Dekarate
Seems like a big hurdle to 100mph from just over 50. Double the speed requires four times the power at the same drag. How much further can the drag be reduced or the human power be increased?
Gary Bonney
I think he meant from 83 to 100 mph, he appears to have realised from the wording of the article that a prone position is not going be competetive.
The Skud
A photo of The Beastie for comparison would have been nice. I wonder how much bigger a 'gear' he will need to use to get to the 100?
Cyclorama
We were achieving mid 50's speeds in the eighties (Bluebell 54.38mph 200m European championships). I admire Obree immensly but if he'd bothered to research the subject he would have discovered that the prone position was tried (by the Easy Racer team amongst others) and abandoned. For all kinds of reasons of comfort and control - but mainly because it's slow.
Mick
Bob Stuart
"Recumbent" includes both prone and the more conventional supine positions. Obree's expertise in in aerodynamic riding positions, and Dr. Alan Abbott, who had the absolute record at 47 MPH, showed the large advantage of the superman position for narrowing the shoulders. It sure would have been nice to see at least a link to some useful information about all that wonderful technology. This whole series of records is also misleading, depending not only on thin mountain air, but also a minor downslope, a legacy of the first venue used for a contest. Perhaps a new series should be based on flat roads, near sea level. Battle Mountain is a good rule-beater, but very inconvenient.
someguy
@Dekarate, the required power actually goes up by a factor of 8 if you double the speed. The wind drag force goes up by a factor of 4, but the required power is the product of the force and the speed, so speed comes up 3 times in the power calculation. Which means, of course, that it's even more difficult to get to the 100...
duh3000
Congratulations to Graeme for his remarkable achievement. And to Sebastian for his. Very good to see that the limits continue to be pushed back by these amazing people and their teams.
Nathan Salter
Anyone interested in the Land Speeder? It's in my back yard. I think it hit 53mph in 1981. It's a 3 wheeled rear drive trike with a bullet cowling and still actually works but it will soon be electric. The most efficient transportation is a human powered bike.
Tom Swift
At about 4,500 feet elevation, does that hurt the cyclist's performance due to oxygen or does the lowered air drag compensate? If it hurts why not find a sea level site to make the run?
Paul Gracey
@ Tom Swift: The elevation is a compromise between the oxygen needs of the rider and the advantages derived from the thinner atmosphere he has to push through. Indeed the lowered air drag is to advantage. Also the site at Battle Mountain has some weather advantages at the time of year we use. Records are nearly always set with lower than our allowable wind speed across the course in any direction because excessive steering costs speed. Some of our earlier records were set at nearly twice that height: 8000 ft. (2438M). It might also be instructive to note that the U. S. Olympic cycling team's training and certain world cycling records were done at higher altitudes. Colorado Springs, and Mexico City respectively.