H
hippy
Guest
Original article: http://thehippy.net/nucleus/index.php?itemid=267
Next weekend I'll be a member of the Greenspeed team, racing for top
honours at the 2005 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix. The event is a
24 hour HPV endurance race around Wonthaggi Secondary College. Our team
consists of 8 riders powering a full carbon-fibre faired, recumbent, trike.
Today we had our first (and probably last!) test ride around Blackburn
velodrome.
The machine looks mean, currently all-black in raw carbon weave, it will
be painted gold before the race (my protests went unnoticed!
). I
think it ran on three 20" wheels with slick tyres.
The cranks were very short, at least compared to a road bike, but the
chainring was massive to make up for it - something up around 65T?
Unfortunately I didn't even think to take photos of it! Doh! That'll
teach me to run late!
It was warm in the full fairing. It felt quite fast given its ~33kg
weight - I was usually doing 45kph up to 50kph on the Blackburn 'drome.
The steering was cool - it was very sensitive but as soon as you relaxed
and got used to it it was pretty awesome.
The large chainring dragged the chain over a 9-speed rear cassette which
was shifted with a barcon lever on the right steering-lever.
Braking was front discs operated by a brake lever, also on the right
steering-lever. A backup brake will be fitted to the left lever.
Lights will also be fitted - I heard HID mentioned and Luxeon for backup
and rear flashers.
I'm not sure if bottle mounts will be fitted but a Camelbak bladder will
do nicely.
There's definately some different muscle use going on - I noticed some
muscle soreness in my quads, just above my knees, which I don't tend to
find on an upright bike. I think I'm just going to have to keep my
cadence high and make sure I warm up properly before each session at the
race.
While waiting for some of the others to ride the black beast (I wonder
if it has a name?) I tried to ride John's (I think that's ya name?)
funky two-wheeler 'bent. I don't know what it was but it had a round
tube over the rider's right shoulder and very small handlebars up and in
front. The pedals were out the front and it was quite low to the ground.
I was UNCO!!
It was like learning to ride all over again! Actually, it wasn't that
bad because I did manage to get it moving and stay upright.. mostly
I want to get hold of one for some more practise.. fun fun fun!
---
I'm trying to get hold of some pics of the two 'bents mentioned..
hippy
"Sooo much carbon.." <drool><drool><drool>
Next weekend I'll be a member of the Greenspeed team, racing for top
honours at the 2005 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix. The event is a
24 hour HPV endurance race around Wonthaggi Secondary College. Our team
consists of 8 riders powering a full carbon-fibre faired, recumbent, trike.
Today we had our first (and probably last!) test ride around Blackburn
velodrome.
The machine looks mean, currently all-black in raw carbon weave, it will
be painted gold before the race (my protests went unnoticed!
). Ithink it ran on three 20" wheels with slick tyres.
The cranks were very short, at least compared to a road bike, but the
chainring was massive to make up for it - something up around 65T?
Unfortunately I didn't even think to take photos of it! Doh! That'll
teach me to run late!
It was warm in the full fairing. It felt quite fast given its ~33kg
weight - I was usually doing 45kph up to 50kph on the Blackburn 'drome.
The steering was cool - it was very sensitive but as soon as you relaxed
and got used to it it was pretty awesome.
The large chainring dragged the chain over a 9-speed rear cassette which
was shifted with a barcon lever on the right steering-lever.
Braking was front discs operated by a brake lever, also on the right
steering-lever. A backup brake will be fitted to the left lever.
Lights will also be fitted - I heard HID mentioned and Luxeon for backup
and rear flashers.
I'm not sure if bottle mounts will be fitted but a Camelbak bladder will
do nicely.
There's definately some different muscle use going on - I noticed some
muscle soreness in my quads, just above my knees, which I don't tend to
find on an upright bike. I think I'm just going to have to keep my
cadence high and make sure I warm up properly before each session at the
race.
While waiting for some of the others to ride the black beast (I wonder
if it has a name?) I tried to ride John's (I think that's ya name?)
funky two-wheeler 'bent. I don't know what it was but it had a round
tube over the rider's right shoulder and very small handlebars up and in
front. The pedals were out the front and it was quite low to the ground.
I was UNCO!!
It was like learning to ride all over again! Actually, it wasn't that
bad because I did manage to get it moving and stay upright.. mostly
I want to get hold of one for some more practise.. fun fun fun!
---
I'm trying to get hold of some pics of the two 'bents mentioned..
hippy
"Sooo much carbon.." <drool><drool><drool>
