World Human Powered Speed Challenge
Battle Mountain 2004

This report was originally posted at Bentrider Online
Additional pictures are available here

I had high hopes for the races at Battle Mountain this year. I was in decent shape again, not pro racing shape, but the best I've been in since I retired in 1995. I went to Vancouver BC, this summer and got the Varna Mephisto from George Georgiev so I could get used to it. I was looking forward to going faster than ever. How fast? Well I had hoped to maybe break Matt Weavers 78mph US record. And if I could get that close to 80, then, well you know I had some pretty lofty aspirations.

Two people in particular helped make this possible....at least financially . Stan Alvidrez from Horizon Mobile and of course Bryan Ball from 'BentRider Online. I painted the bike 'BentRider blue and it looked great. Threw on a bigger gear than I used last year and I was good to go. I worked with Tanya on my starts, which are so critical in a streamliner. Garrie Hill came through for me in a big way when I discovered four days before (Wednesday) I was to leave for Battle Mountain, that my windscreen had warped. After some frantic phone call, emails, ect. Garrie made me two and shipped them overnight and by Friday morning I had them. He did this out of his own pocket. Thanks Garrie you came through big time! And I owe you a camera run somewhere. So this how the week shaped up.

Sept. 13, Day one.

Bad day. Maybe 13 is unlucky. Wind blew all day. I could just tell it wasn't going to be a good day. This is my fourth time at Battle Mountain, I'm getting pretty good at sensing how the weather around here works. I went through the motions though, got out to the race course, did my pre race warm up, prepared myself for the best, but in the end the wind blew unmercifully. After talking to Sam, we decided to run. Sam suggested staying under 50 was wise. You might think that you wouldn't want to risk crashing a bike in conditions like this and you'd be right. However, I've been waiting a long time to take a run and there isn't much that could stop me. How windy was it? At 45 mph I was out of control basically. I rolled through the traps at about 36mph, glad to be through with it. The Varna didn't feel that good to me. I felt like I'd never been in it before....not a very encouraging start. But Tanya who was my launcher gave me a perfect start. We practiced the starts a lot back home and I felt very comfortable. Last year I dropped the Varna three times during the week....not good. This year I hoped to get off better and Tanya came through. Nobody went fast this night. Only five racers took the line tonight.

Sept. 14, Day two

Conditions improved a little bit, but by Battle Mountain standards they still weren't that good. My daily routine when racing in the evenings is to roll about an hour in the mornings fairly easy. It makes warming the legs up in the evening much faster. Come race time the wind did drop, but not enough. Sam started first as usual and had a bad start and ended up on his side. Tanya came to the rescue and managed to launch Sam. So for the rest of the week Tanya pulled double duty launching not only me but Sam as well. Not bad for an 18 year old girl! Lots of pressure getting these HPV's off on their own with everybody looking and taking photos. I go next and as I accelerate I can tell the wind is buffeting the bike pretty hard. 3 miles down the road at about 71 mph, I hit some gusty winds and go into a sort of speed wobble. For the next mile and a half I fought the bike only to give up about 500 meters from the line. That was a scary ride. As I got out of the bike I know I looked at it like "have we ever met before". I did not like what was happening. Seems like I was beat by everybody that night. At this point I decided to escalate my seriousness in mastering this bike....AGAIN! Nine racers started tonight. Frank Geyer in what was really his first attempt at going fast hit 63mph! Welcome to the 60mph club! Since Battle Mountain came along it's just a wee bit easier to get into that club, but it still does not come easy! Sam gets high speed for the night at 73mph.

Sept 15, Day Three

Conditions seem to improve today. Every morning has been unusually nice and wind free prompting people to inquire about morning speed runs. I took the Varna out on the road and rode it for an hour or so with out the top. I just need to steer it around for a while. Get to know her again, so to speak.

Ten racers start the race on what was going to be a interesting night of racing. At the starting line the wind was still blowing fairly hard as the first group of racers takes off, but then started slowly dropping. After the road was opened after the first group finished, for the first time several truck drivers were upset about the delay and stopped their trucks halfway down the road in some sort of protest. They left but the delay was painful. At first we were told the runs were cancelled, then on again and off again. At one point I was walking the Varna back to the car when it was on again. But now it was getting dark and as we all taped in again all I could think of is that by the time I go it's going to be very dark. If there is anybody used to doing dark runs it's me. When I won the Dupont prize in 86' it was very dark, when I set my 1000-meter world record in France in 91', it was almost dark. And Sam Whittingham and I set a tandem world record in Colorado in 93', and it WAS dark.

So given a chance, I'll go. Tanya lunches Sam perfectly, Frank Geyer goes next and crashes 50 feet down the road. And since he's off the road I asked to be let go. I'm going to tell you folks something... it's not easy starting these bikes. You go from steering to balancing and there is always an awkward moment when that happens. Well I just couldn't get it. Partially because I wasn't focused on the whole starting procedure. And then there's the sight of a dropped hpv in my eyesight, that doesn't help. It was my fault not Tanya's. And after falling once and almost twice and using up about 75 feet of road I finally wobble off from a hand launch. I forget they guys name who actually launched me, "but I owe you one buddy, thanks". Hell of a way to start a run, but it does get the adrenalin running early. The real bummer is I scuffed the side of the "'BentRider streamliner" and that means the guys will have to fix that in the morning. At 4 miles to go I hit 52, 3 miles to go I hit about 63, after that it was just to dark to see the speedo, so I just worked on gradually maintaining the power. Every run I think about really stomping on it, going as hard as I can , going 90mph if possible.....I want you to know those bold positive feelings go flying out the streamliner canopy at the speed of light when you encounter sudden unexpected wind gusts. Especially in the 70's. I've had so many crashes now that are all wind related, I just wait for a better day now. Well I did hit the wind and I did slow down, but it was still a personal best at 72mph with legal wind! How does that happen. Well it's been well known that the small hill about 1 mile before the traps sends any wind to that area and it's unstable. Unstable for me, but Sam goes through at 76mph! How does he do that?

Hans had the unfortunate job of testing the White Hawks stability. Apparently at 67 mph it doesn't want to go straight anymore. This could be why Jan Van Eijan didn't go faster than 67 in the white Hawk in 2002 either. Anyway, after a rather horrific crash, one in which Hans could have been seriously hurt in he walked away with only relatively minor cuts, scratches and some bruising. The bike shell was toast, the windscreen was completely broken through with some very jagged spots. Hans was lucky. Not so lucky was Frank Geyer who had to slam on the brakes to avoid the ambulance that had just pulled onto the racecourse. Steve Delairs crew did a great job of recovering Frank before he would have had to stop. I know Frank was disappointed, how can you not be. You only get so many chances and when something goes wrong you feel robbed.

Sept. 16 Day 4

Hoping to build on my 72 mph run I had higher hopes for Thursday night, but as we got out to the race course, it was still a little to windy, and I had a sense it was going to be another tough night. And it was.

Tanya did another perfect launch....with 4 miles to go I was at 52mph. At 3 miles to go I was at 64mph, 2 miles to go I was at 70mph, at about the infamous 1.5-mile mark I started getting the buffeting. I'm now at about 73mph when I could no longer pedal hard and control the bike. While I was being bounced around by the wind and alternating soft with hard pedaling, my chain slipped off the front chainring with about 1000 meters to go. Can you say disappointed...well I can. And I'm sure I did in some form With no power I coasted through the traps at around 63mph. Let me tell you something, once your bike loses your chain it doesn't handle very well at all. Then comes the hard part...making it to the catch crew without stopping short or going to long...you sure don't want to end up short. At least I timed it well and made a good stop. But another missed opportunity and I'm running out of runs. The weather forecast is not looking good for Saturday so Friday could be the last day.

Sam had the fastest run of the week this night at 78.63. It's very impressive how fast he goes in unstable winds. Ellen went way fast and hit 65 or 66 mph. Frank hit 63 mph, the Big Gun is a bike that probably doesn't like wind at all. It's too bad Frank didn't get still wind, well it's to bad none of us got still wind, but I would have liked to see what he could have done. Ron Layman did a good job of going faster each night. He stopped short of 60 mph, but what he managed with that bike in those winds was pretty impressive.

Sept. 17 Day 5

Friday's weather didn't look promising, but in Battle Mountain you hold out to the end hoping for the wind to drop. Kevin O'Dea, Steve Nash and a couple other guys fashioned a chain guard for Fridays run. They worked for hours in the parking lot getting it ready. I was certainly more than ready to have a good one. After another great launch from Tanya I was on my way. 50mph at 4miles to go, 64 at 3 miles to go, 71mph at 2 miles to go and looking good until the 1.5 mile mark again...that's when I got a strong gust from the left at about 74 mph. The Varna pitched to the left and I had to correct so hard the front tire rubbed into the body, not only once, but three times...the third time I hit the brakes to steady the bike. Hitting brakes in a speed run is a cardinal no-no. Certainly with less than two miles to go, but I don't hit my brakes unless I think my life's in danger... apparently I must have thought so. So with my dream of approaching 80 mph thrown out the canopy I was still able to somewhat recover and finish the run at 72.9. Let's just call it 73mph. I'm sure I was on the way to a 75 mph run. Disappointed and relieved at the same time. I've never had so many scary runs in one week before. At least the chain stayed on, thanks guys!

This was an interesting night speed wise. Ellen went way fast again and set a new women's world record. This could be a sign that women's racing is heating up.. Congratulations Ellen. Steve Delair replaced Frank in the Big Gun, but went slower. And Sam went slower this run that he ever has before and finished with a speed of 70.9mph. Which made my speed of 72.9 the fastest run of the night! For the first time since either 92' or 93' I topped the speed chart ahead of Sam Whittingham. On top of that my two 72+mph runs were legal wind wise. I had no doubt that Sam would redeem himself on Saturday night and really fly, but he never got the chance. Saturday turned ugly with wind and rain and the last day was cancelled. I felt deprived and depressed. You older guys can laugh, but at 47 I don't have many attempts left in my body and who knows that could have been my last chance. I hope not, I really hope not.

So that's how it ended, not quite the way I envisioned, but I still had fun. Lots of fun. I love climbing into a streamliner and racing, perhaps I live for it. The Varna's are so much fun and every time I blast past 65mph I can't help but grinning, Thanks George for making such an awesome machine and thanks for letting me race it. It's hard for me to put into word just how much I enjoy it. The speed, the noise and the rushes from getting spooked. Many thanks to all the volunteers who make this event possible, I will never take you people for granted, I owe you. Jonathan, you ran a tight ship out there and overall I thought you did a great job.

In the end Ellen did a remarkable job. She rode the Varnowski like she had been in it for years, her starts were perfect. She went faster every night. I was impressed. Frank did a good job of racing a streamliner for the first time. I would expect that Frank is hooked by now and he'll be back, I hope so. Ron Laymen just missed 60 mph, but he showed a lot of class and spirit...I'm sure from here he could go much faster. Dean Peterson did a great job in the Coyote hitting over 55mph in a street legal bike. Mackie Martin in the TriRush had a rough time, but I know they'll be back. I'm sure they all had higher hopes for the trike, but as we know sometimes a bike takes time to get sorted. At least they brought all the toys. Like guns, airplanes and motorcycles. Lisa Tonello had a rather tough time in the Varna 1. She did well to be thrown into one of these with no experience. Don't give up Lisa. Women's racing might just now be heating up! Next year we could see a real battle if Tanya takes over the Mephisto and Andrea takes over the Diablo. Throw in Ellen and Lisa, wow. That's worth another year at Battle Mountain right there. Any bets who comes out on top?

So what about the future of Battle Mountain? I for one hope it stays around for a few more years. The road is getting in need of repaving, but I think it could still be pushed off a couple of years. There is nothing to stop us from running in the right hand side of the left lane. That lane is still pretty smooth. I, as well as others were disappointed to not see more real fast machines. What do so called racers do. Sit around and talk about going racing, but when the opportunity arises they are no shows. People need to show up! The volunteers we have are pretty much overworked and sure are under paid. That should change! There is enough money in this world somewhere to fund this event, pay volunteers and officials and raise the prize list. I've raced a lot of places, Battle Mountain is the best place to race a streamliner I've ever been to. The best weather to race I've ever seen was at Battle Mountain.

I want to especially thank my daughter Tanya. It's not every 18 year old who will put her social life on hold for a week and follow her Dad into the desert and hold his bike while he races, but she not only did it well, launching not only me, but Sam. And get this, she enjoyed herself and all you people to!

As for Sam? He'll be back. Why? Well if I know Sammy, he's not happy with me being faster than him, even if it was only for a night. I know if Sam had the chance his run on Saturday was probably going to break the deci-mach and put me in my place, but the weather took care of that. So you take what victories you can big or small and I also take with me a little saying I heard a long time ago...."Your only as good as your last race"... and I won that race!

So Sam and George, and everybody, I'll see you next year, God willing!