Back to Battle Mountain - WHPSC 2008

I may have already explained that this year there are challenge runs on the five mile course in the morning, as well as the evening. That way we are able to accomodate up to 20 riders on the full stretch, rather than the ten that could run in the past. With Larry & Tom running in the evening I am available to help out in some other capacity in the morning. Yesterday I was the assistant timer and today I acted as the observer at Ranch Road 1. This job consists of standing at the point where one of the gravel roads running off into the hinterlands meets the highway, and stopping anyone who drives up from going out onto the road while the bikes are en route. It amounts to standing near the middle of nowhere for an hour and a half - but it is an important safety measure and gives a good opportunity for photos.

During the session, two more riders qualified to run the full course: Don Schroeder (father of James) - 37.51, Matt Scott (former Cal Poly collegiate rider from a couple of years ago who now has his own bike) - 33.20, and Barklay Henry (big brother of Jay who built his own very low black trike) - 48.43.

On the full course, Ellen Van Vugt got to within 1 mph of the women's World Record at 65.33, Hans Wessels set a new personal best of 66.70 (this is his first time back since a crash in 2004), and Barklay Henry (who had just qualified an hour before) broke into the 55 mph club at 55.36.

There was a good deal of activity in the parking lot at the motel all day as teams tweaked and tinkered. Larry & Tom added a keeper on the front chain so that there would be no repeat of last evening's derailment. Walking around, the question "Do you have ...... ?", is heard many times during the day, as teams look for the piece or part that will put them over the top. Everyone has brought a wide assortment of tools and things, but something is bound to have been left behind, and someone else often has it in the box. When they do, it is always given freely because everyone wants the same thing - Let's all go FAST!

In the evening, the wind did not cooperate, such that all of the faster riders in the second of the two sessions chose not to run at all. They felt there was no reason to risk themselves or their machines on attempts that would not count toward records due to excessive wind speed. Larry and Tom decided to go on the hope that it would be calm at the speed trap, as it sometimes is. They started well as the first bike down the course, but at 2.5 miles from the end they started to weave a bit and slowed down some. We in the chase truck thought it was the wind, but found out after they were caught that Tom's chain in the rear had derailed, so he could not pedal. Again, because of the noise in the vehicle, Larry could not hear that the chain was off, so pushed like crazy through to the end. He said he also thought the reason they were not gaining speed was the wind, and did not find out the truth till he was out of the bike and Tom broke the news to him. They still did 55.08 with only one person powering.

Other Results: a.m.
James Schroeder (faster each time) - 52.67
Ron Layman - 54.45
Jay Henry (dropped a chain, again) - 20.43
Richard Meyers - 47.25 (he really wants a 50 mph hat!)

p.m.
Warren Beauchamp (now with a smaller final cog) - 57.32
Ron Layman (still learning the bike) - 56.72
Jason Erickson - 49.47