Casey Fields Training Day

Well, so that now y'all know, our rider is Jeff Nielsen. And that's him over there on the left hurtling around a corner. Jeff spent nearly 2 hours in Whoops at Casey Fields on Sunday. Very little wind, cool conditions & little sun all enabled Jeff to have a really productive time. We practised stops & starts to ensure he is confident at those critical times.
We also practised with a camera & video monitor, but of course the sun chose that time to come out! And thus blow up another camera. Any one out there with experience in small rugged video cameras? We need help here, badly.

Have you heard of Casey Fields? A new 2.2km circuit just out of Cranbourne. Completely new surface, traffic free, long sweeping corners, small undulations. A really great training & racing environment. Check out the Bicycle Victoria press release: http://www.bv.com.au/inform.php?a=7&b=145&c=1310

Finally, check out Jeff in a long shot... Doesn't Whoops look fab in the distance? Once we get the front wheel cover & bubble affixed, she'll look really schmick.

We're expecting to pull the 2 halves of Sled Edge tomorrow. Then we'll get very stuck into building V2.0

Sleep well.

Whoops 2 - Sled Edge is born

Today Ben, Ken & I spent a day working on the 2 halves of fairing #2, which will be used as the bike for our attempt on the hour record. This fairing is a mixture of carbon, Klegecell foam & S glass. Day one saw us lay the first skin & foam ( in 2 separate processes). We hope to add the 2nd layer of cloth (the sandwich layer) tomorrow, and begin the joining process early next week. On the left you can see the back left section of the fairing with the carbon fibre laid in (at a 45 degre angle to make the curves fill easier).
As this is to be a Trisled bike, Ben has chosen to honour it's creator, Matt Weaver, and has chosen the name Sled Edge. There will be a large number of innovations in this bike. Stay tuned for pics & info soon. We are hoping for the first ride in less than 2 weeks. Here's hoping. Bye for now.

A reminder of what I do.... Mostly I sweat a lot.
When I get to 80, and look back on my life, I'm going to realise I spent a disproportioinate amout of time wet: Swimming, sweat from cycling & running, showering because of the former activities. At least I've been moving!

Refinement
Yesterday I fixed up the 2 biggest problems with Whoops.

1. Calf catching the derailleur as I push forwards
2. Knee hitting the handlebar as I recover my leg

You can make these things out on the left... There's not too much spare room in there once the cover's on! So, I made a few changes to the mid drive....

The Mid drive is a step up gear arrangement. As it was, the initial drive was geared, and the final drive was single speed. You see, there are 2 chains in there.

So, now, I modified the mid drive & the wheel.

I shifted the multiple gears down to the wheel, along with the derailleur. The mid drive is only 2 cogs now. So now I have a much straighter hip to ankle line & I can push harder.

I'll give you some numbers. Front chainring is 52 teeth, Mid drive is 15 & 32 teeth. Wheel cogs are 28 through 11. In the biggest gear, 1 turn of the pedals rotates the wheel 52/15 x 32/11 = 10.08 times. So, at a pedal speed of 100 revs per minute (fast but not extreme), we'll be sitting on 1607 m/minute, or 96.5kmh. Push up to 120 rpm, and we'll be riding at 115kmh.

I also cut the handlebars a bit narrower, which should prevent the knee banging. I will eventually install a second brake, but not sure where I'll put the lever!

World Record Attempt
Well, the gods of speed have decided that Whoops is in need of a challenge. SO we have accepted this , and thus, Ben & I are going to have a crack at the elusive Dempsey Macready Prize: Breaking 90km in one hour under only human power!!! The attempt will be made before July 1, as that's when the prize will be awarded.
So, what does this mean to Whoops. Well, it means Whoops will be handed over to a far better rider, yet to be confirmed, as a training bike. Ben will build an all new Whoops. And we will have a most challenging 7 weeks.
Venue is resonably critical, as the rules of the DM require at least on lap to be completed, and the start & finish points need to be within 5km of each other. So, we are on the lookout for a super smooth banked track... Car manufacturers testing tracks seem the most likely. There are 3 of these in Victoria, so these will be assessed soon.
We are in need of some sponsorship, as the new bike will cost a fair bit, plus all the incidentals. Offers? Fabulous!
So news soon about venue & rider & new bike & opportunities, stay tuned.

A Daily Whoops... When we first made a shell for Whoops, we made a few mistakes, and ended up with a shell that was useable but pretty rough. SO we decided to make another one. Which is what you've seen in the posts before. But, in a moment of inspiration, I decided to use the top half of the not so good first shell, cut it into 2, and create a version of Whoops I can get into & launch all by myself. Viola, Daily Whoops.
This will allow me to ride her without any additional help. It will also train me to pedal in a confined space, learn to lean steer, and generally allow me to become more familiar with the riding of such an unusual bike. Test ride will be tonight at the velodrome.

Perhaps I will fit... This is a pic of Sam Whittingham, the current world record holder in the flying 200m (81mph/130kmh) & 1 hour (84.5km) sitting in his bike, the Varna Diablo, before the lid is put on.
Also notice the very low tech seat, and the very narrow back wheel.
So, this pic inspires me to believe I may eventually fit inside Whoops.