Battle Mountain 2003 Wrap-up
(by Jeff Hunn)
To paraphrase an old TV commercial, I’m not a reporter, but I played one
at Battle Mountain. I had a great week, which mostly made up for my
having to fly, which I hate--I’m experiencing turbulence over Kansas as
I write this on my way home (I thought of you, Larry L!). My official
press pass gave me access to all the racers and team members (of
course, anyone else who was interested had access, too...). I enjoyed
meeting and talking with world-class athletes, volunteers from all over
the country, and many people whose names I have seen on the Internet.
Carole gave me the freedom to choose my location each evening for the
speed runs, so I got to see some of what it takes to put on such an
event. I experienced first-hand the sharing of ideas and resources that
was such a foreign concept to the Blue Yonder team in 2001. And I felt
the thrill of seeing a bike go past at over 70 mph--several times!
I found that many participants (and volunteers) are envious of the HPRA
race series that we have in the Midwest. West Coasters (west peddlers?)
and others long for more opportunities to develop and test their ideas
in racing conditions. Someone said they wished some of us would move
out west and start some races there. I don’t know if that will happen,
but I think it would be better if some west coast (or wherever) races
were organized by the people who live there and want them. Shari
Barnhard did exactly that in Florida a couple of years back, and I’m
sure she and others would be willing to share ideas and advice on
putting on a race. perhaps someday there will be at least one race a
year within a day’s drive of anyone in the U.S.
Although Sam’s record 81-mph speed of last year was not broken, I think
everyone involved considers this year’s competition a success. Many
personal bests were achieved, most riders improved their times day
after day during the week, and a fair number of locals and visitors
came out to watch--especially Saturday.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Battle Mountain this week. Perhaps
some of you will do as I did last year and start thinking about attending next year’s event. If you have interest in the event, I would
certainly encourage you to consider going, watching, and helping in
2004.
To close I would like to thank my wife Jane, who encouraged me to go
(and who stayed home continuing to work so I could afford to). I would
also like to thank the racers, team members, and other volunteers for
being so friendly and open, Carole and George Leone for coordinating
and running the event, Shar Peterson for the daily use of her Internet
connection at the Battle Mountain Chamber of Commerce, and all the
folks who generously donated prize money. Finally, thanks to you
readers for your interest and enthusiasm, and for putting up with the
delays in posting the daily results and reports (I have some ideas for
improving that next year). Long live the Battle Mountain World Human
Powered Speed Challenge!
Jeff Hunn
North Manchester, Indiana
The
Volunteers at Battle Mountain 2003
(by Carole Leone):
Everyone who competed at Battle Mountain this year owes a debt
of gratitude to the volunteers who made it a success this year.
It could not have been done without their help and expertise.
Before the race many of them
wrote with suggestions on how to improve things and the
organizers incorporated as many of these ideas as possible. The
result was one of the best-organized events to date.
It was the volunteers who made it
happen so smoothly. Those who had been there before shared their
knowledge and expertise with new volunteers. First-timers often
got the chance to experience what went on at the various points
on the course. Some volunteers were so valuable at their posts
that they were asked them to work that one job all week.
They were too good at their job to lose!
The volunteers' willingness to
give up travel and expense money (not to mention vacation days!)
was much appreciated by all the racers who participated in the
event. Sam Whittingham said (before the infamous crash) that he
felt completely safe on the course this year. That feeling was
there because the volunteers worked hard to make it that way.
Circumstances made it so that the primary goal of a world record
was not to be. But the goal of having a safe, fun time was
achieved!
Many people have said that it was the best-organized event they
had been to. If so, it's because all the volunteers knew (or
learned quickly!) what to do and when to do it. They never lost
a time due to volunteer or equipment error, only one run had to
be cancelled (Charlie Ollinger's on the last night, due to
unavoidable time delays), and a minimum of bikes were dropped at
the finish. That's a record to be proud of.
The 2003 Battle Mountain
volunteers are listed below. Our apologies if we have left
anyone out.
Tom Amick, ASME HPV racing graduate, Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo
Mark Anderson
Ron Anderson
Paul Avanzino, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Barney Bauer
Chris Bechtel
Chris Broome
Bill Cook
Mark Dorman, ASME HPV racing graduate, South Dakota
School of Mines
Roy Elledge
Jason Erickson, ASME HPV racing graduate, UN Reno
Bill Gaines
Paul Gracey
Jeff Hunn
Dave Kennedy
Al Krause
Alice Krause
Dave Larrington
Larry Lem
Carole Leone
George Leone
Andrew Millson
Michael Mowett
Charlie G. Ollinger
Jim Peterson of Battle Mountain Nevada
Bill Patterson
Nate Saicheck, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Brad Teubner
Walt Tibbets
Scott Wilson
Jonathan Woolrich
Donations
and Prizes (by Carole Leone) The
Many people in the HPV world were upset when the previous organizer removed
the .deciMach prize from the 2003 WHPSC. A week before the beginning of
the race a spontaneous internet campaign began to provide cash prizes for
this year's event. Started first on one of the HPV bulletin boards, the
campaign was announced on BentRider Online and on the WISIL WHPSC site. In
the space of two weeks $1,800.00 was donated and sent directly to Battle
Mountain to be given out as cash awards. At the awards party, an anonymous
person(s) donated an additional $500, for a total prize of $2,300.00! The cash awards were deeply appreciated by the
competitors. Not only because almost every one of them is on a shoestring
budget, but because it was a tangible show of how much this event means to
everyone in our sport, and how deeply some people felt about what happened. Because of the (to us) large amount of money, we
were able to give cash prizes down to 6th place as follows:
First: $1,000 to Sam Whittingham
Second: $500 to Fred Markham
Third: $350 to the Slovenian Eivie Team
Fourth: $275 to Joe Kochinowski
Fourth: $200 to Macky Martin
Sixth: $100 to Thom Ollinger
We would like to gratefully acknowledge donations from the following people:
The MARS HPV Group
The Oregon Human Power Group
Doug Adams (Missouri)
Anonymous Donor at the Battle Mountain Event
Mary Arneson (Minnesota)
Brown Family (New York)
S. Friedlander (New Jersey)
Paul Gracey (California)
Alan Jarrett (Florida)
Paul John (New York)
Mike Kring (Florida)
Dana & Elaine Lieberman (California)
Mike Mowatt (Michigan)
Jun Nogami (Michigan)
Real Carbon LLC (Oregon)
John Tetz (New Jersey)
Alan Weiss (New York) |
