Thursday 16 September 2010

Day 13: Battle Mountain, NV

Wha-hey, I'm catching up...

No power cuts and a distinct improvement in radio performance, at least along the short course.  Whittney tried running Miner Details with the top of the fairing attached, and didn't.  Mike Mowett did get his Norus down the short course eventually, but it would appear to need some fettling to get it close to the 58 mph it achieved in the hands of Rob Wood back in 2003.


On the long course, both Kara Snyder and Dan Zolyniak made it down OK; Jay's chain came off, obliging him to coast through the traps from a kilometre out and in the morning's last run Thomas did 69.9 mph for a new personal best.  He is this: happy.  When Tiffany did her run in the Arrow Hawk, however, she apparently hit one of the gouges in the road at the two-mile marker, which threw something out of whack and made the machine vibrate so badly she couldn't focus on the video screen.  Hence it was parked.  James Schroeder had a go, and reported the same symptoms.  With the machine already having blown a tyre last night when James was running at 58 mph, it appears that luck has deserted them for now.

If anyone has lost this:


would they please let me know.  Mike Sova reckons it fell off my motor-car, but we had a look at the V8 Noise-Maker:


and nothing is obviously missing, and the thing still goes OK.  The good news is that Damjan should have a legal helmet in time for tomorrow evening's run; his mate Joze and John Jackstone have just got off the blower to the shop.  Now I am going to see whether I can do anything about that stupid seat belt...

No, I can't.  Scott Wilson is the latest person to do 175 mph without a belt, and I have three firm bookings for tomorrow.  I should start charging for this.

Evening news will have to wait, for two reasons.  Firstly, this chair is doing untold damage to my right shoulder.  Secondly, Jeff Wills came into town this afternoon, bearing Free BEER, courtesy of Full Sail Brewing of Hood River, OR.  Their IPA is 6.0% ABV, and very nice.  Hic.  In the interim, here is what some rotter, or rotters, possibly of the Tall Dutch persuasion, has done to Mike Mowett's bike:


Ooo-err!  The wind speed went up as the sun went down, which is this: unusual.  More usual for this week was the Bad Luck Virus which, for the fourth time in as many runs, chose to infect the Arrow Hawk again.  James was running at 58 mph with two miles to go when "something broke" in the inaccessible areas inside the fairing.  He coasted through at 44.  Another good run for Todd in the Ace, with a legal 63+.  Another 63 for Barclay and another 70 for Ron.  In the second session Jan-Marcel topped 70 with legal wind; everyone else had Bad Wind and speeds were, by the stellar standards of the group, unexceptional. 

Curious thing found on the road: it's got to be that black plastic thing up there ^^^^.

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