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Eric and Jinny Peterson showed up from Boise, Idaho
Thursday with their newly-completed steel-frame back-to-back tandem, complete with
electrical-conduit top bracing. They did some "field testing" in the drag and
road races at the airport today. When the bugs are worked out, Eric intends to build an
aluminum-framed version, with the eventual goal of adding a fairing and perhaps bringing
it back to Battle Mountain next year! |
| Jeff Hunn takes some warmup laps on the airport tarmac
with Rob Wood's Barcroft Oregon lowracer Friday. The FWD Oregon normally sports a 20"
rear wheel to match the 20" front, but Rob replaced it with a 16" in order to
get even more seat recline. |
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Joe Kochanowski waits on his homebuilt FWD racer beside
Dean Pederson in the Rotator Coyote. Don't let Joe's position fool you--he normally is
almost fully reclined when he rides (you can just see his neck rest at the end of his
padded seat). |
| Justin Mace, crew for Jeff Bales, rides his LWB
dual-suspension bike at the airport Friday. Justin let several people try the bike, but
most had trouble with the 205mm crank arms... |
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Rob Hitchcock gets ready to ride another Gardner Martin
creation, a LWB lowracer. |
| Matjaz Leskovar finally gets to ride in a more normal
position, on a Tour Easy provided by Gardner Martin (red hat), as Charlie Ollinger looks
on. As you might have guessed, Matjaz was quite fast! |
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Bill Patterson's FWD dual-suspension Pimp Ride. Bill can
ride it no-handed; most of the rest of us who tried it during the week came away battered
and beaten by it. |
| Chris Bechtel's Time Machine sits at the airport Friday,
appearing to be receiving fuel... |
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Jason Ericson (yellow shirt), Jonathan Banks (no hat), and
and unknown person check out the Three-Legged Monkey, the University of Nevada--Reno's
entry for the airport races Friday. Jason rode the bike to a victory in the volunteers'
5-lap race.
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| Justin Mace (left) and Bill Patterson are the first two
competitors in the 1/4-mile drag race Friday. Bill thought he had the race won so put his
hands in the air in a "victory salute" at the finish and Justin came from behind
to tie. The other racers voted that the way to break the tie was to run again, so they
did. They almost tied a second time! |
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Matt Weaver (left, upright) and Matjaz Leskovar prepare for their drag race.
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Mike Mowett (left) lines up against the Petersons' back-to-back tandem for the drag race.
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Walt Tibbitts flashes the peace sign as he waits on his Bachetta highracer for his turn in
the drag race. |
| Mike Mowett says:
"Gardner Martin made a public request for clipin shoes that would fit Matjaz Leskovar. The Slovenian powerhouse went on, on a borrowed Tour Easy, with the borrowed shoes to nearly break the ¼ mile men’s single rider record of 26.96 seconds held by the fully faired Concept Z and Kirk Edwards of UC Berkeley set in 1992. Matjaz’s time was 27+ seconds after running 29 seconds against Matt Weaver. Suffice it to say that he could have easily broken the world’s record. Mike Mowett tried, but was no match for Matjaz in the final round. Joe Kochanowski joked that he slowed down at the finish to save himself for that night’s HWY 305 racing where he did 63.6 mph! Tom on an upright from Cal Poly also wanted a shot at Matjaz but lost to Mike in the semifinals. Mike Mowett rode Dave Kennedy’s, now living in Reno, 1980’s model Moulton fold-up bike with quick accelerating 17” wheels." |
Matjaz Leskovar (right) does his best Babe Ruth imitation. He beat
Mike Mowett (left).
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Picture soon |
Linda Barnett (left) and Gabe DeVault prepare for their drag race at the airport Friday.
Linda is riding a homebuilt recumbent with rear suspension, built by her husband, and Gabe
is riding a prototype Easy Racers trike. |
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Steve Delaire's Big Gun heads down the straightaway, passing Jeff Hunn on a Barcroft
Oregon lowracer in the first 15-lap race at the airport Friday. |
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Racers lean it over coming around a corner in the first 15-lap race at the airport Friday.
The Rotator Coyote was the only streamliner to finish the race; all the others succumbed
to the pressures of centripetal force and left the course on corners, ending up in cinders
and gravel. |
| Dean Pederson gets a good run of 54.347 mph in his Rotator Coyote Friday. |
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Joe Kochanowski improves his overall best to 63.676 mph in his Varna clone Friday. |
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Brian Romano passes Ranch Road 1 en route to a 49.561 mph run Friday, as Eivie team member
Arne Hodalic records the pass. |
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Damjan Zabovnik winds up the Eivie streamliner Friday on his way to a 66.496 mph run. |
The Varna Diablo blows right through (actually right past) a stop sign Friday as Sam
Whittingham ups his week's top speed to 78.242 mph (although the wind was not legal).
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Mackey Martin in the Virtual Rush approaches Ranch Road 1, which is at the 4-miles-to-go
point. Mackey has raised his speeds all week, but Friday the timing mechanism failed to
notice his bike, so no speed was recorded. |
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Orin Macquarrie approaches Ranch Road 1 in his Varna clone highracer on his way to a
46.405 mph run. |
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Rob Wood winds up the Norus streamliner on his way to recording a personal-best 57.854 mph
run. Last night Rob fell over in the catch zone when it was so dark he couldn't see to put
his landing gear down. A little bondo, some elbow grease, and some spray paint makes the
Norus look good as new! |
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Fred Markham in the Varna Mephisto heads toward a run of 68.387 mph with non-legal winds. |
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Thom Ollinger rides the Coslinger Special to a 60.704 mph run Friday. |
| Friday
Results
Matt is here but has not been
ready to run yet, apparently. Shar Peterson says he has been
working at her garage all week.
Rob Wood, Norus streamliner, 57.854 mph, 7.733 sec, legal wind
Dean Pederson, Rotator Coyote, 54.347 mph, 8.232 sec, legal wind
Brian Romano, Rotator Frankenstein, 49.561 mph, 9.027 sec, legal
wind
Orin Macquarrie, Varna clone highracer, 46.405 mph, 9.641 sec,
legal wind
Jeff Bales, Lunatic Fringe (no fairing), 33.537 mph, 13.34 sec,
not legal
Charlie Ollinger, Ollinger Club Racer, 34.746 mph, 12.876 sec,
not legal
Sam Whittingham, Varna Diablo, 78.242 mph, 5.718 sec, not legal
Fred Markham, Varna Mephisto, 68.387 mph, 6.542 sec, not legal
Damjan, Evie streamliner, 66.496 mph, 6.728 sec, legal wind
Thom Ollinger, Coslinger Special, 60.704 mph, 7.37 sec, legal
wind
Joe Kochanowski, Varna clone, 63.676 mph, 7.026 sec, legal wind
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