HPV Racing

[bartsau]

Firstly if you or you're kids ever get a chance to have a go at racing HPV's it is well worth it.

I will assume most people have no idea though what HPV racing is although some of you may have had some involvment in this sport however, just thought I would share with you what it is.

Essentially it is a series of races throughout the year in which teams of 8 riders compete in races ranging from 6hours to 24 hours. The HPV (Human Powered Vehicles) are recumbent trikes. They are fully enclosed and due to safety risks must contain a four point seat belt, side intrusion bars, head roll bar and knee roll bar. I have been racing these for 10 years now and over this time they have developed a lot. The last team I competed with broke the distance record in 2008 clocking up 1021kms over 24 hours. This was broken last weekend and is now at 1068kms.

They can be propelled rather fast if you're fit enough. I have done a lap of one of the tracks we race with an average speed of 56km/hr. Yes that is purely pedal powered. I have also, clocked it at 78km/hr on the Holden lang lang speed bowl. Although, another team mate clocked 84km/hr on the same day.

They are very different to cars but the racing has some similar issues such as in-experienced riders causing crashes. I was on the receiving end of this last Saturday night and hit a gutter at 50km/hr launching into a fence and ripping the fairing to pieces. In the process I fractured my knee cap. This ended our chances in this race as the bike was un-repairable after only 11hours of racing.
Worst of all though now I can't drive my car for the next 6 weeks because of the stupid bloody brace I have to wear :(

Some pics to help people visualize what garbage I am writing about!
The bike before the start of the last race and yes the fairing is full carbon fibre with kevlar reinforcement:




The fence with the spot I hit circled:


The bike after the crash:




Also a couple of pictures of the last bike I raced for the last 3 years and will be racing a new improved version next year.



The photo above shows how it is contained in a clamshell to make access easy to aid quick repairs and rider changes.

The photo below show our quick release head rest to enable us to quickly change the bike to suit different rider heights.




The photo below shows the adjustable boom again to aid in fitting riders ranging from 5'8"-6'3".