Day 23: Battle Mountain NV

This morning's action if brought to you by the letter "W".  "W" for "Wind™"  Relentless, unstoppable and making it feel colder than it really was.  On the way out to the course $BIKE's hatch escaped from the back of their truck.  Again.  And unlike yesterday, it was too badly damaged for $BIKE to be able to run either this morning or tonight, for Lo!  It is in at least two pieces.  We ran the long course heats first.  'topher and Eta Prime the sole runner in heat one.  Chain.  Again.  Controlled flight into terrain.  Again.

No takers for the second heat; Adam scratched from the third but Erin decided to give it a try.  She was doing about 55 mph when the Wind™ got the better of Eta Prime and blew it off the road.  The bike has suffered some damage which the Toronto PSOs are beavering away on e'en as I type.  Quite a lot of Nevada found its way inside the bike, and Erin, during its acrobatics and the duty ambulance was summoned to give her eyes a good irrigation.  She was tucked away in the back of the ambo for so long that we feared some latter-day Dr Frankenstein^[1] was dismantling her for spare parts but happily this has subsequently been shewn to be in error.

We also had to remove this:

from the road; a sharp-edge piece of vehicle trim backed with d/s tape sticky enow that Bill couldn't detach it from the asphalt.  Traffic Control Supervisor Josh had some suitable tools, Stuffs for the unsticking of.  "Probably fell off my truck!" said Battle Mountain Mike.  "Too shiny!" I replied, from a safe distance.  Josh has actually had Stuff To Do this year; earlier he had to wake a snoozing motor-ist who had parked on the shoulder just after the bridge.  "You can't park there, mate!"

Two short course heats ensued.  Team Hermus elected to sit the first one out; Justin S actually got going in WooHoo Two but lost control at low speed while trying to reposition his hand, that he might operate the gear shifter.  Low-speed off.  Both riders went again in the next heat; Justin went down again, much further down the course this time, after the chain came off and got itself into an unseemly and indelicate position with the right pedal.  Hans may have a suitable chainring with built-in guard in the Box of Delights he keeps here in town.  Alexis opted to start.  Reports from the chase vehicle suggested a much more stable run than his last attempt, despite the Wind™.  41.91 mph.  And he made a perfect landing down at catch.

Levez vos skinny fists comme antennas to heaven^[2]!
Alexis in the centre in the black top.

Forecast for this evening looks shite as well.  Wind™.

One of the nice things about Bill doing sweep this year is that this lunchtime was the first time I've had to put petril in the less-than-mighty Honda since Friday.  But anyway.  Yes, it was still Bastard Windy™ so we only ran two heats, both on the short course, to give the Cal Poly and Hermus riders some more stick time.  In the first one, Justin S went first and got WooHoo Two down at 37.57 mph.  It seems the bike's camera system is not of the first water since the hapless pilot confessed he could see little of the catch crew until they were a hundred feet away.  He evaded all their efforts and steered off the road for a soft landing in the shrubbery.  Alexis fought Beluga One all the way down for a 35.22 mph run before losing the fight just after the bridge.

Justin in the shrubbery.  Ni!

Alexis wanted another go, because he's an Athlete but Team Hermus withdrew their whale from the second heat due to Transmission Woe.  Which the Pinion gearbox is supposed to minimise.  Justin - who is also an Athlete - did run again and hit 44.18 in the Wind™.  We nearly caught him this time but the bike ended up supine again, this time in the middle of the road.  It's a lot easier to lift than a fully-crewed Titan.

We were just packing up in time for a flying visit from our grate frend Officer Arthur Aten of the Nevada Highway Patrol.  Vote early and vote often to elect him Sheriff.  I wonder if he'll be hauling Bill off to clink on Saturday for doing 200 mph... ["You did 200 mph too!" - Ed.]

Additional: once again Holly is spoiling us.  On tonight's menu, a rib-sticking soup.  Three bowls of that and I'd be able to walk to Denver.

1. Pronounced "Fronkensteen", obv.
2. See note "a", Godspeed You! Black Emperor fans.