Battle Mountain WHPSC 2007
Human Powered Vehicle Speed Championships |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Jeff Caswell tries out the
Sled Edge in the Super-8 parking lot. Note the corrugated cardboard Coroplast crash panels
taped to the sides. They conform nicely to 3-D bends, and are
surprisingly tough. (And cheap) |
| Jeff displays his
Super Micro
Bikes . One micro bike belongs to Eric Ware, the other to Jeff. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
The UMR team works on
their speedbike. |
| Team Spencer unloads the
Panther speedbike. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Sam Whittingham and Georgi
Georgiev inspect the Pather innards. Behind Sam are Steve Nash and
LaVerne Spencer. |
| Out on Mule Shoe Road for
qualifying Teresa notes: "Monday,
we had to qualify without the top due to wind. Special thanks to Craig
from UM Rolla who helped everyone and expecially us with launching with
the roller blades." |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
The Panther has a very slick
canopy, blown by Garrie Hill. |
| Steve Spencer warms up on the
Panther. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Team Spencer R->L Teresa,
Steve, and LaVerne. |
| A heavily wrapped Jeffrey
James Caswell
takes pictures of the unique Panther hub steering system. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Dave Gertler gets taped into
the Western Washington Valkyrie for his qualifier run. |
| Steve is ready for his
qualifier run. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Desert Dustcloud. |
| Out at the gravel parking lot
nect to the SR 305 starting line, the beautifully painted (soon to be
scratched up) UMR StreaMiner speedbike awaits it's turn. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Sam warms up on the
rollers. |
| Scott Wilson adjusts the
trainer on Damjan's bike. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
UMR's Jerrod Bouchard warms
up. |
| Georgi Georgiev carries Tom
Nowak's "Orange" Varna clone top back to the catch parking lot, after Tom
finished his run.
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Teresa notes "Monday night was
the first time Steve had the top on the Panther and was taped in. I was
at the finish awaiting when I heard one of the check-ins along the route
report that the Panther chase car had just passed timing but no one knew
where the Panther was." |
| "When the chase car pulled in,
I could see Steve in the back seat. We all found out together that the
Panther's back wheel was rubbing enough for Steve to feel and see the
shavings on his head and arms. He could also smell the tire burning. He
decided at mile 2, to slow down and do a controlled dump."
"Little would we know that the tire rubbing
would be an ongoing problem." |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Steve gives signatures to the
school kids during Tuesday's show and tell. |
| Steve poses with Jay and
the Panther. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Steve is ready to make his
Tuesday run |
| Steve poses with Panther in
the desolation of the desert. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Steve and Teresa with Panther. |
| Craig from UM Rolla shows his
rollerblade launching technique. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Steve warms up. |
| Racers line up for launching.
On the left, Stephen Dey in UC Davis' Bessie III speedbike, on the
right, Tom Amick taping Larry Lem into the Bent Up Beluga while Mark
Anderson supports the 'liner. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Sam Whittingham in the Diablo
3 and Damjan Zabovnik in Eivie 2. |
| Tom Nowak gets sealed into the
Orange Varna. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
As night falls, Steve is
sealed into the Panther. |
| Panther lines up in front of
the UMR 'liner. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Teresa notes: "Tuesday,
more tire rubbing ( after a tire change and new configuration of back
end) but Steve was able to finish the course." |
| Damjan's tiny window and
mirror. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
|
Teresa notes: "Wednesday,
Steve and LaVerne spent all day working on the tire rubbing issue and
were confident they had it solved by the night run. The weather was
perfect, the best day there. Right before the run, Steve hit his head on
the glass door of the truck and the glass window shattered all over. So
we were cleaning up glass until 2 minutes before the run. Luckily, Steve
wasn't hurt and he was ready to go on time. When we finished the course,
Steve said the conditions were so different from the previous days, he
had very little wind, very little tire rub, that he simply misjudged
when to really hit it and simply had his fastest speed after the timing
trap." |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Back on MuleShoe, Raymond Gage
prepares to qualify in the Orion speedtrike. |
| Raymond gets taped in. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
This is a video navigated
vehicle, and the camera is on the small spar at the high point of the
fairing. Very cool wheel covers... |
| Eric Ware had problems with
the primary viewing system of the Sled Edge - a camera system, so later
in the week a periscope system was rigged up and Eric had to re-qualify. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
Eric gets sealed up. |
Teresa notes:
"Thursday proved to be the windiest and most eventful. Steve launched
behind the Blue Jay (16y/o). It was obvious that the wind was effecting
the Blue Jay because within a mile, Steve was right behind their chase
car and had to make a decision to pass. It was so windy, that many times
in the chase car we could see the whole profile of the bike. We were
afraid that if Steve passed the motor home chase car of the Blue Jay, he
would get in a wind trap and get blown off the road. Steve did pass the
motor home and the Blue Jay bike and then sped away. We in the chase car
was stuck behind the motor home and Blue Jay as it limped in to the
finish. At one point, the next bike behind all of us, one of the
university bikes, tried to pass as well. He didn't have as good of luck
and went down and off the road as he passed the Blue Jay. When we got to
the finish and went to the stands to watch the others, there was another
pass, the UM Rolla bike passed the Orange Varna just after the timing
trap. They were actually barely seconds from passing in the timing trap.
It was wild to see.
Friday as you know the weather was crappy and we knew there was no way
they were going to run that night. Steve and I decided to leave. LaVerne
stayed for Saturday's festivities and award ceremony on Saturday night.
Overall, it was quite an experience. If not for the tire rubbing issue
that plagued the Panther throughout the event, who knows what speed
Steve could have seen. Nothing beats the camaraderie and sportsmanship
found at the event. After -run meetings and then dinner was something to
look forward to every night. The town of Battle Mountain has shown some
improvements, but there is no need to improve the welcome. We felt right
at home the entire week. We will definitely be back for another try next
year. Who knows, maybe we will paint the panther pink and I might go for
the women's record one day." |
| Happy racers pose for a group
shot. L->R Eric Ware, Sam
Whittingham, Damjan Zabovnik, Rob Hitchcock (behind Damjan), Jerrod
Bouchard, Dave Gertler, Larry Lem (down low), Tom Amick, Eli Mueller
(Junior), Raymond Gage, Steve Spencer,
Tom Nowak. |
Photo by Teresa Spencer
|
