Issue 61 BHPC Newsletter - Issue 61

The British Human B H P C Power Club

Nigel Sleigh’s Retirement From HPV Racing Proves To Be A Red Herring...

Summer 2000 Issue 61 BHPC Newsletter - Issue 61

B H P C Front Cover: A Mad Scouser In A Pub Garden. Photo: Geoff Bird. Back Cover: Kicking Bishop Brennan. Or someone...

Contents Events 3 The Editor’s Bit The Editor(!), and Dennis Turner 6 Correspondence Geoff Bird, Paul Davies, James Trimbee 10 Builders’ Corner Geoff Bird, Malcolm Veale 13 Steam Boat Willy UCLU Human Powered Flight Club 14 Racing News Dave Larrington 17 Dempsey-MacCready Prize Chet Kyle 28 Roubaix 2000 Steve and Sherri Donaldson 32 Late News The Editor And His Spies 38 Suppliers & Wants 40 Back Page Tina Larrington 44

Objectives: The British Human Power Club was formed to foster all aspects of human-powered vehicles - air, land & water - for competitive, recreational and utility activities, to stimulate innovation in design and development in all spheres of HPV's, and to promote and to advertise the use of HPV's in a wide range of activities. Et le singe est dans l’arbre... OFFICERS

Chairman & Press Officer Membership & Distribution Dave Cormie Dennis Turner 143 East Trinity Road 7 West Bank, Edinburgh, EH5 3PP Abbot's Park ! Home 0131 552 3148 Chester, CH1 4BD e-mail: [email protected] ! Home 01244 376665 Secretary & Touring Secretary e-mail: [email protected] Steve & Sherri Donaldson Librarian 15 Station Road Pete Cox Dyce, Aberdeen 11a Lorne St AB21 7BA Chester, CH1 4AE ! Home 01224 772164 ! Home 01244 376776 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: broken... Competition Secretary Newsletter Manglers gNick Green Dave & Tina Larrington ... is unlikely to stay at his current 166 Higham Hill Road address for long... London E17 6EJ e-mail: [email protected] ! Home 0208 531 4496 Treasurer (after 19:00 weekdays...) Fiona Grove e-mail: [email protected] 7 Salmon Close or: [email protected] Bloxham, Banbury, Oxon, OX15 4PJ BHPC on the Web: ! Home 01295 721860 http://www.bhpc.org.uk/ e-mail: [email protected]

Issue 62 closes: 1st Sep 2000. Or there’ll be Trouble! Letters, articles, pictures, the head of Alfredo Garcia, etc. are always welcome - please send to the Editor at the address opposite. Technology being what it is these days, we can cope with most file formats readable by a PC (text in ASCII, Lotus WordPro/AmiPro or MS Word easiest to cope with), but if you haven't got one, items on paper are just as acceptable. To reduce cheesiness, electronically- transmitted photos should be at a resolution of 300 dpi (or greater if you can afford the bandwidth).

A Day At The Races

BHPC Race Events

August 5th/6th Salt Ayre circuit, Lancaster August 26th Ingliston, Edinburgh (start 11:00 for races on the circuit) August 27th Kirkliston, Edinburgh. Ten-mile TT starting at 08:00, followed by: Meadowbank velodrome, from 11:00 September 17th Curborough, near Lichfield, Staffordshire October 8th Eastway circuit, London E15 (AGM)

Notes: 1. The AGM meeting will again be a points event 2. The British champs will again be at Edinburgh as they were in ’99 with points being allocated for the park race, the time trial AND for the velodrome. 3. In an effort to get things a little more organised, I am assured that everywhere bar Edinburgh, the first race will get underway at 11:00 sharp, so ensure you’ve set your alarm clocks

Specially-Selected Other People’s Events

July 30th Handcycle racing, Sefton Park, Liverpool - contact Jonathan Woolrich - phone: 01784 436796 or e-mail: [email protected] August 5th/6th 24 Hours World Cycle Race, Schötz, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.go-in.ch/Sectors/Bike/biker_zone.html September 10th Rotterdam Wheels Marathon - Handcycle racing - contact Jonathan Woolrich - phone: 01784 436796 or e-mail: [email protected] December 1st -3rd HPRA/HPVA North American Championships, Disneyworld[3], Orlando, Florida. Contact: Garrie Hill, 220 Vill-Edge Drive, Granville, Ohio 43023, USA. Web: http://www.recumbents.com/hpra/

1. The chance of this issue being in general circulation before the Worlds are slim, hence its omission. 2. If anyone not net-enabled would like any further details of any of the above events, please give the Editor a shout. 3. Under no circumstances is anyone to refer to this venue as “Mauschwitz”. Or “Duckau” According to a Disney internal memo anyway... 3 A Night At The Opera Unrace Events

July 28th-31st Spokesfest, Leicester. See centre pages for further details. Additionally, Roger Lovell writes:

“We’ve arranged to close down Leicester Aerodrome for a few hours on the Saturday evening. Obviously this is to allow Peer Frank to fly Velair, but we also have a cunning plan.

The aeroplane and hovercraft will generate the most media attention, but with the runways free for three hours, we will have time for other demos to take place.

Together with those awfully nice people at Leicester Promotions, we will be inviting local and national media, TV and potential sponsors for a preview of next year’s events.(including Brighton).

We’d like to include some fully enclosed racers and hand cycles. Any offers or ideas?”

August 2nd-8 th CycleFest 2000, Lancaster. See elsewhere in this issue for full details.

August 3rd-8 th EcoTrip 2000, Finland. Tomas Linden writes:

“A tour in the Archipelago for Alternative Vehicles. Ride your HPV / electric or solar vehicle in Europe’s biggest archipelago, from island to island over 17 bridges using 9 ferries. Spend four days at a leisurely pace to cover 250 km landway and 40 km waterway over the islands in the beautiful south-western part of Finland. You can make the tour also by an electric/solar boat.

During the Archipelago tour you can:

• ENJOY the beauty of a unique nature, the company of nice people using ecologically sound vehicles/boats. • DEMONSTRATE ecologically sustainable transportation • AVOID pollution • PROMOTE proper tourism

The tour is aimed as a positive demonstration of an alternative way of transportation but also a nice way of collecting people with ecological interests. It is not a speed competition. An important part is to increase the knowledge and usage of these vehicles / boats.

See Bike Culture Quaterly 19, p. 12-13 for an article about the 1999 Eco-Trip, online at http://bikeculture.com/bcq/19/bcq19-1.html.

4 Contact address for further information: Olli Kuusisto tel. +358 2 4110871 fax +358 2 2434066 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.abo.fi/~agustavs/echo/ (including on-line registration) Address: PB 22, 20781 Kaarina, Finland.”

August 5th-12th Open Road week, Escrick, near York

August 12th-13th Human Powered Weekend 2000, based on Aalborg, Denmark Contact: Thorkild Nielsen, Langbrokrovej 18, DK-9310 Vodskov tel: (+45) 9829 3262 e-mail: [email protected]

August 12th Vale Of York Social Ride. Approximately 40 miles; may include some inclines ". Pub lunch, start from York at 10:00 a.m. Contact Anne & Jon Coulson, 01904 411655 for details or e-mail: [email protected]

September 22nd European Car-Free Day CycleFest 2000 Wednesday 2nd August until Tuesday 8th, based at S.Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK Quirky maybe, fun certainly. The enthusiastic international event that complements others that merely cater for diamond frames.*

At CycleFest you can be sure to see just about every sort of cycling enthusiast, historian, inventor, engineer, and yes, even eccentric; and all sorts of machine, including recumbent racers, tourers, commuters and load-luggers, folders & separables, tandems of all sorts, sociables, veterans, quadracycles, tricycles both high & low, bicycles of all types - and unicycles. Each year there is something new and astonishing to be seen and ridden.

CycleFest has also become a focal point for enthusiasts’ groups, so there will again be gatherings of Pedersens and Moultons of all ages, Bike-Fridays, Bromptons, Birdys, and of course HPVs of every configuration - who knows what else?

We will be back at S.Martin’s College with its green campus on top of the hill overlooking Morecambe Bay. There will be plenty of choice of accommodation, including B&B in the student halls or inexpensive campus camping with a great view, well away from public roads, with secure and dry cycle storage. There are also plenty of guesthouses and hotels and campsites nearby.

5 This year’s theme for the talks is “Transmissions”, for which we have some great speakers booked. Social Rides will include day tours of a variety of lengths & terrains in the beautiful and varied landscape of North Lancashire, the South Lakes, the Fylde Plain and the Forest of Bowland, plus some ‘different’ rides….. There will be 50m Sprints along Morecambe Promenade, as well as racing on the local 1500m cycle track including both the BHPC Championship Races and the traditional Fun Events. We hope to include at least one event for veteran High Wheelers this year.

We are planning a Torchlight Parade followed by a midnight feast. There will be music, dancing, films, cream teas and real ale, but not necessarily in that order. The Trade Show is expanding and there will be a separate free Cycle-Jumble throughout the event.

Bigger isn’t always better, but it will be in this case! See you in Lancaster, first weekend in August.

CF2K website is at: www.cyclefest.ucsm.ac.uk Info Pack and Booking Forms from the Conference Office, S.M.C., Lancaster LA1 3JD Helmets must be worn... Photo: Pat Strachan SMC Conf. Officer: Sarah Fisher 01524 384460 [email protected] Organisers: John Bradshaw 01524 384474 [email protected] Pat Strachan 01253 887265 [email protected] Trade Show: Robert Poole 01524 384458 [email protected]

* We are delighted to see that CycleFest has inspired a number of events with remarkably similar names. Not only is imitation the sincerest form of flattery, but the world needs more human-powered activity and a greater variety of such events can only be a good thing, especially if the widening choice of transport weans more people from car-dependency. Let’s support them all!

6 The Editor Walks On The Water, And Swims On The Land

The News Headlines

Actually, it’s been fairly quiet on the HPV front recently. Though one piece of recent reportage is that Axel Fehlau has added to his world records for 12 hours,1000 km and 24 hours with a new mark for a six-hour standing start run. The following was found lurking somewhere on the web and translated by Karl Auer, who claims credit for any errors!

“Axel Fehlau, already the holder of several HPV world records, has set another milestone. On the 4.778 km long course he beat the previous record of 329km (54.9km/h), set by Ymte Sybrandij of Holland, by more than 27km.

The record was made possible by the “White Hawk” a fully-faired recumbent bicycle developed and built by the Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen, in coop- eration with the Vector Racing Team and under the direction of Guido Mertens. Last summer the same vehicle was used by professional cyclist Lars Teutenberg to set a new one-hour speed record of 81.158 km/h.

Guido Mertens and the riders of RSC Speedbike BGL e.V. used the winter to further develop the vehicle, in par- ticular the airflow and tyres. Knowhow Axel Fehlau & White Hawk also came from the firm Continental, which has developed special tyres for HPV record attempts, optimised to reduce rolling resistance.

Under the watchful eyes of IHPVA observer Martin Staubach, Axel Fehlau set off on the track at 6.03 in the morning. After a few showers overnight, the day started fine and cool. A clear sky and comfortable temperatures characterised the first two and half hours of the record attempt. With the sunshine came rising temperatures which peaked at about 25 degrees Celcius, while the humidity sank to a comfortable 30%. Within the vehicle, however, a subtropical climate was developing.

As Axel Fehlau climbed out of his vehicle after 76 laps, the temperature within the fairing was 38 degrees Celcius, and the relative humidity 100%.

Text by Stefan Goroncy, edited by Bernhard Graf. Photos by Stefan Goroncy. Further information about the 6-hour-Record and the RSC Speedbike Bergisch Gladbach e.V. can be found at http:// www.speedbikebgl.de”

A couple of points should be noted, though. Firstly, it seems that Lars Teutenberg’s hour is unlikely to be recognised by the IHPVA, as no measurement of wind speed was carried out. This means that the official hour record is still Sam Whittingham’s 79.14 km, set in 1998. Secondly, it is by no means certain that the IHPVA is recognising the 6 hour record. Danny Siepman of the NVHPV requested that this duration be added to the books, but I asked them the other day and no reply has yet been forthcoming. And finally, Paul Buttemer did a six hour run of 340.22 km in the Varna Orpheus last summer, though it seems no attempt was made to claim this as a record either. It’s all terribly confusing...

7 A Word From Yer Uncle Dennis

At the time of going to press approximately sixty percent of members had renewed their subscriptions and renewals have now reduced to a trickle after a period where a dozen subs were arriving daily. Only fifteen percent, which is less than 50 members, had renewed on or before May first… This means that renewals started at a trickle, peaked to thirteen per day and are now trickling in. Again. If it continues at this rate it could be two more months or one third of the membership year before all renewals are received. The figures include a small number of new members and also members whose subs had lapsed and who did not received the last two editions of the newsletters. Welcome to Joseph Hewes who lives in Orkney and can probably lay claim to being the northernmost UK member. Three or four members may have been lost due them having gone away without leaving a forwarding address but they may make contact to re-establish their BHPC links. From the membership survey more than 100 of respondents have an e-mail address - more details of the survey in the next edition.

A Word, From Mr. Geoffrey Bird BHPC Leaflet

Following decisions taken at last year’s AGM, 1000 copies of a full colour A4 leaflet, promoting the BHPC have been printed, at a cost of £188. It has been designed in such a way that unfolded it functions as a poster and folded it can enclose A5 information sheets, such as those produced by our hard working Secretary (leaving him very little time to be a Scotsman). They may also be laser-printed on the back for specific purposes (the leaflets that is, not Scotsmen).

400 of the leaflets, each enclosing three info sheets, were distributed around Easter to retailers and organisations that advertise in the back of this publication. The upshot of all this will hopefully be an increase in membership or at least greater awareness of the club’s existence.

If any members have any ideas about whence further copies might be usefully sent then please contact Mr Donaldson. The intention is to learn from this year’s experience of self-promotion and do something even better (featuring the new logo) for next year, which is of course World Championship Year for us.

As the immortal Kurt Vonnegut Jr. would have said, it looks like this ->:

8 World Championships 2001

Largely due to the efforts of the indefatigable Jonathan Woolrich, organisating for next year’s World Championships in Brighton continue apace. Latest news is that he is trying to sort out a nice shiny electronic timing system, possibly renting the NVHPV’s system that was used in Denmark in ‘98. The other news is that it looks extremely likely that the “long” race will be held on the motor racing circuit at Goodwood. With this being 30-odd miles from Brighton, it seems that we’ll be bussing riders and trucking machines over to the track and back. More details as and when!

And Finally

In the last issue, I cast a whole bunch of nasturtiums on Paul Davies’ fairing design, stating that I didn’t “[...] think I’d fit into one of [Paul’s] standard fairings, being rather broader across the shoulders than the designer.” I am happy to correct this mistaken impression; I can fit into one of Paul’s fairings, and even close the lid. However, I can still state, without fear of contradiction, that I don’t think I’d fit comfortably into one of Paul’s standard fairings... Or as Paul himself said: “blimey, he is wide!” So now you all know!

9 It’s Your Letters, It’s Your Letters!

Geoff Bird writes:

Atavism in Norfolk and Other Stories

Fiona and I were in the Cotswolds recently and happened to pay a visit to Snowshill Manor, near Broadway. This medieval manor was the home of Charles Paget Wade, a polymath of the Pre-Raphaelite / Arts and Craft persuasion (why did they all have double barrelled names? Apart from William Morris of course, but then he was in charge and so presumably didn’t have to obey the rules…).

Mr. Paget Wade’s House, yesterday

Paget Wade was notable for his uncontrollable urge to collect a bewildering range of craft objects from around the world – everything from spinning wheels to swords. He must have owned the world’s first credit card. Every nook and cranny of this ancient pile is piled high with these objects. So much so that he and his long suffering wife had to live in one of the out-houses. A moodily lit room with a display of 34 suits of Samurai armour is particularly awe-inspiring. I implore you to pay a visit, particularly as one of the loft rooms is crammed full with early cycles!

Amongst the Boneshakers, Penny-Farthings and Draisines in this room I noticed a particularly interesting tricycle. It had two wheels at the front, steered through a central pivot. The seat was beautifully triangulated and afforded a semi-recumbent riding position. Power was transmitted from reciprocating treadles, mounted ahead of the front wheels, through two cords, to an ingenious system of ratchets and springs mounted either side of the rear hub. It had a spoon brake operating on the rear tyre.

I asked the National Trust employee present if he knew anything about the trike. He obviously shared my admiration of the machine and, although he didn’t know the name of its designer, he did know that he was

10 the son of a clergyman from Norfolk. Yes, Norfolk! Could he have been some distant relation to Mike Burrows? Perhaps the Speedy is the atavistic result of some form of race memory that has percolated up through the generations.

And the year this ancestor to the Windcheetah was created? 1825.

Does anyone know anymore about this remarkable machine?

Whilst on the same break, we visited Cheltenham, including, of course, most of its bike shops. One of them (a minimalist temple to consumerism) had a Giant mountain bike fitted with single sided front suspension (Is Burrows’ genius approaching omnipresence?). The front hub was mounted on a stub axle and carried an hydraulic Magura disc brake. It struck me these components would be ideal for the front of a tadpole trike. The hubs were 32 hole, which would make getting 406 rims difficult but not impossible. I’m sure the Taiwanese Cycle Empire wouldn’t miss a few hubs. How ‘bout it, Mike?

Since then I have noticed the profusion of disc brakes on bicycles. Our local Charlie Brown’s (a car accessory store) has a full suspension mountain bike with front and rear disc brakes for £500! Some may see this as novelty for the sake of profit but us recumbenteers need powerful brakes and having seen what a mess V-Brakes have made of my front wheel rim over a winter of commuting, I’m all for cheap, light, powerful, low maintenance hub brakes. Mark my words – soon all bicycles will have them.

Paul Davies writes:

Cheap Bright Lights & Computer Illumination

Following gNick Green’s recent article on diachroic lamps, of course I’ve been using them for years [So have gNick and I, we just never bothered to write about it before, Ed]]. My friend Fred spotted their potential back in the early ’90s and made me some ni-cad packs and a charger. Did gNick mention that these lamps are available in different beam settings? For an upright, or unfaired recumbent, a wide flood beam (24 degrees) is most suitable and is especially good for off-road riding. Medium beam (12 degrees) is a 30 mph headlight on dark lanes. The spot beam (7 degrees) is only good for poking someone’s eye out (check manufacturers’ catalogues for accurate figures - mine are from memory). Oncom- ing drivers really take notice. Confused by one offensively bright small white light, one night one driver stopped dead. He was probably driving around looking for crop circling aliens, like they do round here, and thought he’d found one. He didn’t see my wave…

Conditioned, I suppose, by years of motoring, I was disappointed when my bike computer failed to light up at night, and editor Dave in his comprehensive article on his fairing says he can’t find one of those expensive computer lights. gNick points out that these diachroic lamps generate lots of heat from the back of the reflector. Quite a bit of light goes that way too. So what you do is get a length of fibre-optic cable, point one end at the back of the lamp and the other at your computer. It’s cheap and works well round here where it gets dark! But it may not be bright enough to shine through city lights. Use big bends in the fibre; it seems that light transmission is impaired by tight ones. The stuff I use is about 1.5 mm thick and came, I think, from Proops but Maplins or RS Components may supply.

“Screwfix Direct” is an excellent mail order company supplying mainly the building trade, but they do cheap plated and stainless nuts and bolts, etc. and lots of electrical bits including diachroic lamps. They now have 20 and 35 watt lamps in a smaller 35 mm diameter as well as the regular 20 or 50 watt 50 mm size. And the price? £1.49! screwfix.com, 0500 414141, give them a ring for your free catalogue. Tell them who sent you; I may get a discount on my next bill.

Whatever next! Sent to me by Fred the other day, what about “Brite Wheels”, the latest innovation in American lighting technology! For sale in a car accessory shop near you - Custom Wheel Lights - valve caps with built-in, very bright LED’s. Schraeder car-type valves only, it seems [# - Ed]. Extremely effective. A major contribution to road safety. Well worth a tenner a pair.

11 A night race might be fun, or perhaps at Manchester next year we could draw the curtains…

P.S.1: I met Richard Grigsby, ex-HPV racer and now owner of Avon Valley Cyclery in Bath, the other night at Castle Combe, who, despite carrying, quote: “some unnecessary muscle” had just done a fast 2- up 25 on his UCI stick bike. A return to proper racing was not ruled out. Necessary muscle, that’s what I could do with…

P.S.2: And as for the dullness of my unnamed “faired bike”, on an astronomical theme “The Asteroid” may lead to some unfortunate jokes and “White Dwarf” may lead folk to think that’s the rider. Suggestions on a stuck-down envelope…

P.S.3: And surely, in line with other minorities, it’s time we became collectively known as a “commu- nity” [as in “care in the?” - Ed.]

P.S.4: I think it was Mike Burrows who said that riding a fully-faired machine was like wrestling a gorilla in a sauna bath. But it was my friend Fred who, having just seen me ride past in one of my not-so- opaque fairings, said that it reminded him of some disgusting parasite struggling to vacate the body of its host! [there’s lyrical - Ed.] And every time I see someone in a bag fairing, I just can’t help thinking of a boa constrictor trying to swallow a goat! How dare they use a Ferrari to advertise, sorry, advertize their swirly things!?! Sadly the picture on the other side of the packaging doesn’t reproduce well enough in b&w to demonstrate their utter cheesiness to the world at large - Ed. This came to me via Chairman Dave Cormie. Please golf on over... Dave,

I stumbled upon your website purely by accident. Your site was very interesting and gave me an idea.

A friend of mine is currently undergoing a record breaking attempt to travel the globe purely by human power. The expedition began last September from Greenwich, UK and is due for completion in October of this year in Sydney, Australia. This is not a joke attempt and has raised considerable funds for various charities. The idea I had was for you to put a link or maybe an article on your web-page to generate some traffic through their website. Or even better, if you know of anyone who may be interested in sponsoring them let me know.

You can have a look at the website if you wish: http://www.humanpower.freeserve.co.uk/

See what you think, and please get back to me. If you can help in any way it would be greatly appreci- ated.

Regards,

James Trimbee [email protected] 12 Builders’ Corner

The latest from the House of Velodynamics... Much like Geoff’s T5, described a year or two ago, but this one is Fiona’s new toy. As such, the frame, wheel disc and tail box are all finished in a very nice shade of purple, but unless you’re viewing the PDF version of this via the Editorial web site in several months’ time, you’ll have to come to a race meeting to see it in colour!

Here are photos of a trike I built for carrying stuff. It'll carry people or 2 bags of sand and one of cement or 8x4 sheets of plywood or a settee or a pile of bikes... Max. recommended load120 kg. With a specially-made tentlike thing,it makes a nice cosy camp bed. In fact I like it so much that I'm going to make some more of them to sell.

Malcolm Veale, 19 Lismore Rd., Meersbrook, Shef- field S8 9JD

13 The Human Powered Flight Club was founded in 1994 by a selection of like-minded students who were later joined by an experienced aeronautical engineer and human-powered flight enthusiast Chris Roper whose credentials already included one highly successful human-powered aircraft, the Jupiter, in 1972. Late last year the club decided to proceed with a challenging and unique project to design, build and race a human-powered hovercraft. With less than a year to complete the hovercraft, Pendragon (our human- powered aircraft project) had to be temporarily shelved in order to concentrate fully on Steam Boat Willy.

Because most of our funds were tied up in Pendragon, and with such little time to raise money, funding such an intense project was a challenge, but feasible. However, a blow was received when unexpectedly a university society grant was less than was hoped. We fear that now, so close to our goal, the group may be forced to halt construction and may even miss the opportunity to exhibit our machine at Spokesfest 2000 in Leicester, July 28th-31st, and in Belgium.

14 We are now looking for contributions of any kind which may help with our project’s completion. Please do consider becoming involved with what will prove to be an innovative, unique and amazing vehicle, which is bound to capture the attention of the public, and indeed the media, this July.

Technical Description

Drive

Propulsion is through a 2.5m (8 ft) diameter propeller. Aerodynamically we would do better with a bigger propeller, but this would entail a higher thrust line which would tend to drive the bow under the water and upset the balance. We reckoned that a thrust line 1.25m (4 ft) up was all that the crew could reasonably be expected to counter-balance by leaning forward or backward. We have designed a special seat which, unlike a recumbent bicycle seat, will enable pushing against the pedals while leaning at the same time. The seat has been tailored for Aleksi, and there is no adjustment. But we have checked that our plumpest member can just squeeze in. It will be built similar to the seat on Peer Frank’s Velair.

Control

The propeller is our steering method since it is on a swivelling pylon like on the SRN4 passenger hovercraft, i.e. like an outboard motor upside down. A tiller bar by the crew’s left hand controls this. Also the propeller is our fore and aft control. The pitch of the blades is adjustable while under way. For a station- ary hover, they can be feathered for zero thrust or even negative thrust so we have a measure of reverse capability. The propeller is designed specifically for this craft using Mark Drela’s XRotor computer pro- gram. Design point for the propeller (as for the entire craft) is hump speed. A handle by the crew’s right hand controls the blade pitch. It will be bright yellow, as will the fan.

Lift

Air is sucked in through the duct near the bow (that really is an inlet duct, not the funnel of a steam boat, but it’s not surprising we got stuck with the name...). The air is pressurised by a 0.8m (30 inch) diameter axial-flow fan rotating at 1200 rpm. All the air exiting the fan, at a static pressure of 9.20 Pa (3.8 lbs/sq ft) and a fluence of 0.48m3 (17 cu ft/sec), flows into the bag of the hovercraft. This is a simple perimeter bag. The lift air exits the bag into a central duct which takes it above the waterline and then down into the plenum chamber (the space below the craft).

Structure

The hull is carbon-fibre, spruce and styrofoam. The peripheral structure is hollow and provides flotation as well as attachment for the bag. This is a styrofoam box reinforced with spruce strips and longitudinal carbon-fibre strips as well as a carbon-fibre mat covering. A test piece of this has been proven to with- stand the worst loads anticipated. These arise from the wave-impact case. Also we have shown that it is light enough, and, most importantly for practical purposes, that we in the club can make it.

The central keel, which effectively doubles as a bike frame, and the other structural parts, are con- structed in a similar manner. All the transmission parts - bottom bracket, sprocket spindles, hinges etc. - are attached with carbon-fibre or Kevlar lashings; the same method we successfully used on last year’s project. The fan has been built from styrofoam with carbon-fibre spars and glass-fibre covering, then finally profiled to shape using pigmented filler. The propeller will be built similarly. The bag is balloon fabric. Most of the techniques used are those on which the group gained experience during last year’s project.

15 Transmission

The crew drives ordinary bicycle pedals in the usual way. But from there on, things get rather more complicated than on a bicycle which has to drive only one wheel, said wheel rotating in the same plane as the pedals. On the hovercraft, we need to drive the fan, which revolves in a different plane at sixteen times pedal revs, and also drive the propeller, in yet another different plane, at four times pedal revs. We will be using a twistable chain drive as used first on Jupiter and later by the MacCready family on the Gossamer series of human-powered aircraft. Maybe we will replace this later with an even better twistable chain we’ve heard of and are trying to source. We have discovered that procuring it is no mean task in itself. Having the money is not enough - you have to know where to go to spend it!

Power

How much power is available, and how much is needed? Power here is most conveniently measured in foot pounds per second [whither metrication" - Ed]. If your weight is 180 pounds and you run up a 100 foot high flight of stairs in 5 seconds, the power output from your legs during the ascent must have been 180 lbs x 10 feet / 5 seconds, which is 360 ft lbs/sec. If you measure your weight in kilograms, you may get the wrong answer, since the kilogram is a measure of mass. The old Imperial system, still used in the USA, was made for a 1g environment, and we don’t expect to hover outside the Earth’s gravitational field! Converting to metric units; 1 fps = 1.356 W = 1/550 hp.

Measured output from Aleksi was 386 fps, while 62 year old Chris managed 237. We estimate that to get initially cushion-borne will require 117 fps. This is gross output at the pedals, allowing for transmission friction, fan efficiency and pressure losses in the duct. The next aim will be to get moving. As the graph shows, at a moderate boat speed, this doesn’t require much more power. Then we set our sights on “getting over the hump”. This is more or less the equivalent of planing with a boat. The peak of drag with a craft of the length of ours will occur at about the speed of a rowing eight - 3.5 m/s (11.48 ft/s). We don’t expect this to be easy, and the crew will be going all out to accelerate past this “barrier”. Above this speed, things should get easier.

16 That Adjustable Pitch Problem

From the start of the hovercraft project, one of the unknowns has been how to make the propeller have an adjustable pitch. Last year’s project had only a fixed pitch propeller, and no-one in the club had experience of an adjustable pitch mechanism. Adjustable pitch means bodily twisting each of the blades while they are spinning at 240 rpm. For our design it is essential that they be able to do this. We looked at a sketch of the mechanism used on the Monarch, a highly-successful human-powered aircraft built and flown by students at MIT. The trouble was that on a hovercraft a greater range of adjustment is needed. And it’s all very well having a sketch, or even a proper dimensioned drawing; it’s got to be something we can make with the facilities of a university club. We were beginning to feel that we had bitten off rather more than we could chew. Then, earlier this month, member Simon Ward walked in brandishing something made from a bit from an old boiler and a knitting needle. We all said “Wow!”. “Of course”, Simon said quickly, “it won’t be a knitting needle really; this is just to show the principle.” He had shown us how we could make it. We could see that we were one step closer to completing the project.

Carbon Fibre Arrives

Parcels for us at Clubs and Societies Centre. Fifty metres of carbon-fibre mat. The firm had sent us a sample, which we had tested, otherwise we had never seen anything like it except on the wings of the Marathon Eagle plane. A sheet of it is lighter than the centimetre of air each side of it. And it’s stronger than steel. Just the sort of stuff you might use to cover a human-powered hovercraft with, really… We have started to do just that.

Come and meet us any term-time Monday at 7pm, Wednesday 2pm or Saturday 11 am, 21 Tottenham Mews, London.

Contacts: [email protected] [email protected] Joel: 020 7328 8469 Chris: 020 7379 5611

Racing News

Eastway - April 16th

Nice day, from what I recall. Not much new in the way of machinery save Fiona Grove’s impossibly shiny purple Velodynamics and Sam Knight immersing himself totally in the lunatic spirit of the whole thing by racing an Ordinary, built, I believe, by his father. The unfaired race saw Dave Richards and Rob English in close contention until the latter unshipped the K2’s chain, losing a lap to Dave but still holding off reigning champion Tim Elsdale. Big Iain James racked up a useful 4th place on the big-wheeled low Project X, described in detail in Issue 60, ahead of multi-track winner Bob Knight. First of the Ladies home was Fiona - those in the know nodded sagely and said “it’s the hills”.

In the faired plus Dennis Turner race, Rob English switched to the faired Wasp, and managed to retain his chain and his composure to take the win. But… he was a mere three seconds ahead of Ian Chattington and Gromit’s Sidecar, Ian appearing to grow more confident in the bike’s handling in the wind as the race went on. “I had plenty in reserve”, quoth Rob, but then he would say that, wouldn’t he " The Steves Slade and Donaldson came in next, well ahead of gNick Green, whose heart rate monitor showed that he had most likely died of a coronary during the race with a peak reading of 221 bpm. This was, unsurprisingly, later adjudged to be in error…

17 Some of the field at Eastway. Photo: Geoff Bird And your Scribe? The GTO had suffered brake problems and while, at my speed, the lack of a front brake around Eastway was unlikely to be life-threatening, riding the bike there without one would have been an altogether more alarming proposition.

Eastway - 30 minutes + 3 laps Overall Position Points Number Name Vehicle Class Race Pos Laps Min Sec Km/h MPH Position FULMFULM 1 110 Rob English Wasp F 2 1 18 37 39 47.0 29.2 1 22 2 36 Ian Chattington Gromit’s Sidecar F 2 2 18 37 42 47.0 29.2 2 18 3 28 Steve Slade Wasp II F 2 3 18 38 09 46.4 28.9 3 16 4 92 Steve Donaldson Wasp II F 2 4 17 39 07 42.8 26.6 4 14 5 54 Dave Richards Kestrel U 1 1 16 39 20 40.0 24.9 1 22 6 44 gNick Green A W ooden Fish On Wheels F 2 5 15 38 02 38.8 24.1 5 12 7 56 Rob English K2 U 1 2 15 39 26 37.4 23.3 2 18 8 25 Tim Hayes Ross Low F 2 6 15 39 41 37.2 23.1 6 10 9 73 Tim Elsdale Prone U 1 3 15 39 52 37.0 23.0 3 16 10 40 Iain James Project X U 1 4 15 41 21 35.7 22.2 4 14 11 2 Bob Knight Windcheetah U/M 1 5 15 41 30 35.6 22.1 5 1 12 22 12 55 Tim Costen Hurric ane U 1 6 15 42 11 35.0 21.7 6 10 13 32 Ric hard Everett Windcheetah U/M 1 7 14 39 53 34.5 21.5 7 2 8 18 14 9 Alan Newark Windcheetah U/M 1 8 14 39 53 34.5 21.5 8 3 6 16 15 0u Mike Burrows Ratcatcher 9 U 1 9 13 39 18 32.5 20.2 9 5 16 50 Geoff Bird Velodynamics U 1 10 13 40 10 31.8 19.8 10 4 17 70 Vaughn Read Orbit Crystal U 1 11 13 40 15 31.8 19.8 11 2 17 22 Paul London Falcon F 2 7 13 40 15 31.8 19.8 7 8 19 98 Ian W illett Ironing Board U 1 12 12 39 40 29.8 18.5 12 2 20 87 Dave Redknap Quadras U 1 13 12 40 03 29.5 18.3 13 2 21 66 Dennis Adcock Pig F 2 8 12 40 23 29.2 18.2 8 6 22 34 Fiona Grove Velodynamics U/L 1 14 12 40 31 29.1 18.1 14 1 2 22 23 14 Pete Cox Lune II U 1 15 12 41 41 28.3 17.6 15 2 24 5 Phil Wray Kingcycle F 2 9 11 38 44 27.9 17.4 9 5 25 24 Sherri Donaldson Kestrel U/L 1 16 11 39 37 27.3 17.0 16 2 2 18 26 30 Andrew Alexander Tour Easy F 1 17 11 40 36 26.7 16.6 10 4 27 69 Sam Knight Ordinary U 1 18 11 42 00 25.8 16.0 17 2 28 63d Dennis Turner Aerobike Sprint U 2 10 9 37 39 23.5 14.6 18 2 29 13 Brian Dalton Trice U/M 1 19 10 43 05 22.8 14.2 19 4 2 14 30 80 Lorna W ray Moulton APB U/L 1 20 9 41 34 21.3 13.2 20 3 2 16 31 52 Robin Hayes Mean’n’Green U 1 21 8 40 00 19.7 12.2 21 2 32 72 Sue Hayes Aerobike Sprint U/L 1 22 8 43 31 18.1 11.2 22 4 2 14

18 Milton Keynes - May 13th

Nicest day of the year so far - warm and sunny. The circuit had been altered from last year; denied access to the track behind the stage of the Bowl, it instead made a sharp detour into the trees to emerge further on after some entertaining twisty bits (though that’s not how gNick described them…), before climbing up to the top of the bowl across an open space. A good turn-out - 34 racers, including Sam Knight again mounted on his Ordinary, and Bob Johnson’s High Bike, one of the stars of last year’s event. And it was nice to see another junior racer, in the shape of Steve Slade’s Number One Son Stuart. Riding a Kingcycle, of course… Intended, perhaps, for an even younger rider was the pedal-powered pram, which I think was also built by Sam & Bob Knight’s father. A big hit with Robin Hayes"

Robin Hayes returns to his childhood... Photo: Paul London

Bob Knight and his Windcheetah walked away with the “slow” race, winning by two clear laps from Jeff Clements’ homebuilt Yellow Peril and Anna Jenkins’ Kingcycle, who edged out Fiona Grove by a single second. In the fast(er) race, Ian Chattington again started comparatively gently, but soon got to grips with the Sidecar and romped through to take the win ahead of Steve Slade and the unfaired victor Dave Richards, unlapped and less than 1 mph slower than the winner. At the other end of the scale were the unfortunate Prone riders. Matt Norman suffered a puncture, so pitted to rob the spare bike of its rear wheel. Hardly had he gotten underway once more when team guvnor Tim Elsdale came in with a broken hip support bit, requiring another rapid wheel change to get the spare bike mobile again. One of those days, I guess. And your scribe? Having been off sick for the entire week preceding the event, I was forbidden to take part.

19 Paul London demonstrates that brown is the new black..

Milton Keynes - 35 minutes + 2 laps - 1.69 km / lap Overall Position Points Number Name Vehicle Class Race Pos Laps Min Sec Km/h MPH Position FULMFULM 1 36 Ian Chattington Gromit’s Sidecar F 2 1 16 40 17 40.3 25.0 1 22 2 28 Steve Slade Was p II F 2 2 16 40 37 40.0 24.8 2 18 3 54 Dave Ric hards Kestrel U 2 3 16 41 28 39.1 24.3 1 22 4 135 Paul Davies Faired Bik e F 2 4 15 41 20 36.8 22.9 3 16 5 40 Iain James Project X U 2 5 15 42 36 35.7 22.2 2 18 6 96 Derrick Tweddle Velodynamic s U 2 6 15 42 37 35.7 22.2 3 16 7 2 Bob Knight Windcheetah U/M 1 1 15 42 56 35.4 22.0 4 1 14 22 8 44 gNick Green A W ooden Fis h On W heels F 2 7 14 42 21 33.5 20.8 4 14 9 14 Pete Cox Lune II U 2 8 14 42 42 33.2 20.7 5 12 12 10 25 Tim Hayes Ross Low F 2 9 14 40 17 35.2 21.9 5 11 43 David Hembrow Ross U 2 10 13 40 46 32.3 20.1 6 10 12 98 Ian W illett Ironing Board U 2 11 13 42 03 31.4 19.5 7 8 13 78 Neil Jones Low Black Bik e U 2 12 14 45 33 31.2 19.4 8 6 14 22 Paul London Falcon F 2 13 13 42 30 31.0 19.3 6 10 15 5 Phil Wray Kingcycle F 2 14 13 43 09 30.6 19.0 7 8 16 15 Jeff Clements Yellow Peril U 1 2 13 43 44 30.1 18.7 9 5 17 21l Anna Jenkins Kingcycle F/L 1 3 13 44 08 29.9 18.6 8 1 6 22 18 34 Fiona Grove Velodynamic s U/L 1 4 13 44 09 29.9 18.6 10 2 4 18 19 66 Dennis Adc ock Pig F 2 15 12 40 49 29.8 18.5 9 5 20 63d Dennis Turner Aerobike Sprint U 1 5 13 44 16 29.8 18.5 11 2 21 11 Don Rankin The Banana Bike U 1 6 13 44 21 29.7 18.5 12 2 22 61 Anne Couls on Kingcycle U/L 1 7 13 45 00 29.3 18.2 13 3 2 16 23 60 Alan Lawrence Pashley PDQ U 1 8 13 46 07 28.6 17.8 14 2 24 67 Jill Jones QE3:The Return U/L 1 9 13 46 30 28.3 17.6 15 4 2 14 25 62 Jon Coulson Windcheetah U/M 1 10 12 43 15 28.1 17.5 16 2 2 18 26 74 Matt Norman Prone U 2 16 11 40 36 27.5 17.1 17 2 27 73 Tim Elsdale Prone U 2 17 11 41 00 27.2 16.9 18 2 28 69 Sam Knight Ordinary U 1 11 12 46 25 26.2 16.3 19 2 29 17 Bob Johnson High Bike U 1 12 11 44 06 25.3 15.7 20 2 30 80 Lorna W ray Moulton APB U/L 1 13 11 45 35 24.5 15.2 21 5 2 12 31 52 Robin Hayes Mean’n’Green U 1 14 10 44 15 22.9 14.2 22 2 32 20 Team Holy Cheat Holy Cheat Alleweder F 1 15 10 47 15 21.5 13.3 10 4 33 10 Stuart Slade Kingcycle U 1 16 8 45 04 18.0 11.2 23 2 34 72 Sue Hayes Aerobike Sprint U/L 1 17 8 45 36 17.8 11.1 24 6 2 10

20 21 22 Hayes - June 4th

Not too bad a day, though as usual the wind was blowing unhelpfully up the long straight. Race 1 - exit Rob English at high speed on the unfaired Wasp, two laps up on John Lafford and Sam Knight, now mounted on an upright racer (boo, hiss). Once again Fiona Grove took the Ladies’ win, while in Kevin Doran’s continued absence, Jonathan Woolrich brought out his Varna arm-powered trike to notch up class honours and second place in the multi-track class. In race 2, Rob popped the nose and Bag back on the Wasp, and appeared to be all set for a repeat of his race 1 victory. Until the flag dropped and the field zoomed off into the boonies, leaving Rob horizontal on the floor having failed to get his foot clipped in. Having lost some three-quarters of a minute, he charged off at such a rate that within three laps he was in the lead, while Steve Slade notched up his best result of the year so far in second place. My theory (which belongs to me), is that the Hayes track is one where bike-handling prowess (or lack of imagination) is a useful asset for a fast faired rider… Ian Chattington got third, from gNick Green and Steve Donaldson, who missed Milton Steve Slade takes the Wasp for a walk Keynes in favour of Roubaix, with Dave

Hayes - 35 minutes + 2 laps - 1.53 km/lap Overall Number Name Vehicle Class Race Pos Laps Min Sec Km/h MPH Position Points Position FULAMFULAM 1 110 Rob English Wasp F 2 1 23 40 09 52.6 32.7 1 22 2 28 Steve Slade Wasp II F 2 2 23 40 34 52.0 32.3 2 18 3 36 Ian Chattington Gromit’s Sidecar F 2 3 23 41 05 51.4 31.9 3 16 4 44 gNick Green A Wooden Fish On Wheels F 2 4 22 40 14 50.2 31.2 4 14 5 92 Steve Donaldson Wasp II F 2 5 22 41 18 48.9 30.4 5 12 6 135 Paul Davies Faired Bike F 2 6 22 41 21 48.8 30.4 6 10 7 54 Dave Richards Kestrel U 2 7 20 41 35 44.2 27.4 1 22 8 56 Rob English Wasp U 1 1 19 40 57 42.6 26.5 2 18 9 25 Tim Hayes Ross Low F 2 8 19 41 14 42.3 26.3 7 8 10 14 Pete Cox Lune II U 2 9 19 42 00 41.5 25.8 3 16 11 73 Tim Elsdale Prone U 2 10 19 43 25 40.2 25.0 4 14 12 55 Tim Costen Hurricane U 2 11 17 40 30 38.5 23.9 5 12 13 108 John Lafford Arrow 99 U 1 2 17 41 40 37.5 23.3 6 10 14 2 Bob Knight Windcheetah U/M 2 12 17 41 47 37.3 23.2 7 1 8 22 15 69 Sam Knight UCI Bike U 1 3 17 42 41 36.6 22.7 8 2 16 11 Don Rankin The Banana Bike U 1 4 16 41 14 35.6 22.1 9 6 17 27 Dave Larrington Kingcycle U 1 5 16 43 46 33.6 20.9 10 5 18 66 Dennis Adcock Pig F 2 13 15 41 06 33.5 20.8 8 6 19 98 Ian Willett Ironing Board U 1 6 15 41 41 33.0 20.5 11 4 20 33f Phil Skoyles Mean'n'Yellow'n'White? F 2 14 15 41 46 33.0 20.5 9 5 21 34 Fiona Grove Velodynamics U/L 1 7 15 41 47 33.0 20.5 12 1 2 22 22 43 David Hembrow Ross U 2 15 15 41 53 32.9 20.4 13 2 23 24 Sherri Donaldson Kestrel U/L 1 8 14 41 15 31.2 19.4 14 2 2 18 24 30 Andrew Alexander Tour Easy F 1 9 14 43 46 29.4 18.2 10 4 25 63d Dennis Turner Aerobike Sprint U 1 10 13 42 25 28.1 17.5 15 2 26 42 Terry Clark Pashley PDQ U 1 11 12 43 12 25.5 15.8 16 2 27 72 Sue Hayes Aerobike Sprint U/L 1 12 11 42 26 23.8 14.8 17 3 2 16 28 52 Robin Hayes Mean’n’Green U 1 13 10 41 04 22.4 13.9 18 2 29 41 Judith Hembrow Flevo Oke-Ja U/L 1 14 9 43 09 19.1 11.9 19 4 2 14 30 99 Jonathan Woolrich Varna Arm A/U/M 1 15 6 39 51 13.8 8.6 20 1 2 2 22 18 23 Richards sixth. Dave later said he’d had to treat the race as a time-trial, running flat-out for the duration to be sure of beating Rob English’s race one distance. Which he duly did. Bob Knight unsurprisingly won the multi-track class… Another Paul Davies’ fairing appeared, a bomb-door-and-roofless version piloted by a slightly-nervous looking Phil Skoyles.

Best memory of the day? Timing race two and listening to the collective gasps of the spectators as the top six hurtled through the first corner, using all the road and seemingly a little bit more from time to time.

Castle Combe - June 18th gNick had long been threatening a long race here, and the move to the midsummer section of the season was specifically intended to make this a little more tolerable. This may have backfired a little, to judge from the groans let out by each and every one of us as we read the words “2 hours plus one lap” on the Official BHPC Whiteboard. Why? Because it was the hottest day of the year, with forecast temperatures of 30o C. Of course, that’s a shade temperature, and shade is conspicuously lacking around Castle Combe. So, to the strains of “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” we all set off, and while some were treating it as a gentle ride in the country without having to worry about being flattened by cars, some were treating it as a RACE, and going like stink from the word go. Sadly this number did not include the unfortunate Rob English and the faired K2. Yes, that’s right, the faired one! Grandpa Kingsbury has finally completed the marriage of the new aluminium “Ally Baba” chassis with the luvverly shiny carbon-Kevlar fairing, but alas! When Rob went out for a trial run a frame weld gave way, and the unhappy lad was relegated to his UCI stick bike…

The race was not without its problems for some; Sherri Donaldson suffering from a wandering water bottle and transmission misbehaviour on the newly-tail-faired Kestrel, while I’m told Tim Elsdale stopped and restarted several times with some malady unknown to your writer. I know that Robin Mather and Clive Sleath stopped for biscuits and sandwiches respectively, though.

And the upshot of it all was that Ian Chattington lapped the field, with 36 laps in his two and a bit hours. A lap down in second place was gNick Green, the aerodynamics of the Wooden Fish showing up well on this fast circuit, while Steve Slade was a further lap down in fourth, from fellow Waspista Steve Donaldson, Paul Davies and Chris Cox in the faired Speedy. Seventh overall and maintaining his 100% record in the unfaired division was Dave Richards, a lap up on the ever-improving Pete Cox, who somehow had the energy to stage a sprint finish with Rob English (though the latter was a further lap down). Fiona Grove consolidated her lead in the Ladies’ class, while sole multi-track finisher was Rob Hague’s Greenspeed GTS; Harry Fullagar having pulled off after an hour with the words “That’s my exercise for today”. The only other person sane enough to retire was Stuart Slade, while the rest of us fell off our machines groaning, unable to bend down far enough to remove our shoes or, in Mr. Chattington’s case, walk up the minuscule slope next to the control tower without a push…

Verdict: not as bad as we feared, in spite of the ferrrrrrrocious heat. Paul Davies, whose bike shed its roof after the sticky portion of the tape holding it on melted in the heat, was heard vigorously arguing for a three-hour race next year. The replies of those within earshot cannot be repeated in a family publication, while it was the opinion of many that the four-hour race in Gent will be a Brit-free zone. Oh, and major kudos to Geoff Bird, Jonathan Woolrich and John Kngsbury for the scoring. I hope I interpreted the figures correctly…

Anyway, that’s all for now, as this issue should be at the printers by the time Darley Moor comes around. And after that, the Worlds. Though how welcome the English will be in Belgium after the events of Euro 2000 is another matter entirely #

P.S. If people are wondering why they only get two points for finishing in what looks like a major-points- scoring position, the clue lies in the words “UCI bike”. Yer, mate, we don’ like ‘em an’ we’re not ‘avin’ ‘em...

24 Castle Combe - 2 Hours + 1 Lap - 2.97 km/lap Overall Number Name Vehicle Class Laps Position Points Position FULMFULM 1 36 Ian Chattington Gromit’s Sidecar F 36 1 22 2 44 gNick Green A Wooden Fish On Wheels F 35 2 18 3 28 Steve Slade Wasp II F 34 3 16 4 92 Steve Donaldson Wasp II F 33 4 14 5 135 Paul Davies Faired Bike F 31 5 14 6 0 Chris Cox Faired Windcheetah F 30 6 10 7 54 Dave Richards Kestrel U 29 1 22 8 14 Pete Cox Lune II U 28 2 18 9 56 Rob English UCI Bike U 27 3 2 10 25 Tim Hayes Ross Low F 27 7 8 11 0u Mike Burrows Ratcatcher 9 U 25 4 16 12 108 John Lafford Arrow 99 U 24 5 14 13 55 Tim Costen Hurricane U 23 6 12 14 70 Vaughn Read Orbit Crystal U 22 7 10 15 71 Robin Mather Unfaired Bike U 21 8 8 16 84 Clive Sleath Screech F 21 8 6 17 27 Dave Larrington Kingcycle U 21 9 6 18 87 Dave Redknap Quadras U 21 10 5 19 34 Fiona Grove Velodynamics U/L 20 11 1 4 22 20 81 Rob Hague Greenspeed GTS U/M 20 12 1 2 22 21 15 Jeff Clements Yellow Peril U 17 13 2 22 73 Tim Elsdale Prone U 16 14 2 23 24 Sherri Donaldson Kestrel U/L 16 15 2 2 18 24 52 Robin Hayes Mean’n’Green U 11 16 2 25 72 Sue Hayes Purple Peril U/L 11 17 3 2 16 DNF 45 Harry Fullagar Trike U/M 9 - - 1 1 DNF 10 Stuart Slade Kingcycle U 5 - 1

Ladies

Name Vehicle(s) Total Hayes Position Eastway Manchester Milton Keynes Castle Combe 1 Fiona Grove Velodynamics 0 2218222284 Aerobike Sprint 2 Sue Hayes 0 1410161656 Purple Peril 3 Sherri Donaldson Kestrel 0 18 0 18 18 54 4 Jill Jones QE3:The Return 22 0 14 0 0 36 5 Lorna Wray Moulton APB 0 16 12 0 0 28 6 Anna Jenkins Kingcycle 0 0 22 0 0 22 7 Susan Laughton Tchaikovski 18 0 0 0 0 18 8 Anne Coulson Kingcycle 0 0 16 0 0 16 9 Judith Hembrow Flevo Oke-Ja 0 0 0 14 0 14

25 Unfaired

Name Vehicle(s) Total Hayes Position Eastway Manchester Milton Keynes Castle Combe 1 Dave Richards Kestrel 22 22 22 22 22 110 2 Pete Cox Lune II 14 2 12 16 18 62 3 Tim Elsdale Prone 18 16 2 14 2 52 4 Bob Knight Windcheetah 16 12 14 8 0 50 5 Iain James Project X 8 14 18 0 0 40 K2 6 Rob English Wasp 0180182 38 UCI Bike 7 Tim Costen Hurricane 0 10 0 12 12 34 8 John Lafford Arrow 99 0 0 0 10 14 24 9 Mike Burrows Ratcatcher 9 0 5 0 0 16 21 10 Ian W illett Ironing Board 4 2 8 4 0 18 11 Derrick Tweddle Velodynamics 0 0 16 0 0 16 11 Neil Jones Low Black Bike 10 0 6 0 0 16 13 David Hembrow Ross 0 0 10 2 0 12 13 Fiona Grove Velodynamics 0 2 4 2 4 12 13 Mike W eaver Mikew 2 12 0 0 0 0 12 13 Vaughn Read Orbit Crystal 0 2 0 0 10 12 17 Dave Larrington Kingcycle 0 0 0 5 6 11 18 Robin Hayes Mean’n’Green 2 2 2 2 2 10 19 Don Rankin The Banana Bike 0 0 2 6 0 8 19 Richard Everett Windcheetah 0 8 0 0 0 8 19 Robin Mather Unfaired Bike 0 0 0 0 8 8 UCI Bike 19 Sam Knight 22220 8 Ordinary Aerobike Sprint 19 Sue Hayes 02222 8 Purple Peril 24 Dave Redknap Quadras 0 2 0 0 5 7 24 Jeff Clements Yellow Peril 0 0 5 0 2 7 24 Jill Jones QE3:The Return 5 0 2 0 0 7 27 Alan Newark Windcheetah 0 6 0 0 0 6 27 Dennis Turner Aerobike Sprint 0 2 2 2 0 6 27 Marcus Hunt Hurricane 6 0 0 0 0 6 27 Sherri Donaldson Kestrel 0 2 0 2 2 6 31 Geoff Bird Velodynamics 0 4 0 0 0 4 31 Lorna Wray Moulton APB 0 2 2 0 0 4

26 Unfaired cont.

Name Vehicle(s) Total Hayes Position Eastway Manchester Milton Keynes Castle Combe 33 Stuart Slade Kingcycle 0 0 2 0 1 3 34 Alan Lawrence Pashley PDQ 0 0 2 0 0 2 34 Anne Coulson Kingcycle 0 0 2 0 0 2 34 Bob Johnson High Bike 0 0 2 0 0 2 34 Brian Dalton Trice 0 2 0 0 0 2 34 Jon Coulson Windcheetah 0 0 2 0 0 2 34 Jonathan W oolrich Varna Arm 0 0 0 2 0 2 34Judith Hembrow Flevo Oke-Ja 00020 2 34 Matt Norman Prone 0 0 2 0 0 2 34 Nigel Sleigh Wobbly Goblin 2 0 0 0 0 2 34 Rob Hague Greenspeed GTS 0 0 0 0 2 2 34 Susan Laughton Tchaikovski 2 0 0 0 0 2 34 Terry Clark Pashley PDQ 0 0 0 2 0 2 46 Harry Fullagar Trike 0 0 0 0 1 1 46 Mark Hunter UMIST I 1 0 0 0 0 1

Multi-Track

Name Vehicle(s) Total Hayes Position Eastway Manchester Milton Keynes Castle Combe 1 Bob Knight Windcheetah 22 22 22 22 0 88 2 Rob Hague Greenspeed GTS 0 0 0 0 22 22 3 Nigel Sleigh Wobbly Goblin 18 0 0 0 0 18 3 Jon Coulson Windcheetah 0 0 18 0 0 18 3 Jonathan W oolrich Varna Arm 0 0 0 18 0 18 3 Richard Everett Windcheetah 0 18 0 0 0 18 7 Alan Newark Windcheetah 0 16 0 0 0 16 8 Brian Dalton Trice 0 14 0 0 0 14 9 Harry Fullagar Trike 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 Mark Hunter UMIST I 1 0 0 0 0 1

27 Arm-Powered

Name Vehicle(s) Total Hayes Position Eastway Manchester Milton Keynes Castle Combe 1 Jonathan Woolrich Varna Arm 00022022 Faired

Name Vehicle(s) Total Hayes Position Eastway Manchester Milton Keynes Castle Combe 1 Ian Chattington Gromit’s Sidecar 18 18 22 16 22 96 2 gNick Green A Wooden Fish On Wheels 22 12 12 14 18 78 3Steve Slade Wasp II 0 1618181668 4 Paul Davies Faired Bike 16 0 16 10 14 56 5 Tim Hayes Ross Low 12 10 14 8 8 52 6 Rob English W asp 0 22 0 22 0 44 7 Steve Donaldson W asp II 0 14 0 12 14 40 8 Paul London Falcon 6 8 10 0 0 24 9 Dennis Adcock Pig 0 6 5 6 0 17 3 Seasons 10 Clive Sleath 10 0 0 0 6 16 Screech 11 Nigel Leaper Trilow Faired 14 0 0 0 0 14 12 Phil Wray Kingcycle 0 5 8 0 0 13 13 Chris Cox Faired W indcheetah 1 0 0 0 10 11 14 Andrew Alexander Tour Easy 0 4 0 4 0 8 14 Nigel Sleigh Leaper NotSo 8 0 0 0 0 8 16 Anna Jenkins Kingcycle 0 0 6 0 0 6 17 Phil Skoyles Mean'n'Yellow'n'W hite? 0 0 0 5 0 5 18 Team Holy Cheat Holy Cheat Alleweder 0 0 4 0 0 4 We already covered the Dempsey-MacCready Prize a bit, but here’s some more details from IHPVA co-founder Chet Kyle... Announcing the $25,000 Dempsey - MacCready Hour Record Prize by Chester R. Kyle, co-founder HPVA A new $25,000 cash prize will be awarded to the first single rider human powered land vehicle to equal or surpass 90 kilometres in one hour (55.924 mph). Sponsored by the Dempsey World Record Associates of Santa Ana, the prize will be administered through the Human Powered Vehicle Association under regulations created by the HPVA.

28 Ed Dempsey, a successful businessman, winning race car driver and inventor, has provided over $30,000 in prizes to be awarded during a five year period. The prize is the outcome of conversations between Dempsey and his friend Dr. Paul MacCready, winner of the first Kremer Prizes for human powered flight. Dempsey, like MacCready, is fascinated by technology innovation, and likes to support events which push the envelope. He currently has designed and built a streamlined battery powered electric racer which has gone 237 mph at Bonneville. Dempsey hopes to break 300 mph this summer.

Supplemental awards of $2,000 are being offered to any competitor who breaks an official hour record by 3%, during the period of the Prize. In addition, $500 will be given to the winner of the yearly hour race at the annual Human Powered Speed Championships. The complete regulations are included as an insert in this issue of the HPV News. HPVA members from any country may compete for the prize, and the challenge may take place in any country.

The details of the prize, including the regulations, were developed by HPVA members Chester Kyle, Allan Abbott, Bill Gaines, Paul MacCready and Doug Milliken, with significant contributions by president Chris Broome and past president Carol Leone.

The traditional Cycling World Hour Record is the most famous in cycling, with records being kept as far back as 1876 when Frank Dodds of England pedalled 25.506 km (15.8 mph) on a high wheeler. In the past some of the best professional racing cyclists in the World have held the hour record including Marcel Berthet, Oscar Egg, Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, and Miguel Indurain. The current hour record for traditional cycling is 56.137 km (34.882 mph), set by English professional Chris Boardman in 1996 on a conventional aero track racing bicycle. However, streamlined HPV’s are more than 20 kph faster than Boardman, and they are usually powered by amateur racing cyclists. Using the sleek streamlined HPV Hour contender Lars Teutenberg & the White Hawk. First time “Varna”, designed and built by I’ve ever seen the chassis... Photo supplied by Chet Kyle George Georgiev of Canada, Canadian amateur Sam Whittingham holds the current unlimited HPV record of 79.136 kph (49.173 mph), set in 1998. See the tables below comparing standard and unlimited hour records.

A computer model of the HPV hour race, indicates it will probably take a combination of a national calibre racing cyclist, riding a World class HPV such as the Varna, along with an excellent course and ideal conditions to claim the Dempsey - MacCready prize. It will be difficult, but it can be done. The required human power is formidable. Only top competitive cyclists can manage the more than 400 watts necessary to cover 90 km in one hour (0.54 horsepower).

Briefly, the simple prize rules require a single rider HPV on a circuit course closed to automobile traffic. The HPV can be no larger than 1.5 meters high, 1 meter wide and 3.1 meters long. The size limits are to minimise the effect of wind on propulsion. Any number of wheels are legal. There are no elevation, wind or grade restrictions.

29 TABLE 2 UCI- CYCLING W ORLD HOUR RECORDS FROM 1876 TO PRESENT TABLE 1 UNLIMITED- CYCLING W ORLD HOUR RECORDS, FROM 1933 TO PRESENT Date M/D/Y Rider/Designer BikeDate M/D/Y Country Name Location km Distance Bike Country Location km Distance 07/07/1933 Francois11/18/1933 Faure/Charles Mochet Marcel03/03/1939 Mochet Berthet/MarcelFaure/Charles Francois Berthet06/05/1979 Kyle Bike Skarin/Chester Velocar/OpenRec. Ron Streaml. Velocar, Recumbent04/05/1980 Velodyne, Eric09/29/1984 Edwards/Al Streamlined Voight France Bike FredMarkham/Gardner 10/09/1985Martin Bike Richard FranceStreamlined 08/28/1986 Titan, Crane/Derek USA Teledyne Henden Paris France Fred Markham/Gardner07/15/1989 Martin Gold Rush, Streaml. Fred10/09/1985 Markham/Gardner Paris Rec.Bike Martin CA Pat Ontario, Eric,Kinch/Miles07/27/1996 Paris Vector, Streaml. KingsburyStreamlined USARec. Bike Rec. Gold TrikeRush, Lars 07/29/1998 Teutenberg/GuidoStreaml. Rec. Martens Bike Georgiev Sam Whittingham/George BikeStreaml. Recumbent Gold Varna, Rush, Streaml. Canada USA Rec. Bike USA Tomahawk Indianapolis II, Streaml. USA BlainvilleRec. Bike The Bean, Streaml. England Rec.Bike Germany Ontario, CA Vancouver03/25/1876 BC Leicestershire Munich England F.L. -/-/1888 Adrian, Dodds MI 50.537 51.306 05/11/1893 Bedfordshire ?Laurie Henri Desgranges10/31/1894 45.055 Jules07/30/1897 Dubois 49.992 M. den 09/07/1898van Eynde W.W.08/24/1905 60.35 Hamilton Lucien 79.136 06/20/1907 Petit 67.013 Breton 59.449 66.305 Marcel08/22/1912 Berthet Oscar07/08/1913 Egg ClassicTrack Ordinary 78.037 Marcel08/21/1913 75.575 Berthet Oscar09/20/1913 73 Egg Classic Track Marcel06/18/1914 Berthet ClassicTrack Classic Oscar08/29/1933 Egg Track Classic Classic Track Track Maurice Richard ClassicTrack France ClassicTrack Classic Track England Belgium Paris-Buffalo France ClassicTrack Classic Track England Cambridge France Paris-Municipale USA Classic Track Paris Buffalo Classic - Track Paris-Buffalo France Denver-Colorado France Paris-Buffalo Switzerland Paris-Buffalo 35.325 France Paris-Buffalo Switzerland 39.24 Paris-Buffalo France 25.508 Paris-Buffalo Switzerland 40.781** 38.22 Paris-Buffalo Saint-Trond 41.11 41.52 33.913 42.36 42.742 43.525 43.725 44.247 44.777

30 TABLE 2 UCI- CYCLING W ORLD HOUR RECORDS FROM 1876 TO PRESENT Date M/D/Y Name Bike Country Location km Distance 10/31/1935 Giuseppe10/14/1936 Olmo Maurice09/29/1937 Richard Franz03/11/1937 Slaats Maurice07/11/1942 Archambaud Fausto06/29/1955 Coppi Jacques09/19/1956 Anquetil Ercole Baldini09/18/1957 Roger Riviére09/23/1958 Classic Track Roger Riviére09/27/1962 Classic Track Classic Track Jacques10/30/1967 Anquetil Ferdinand10/10/1968 Bracke ClassicTrack Ole Ritter10/25/1972 Eddy Classic01/19/1984 Merckx ClassicTrack Track Francesco01/23/1984 Moser Classic Track Francesco09/09/1985 Moser Italy Hans-Henrik Classic08/08/1986 Oersted Track France Francesco Classic France Classic08/20/1986Track Moser Track Francesco Moser Classic05/21/1988 Track Holland Milano-Vigorelli Milano-Vigorelli Francesco07/17/1993 Milano-Vigorelli Moser Obree Graham 07/23/1993 France Italy Milano-Vigorelli Aero ChrisFunny04/27/1994 Boardman Bike Classic (AFB) Classic ItalyTrack Track Aero Funny Aero Graham BikeFunny02/09/1994 Obree Bike Milano-Vigorelli Miguel10/22/1994 Indurain France Milano-Vigorelli Aero TonyFunny Rominger05/11/1994 Bike Big Wheel AFB Milano-Vigorelli France France Tony06/09/1996 Rominger Italy Belgium Milano-Vigorelli 45.325 Big Chris Wheel Boardman* Unofficial AFB (ASB) Bike 45.09 Super record. Aero Milano-Vigorelli 45.84 Obree Milano-Vigorelli Anquetil refused tooutdoors. Rome-Olympic submitare ** High others Altitude to all drugVel. testing record, Records, EnglandLevel 45.558 after all the ride. othersIndoor-Sea are*** Denmark Sea Aero Level Mexico Italy Bars,Records. ASB City Belgium Sports Denmark Center. (Indoors) - Hamar 46.159* Balsano Superman DellPos., Grappa ASB Italy Mexico Mexico City Aero City Italy Bars, Olympic.Vel. 45.848Olympic 46.393 ASB Vel. 50.808** Mexico Aero CityBars, Sports Std. Center Bike, Disk W h. Aero 46.923Bars, 48.093 Italy Std. Bike, Superman Disk Milano-Vigorelli Pos., W 47.493 Switzerland h. Milano-Vigorelli ASB 49.431** 51.596*** 48.653** 47.346 Bordeaux 51.151** - (Indoors) Switzerland England England 48.144 Bordeaux - (Indoors) Stuttgart - (Indoors) Bordeaux - (Indoors) Bordeaux(Indoors)- Spain England 53.832*** 55.291*** Bordeaux Manchester - (Indoors)(Indoors) - 49.801 48.543 50.644*** 52.719*** 52.270*** 56.375*** 53.040***

31 The Dempsey - MacCready prize was created to inspire innovation in human powered vehicles and to promote ultra light, low energy consumption, high speed human powered transportation. The prize will present a dramatic challenge to dozens of teams throughout the World involving literally hundreds of people. From experience with previous HPVA challenge prizes, the attempts will come from a wide variety of competitors from engineers, scientists and students, to artisans and garage shop inventors. Technology from our past competitions has found its way into low energy vehicles, from automobiles to aircraft and the experience has helped participants develop the confidence and skills necessary to solve complex problems in many other fields.

The HPVA has offered three challenge prizes during the past 20 years, the $3,000 Abbott Prize, the $15,000 Dupont Speed Prize and the $25,000 Dupont Water Prize.. In 1977, Dr. Allan Abbott created his prize for the first human powered vehicle that could break the national speed limit of 55 mph. It was won in 1979 at 55.85 mph by engineering students from the Northrup Institute with a vehicle called the White Lightning. Two of the students are still involved in cycling. Tim Brummer manufactures a bicycle recumbent called the Lightning, and Don Guichard is in charge of advanced engineering design for GT Bicycles.

In 1983, the Dupont company donated the funds for a prize for the first HPV that could break 65 mph for 200 meters with a flying start. The prize lasted for three years before it was claimed. More than a dozen pedal powered vehicles made attempts at the prize during that time, and many more than that were built. The prize was won in 1986 by Gardner Martin’s Gold Rush at a speed of 65.54 mph. Gardner Martin now manufactures Easy Racer Recumbents in Watsonville, California.

In 1989, the Dupont water prize was organised, offering $25,000 to the first human powered water craft that could go 20 knots for 100 meters. After a time period of three years, in 1992, the prize was given to the fastest craft, a human powered hydrofoil built by Mark Drela of MIT. It was powered by a pusher air propeller and achieved a speed of 18.50 knots (34.3 kph, 21.3 mph). Mark Drela is a Professor of Engineering at MIT and has organised an institute for the study of cycling. Of Ferry Trips, Beer, Pain Chocolat And Bottles Of Vin Or The French Open Championships 13th and 14th May 2000

Last time the French held their championships in Roubaix, in April 1994, a good number of the British Club made the trip across the Channel to join in the fun. Maybe it was just the enticement offered by Caroline Saint-Venant when racing in Farum, DK the summer before – perhaps it was the chance to race on the famous Roubaix velodrome. The French raced again in Roubaix on May 13th and Team Donaldson decided to cross the Channel and take part – seemed like a good idea in preparation for the Worlds in Belgium (beer, chocolate).

Nice, easy, travel with the ferry from Newcastle overnight to Amsterdam and then an easy drive down through Belgium to Roubaix adds up to less miles than the drive from Aberdeen to race in London. Book early on Scandewegian Seaways = 20% discount (Seapex), CTC members discount = further 20% off that – however evening meal expensive, breakfast better value. Beer in the ship’s bar no longer duty free = ferociously expensive.

32 Join the Dutch traffic and admire the price of diesel at £15-ish less per tank than at home! Driving standards drop as the numbers of Belgian and German cars increase. Decide to get lost in The Hague en-route for things touristic in Delft.

‘Blue is the Colour – Da-doo-dee-doo-da’ seemed appropriate but Euro-pop version of ‘Day- ay-ess-say-oh – DISCO’ played on the radio as we parked up. Dilemma!! French money in wallet, no Dutch change for the parking meter (nicely sorted into film canisters ready to be packed . . . next time). Nice German in the car beside us gives us her ticket with time still to run so that we can wander about.

Pretty market, canals and a big Nieuwe Kerk with most of the Dutch Royal Family hidden underneath it. Usual story that everything will be nice when it is finished! The marble mausoleum for which the church is internationally famous, was in bits getting fixed. Sprint up the tower for the view (good) and attempt to sprint down to get back to the van before the parking runs out. Sherri’s knowledge of Dutch improves with contact of forehead on stone after reading ‘sticking out bit, please duck’ or its near equivalent whilst negotiating the narrow spiral staircase built for short Dutch midgets.

Got up-to-date map now! Hope for fewer detours. Aim for Antwerp and drive up street blocked by roadworks (now learnt Dutch for ‘no through road’). Aim for Antwerp again.

Good weather breaks as we cross into Belgium. Dress sense unfortunately deteriorates – cars get bigger – people get smaller. Having read ‘Tall Man in a Low Land’ by Harry Pearson lots rings true (recommended reading for those going to Ghent, written by a beer drinking cycle fan – sounds familiar?). Our arrival in Antwerp coincides with heavy rain and lots of Police cars attempting to negotiate the same one-way system that is not shown on our maps to attend a shooting at the other end of the street from our hotel. Advised by the hotel receptionist to avoid the Italian quarter and not get caught up in the ballyhoo. Mosquitoes!

Middle of Antwerp Square full of singing football fans cheering their local team (who sensibly are ensconced in the Town Hall). Each team member gets his own chant or song with some more favoured than others. Drunken Flemish chanting is not radically different from drunken chants anywhere else. Still owe the guy in the Tourist Board – 20Bef – since we have no Belgian money either (same story as the Dutch money . . .).

Following morning we do the tourist bit in Antwerp leaving the van in the hotel car park (no need for change for the parking meter). The Diamond Museum next door to our hotel also gets a visit (hey, it was free and we come from Aberdeen), worth every penny! The wee man to whom we attached ourselves part way around apologises for his presentation by saying it was his first time round in English – he tripped up on just three words, English was his third language.

South to Lille – yet another country and still only one stamp in Sherri’s passport. The Eurostar Station at Lille is worth driving past – probably easier to take the train. More rain after a dry day – always makes it easier, not, when trying to navigate city centre traffic in an unfamiliar town. Park up and search out beer and food. Old Lille is as pretty as the outskirts aren’t – dress sense has improved immeasurably since crossing the border into France.

We have few details regarding the Coupe de France VPH other than accommodation being in part of Lille University student halls. Seek out the offices of the Student Union which had 33 shut just 30 minutes earlier. Park the van at the door and seek out a telephone. Seek out a tobacconist to buy a phone card. Get no ring tone on any of the organisaters’ mobile numbers given on the scanty race info in our hands – do get through to Rodolphe’s mum who lives in the south of France and leave a message in broken French that we are headed to Roubaix and a hotel and will be at the Velodrome in the morning in time for the racing.

Roubaix is not really an attractive town, and with the new station for the Lille Metro (where the incredibly large hole was last time we raced) everyone appears to have left town. Get Rodolphe on the phone and explain (in English and French) that we will be at the Velodrome and not to expect us at the Halls of Residence. Enjoy a candle lit dinner at a family run hotel – Sherri’s lack of languages other than English sees her dinner being taken away at the halfway mark – much to her distress and Steve’s bemusement. (A useful phrench phrase – “Don’t touch my plate I am NOT finished” is the first item extracted from the phrase book . . . when we got home.)

The Roubaix Velodrome is better signposted than Steve remembers from before – maybe just that we know where we are going and can therefore see the signs. All the arrows on the road from the Paris-Roubaix weeks before. Damp and grey day but the organisers seem happy that it will all dry off.

The Championnats de France de VPH is being run in conjunction with a design and build competition for engineering students – their challenge being to run the Kilo fastest. KIDAM – Trophée Universitaire de Kilomètre Départ Arrêté Musculaire. Some interesting machinery including a prone – all seven colleges would have benefited from more R&D – sell some copies of ‘So You Want to Build’. Sherri takes a photo of the winners podium (sans Johan Museeuw) chucked under the stairs.

Breakfast appears, so does the sun! Timing is by transponder so we all get fleeced for a deposit before the black box is cable tied to the bike and the bike checked across the timing wires. The opportunity to try out the track ensures that ‘The Cathedral’ (as we have named a fully faired machine covered in coloured mylar film) is almost certain to run unfaired. To your toolkit add one large hairdryer and a household iron.

Lunch! Sherri is moved to take a photo of the buffet that is laid out on tables that have just appeared. Now getting very hot but the race organisers have provided lots of juice and bottled water so no dehydration problem (for some). Should have brought a hat!

Heats for the devil then the ‘Devil-takes-the-Hindmost’. Steve takes second to Phillipe Dussart riding a Baron Lowracer tucked into a full fairing. Phillipe needs a lower bottom gear to get started as the ratio of false starts and ‘doing a Woolrich’es is quite high. Belgian #1 Frederik van de Walle places third riding unfaired. Sherri slots in an 11th.

The college teams get ready in earnest for the Standing Start Kilometre. The rest of us continue to make a dent in the buffet. The best college places 5th (Florian from Ecole Centrale Paris), Sherri beats the oldest man, René, with a time of 1’38”911, Steve suffers from the Wasp’s weight for 3rd at 1’13”708, Phillipe in the Baron 2nd with 1’11”775 and Frederik unfaired 1st with 1’07”142.

34 Just as the temperature rises to the upper twenties (°C) the Hour Race starts. Tactics like Andy Pegg used to use sees Steve put in a quick lap on Phillipe Dussart. The fairings lap the rest of the field steadily but Sherri packs after 38 laps suffering from the heat. At 45 minutes Steve pulls away from a slowing Phillipe with his eyes set on 100 laps before the bell, finishing with a lead of over 2km.

Belgian Dries (unfaired and with a less scary hairstyle than when in Köln two years ago) takes third 6km down on Phillipe. Dutch Dries has arrived but his bike is en-route from a trade show to race tomorrow.

We find our way to the EC Lille campus at Villeneuve d’Ascq – we were only about 12 miles in the wrong place on Friday night! Quick shower before the get together meal in downtown Lille in the Museum. Not sure that the food is ideal cycling diet but Sherri’s continued cultural education in things French is challenged by the unisex toilets (with urinal). The restaurant and office building face the ‘Belle Epoque’ confection that is the Museum – as one of the Belgian racers point out, at least we are inside looking across at something interesting. No risk of the narrow 4 storey glass box we are in competing with the surroundings.

Sunday – Breakfast again then a 2 mile circuit around closed roads on the Villeneuve d’Ascq campus. Hotter than yesterday at 28°C but at least there are trees to hide underneath. The anti-parking kerbs and bollards will be unfriendly if hit and only one-corner is smooth and clean enough for a full power turn. The Dutch bemoan the ‘French way’ as the crit is run as two races with a half-hour rest in the middle.

Tim Beisemans from Belgium has turned up but been restyled Biermans (!) on the start sheet – he manages to stay on for a clear win. Steve on the Wasp takes second and Belgian Dries third. Frederik and Dutch Dries both sport large dressings after coming off – Frederik unshipped his chain whilst leading, tucking it under the back tyre on one of the faster corners, Dries just lay down after hitting a pothole.

The French Triplet completes the course and we discover the real reason the boys built it – Switzerland last year was so ‘ferociously’ expensive they reasoned that they could all join in the fun for just one entry fee between the three of them.

Lunch! Not quite as impressive a spread but still more than enough. The 200m course is not going to break records. The traps are set up on another part of the campus ring road with the problem being one of remembering round which corner they are hiding! The traps are clearly signed but the run up is not.

Phillipe takes fastest with 11.11 secs, Steve 2nd at 12.22 – frighteningly the Triplet takes 4th equal with 13.09. Do a quick pack up before the prize giving.

For the hour, Steve collects the Georges Mochet Trophy, Sherri collects the overall Ladies prize. Phillipe Dussart collects the overall prize having tied on points with Steve but having two outright wins instead of just one. Winning your French wine is a better option than having to buy it!

The Engineering students of EC Lille made a great job of organising a very welcoming competition - shame there weren’t more competitors. It did remind us that the standard of compe-

35 tition is high in Belgium and Holland too - cannot wait for the Worlds in Ghent. Things we enjoyed were the food, the organisers having their names on the T-shirts they wore, the food, the friendly atmosphere.

The Belgian Club were busy drumming support for the Worlds in Ghent and the French were busy getting folk interested in another set of races being run later in the year – 4th Championnat de France.. The French do is an all expenses paid bash (accommodation, entry, food) being run by the same organisation as runs the Tour - all you have to do is enter and get yourself there for a stage race (23 – 24 September 2000).

The Belgians have linked a race at Zolder, the World Indoor Championships and the Worlds in Ghent to make a week of it. Interestingly they are scoring the Worlds overall so although there will be winners in each race and each category the title ‘World Champion’ and the medals will only go to the best overall in each class. Both the Dutch and the Belgians are moving to longer races – in their eyes short sprint races do not allow the tactics of racing that they like – longer races allow groups to form up to work with each other and race against each other.

Hopefully the French KIDAM challenge will run again next year with an element of learning carried forward from the college teams’ experience this year. Most of the various college teams will be dispersed to jobs or further study so it will be a new crowd joining the French Club – their committee must have one of the youngest average ages out there. Keep an eye on the European calendar and join in next year.

After the goodbyes it is back in the van and north through Belgium. A feature, peculiar to the Belgian motorway system, are mannequins on boxes, dressed as workmen or policemen, waving at the cars to slow them down. Very effective until it is spotted by Team Donaldson that they are in fact female dummies with beards painted on – Belgian tastes are definitely different.

Back into Holland with the intention of doing the tourist bit again. A ‘wee domestic’ is narrowly averted with Steve having suggested that the direction we need will take us towards Bergen op Zoom before veering Westwards to Middelburg and Sherri navigating to Bergen op Zoom without calling the turn-off (as well as a lack of languages, navigation skills are not her forte). However, all is not lost as we observe yet another continental cultural difference . . . Sunday is Mother’s Day so what do all the good Dutch fathers and children do but take mum to the motorway services restaurant for evening meal with roses and piano music. We opt for the unhealthy petrol station fast food of chips, sausages etc for a much healthier price before turning around and driving back towards the dykes and flat-lands leading to Middelburg.

An information point! This prints out a personalised map of Middelburg that only shows the hotels that have paid for advertising. The tourist office is shut and there is no easy way to find accommodation and a way around the one way system – we roll on to Vlissingen. Being a ferry port we expect a little more in the way of cheap accommodation. At least we can find the tourist office – also shut but they have various phone numbers in the window.

Sherri calls the best sounding option from the kebab shop across the little square – there being no obvious public call box – and we having limited Dutch change. The hotel IS the group of buildings Sherri had commented upon as we looked for the Information Office - late-

36 Victorian age with the exterior painted in bright stripes. There are four houses in a row originally built to accommodate the Belgian pilots who helped ships navigate the estuary. The first contains the office and some bedrooms. The next two - more bedrooms. The last - the bar and café, where we are to collect our key, and the remainder of the rooms. Much more interesting than the Euro-motels we used in Antwerp and Roubaix.

Monday we go back to Middelburg - home of Bram Moens (the anagram?) [he now comes out as “Ram Omens” # - Ed.] and M5. We are busy looking at the pretty architecture and streets. We are also very early for most of the shops and shopkeepers, having just remembered we should have sent postcards. Back on the road we head north over the dykes and barriers towards Rotterdam with the intention of a wander around Gouda and lunch before heading for the ferry.

Gouda is also worth a visit and the local tourist office has lots of suggested tours by bike, by canoe, by foot as well as all the different maps and booklets that Belgium seemed not to have. Always the case that you see the information afterwards that would have been helpful beforehand. Despite the traffic we get back to the ferry port in fine time. We remember we had promised to wave to Dries Baron as we sail out of Ijmuiden - the Optima factory is just across the water.

Another flat calm crossing – the lady at the desk is most insistent that Sherri will not need anything against sea-sickness. Back in the UK and off the boat to join the maze of roundabouts, our short trip has fired us both with enthusiasm for the World Championships in Ghent – Belgian beer, chocolate and chips with mayonnaise – not long now!

P.S. Apologies all round for the lack of pictures with this article - this was due to Clan Donaldson being struck down with the dread Lurgi on the last possible day they could have sent them # Here instead is a picture from last year’s Ox- fordshire Social Tour, and yes, the building is a pub!

BHPC Logo Competition

Only one entry so far - yer Aunti Sherri is greviously disappointed, and if we don’t get any more, she’ll make you all stay behind after school! Entries to Clan Donaldson B H P C (address on page 2) by September 1st please - results to be announced at the AGM. Winner gets a year’s free subscription, BHPC immortality and the design carved in a big lump of Lard...

37 This Just In... (Or Mis-Filed...)

Goodie Goodie Yum Yum!

Paul London says: “The picture is of the Goodies opening up our new cycle path - well it was 2 old comedians and our local MP anyway!!

Yes, I Know It’s Got An Engine

Nigel Brown supplied the picture, and writes: “Hi, in issue 59 of the news letter there was a couple of photos of a motorcycle built by Geoff Bird... It’s taken me this long to locate the magazine, but here’s part of a page you may find interesting. It’s called a Quasar and is powered by an 850cc Re- liant engine, good for just over 100mph according to this 1977 test of the prototype.

By the way, I’ve spent another couple of hours on my piece of plastic to get to the point where I was prepared to take to the road. It took me another couple of hours to pluck up enough courage to actually take a test ride, (I haven’t been on the old K.C. since Edinburgh!!! and only a hand- ful of rides on any bike in the same period) and can report that I survived, out of breath. I can’t comment on perform- ance, because of the lack of mine and the fact that I’ve for- gotten what it’s like riding with the standard plastic in place. There seemed to be less wind noise from what I remember, but maybe I was just going slow!”

38 Good News For Kingcycle Sufferers

Those who mourn the fact that the Kingcycle became extinct before they had the chance to equip their specimen with front fairing or tailbox need mourn no longer. Thanks to a Bob Tennant / Paul Davies joint venture, new moulds have been created and the natty plastic blobs are available once more. They may even be lighter than the originals. For details of price, availability, etc, please contact Bob Tennant, MicWic Ltd, 12 Oaklands Industrial Estate, Braydon, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 0AN, tel: 01793 852484, e-mail: [email protected]

Insane Man Posse

Thanks to Geoff Bird for the clip- ping - Geoff writes: “ Thought you might be interested in this article from the Mail. Overall tone seems encouragingly positive but I think Mr Hentley’s grasp of the laws of physics is a bit suspect!”

Good News For Magura Sufferers

I was in Halfords the other day (no, buying a new gear cable, actually ") when I came across Magura-type brake blocks, only made by Fibrax. This, as anyone who had tried to source a set of these stoppers the day before going on holiday, will no doubt come as a great relief. Don’t tell me you knew all about it anyway… Even better news is that they were “only” seven quid a pair, whereas the going rate for the genuine article seems to be about £20 for four. How well they work I cannot say, as they’re still sitting in the packet - I bought some Magura ones about two weeks ago # Part number is ASH650.

39 Suppliers & Wants

Advertising rates for the body of this magazine: Full page: £30.00 Half page: £15.00

Approximately 350 copies of each issue are printed. Entries in the “Suppliers and Wants” section are free to BHPC members, and should not cause an increase in the length of Pinnochio’s hooter (were he to recite them word for word). We’ll gladly do you as super-duper an advert as we can, bearing in mind that the magazine is assembled with a stout stick while under the influence of alcohol; please take out an advert at the above rates and send the money to the Treasurer. If your address, phone number, prices or products change, please tell me...

1999 HPV CD-ROM

Crammed full of all manner of Good Things pertaining to the Human-Powered Vehicle in all its many forms. I’d tell you more if I could remember where I put it… Available for only £10 from: Richard Loke, 61 Mulberry Close, Cambridge, CB4 2AS Phone: 01954 261557 e-mail: [email protected]

John Lafford, Arrow Bicycle Company, ‘Leonidas’, Manor Lane, Baydon, Marlborough, Wilts, SN8 2JD Phone/Fax: 01672 540384 e-mail: [email protected]

Custom CAD design and manufacture of all types of bicycles and tricycles, including recumbents, time trial, fast tourer, and power assisted vehicles. Cromoly tubing in round, aero and oval sections. Net-type seat fabric to suit tubular seat frames. Narrow bottom bracket assemblies. Composite wheels in 650c and 20” sizes, with narrow hubs. Tyre rolling resistance testing. Aerodynamic drag testing.

Avon Valley Cyclery, Bath Spa Railway Station, Bath, BA1 1SX Phone: 01225 461880/442442 Fax: 01225 446267 e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.bikeshop.uk.com http://www/foldingbikes.co.uk

AVC-designed Road, Mountain and Bath bikes. The UK’s 1st TCR Road Bike Centre and the UK’s top Folding Bike Specialist. Family bikes, mountain bikes, comprehensive hire fleet and full workshop facilities. [Plus their web site even mentions the word “recumbent” - Ed]

BikeFix, 48 Lambs Conduit Street, London WC1N 3LJ Phone: 0171 405 4639 Fax: 0171 242 6931 e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.bikefix.co.uk/bikefix.html

Recumbent-friendly shop in central London. HP Velotechnik Street Machine & Wavey, BikeE, Pashley PDQ, Flevo Oke-Ja, Trice, Leitra, Anthrotech, plus folders / transportables from Brompton, Birdy, Bernds, Airnimal & Moulton APB. Alesa rims in 406, 507, 559 and 622 sizes; Continental, Primo and Vredestein tyres in 305, 406, 451 and all the big sizes. Recumbent luggage, fairings and everything else you can fit on a recumbent. Test rides and social weekends. Get on the mailing list...

40 Paul Davies, 2 Fowlswick Cottages, Allington, Chippenham, Wilts, SN14 6LU (2 miles from Castle Combe) Phone: 01249 782554

Recumbent bike frames: from £350 No. 1, short wheelbase, will fit Mk. 5 shell No. 2, designed to fit Mk. 5 shell Both come as unpainted steel framesets with forks and handlebars, to accept standard bike parts and 406/559 wheels. Both suitable for faired or unfaired use by experienced recumbent riders. Race wins in both classes!

Composite products for HPV’s: Mk. 5 bike shell, in 6 separate mouldings, fits SWB bike from £350 Mk. 4 trike shell, in 5 separate mouldings, fits trike approx. 60 cm track, 100 cm wheelbase from £250 Bike front fairing from £35 Bike rear fairing from £35 Seat from £35 Mudguards (20”, MTB, 700c) from £10 Etc. etc.

Future Cycles, Friends Yard, London Road, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5EE Phone: 01342 822847 Fax: 01342 826726 e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.there.is/futurecycles

Trice from: £1650 Flevo Oke-Ja: £450 Windcheetah: £2795 Vision VR40 long and short wheelbase. SWB from: £995 Front suspension add: £175 Rear suspension add: £245 Pashley PDQ from: £850 Spirit LWB. Frame by Chas. Roberts! From: £1700 Speed Ross: £875 Fateba Long Bike – Swiss LWB. Available with S&S couplings Other Vision models, including tandems, available to order. Plus used machines – please get in touch for details.

We also handle European subscriptions for “Recumbent Cyclist News” (RCN). RCN is 100% dedicated to promoting recumbent bicycles and providing and encouraging communications between HPV enthusiasts, home-builders, dealers and commercial recumbent manufacturers. Annual subscription £25.95 (six issues).

Greenspeed, 69 Mountain Gate Drive, Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156, Australia. Phone: +61 3 9758 5541 Fax: +61 3 9752 4115 e-mail: info@ greenspeed.com.au WWW: http://www.greenspeed.com.au

Greenspeed trikes are designed for touring, commuting, racing, or just having fun. They have been well tested on Outback Australia Tours, are world renowned for their handling qualities, and have been successful in HPV racing.

41 GB 16/20 Commuter Bike, SWB, 7-speed A$2,100 GBR 20/26 Touring Bike, SWB, 21-speed, Cro Mo 4130 tubing A$3,700 GT 16/20 Child’s Trike, 7-speed, 10 years - 5' (152 cm) A$2,200 GT 20/20 Adult Commuter Trike, 21-speed A$3,400 GTR 20/20 Touring Trike, 63-speed, Cro Mo 4130 frame tubing A$4,400 GTS 20/20 Sports Tourer, 42-speed , Cro-Mo 4130 frame tubing A$5,200 GTT 20/20 Tandem Trike, 63-speed, Cro Mo 4130 frame tubing A$7,400 GTH 20/20 Hand Trike, 42-speed, Reynolds 531 frame tubing A$4,400 Coming soon - the new GTO Touring Trike… Frame kits, plans and parts (e.g. kingpins) available. Write, fax, e-mail, phone or visit for free information package.

Hockerton Housing Project Trading Ltd., The Watershed, Gables Drive, Hockerton, Notts, NG25 OQU Phone: 01636 816902 Fax: 01636 816902 e-mail: [email protected]

Hire/Demos/Sales of Flevo Bike, Ross, Anthrotech, Brox plus any others we obtain in the meantime! Also, Site Tours (on foot) of the infamous Hockerton Housing Project- earth sheltered, zero heating, zero CO2 autonomous housing (as seen on or in every conceivable form of news media in the known Universe!). Full details from Nick Martin at the above address.

Inspired Cycle Engineering Ltd, Unit 9B Spencer Carter Works, Tregoniggie Industrial Estate, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 4SN Phone / Fax: 01326 378848 e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.ice.hpv.co.uk/

ICE manufacture and supply the new much improved range of TRICE recumbent tricycles including the EXPLORER, XL and CLASSIC. X2 and EXPEDITION TANDEM versions of the Trice also now being produced. A comprehensive range of options and accessories is also available direct from ICE.

Kinetics, 15 Rannoch Drive, Bearsden, Glasgow, G61 2JS Phone / Fax: 0141 942 2552 e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://users.aol.com/UKKinetics/

Wavey: nippy SWB, 20" wheels, ASS £600 Suspension Wavey: as above with Ballistic suspension forks £650 StreetMachine: excellent full-suspension SWB, USS fast tourer £1300 Culty: front-drive, rear-steer leaning suspended trike £1500 TrailerBent: mounts behind almost any bike. Sachs Super 7 version £400

We also import the S&S Torque Couplings which braze into any steel frame to split it in half - now available for 50mm tubing - £200. We’re also specialising in custom framebuilding, especially the unusual, and have stocks of seamless 50mm cromoly for recumbents, etc. As well as this, we’re also agents for ICE Ltd - making the Trice, Ross, Festina, etc., and for Brompton.

Tina Larrington, 166 Higham Hill Road, London E17 6EJ Phone: 020 8531 4496 (eves / weekends) e-mail: [email protected]

Arty stuff - cartoons, business cards, logos, badges, T-shirts, etc., etc., for builders, dealers and end- users of recumbent cycles. Customers include “Recumbent UK”, Animal Bikes, Westcountry Recumbents and the BHPC!

42 Tiptree Designs (incorporating Els Tees), Ian Hague, 24 Cedar Avenue, Tiptree, Colchester, Essex, CO5 0NR Phone: 01621 0815476

“Hand Painted T-shirts to the Nobility and Richard in Blackpool”

Rob Hague, Westcountry Recumbents, 23 Hamber Lea, Bishops Lydeard, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 3NJ Phone: 0870 7401227 (national rate) Fax: 07050 695561 (‘K’ Rate) e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.wrhpv.com/

Greenspeed, ICE Trice, AnthroTech and BikeE. Demo models currently include Greenspeed GTS, GTO and GTT, Trice XL and Explorer, AnthroTech and BikeE. Phone or email to book a test ride appointment or to find out which demo models we have in. Ride Exmoor and the Quantocks! Local B&B available.

Tioga Comp Pool 20x1.75 (47-406) tyres available: £13 + p&p

Small Adz...

Dan Dedman, Bristol Phone: 0117 928 7228 (day) 0117 9522335 (eve)

For sale: BikeE recumbent. 2000 spec AT model, rear suspension, XL frame (suits 5 foot 10 up), rack and fenders. 5 months light use only. Superb commuter/tourer. £675 ovno

Recumbent UK The independent recumbent magazine for commuters, tourists, randonneurs and anyone else who owns or covets a recumbent. Each issue includes news, technical columns, product tests, completely unreasonable opinions, a 3 month guide to events, a UK source guide, sales & wants, a dealer guide and much much more. Recumbent UK The Laurels Trial issue : £2.50 Church Hill 1 Year Subscription (4 issues) : £10.00 Olveston BS12 3BZ +44 (0) 01454 613497 www.btinternet.com/~laidback/recumbentuk [email protected] Sales & Wants/Events listings are freeeeee………….…… send in your name, telephone number, area/country and the details. Next Issue: Issue 7, I think.

43 Does my bum look big on this???

...er, I plead the Fifth...

Reasons To Go Recumbent #42