Needed Items
CurrentWork
- Achievements
- Pictures – go straight to the photos.
- The Story – get ready it’s a long one.
- Disappointments
- ABC Race Write-Up
- Second In Class
- Award for Most Consistent Team
- Road train turbulence had no adverse aerodynamic effect on Cycle
- Strong Cross Winds had no adverse aerodynamic effect
- Cycle’s structural system was unaffected by the grueling & infamous Cattle Grids
- Overall, the cycle design proved itself
- Competitor Camaraderie High and Related Contacts Improved
The Week Before
We arrived in Sydney, the day after the cycle was supposed to be delivered to Alice Springs. This was our chance to secure riders for the cycle. Ian, a potential rider, and partner meet Regina and I at the airport. First impressions went well, although they were expecting a big contingent of Americans to come off the plane. I had to remind him that the reason we needed cyclists was due to the fact that we were a low budget team and could not afford to fly over our own cyclists. We had just gone through a huge disappointment with the inflated cost of airfare to Australia – a direct result of the 9-11 incident. Airfare increased buy 150% compared to last year at the same time and that fact ruined our chance of bringing over one of the world’s strongest record break HPV cyclists. Ian has booked a few rooms for us at a youth hostel about 30 minutes away. This was our chance to see a little bit of Sydney and meet another potential rider that evening.
We had been lugging this small crate full of parts that had not been delivered in time to ship with the cycle. The Awesome telemetry system from the electrical team in Portland, the wheel motor from Electric Bike Systems of CA, and a whole array of spare electrical system parts and tools. It was no easy task getting this crate on board each plane we took. It was oversized, over weight, and filled with strange items that each inspector or check-in clerk were perplexed about. After much ado and lots of explanation about the race and that we were ‘the American team’ – we managed to charm our crate through each situation.
The week before had been spent on the telemetry system with Andrew and Tim down in Portland. This system would allow a chase vehicle, the safety vehicle following the cycle during all the race stages, to wirelessly collect data about the cycle’s performance. Voltage and current into and out of each and every system was being monitored, as were temperatures, speeds, cadence, heart rate, even an on-the-cycle GPS system. All custom made by the Portland contingent. This system would provide the needed data to tune the cycle and run at our optimum in all situations. It would provide data for on-the-fly race strategy. This could mean the difference between first and third in a tight race with good competition.
Back in Sydney, we meet up with Tony and Ian for dinner. They arrived on their recumbent cycles – a good sign for us that they were real cyclists. Tony recommended a vegan diner that was good and we walked to it. I explained the cycle and showed pictures, told stories of our goals and hardships, and agreed to help pay their transportation to Alice Springs from Sydney. Tony signed on that night. Ian was reserved, not knowing where his life was at the time and if he could get more time off. He had just returned from many months of bike touring around the world and had been months late for work.
We had received bad news from the shipping companies (Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.) office in Adelaide – the cycle was not delivered to Alice Springs yet. I had spent months trying to get sponsorship for shipping. Expeditors had the lowest bid US$1900 and after all were a WA state based company. We managed to find that money and pay them ahead of time – a contingent that they demanded. We meet their pickup time back in Olympia by only minutes – that was on Halloween. We were told that it would arrive in Alice Springs on the 12th of November. Expeditors is an international shipping company with an office in our final destination – they should know how, when, why, and where. But they didn’t. I stressed to them that we were racing that next Monday and that we HAD to have the cycle in Alice Springs by Friday. Brian Clarke, Expeditors manager in Adelaide, said he’d go down to customs if he had to, and get this thing rolling. He’d call us back. At this point we were given the impression that the cycle was in Adelaide and that it was just a walk away and some paperwork. He said it might cost a couple hundred more for express deliver at this point. I was fumed, feeling taken, and backed into a corner. All we could do was accept that at most it would cost us half that in US currency - $100-$200. We never got that return call…
The next morning we got the first flight out to Alice Springs and arrived at our motel/campground. Our pre-rented campervan would not be available until Thursday the 15th. Fortunately the Red Centre Resort had a free shuttle into town and the campervan rental office was a short walk away. The cycle was still no where in site, we had a good two days worth of work to install the items we brought over in the crate. We wanted to have the cyclists in testing for two more days and we had to scrutineer the cycle on Saturday. Time was running out. We left numerous messages with Brian Clarke, but could never catch him or get a return call. We were the first team to arrive, even before the officials. We went and scoped out the town that night and got ready for any parts runs we might need. We found electrical and mechanical shops, food, welders, Solar Energy businesses, etc.
Afternoon comes and still no word from Expeditors. I call again and leave another message – but this time I tell them our room number. I reiterated that if the cycle was not there by Thursday to not send it at all. That worked and later in the afternoon we hear that with luck the cycle will be out of customs and here Friday or Saturday. WHAT! We were told it was a walk away a few more pages of paperwork – not days away and unknown. No wonder he did not call us back on Monday. Mental flags began to rise – worries abounded. What is really going on? They were not delivering what we paid for and entrusted them to.
Race officials began to show up today as well. They invited us to dinner that evening and we explained our troubles and situation. We had a great evening with them, exchanging cultures, stories, and discussing the influence of America on the world and Australia. It’s amazing how we are looked to and looked at by other countries and cultures. How our society and all it’s ups and downs effect so many other around the world. They are to make some calls on our behalf and try to help the cycle out of customs.
Wednesday, still no cycle. We are to wait up tonight for the possible delivery of the cycle – around 10 PM. It was a long day. I called Eco Energy, a solar energy firm in town, to see if they would be interested in help us with a 240V soldering iron. My voltage converter did not have enough power to run our soldering station. We are to head there Friday. We return to town on the free shuttle and continue looking for any needs and examining the local indigenous culture which runs freely between town streets and the open desert only a few blocks away. We finally return to the motel – no cycle, no word. At least we get to start camping tomorrow and will have a vehicle. In doubt, I start to think about what we will do for the next few weeks with the campervan and free time. I start to think about calling the riders and telling them it’s a no go. They are not being very responsible already. I’d explained to them that we needed them in Alice Springs on Friday. Tony was coming Saturday after scrutineering, Ian had a change of mind and was coming Sunday afternoon. Both too late for the mandatory time of 10:30 AM Saturday. It was not looking good. Ten PM came and went. At eleven we gave up waiting at the front office and went to bed. Very early Thursday morning we get the call, the cycle is here. But the driver has checked into a room and we have to wait till morning.
I woke early and went for a walk to find the truck – what a disappointment. No truck. The cycle crate had been brought up to Alice Springs with a ‘ute’ – a cross between a truck and a car that is very popular in Australia – on a rented open trailer. I was wondering about the professionalism of Expeditors already, but this? I told myself that it was expedited in this manner and that it was OK. I guessed. Good timing to go for a walk, because I met the driver on his way to breakfast and he let me start unloading. To our horror though, the cycle and the tools had been partially disassembled. We examined the crate and sure enough some one had removed one side of the crate and hammered and stripped half the screws on re-assembly. We purposely built the crate to have the top removed and we even had an inspection hatch on top. All the permanently mounted windows of the cycle had been ripped out, still useable but permanently scratched. Tools had been disassembled and reorder in different drawers. Other parts were removed and shuffled around. It would take a good long day to rebuild.
Other teams started showing up today and news spread fast about our problems and how customs and the shipping company treated us. During our rebuilding today many a teams offered help and tools. We worked into the night, Regina doing stuff she had not signed up for and did not know how to do. She pulled her weight and well beyond, without her help it would have been over long ago. An hour or two before sunrise I decided to get some rest. I quickly found that if I went to bed before the sun rose, I could get enough sleep in two hours to make it through the next day. This would be a trend I would follow for most of the race.
Friday we continued to work as more and more teams showed up. This was the official day to check in, weigh in and pay up. All the teams were blown way by the cycle’s design. Many thought that we were a sure bet to win the race – if we could put the cycle together in time. Our hub motor had come very late and was our third back-up choice. We had a very nice sponsorship deal going with another motor manufacturer, but delivery would not be likely in time for the race. Our current 48 volt hub motor had been received three days before we left Olympia – unspoked, and with no freewheel. Even worse the system used the old fashioned freewheel mount and a non standard thread. We had been sponsored with the more modern free hub system with easily changeable cassette sprockets to help dial us on for each race day and the terrain ahead – none of which we could use now. The wheel was finally spoked the day before we flew out and a temporary freewheel was purchased. It was not until another team brought over their used freewheel collection that we finally found one that would fit good enough to use. On top of that, the offset of the hub motor was different from the test model we had been sent months ago.
We tested a similar motor a month before the race. I was worried that the other motors would not arrive and Ben Nagal of Electric Bike Systems had sent us a loaner to test. I had built a test stand with a computer controller load and data acquisition system. I was able to vary the load on the hub motor and wheel and measure the power into the system and out of the system. These power curves at different loads and speeds would be used to make race strategy decisions. Realizing that this would be the motor we would run, I mounted the rear swing arm, chain guides, and cutouts using this loaner motor as a guide. These are permanent mountings and cutouts in the structural bulkhead of the cycle.
Unfortunately, the motor we bought from Ben was not the same in dimensions or offset and thus required a whole day of modifications and chopping of the cycle to fit. This work was gratefully done with the assistance of a handful of the race officials! The camaraderie of this group of people was outstanding – every team and every official kept cheering us on and wanted to see us race very badly. This Aussie trend was kept up through out the whole race.
It was still Friday, and we needed more space, better working area and tools. So we headed for Eco Energy to use the soldering iron to string the solar array and battery pack together. These items needed to be shipped unassembled for safety and their own protection. We met with Mike Farrell, the Managing Director, and explained the project, the technology, and the race. He was excited and offered the shop for the weekend and to go and get the cycle and the rest of our stuff back at the campgrounds. We agreed and moved everything to their shop. We worked all night and by morning (no sleep tonight) the cycle was rolling, but the chain was badly miss-aligned, the steering was below par, and the brakes need to be seated through use. We decided to pack up and head for the main race office at the Resort. We needed to let them know that we had not dropped out, but that we did not have any riders yet and the cycle was not ready for scrutineering. Mike packed us back up on his work truck and off we went. We unloaded and thanked Mike for all his help and generosity and then headed for the office. It was closed. It was ten AM. We broke down, feeling that we had failed and would not run after all this hard work, all the years of design, construction, component testing, redesign, phone calls, donations, sponsors, people counting on us, representing the US – the pressure was at it’s maximum. After a brief discussion of our future plan, we decided that we would not quit nor give up. We would get the cycle in tip top shape and run it out side the race, gain valuable testing, data and experience. We continued working. One by one, teams returned from scrutineering which was being held miles away at Pioneer Park. Their cycles were spinning around the campground, testing and adjusting – big smiles from passing scrutineering.
Later that afternoon all the race officials convened around our campsite and the cycle. They viewed our determinacy to not give in. Peter, the race manager and final say in all that relates to the race, asked when we would be ready to scrutineer. We were shocked – we had a chance still? By this time, we had picked up Tony from the bus station downtown and was debating on calling Ian and telling him not to come. I told them that it would take us days with just me working on it and the little assistance that Regina and Tony’s skills could offer. Their response? A handful of the race officials started picking up tools and asking what needed to be done. A group helped into the wee hours of the morning, changing that previously mentioned motor problem. By morning I had the basics on the list done and they had re-routed the chain, cut up the belly pan and bulkhead and mounted a new chain roller system. We might make it! Time for two hours of sleep, more for the officials. We had a blast that night getting to know them, trading stories and ideals about life.
Sunday. We continued working on items that we needed to do to get ready for an afternoon attempt at scrutineering. Officials and other teams have this day off as a rest day – a test day for some. But for most teams it’s still a work day. Some teams are not in any better condition than we were, some have even had electrical failures at this point. One withdrawal, the team from Poland could not find riders and where missing needed parts. We kept working, stopping only to get Ian from the bus station. Ian had built ten recumbents before, including Tony’s. A little fire was started when he showed up and a new strength came to me. At this point it was time to fit cyclists and adjust the cycle to them, but most of all to do some road testing. Unfortunately, this is where the designer versus the rider’s ideals and philosophy differences began. Too many compromises were given at this point and too many hacks and cuts were done in the next few hours. But we scrutineered that afternoon. We were given a lot of slack and some creative interpretations of the rules were presented to us from the race officials. They really wanted to see us compete and after looking at all the other entries, they knew all the stories around all the ‘loose rules’. They passed on these stories and informed us of how next time they would not be so loose, but this time they had to be due to the rule interpretations from the other teams. If the other teams are benefiting so should we. They really loved our donated dinosaur horn.
We ended up having to change four items to pass totally. One a simple rewiring to allow the cyclist to disengage ALL the electrical system, we had to mount a rear view mirror, and we had to cut a window in the front top of the cycle. This was a major job, adding a window would cut out the available area for solar cells. I had brought a CCD camera system for expanded front viewing. I knew the front vision was limited, and the camera system was nothing new to high tech cycles trying to perfect aerodynamics. But I was not confident with, nor comfortable with the riders using the system. So I opted to cut the seventh window. I had predicted this event and brought all the tools and extra polycarbonate material to do it. I took my time and made it look like it had always been there. The rest of the night was spent cleaning up the cycle from all the cutting and installing the telemetry system. I did get two hours of sleep.
Alice Springs to Erldunda - 202.7 km
After not being able to sleep the night before, and thus working to polish any detail I could find, we headed for this mornings line-up. I could feel the adrenaline pumping, the excitement of years of hard work and dedication just bursting in my chest. Radio check – Check! Telemetry check – Check! Brake check – Check! Safety harness Check – Check! Rider and helmet check – Check! Chase vehicle – Check! Solar array on – Check! Battery pack on – Check! Motor controller on - Check! And on down the list we went. We were ready, finally. Each day all teams would line up, be re-scrutineered, and sent off at two minute intervals. We were last in line. We would have to head south, through the town, around the roundabout and through the ‘timing gate’ about 7kms down from the starting point at Red Centre Resort. Finally our time came – we were off. The cycle looked fast and kept up with traffic through the town. Then our troubles continued, just passed town but before the timing gate, the motor controller blew. Only 5 km into the race and the only part we could not get a spare of just went up in smoke. I had Tony disconnect the system power with our newly mounted disconnect and continue pedaling. The hub motor had a huge cogging torque that caused too much drag on the system. Pedaling was to hard for the trained cyclist. A decision was made to pull over and swap the hub motor wheel system for a traditional rear wheel sans motor. We would pedal as far as we could for the day. After a twenty minute stop to do the change over we were off and running. We had only two more stops for various adjustments through the rest of the day. Cyclists would be pedaling for one hour at a time, at which point we would swap cyclists. Unfortunately, I could not get the riders to take the swap times very seriously – they would just meander out of and into the cycle and the chase van, taking their sweet time. No matter how much Regina and I pushed and hurried them, we could only get the rider change down to four minutes. It should have been two or less, but it was better than the first four that were 10-12 minutes long. This cost us first place in our category. The Malaysian team had motor troubles as well and were limping along very slowly – relying on mostly pedal power. By the end of the race every team would go on to have motor or motor controller problems. We finished the race day in the top ten overall, second in our category 7 hours 48 minutes, just 23 minutes behind Malaysia. This would end up being one of two days that we had a chance to be top in our class. Average speed was a very low 26 km/h (including penalty time.)
All the teams and officials had come out to the road side to cheer us on. The finish felt really good. Everything, short of the hub motor, was working. The cattle grids were taken at full speed and the cycle handle great. Side winds and road trains (semi-trucks pulling three or four trailers) were a big fear, but the cycle handle beautifully. All the new techniques in construction held together. We had some structural epoxy failures during testing on Sunday, all those fixes held. Even the repaired windows stayed in place – mostly. The steering system is to quirky for the cyclists and to fast in it’s response time. I’ll need to redesign and build something with a different leverage system before we ride again. With the hub motor out, we had no live electrical system and thus no data telemetry. That was by far our greatest loss for the day and the remaining trip.
With our motor controller gone what were we to do? I thought of a field repair or driving to a large town to get parts. I had already extensively looked in Alice Springs the days when we were waiting on the cycle to arrive. I knew nothing would be there. Every town from here on consisted of a petrol station, a restaurant, and maybe a garage. We’d have to drive to the end of the race course, to Adelaide and back. It would take days. Fortunately, I remembered a team that had offered spares if we needed them. I went on a search to find the team, meet them, and see what could be done.
With luck, I walked right to Bruce and Alan of Kensington Special School and introduced myself. Turns out that Bruce is an electronics guru and he has a spare 36V controller, but he’s promised it to another team IF they needed it. As the next hours progress, I bond quite nicely with Bruce, dropping fancy technical terms about motor controller design and controller ICs (I knew that education would pay off some day!) we find a lot in common with each other. He builds trust in me and we go looking to see if I can get the controller from the other team, or if we are going to have to piece together something from his huge spare parts bin. Good news, the other team was just having a throttle problem not controller problem. They borrow his throttle and I borrow his controller.
It’s too late to start working on the steering, plus we need a shop to do some of the work. Everyone wants to go sleep. I reluctantly agree and spend the next few hours pondering our strategy for the days ahead and looking at mounting the new controller.
Erldunda to Marla - 253.2 km
Morning comes, I think I got four hours of sleep – but only because we overslept. All the cycles are already lined up and are being scrutineered. Sarah, one of the ABC news coverage people, wakes us up. I head out to find Peter and let him know that we would have to trailer to Marla today. I have to inform him that the cyclists are not willing to pedal all the way with out motor assistance. He is disappointed, as are the other race officials that had worked so hard to help us out. To compound problems even more, the two riders catch up to me and state that they are quitting and want their reimbursement at this time. I explain to them that their reimbursement is tied up in the AU$5000 insurance bond for the campervan and that I would not have that money hold released until days after the race was over. Regina is appalled and greatly hurt, they ask for post dated checks at this point. With what checkbook I respond. Americans do not travel with their US checkbooks to a foreign country – no one would accept a foreign check. Reluctantly they decide to leave and get rides with other teams. We talk with a few of the teams that are constantly cheering us on, they noticed our melancholy. There is talk of find other riders from other teams at this point. We watch the other teams leave and head back to the campground to pack up and head for Marla. We were quite worried about the cycle fitting into the small campervan. We were happy that the bike actually fit inside without any dismantling. The cycle was too long to fit completely, so the campervan’s rear hatch had to be left opened. Our hope is to find a shop there, do the repairs and find new cyclists. I will register as a cyclist as well. We will end up with an 8 hour 26 minute time penalty for trailering.
Packed up and refueled, we head out to catch the other teams and start work in Marla. As we catch up to each team, we follow behind for a while. Noting average speeds and listening in on the mandatory radio channel assigned to each team we gain some knowledge about our competition and how each cycle is fairing on the road. More and more teams are having problems and a few are on the side of the road as we pass them. In Marla, I head for the store to ask about a shop. Seems there is one in town just around back of the main store. I head back and meet Luke who introduces me to the owner, Mike. I explain our problems and ask for some shop space and the use of a few tools. Mike agrees and I pull the cycle around and into the shop. Hours go buy as I find new problems – the bearing retainers are gone on two bearings and the other two are going fast. No bearings in town, our only hope is to over grease these and pull half a retainer out of each of the remaining retainers to us in the bearings that don’t have any retainer. This works unloaded and will have to do. On to steering and other little odds and ends, especially thread-locking. Tony and Ian are in town now, Tony decides to come by and see what is up and help himself to some of our food.
I spend the rest of the evening trying to get the steering up to par. Ian finally comes around and offers a suggestion based on another trike design that is popular in Australia. I see that he is right and that it’ll work better than what I can do here with limited resources. A pile of scrap metal is offered for us to rummage through. I’ve noticed a piece that with two cuts will give us the basic steering arms that we need. We still need to weld some and about that time Dave Jennings of the Eastern Fleurieu team has found us and is offering help once again. Dave kept coming around every night just as we needed some help – before, during and after the race. He helped with the welding. An hour later we had the new steering system finished. The riders had recanted their quitting on us and said they would still ride if the cycle was ready. We were unsure of this proposal and recanting. Why have they waited all day? Did they just want to be fed and get a ride down the road? Did they feel they needed to patch things up to get their reimbursement? Would they quit again when ever they felt like it? Regina, Dave, Barry and I briefly began discussing the situation when Bruce showed up to help with the motor controller swap. I had asked him earlier to come find us later and help with the fitting of his 36-volt controller to our 48-volt motor.
Thus began the midnight to four-thirty AM electrical re-wiring fest. I had to change the 48-volt system into a 36-volt system. Meanwhile Bruce figured out the wiring interface between the blown 48-volt controller, the brushless DC motor and his 36-volt controller. Amazingly, he got it on the first try and promptly went to bed. I felt so terribly bad about keeping him up so late. He assured me that he was enjoying himself thoroughly. Thank you Bruce! With a 36-volt system, the telemetry would not work. We would need a 36-volt DC-DC converter to get it working again. This was one part we could not find nor build in the Outback. This was a great disappointment.
Marla to Coober Pedy - 233.3km
Another two hour sleep period this morning and we are off to line up. The riders can not be found – the cycle is ready to go. We pack up the campervan and head to get some petrol. The riders finally show, Ian is too sick to pedal, he has had a cold since showing up. He claims that he will be able to pedal again in a few days. That’s great, we are at the starting line and all teams are packed up in their chase vehicles. No chance for a spare cyclists at this point. Time for me to weigh in and be the second cyclist. Tony and Regina get into a rift about how he is just there to cycle and wants his breakfast served and his dirty dishes put away for him. I bite my tongue and Regina brushes him off – rightly so. We go through the daily checks, but the brakes are slipping and the gear shifter is off kilter. We do some last minute adjustments on the line, scrutineer and get ready to go. Tony rides slowly for the first hour or so, complaining about excessive drag and a noise coming from the hub. The first day proved that many a bolt were not thread-locked and we needed to do that, especially the hub adaptor which had most of it’s screws backing out on day one and probably caused the bearing failures. It was decided that I would pedal for awhile to try an isolate the noise and get a feel for what still needed to be worked on.
I was quite nervous, yet excited at the same time. I changed my clothes, borrowed a sweaty helmet, adjusted the safety harness and was off! Wow! I loved it. It took a few minutes to get used to the steering and the limited vision. Overall, I could see every area I needed to, but I had to adjust my head to see them all. On Sunday when Ian first arrived, a decision was made to cut the top of the seat off to fit the riders. There was a lot of feedback from them about how they did not fit in the cycle and they could not get a proper leg extension. I only wished for the headrest to still be there. I felt like I fit in the cycle just fine and I’m taller than they are. This is a race boys, a few discomforts are to be expected. In the forty minutes that I cycled, I managed to cross over a cattle grid at full speed and be passed by a road train. With great luck, Tristan from the Eastern Fleurieu team passed by with his digital camera and took a snapshot of with me cycling and giving him the peace sign! The cycle handled like a charm. My average speed was about 10 km/h slower than the trained riders.
I did find the noise. It was what I had feared – the bearings. They were getting quite hot as were the hubs and hub adaptors. I decided to bag the rest of the day and head for Coober Pedy – a town large enough to possibly have our American sized bearings. I pulled over and we loaded the cycle into the campervan again. Race officials caught up to us and offered to escort the riders down the road as Regina and I drove to Coober Pedy with the cycle. We were to get another penalty for trailering. News had it that Malaysia was still leading our class but going very slow and stopping very often. Would they have to take the mandatory trailering option for being too slow and too far behind? Would we still have a chance to beat them in overall standings? They were down to mostly pedaling and no assist, three other teams were on pedal power alone. If we just had dedicated cyclists like they did…
Reaching Coober Pedy ahead of the other teams, we go scouting for bearings. The opal mine town is the first real town since we left Alice Springs. It is still small enough that I find the industrial area quickly and pull into the hardware shop. No luck here on bearings, but some suggestions on where to go up the street are provided. Next stop, a petrol station with a parts garage. After thoroughly searching all his bearing stocks the owner gives another shop a call. I’m holding my breath hoping his comrade will have the bearings in stock. No luck, but there are two other options in town. The second call scores! He has two of the four that I need. This might be enough to limp along to the next town in the race. I head for the place with the bearings and to my surprise a customer from the last shop is here too. He is looking for some hard to find part as well. I buy the bearings on sight, it was a great bargain around US$5. This other customer says he is headed for another shop around the corner that might have another set of the bearings, so I follow him. The owner is not there and I have to wait a half hour to find him. He looks the size up, makes a phone call and has a shop down south put two bearings on a bus up to Coober Pedy. The bus will be here at 6 AM tomorrow morning and he agrees to deliver them to the race starting line. They cost a buck more than the others. What a find, out here in the middle of the desert – the famed Outback.
Regina and I head for tea (that’s Australian for dinner) and then on to the race campsite to join the other teams. Tony and Ian are already there and are spending their time with the German team. PIOS is a standard store bought recumbent with high end solar cells and the Li-Ion battery pack that we could not afford to purchase. It was nice to see the pack and here about all it’s quirks and troubles. Joerg came over from Germany with the bike and found a bike store in Sydney that helped sponsor him and two guys from the store are helping drive and ride. Ian likes to help these guys out when he’s not with us. I’m not sure what Tony does when he is not with us – I think he’s helping the race officials or just wondering around. I believe most of the teams are not getting along with them. The tension between Regina and the riders finally explodes this evening. Tony asks if we even want them around, I try to stay in as neutral a position as I can. She lets them know just how abandoned we feel with them and that she personally cannot ‘let it go’, how there is no trust built up between them and us. Tony gets hot and threatens to track me down if we don’t reimburse them. Where this came from I’m not sure, but before we can discuss it any further he is yelling at Regina and raising his voice. I cut in right then and there and tell them to leave – pack their stuff and leave. I will not stand for this lack of respect towards any woman. I call him uncivilized and he is shocked. Ian quickly steps in and orders Tony to apologize, but the lame apology is not accepted or acceptable. We manage to patch things up enough to tolerate each other. They leave for dinner and we do not join them.
Merrick, the other ABC newsperson, has come over wanting to take some pictures of the cycle and chat. We talk as I work on the cycle, replacing a set of the worst bearings. I go for a spin around the campground, being cheered on by other teams. More small items need attention and I ponder how I can make a decent head rest. My attention is soon turned to electrical items. I need to re-wire the solar array for the 36-volt system. Fortunately I designed the system so that it could be wired for 24, 36, 48, and 60 volt motor systems. Changing only five connection points I will have a 36-volt solar array that utilizes all the cells and thus no lose of potential power. I’ve borrowed a small 240-volt soldering iron from Bruce. Using the campervan’s fold out bed as a work surface I have the array patched up in two hours. A lot of re-wiring needs to be done to move wires away from the feet of the cyclist and I spend the rest of the night working on this. I again attempt to get the telemetry system up and running on the 36-volt configuration – no luck. I need some rest.
Coober Pedy to Glendambo - 252.6km
Once again, we line up for the race day. Regina is doing a great job taking care of me and the campervan and being organized about the race paperwork. She has been taking care of all the behind the scenes logistics. I’ve not had to worry about anything but getting the cycle on the road and being neutral between cyclists and team members. We’ve definitely decided that we have two team members on this adventure and two riders along to just pedal. We’ve come to accept this strange separation and it helps us through the rest of the race. Unbeknownst to me, the old bearings have leaked grease onto the brake drum and our brakes are not up to par this morning. I’m frantically trying to please everyone, clean the brake surfaces, listen to other complaints from the riders and wondering where the other bearings are. Everyone wants something from me and I’m getting pulled in all directions, we need petrol for the campervan, I need breakfast, and I have minutes before the race starts to find the bearing man. We are starting last again today, which gave me 18 extra minutes to ask the ABC news team to give me a quick ride across town to get the bearings. Regina and Tony are off to get petrol. The campervan is a standard and Regina cannot drive it, so we are stuck with me driving all the time if Ian or Tony are not available. Ian is gearing up to ride. The motor controller is ready to go and we are getting full power from the array. On top of everything else every night I must make sure that the batteries get a full charge – their ready. Sarah and Merrick have rushed me across town to get the other bearings – I wish I could have spent more time with the two of them, they seem like good people to have as friends. I do not have enough time to put the new bearings in, so we will run with two new and two old to start with. The brake drums are clean thanks to Bruce’s alcohol spray cleaner. We go through our checks, race officials have scrutineered the cycle and rider – each morning all cyclists must weigh in on the official scale. I’ve lost weight! I’m very happy about that, I came home under 200 pounds. This weigh in is to check a cyclists hydration level. I’m not sure how they interpolate the data, but they are looking for a weight loss of some sort. We start on time with all of our team and chores done.
About twenty minutes into the ride and it’s obvious that the old bearings must be replaced. The brakes are fading from leaking grease and everything is heating up from the retainers getting ground away. We pull over for this fix it’s a twenty minute stop. There is some complaint about how the motor is not providing any or enough power. Part of the stop is spent explaining how the motor assist should be used and how it will work for them.
Back on the road, and after some guided testing instructions from me to Ian, we find that the motor has topped out speed wise at about 10 km/h slower than the riders would be pedaling. The voltage from the motor controller is direct proportional to speed, thus more voltage equals more speed. But the 48-volt motor is built (wound) to reach it’s top speed at around 48 volts. With only a 36-volt maximum from the borrowed controller, the cycle will only get motor assistance at slower speeds than the riders can pedal, around 1/3 the top assist speed. I suggest we keep going and use the assist for hill climbing and for when riders get tired and want to back down their speed. The riders see no point in this strategy and claim there is too much drag in the system from the hub motor to pedal all day like that. They don’t want to finish the day. So we stop and pack up, Regina and I have gotten quite good at this by now. The race officials pick up the riders again and we give out a sigh of relief. The tension between the riders and us, is so high, that it’s a relief not to have them around. That is a sad thing to admit, but it is the dry truth.
Speaking of dry, as we trailer into another penalty and into Glendambo, a fantastic thunderstorm began to build. Sacred Sun trailered today as well. Later that evening we were witness to a great thunder and lighting show. Tonight we have meet up with Paul Balestrin and friends from Prince Alfred College. Their bike is a two wheel recumbent design that they found on an American website. They are doing quite well in the event and invited us into the bar for a drink and chat. We spent over an hour talking about American influence on Australia, the 9-11 incident and how Australia shut down for the day, how disappointed all the teams are with our riders, and about life and verbage of South Australians. They invited us to dinner with the rest of their team and shared their covered campsite by giving us a spot for our cycle. We learned a mean recipe for three bean salad that night.
My next idea was to run his 36-volt motor mounted on a 700C wheel with his 36-volt controller. This should give the riders enough power assist to want to cycle for us again. I discussed this with them and they agreed, so it was off to find Bruce. He agreed to the idea and promptly supplied the wheel. The rain is now coming down quite hard and many teams are expecting not to race in the morning if it’s still raining. My hopes were up. In a fully enclosed cycle such as ours, rain is no problem. We might get some water thrown in by the wheels. But overall it’s a rain proof system – from day one the electronics have been enclosed in water tight enclosures. Maybe I can find another cyclists and between myself and them we can pedal at a slow rate all day – my usual rate – and finish while others are trailering. Upon returning to the campsite in the rain, I find that everyone has gone to sleep and there is no room to work on the cycle unless I move it into the rain. To mount this wheel I’ll have to do some welding and more cutting of the cycle’s rear bellypan. Something I can not do tonight, regardless of finding space to work. Thus I decide to wait out for the ‘rain plan’ in the morning and as a back-up just pack-up and head for Quorn, the next stop, and find a welder. Fortunately, one of the teams is from Quorn and we might be able to get into their school shop. I’ll spend the rest of the night designing a bracket system to extend the 20 inch swing arm so that it will fit a 700C wheel.
Glendambo to Quorn - 325.4km
The rain stopped sometime last night. With not much to do last night, the cycle is working and ready to go it just needs cyclists willing to pedal it, I actually got close to six hours of sleep. I guess my ‘rain plan’ will not work now. Thus we must once again trailer for the day. We linger in this small town for awhile this morning, looking to fill up our stomachs. On to Quorn at a slow pace. Any expectations of winning our category or the race are gone. We just want to prove the design works at this point. We enjoy the scenery as we pass through into the more populated and vegetated South Australia. There are many an old quaint town on the highway here. Much like the small towns on the ‘blue highways’ of America. It would have been nice to get a few pictures of the cycle traveling down the tree lined boulevard-like highway in these towns.
We stopped to talk with Alan and Mary who are race officials. They invited Regina and I to stay with them when we get to Adelaide. Bruce has also offered. Bill and Dave from Eastern Fleurieu did as well. Later Peter from Bike SA offered. This was a nice feeling and we took up many of the offers after the race was over and we were in Adelaide. The Malaysian team lost their motor 70 km into the race and had to pedal for the rest of the day. Word has it that they will be pedaling with no assist tomorrow. Hopefully we can take a first place finish in our category if the new wheel system works and they are on pedal power alone. Two other teams end up trailering. Finally we arrived at Quorn, found the street parade and approached Travis McDonald of the Quorn team. He agreed to get us into his shop where their solar cycle was built. It has a beautiful solid wood plank floor and all the tools you really need.
I cut out some scrape mild steel to form some basic extensions. Alan and Bruce dropped by later to help with the controller connection switching. We had to go back to the 36-volt to 36-volt that the system was originally. Once again, Bruce got it on the first try. The electronics were ready. Meanwhile I’m bust hacking away at the belly pan to fit this six inch larger wheel into the cycle. Alan points out the inherent flaw in the quick design and I instantly fix the problem, passing on the welding job to Dave from Eastern Fleurieu. Dave seems to show up just in time to help. After hours of work by many, Ian and Tony show up for dinner. Regina has offered a ‘peace dinner’ and they show up late as usual, making Regina re-cook everything. After mounting the new wheel and testing the electronics, I ask Ian to help me adjust the shifter. Tony’s already gone to bed and Ian looks like he wants to do something to help. It’ll shift through most of it’s gears, it’s late, and we are keeping Travis from his much needed sleep. So I call it a night.
We clean up the shop load up the campervan and I head off cycling to the campgrounds. This is the test period for the new system. I can feel that it is a bit wobbly in the rear. The rear tire is for a normal upright bicycle and is not laced with spokes strong enough for the loads seen be a three wheel trike. I’m worried a bit – but we have to try. I follow the campervan, trying to use it’s headlights to see the pitch black road. Ian is driving fairly fast and I have to pedal at a good clip to catch him. We enter the campgrounds and he abruptly stops gets out of the van and disappears for the night. I have to pedal the cycle to find the camping spot and then return by foot to drive the van to the spot. It’s time for rest again, but I have trouble trying to sleep. The separatist mentality going on bothers me and I try to find some work to ease my mind.
Quorn to Gawler - 285.3km
Half the field trailered today, it was the longest day thus far. At a slow, but steady pace we have the opportunity to pass many teams and take a first place finish for the day. We line-up and do our usual adjustments and checks. The scrutineers want to hear the horn again – they just love it. People are excited to hear of the changes and our possible good run today. I keep pondering on what possible kink we could have, but at the same time I’m dreaming of winning multiple daily trophies – First in Class, Most Improved, even First over the Line. Eighteen minutes after the first cycle leaves, we are off. Immediately, it’s obvious that the rear wheel is not stable. We have the speed and assistance we have been craving. With each bump in the road a very serious over-flexing is transferred from the wheel spokes, into the monocoque frame, into the front suspension, and is dampened only by the elastomer front shock absorbers and the front tires. The elastomers are not sized for this type of load and vibration. Like a wave, the cycle experiences an overall shimmy – from tail to nose. With every significant disturbance in the road bitumen, we watch as our ‘whale’ floats all over the Australian bitumen ‘river.’ In the chase vehicle, we are filled with concern for the safety of both Ian and the cycle.
Ian pulls over and we discuss what we will do. At each stop we must put out orange traffic cones (‘witch hats’ in Australia), were our orange safety vests, and pull completely off the road. We decide to continue cycling, the bike is so fast we are bound to make good time. We are already averaging 10-12 km/h more than we have been and the new motor has an unnoticeable cogging torque – making it very easy to pedal. I stress that we should take it slow. But adrenaline is pumping with excitement and worry. As we take off Regina remembers that she has left a witch hat behind the rear of the van. Tony jumps out to get it. I radio Ian to have him pull off the road, no response – he keeps going. The number one safety rule is to keep the chase vehicle behind the cycle at all costs. It is common sense, but also a stiff penalty for not complying. I’m forced to pull out an leave Tony behind. We keep yelling to Ian over the radio to stop, our agreed back-up method if we lose radio communication is honking, still no response from him. I try flashing the headlights, still nothing. He is climbing a hill and doing it very fast. I figure he will stop at the top and we can go back and get Tony. By this time a race official, Peter, has come upon the scene and volunteers to pickup Tony, drop him ahead of us and become our chase vehicle while we stop to get Tony. This actually works very well and we never had to stop.
We just passed our first cycle of the day. They are all waving and cheering us on as we blow past them. Then the second cycle, the third, the fourth – it’s the Malaysian team! We are leading the class now. A sense of confidence begins to form, but I keep radioing Ian to slow down. A steady pace will get us there safely now. We should pass most of the field at a slower steady pace. My directions are still not heeded. I honk, trying to get him to pull over and explain the strategy – no luck. All we can do is wait it out until the next rider change.
Tony is very nervous about cycling. The dangerous oscillations from the road are throwing the cycle all over the lane. I can’t tell if it’s worse, for by now Ian has learned to compensate some. A non-race vehicle begins a pass, we cross our fingers that nothing happens and the passing happens fast. It does happen fast, with the vehicle a few yards ahead of Ian I think he finally notices he is being passed. At that moment he hits a bump in the bitumen the cycle jerks and he screeches to a stop. We safely stop behind him, blocking the road. No vehicles are in sight. Tony rushes out of the campervan – its as though he had practiced for this situation, finally there is haste in one of our road side stops from a rider. The restraints are quickly removed from the cycle’s solar lid and Ian jumps out. They both abandon the lid very roughly and run like scared little boys to the side of the road. Come on, there are no cars in sight. Regina yells at them for the rough treatment of the solar array. A few days ago Tony had already let go of the top when a wind gust came up on it, permanently damaging 1/3 of the solar array. Luckily, I had the other end and was able to keep it from further damage.
Regina and I picked up the cycle, moved it off the road, and pulled the campervan back and off the road behind it. We were 50 km out and the front wheel had failed, once again we have to pull out of the race. I don’t feel that either one of them will want to get back in, and frankly I’m very tired of them. No team work has been exhibited from them, they are ‘just there to pedal.’ I have spare composite front wheels – second generation wheels that are much stronger. Regina and I agree to mount them later, remove the 700C wheel and run the cycle tomorrow with just me pedaling. We have the packing up down to a science now. We get the cycle and gear fully loaded and the rider’s gear fully unloaded in under 15 minutes. Finally a vehicle shows up on the road. It’s the race officials, saddened to hear about the final break down in this race for us. We are very far ahead of the cycles that we passed, they never caught up with us.
That evening was uneventful as I prepped the cycle for tomorrow’s parade. All the old gear goes back on. I’ll pedal through the whole 40 minute parade sans motor assist, but with the motor installed. I’m sure the press and public want to see a motor in a solar powered cycle. Even if we hardly used it. Regina gives the cycle a good cleaning and I will polish out the outside and the windows.
Gawler to North Adelaide
As I crossed the finish line today, I was surprised at the amount of press focus we attracted. Cameramen were running after me and holding their expensive network cameras very low to the ground to get a glimpse of the cyclist inside. When I came to a stop, they circled around the cycle like buzzards on prey. The final stop is in a crowded gated-off area full of cycles. I pop the lid off and step out. Why are all these news people swarming the cycle? We didn’t win. But we sure looked good.
- Australian Customs
- Motor controller failure and the weakness of this system.
- Sydney bike rider woes
- Not being able to collect data from the awesome telemetry system
- Lack of support to get trained North American cyclists to Australia
- Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. is now trying to charge us an extra US$3100 for their work in delivering the cycle.
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. hosed us and held the cycle hostage for numerous months. Once the US$3100 in ransom was paid it was released. But not in time to run the 2002 US racing events. They have refused to pay SolarBoy the money owed for the Australian Customs Tax Refund. They seemed to have pocketed the refund or not followed through on collecting it.
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