Interesting picture - speed and streamlining

stormbird

stormbird

0
Hi all

Someone took this picture at the start of a BHPC Fast Race @ Hillingdon Saturday:-

start-hillingdon-race.png


So stream-liner #1 Beano far left is about 10 years old with a 50+ pilot [ Slasher Slade ] several times World HPV champion and the man to beat in the uk.
Yellow one in centre is Woodstock a successor to Snoopy same moulds however a few Kg shaved off it and brand spanking new , however note pilot needs more room so cross sectional area bigger.
Next up yellow/white is a velomobile , more practical on the streets however not so good on the race track if up against these dedicated machines.
#96 is Yelo Donkey a generation before stream-liner #1 higher and wider , can't give Beano or Woodstock problems , however can give the velomobiles a run for there money.

The rest unfaired are in for a pasteing :D with little they can do about it.

Paul
 
Couple of things to note.
a) guy in orange jacket has just released an almost hidden white streamliner at the back
b) that is Kim in her first outing in it
c) the #1 and Yellow Woodstock in the centre of the picture no longer have there landing gear down so no one has traveled very far
d) guy in blue tee shirt has just released #96

More pictures here Hillingdon 2025 hope you can see them

Paul
 
I watched the little video - How much of a push are the "handlers" allowed to give at the start?
The guy with the beard just gave #96 a gentle shove, but one of the recumbents in the back got a running start, from his helper.
Not that it helped much, seeing he crashed almost immediately :)
 
undertoad said:
I watched the little video - How much of a push are the "handlers" allowed to give at the start?
Click to expand...
What ever it takes for the bike to safely take off , as there is only a single person it is quite hard to impart any speed it is more a case of keeping the bike upright whilst the rider gets it going fast enough. Watching a race last year someone ran up to me and asked if I could launch his daughter in a streamliner , the person who tried in the race before released to soon and she toppled over taking a few others with her. I said I will try my best , the first problem was made harder because she had a Correx body on her bike and so where ever you tried to hold it it deformed away from the applied pressure. The second problem was you needed to run till she shouted release , it may easily have been 10mph before she got it under control :)
undertoad said:
The guy with the beard just gave #96 a gentle shove, but one of the recumbents in the back got a running start, from his helper.
Click to expand...
#96 is a seasoned campaigner and usually self starts with bomb bay doors , the one at the back Notso had a novice [ to streamliners ] lady rider and I think this was her first serious race , there is a big workload to get them going without having the problems of a launch thrown in.
undertoad said:
Not that it helped much, seeing he crashed almost immediately :)
Click to expand...
probably

Paul
 
stormbird said:
The rest unfaired are in for a pasteing :D with little they can do about it.
Click to expand...
They run in different classes, so a 3-wheel trike unfaired will not look at or race against a streamliner.
There are usually enough trike faired, trike unfaired, or two-wheel unfaired, two-wheel part faired in a particular class to make an individual race in that group, but all going round together.
It is worth mentioning that there is a slow race and a fast race, each takes up about half the entrants for that day, Round 1 will be clockwise then round 2 will be anticlockwise. We get the occasional sprint races or all-in marathons too.
Plus, if you are an old duffer like me, you race against yourself. Either previous race on the same day (slightly out of puff on 2nd race) or on the previous year's races.
The fun's there, the BIG boys don't scare us weaklings, in fact, it's fun to watch them at close quarters go thundering past you.
class-s.jpg

Hope you don't mind the enlightenment.
 
undertoad said:
Maybe he just couldn't get it moving fast enough to stay up :)
Click to expand...
The chain jammed on the chainring, I reckon, as he only did a few full rotations on the pedals, hence eventually stopped, lack of forward speed, and must be above 6mph to stay upright.

Kim did race the Notso at Darley Moor last year (the last race event). Still getting used to it, no doubt, and not trying to scratch the lovely paint work..
 
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