Oh My
03-16-20, 03:45 PM
#26
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Trying for a land speed record with a bicycle without drafting can be quite dangerous too. As evidenced in these attempts.
At least those two could see where they were going and perhaps have a far beter chance at spotting any hazard than this woman drafting that dragster and thus having virtually no forward vision at all. I can't imagine the consequences had she crashed at those speeds on salt. Cheers
At least those two could see where they were going and perhaps have a far beter chance at spotting any hazard than this woman drafting that dragster and thus having virtually no forward vision at all. I can't imagine the consequences had she crashed at those speeds on salt. Cheers
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nine mile skid on a ten mile ride
nine mile skid on a ten mile ride
03-16-20, 04:03 PM
#27
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Honestly the odds of survival are pretty decent. Plenty of motorcycle riders have dumped it at 180+ and lived to tell the tale with only minor injuries, as long as they were able to skid to a stop without hitting anything hard and immobile. On the salt flats, it's a whole lot of nothing, so she would have tumbled a bit but probably skidded to a stop with salt rash and not much else in terms of injury.
03-16-20, 06:03 PM
#29
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She clearly accelerates after release, and a couple minutes at that speed is about 5 miles. Her last mile is, by far her fastest. She kept pace with the car while the car accelerated about 30 mph.
03-16-20, 09:18 PM
#30
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I'm impressed by all of it, but in all of these paced records, I'm just not sure I understand how much of it is athleticism and how much is mechanical engineering, excellent control skills, and just sheer chutzpah. I'd never have the guts to ride a bike over 75 mph in any setting but I have no idea how fast my legs could propel me in those contraptions.
I dunno how impressed I am with efforts like this one. It's more an answer to a question nobody really asked than it is a physical or athletic achievement. Whoever said above that it was more mechanical engineering than athletics hit the nail on the head. Of course, even with athletic achievements nobody doubts such as the hour record, engineering still plays a massive role.
Someone may as well build a 5-mile long vacuum tunnel and see how fast someone in a space suit can ride a bike where wind resistance is just completely eliminated. That's more or less what they're doing, only it's extreme drafting behind a dragster in this case.
03-16-20, 10:13 PM
#31
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Also fabulous precision teamwork with the woman who drove the tow car. They really had to work together to keep her in the draft envelope.
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03-17-20, 12:58 AM
#32
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You'd go 75? I think I broke 50 one time on an insane descent and it scared the living bejeezus out of me. The thought of how far I'd ricochet off the road surface before finally coming to rest was terrifying.
I dunno how impressed I am with efforts like this one. It's more an answer to a question nobody really asked than it is a physical or athletic achievement. Whoever said above that it was more mechanical engineering than athletics hit the nail on the head. Of course, even with athletic achievements nobody doubts such as the hour record, engineering still plays a massive role.
Someone may as well build a 5-mile long vacuum tunnel and see how fast someone in a space suit can ride a bike where wind resistance is just completely eliminated. That's more or less what they're doing, only it's extreme drafting behind a dragster in this case.
I dunno how impressed I am with efforts like this one. It's more an answer to a question nobody really asked than it is a physical or athletic achievement. Whoever said above that it was more mechanical engineering than athletics hit the nail on the head. Of course, even with athletic achievements nobody doubts such as the hour record, engineering still plays a massive role.
Someone may as well build a 5-mile long vacuum tunnel and see how fast someone in a space suit can ride a bike where wind resistance is just completely eliminated. That's more or less what they're doing, only it's extreme drafting behind a dragster in this case.
To tell the truth, I'm not sure I'd ever want to go more than 45. Breaking speed records involving motors is always a bit of a nutty and expensive enterprise. I think the feat does require that she be an athlete, but since basically almost no one would do this, there's no way to know how good she is compared to other riders.
It's basically a very expensive, extremely dangerous stunt. Whether it was worth doing is in the eye of the beholder.
03-17-20, 03:12 AM
#33
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From this page:
Fred Rompelberg took the record to an astounding 167.044 on 3 October 1995, where it remained until last week.
He set the record at Bonneville drafting behind a dragster fitted with a garden-shed-like wind shield. Fred was involved with Denise's training program, alongside another former drafting speed record holder, John Howard, and provided her with the custom 1,000-hp (745-kW) dragster he had used.
He does retain the Fastest bicycle speed in slipstream (male) title.
Fred Rompelberg took the record to an astounding 167.044 on 3 October 1995, where it remained until last week.
He set the record at Bonneville drafting behind a dragster fitted with a garden-shed-like wind shield. Fred was involved with Denise's training program, alongside another former drafting speed record holder, John Howard, and provided her with the custom 1,000-hp (745-kW) dragster he had used.
He does retain the Fastest bicycle speed in slipstream (male) title.
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03-18-20, 05:44 PM
#34
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03-19-20, 08:18 AM
#35
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Humans are not good at estimating speed in a featureless environment. We guage it by how fast we're passing things. Doesn't get more featureless than Bonneville.
Also, the error when her GPS crapped out was between 105 mph (too slow for pedaling) and 110 (OK to start).
