950's midget racer about to get his tow-start:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1950s-MIDGET-RA...sPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
***
A detail that will be harder to pin down relates to the claim that the
Howard bike had a radio-control throttle for the pace car, allowing
John Howard to control it directly.
The more I look into this, the more I think that this is a
misunderstanding. There was certainly a radio--it's mentioned in
Howard's accounts and what looks like an antenna shows up in pictures.
But it seems to be a voice radio for talking to the driver (which
often failed with the noise), not a direct throttle.
So far, I can't find any mention of Howard or Rompelberg or anyone
else running the pace car throttle directly, even in detailed accounts
that go for several pages.
***
Here's Major Taylor on a weird bike in 1903:
http://i23.tinypic.com/jqqhcx.jpg
The big front tire and normal fork were a handicap in pacing. I have
no idea what the strange front idler gear is for, unless it's a
chain-tension mechanism.
Whatever the reason, the idler gear stuck out so far that Taylor
couldn't use the reversed drafting fork and small front tire that were
already quite common.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel
