OK, I've had a full nights sleep. Let's see if I can put to words the results of the ePower Challenge. There were only about three weeks notice for the ePower Challenge. After trying for more than three years to get insurance for the ePower event, coverage was acquired mere weeks prior to the HPC (Human Powered Challenge) weekend. With the short notice postings were made in the online forums. From the feedback of the various forum members and several e-assist manufactures rules were formed and reformed. There were two to three other riders that didn't make the event The gantlet has been thrown down. The participants of the ePower Challenge impressed many people. I over heard one who rides a streamliner say that he was surprised at the speed and was going to build a power-assist bike to race in next year that would be faster then stink. After looking at the stats that I acquired, Brent B. of Ecospeed was the fastest bike there. He rode a Gold Rush Replica with a fairing and tail sock. According to our times had I raced him, I'd have finished second place about six minutes behind him. That wouldn't have been a disgrace because he has a very nice setup. In the eCat 1 race I was ridding with a Go-One velomobile. A design that comes from Germany. We were in different divisions so I wasn't racing against him. Still I did lap him five times. His system was to the letter of the law and me, I was only concerned with the race rules. We weren't ridding on the street so I didn't have to go by those laws. Had it been a race without e-assist Mitch would have made me look like I was standing still. He's a much better rider than I am. In eCat 2 all three divisions were represented. Though five of the six divisions were represented overall, it is my understanding that within each division there were vehicle classes. The race divisions were not open class unlimited. There was a Trek recumbent running an EcoSpeed system. The Gold Rush Replica running an EcoSpeed system and finally a mountain bike with a C-lyte 5x.
Thorough generous gifts, donations and sponsorships our $20.00 entry fee is to be refunded, we also received an Adventure Cycling water bottle and got a Pak-Lite. The Pak-Lite is an interesting little light. Basically it's a cover that snaps onto a 9v battery and has two LED bulbs and a switch. 20Hrs of light is the claim. The Pac-Lite itself also glows in the dark. I've been interested in the Pak-Lites since I first read about them years ago. A very nice and small emergency light.
I'll post the race results first and then follow up with an overview of my stats. Here's the link to the rules.
http://www.ohpv.org/HPC/EventsNews.html
eCat-1 Div-1 12miles no rider
eCat-1 Div-2 18miles Mitch S.... 53:36 Go-One velomobile with BionX hubmotor 36V pack
eCat-1 Div-3 24miles Bill B........45:10 WAW velomobile with 406 c'lyte 48v AGM pack 20Ah controller
eCat-2 Div-1 20miles Bill S....... 54:12 Trek recumbent with EcoSpeed drive system
eCat-2 Div-2 30miles Brent B.... 50:30 Gold Rush Replica with an EcoSpeed drive system
eCat-2 Div-3 40miles Calin B...1:35:14 Schwinn mountain bike with c-lyte 5304 48v 20Ah pack
Now I'll post my personal stats. I ended up ridding 102miles at Portland International Raceway. My first run was with a 60v pack the rest with a pack of 49V AGM. I was trying to decide if I wanted to carry an extra battery to race in another division. I decided in the end to race with my 48v AGM pack as I didn't want to carry the extra 12lbs and I knew what my 48v system was capable of. It's my hope that these numbers will help others with their systems. My stats come from my Trek Incite 11 bike computer and my WattsUp meter. They will read left to right in order of the runs with the final stats being my race. Also of note between the two Sunday runs I went to a hardware store to purchase eight washers to shim up the body of my velomobile a quarter of an inch to give my front tires some additional clearance in the wheel wells.
Sat morning...............
Sunday morning.....................
Sunday afternoon................
Monday race
5AGM 12v 18Ah............4 AGM 18Ah..........................4 AGM 18Ah........................4 AGM 18Ah
37.7miles...................19.5 miles............................21.3 miles..........................23.4miles
40.4 mph/max.............33.7 mph/max.......................32.9 mph/max....................34.2 mph/max
30.4 mph/avg..............27.3 mph/avg........................29.1 mph/avg.....................31.1 mph/avg
unknown....................288.7Wh--->14.80Wh/mile.........336.4Wh--->15.79Wh/mile......335.7Wh--->14.28Wh/mile
unknown....................20.73Ap................................20.92Ap...........................20.51Ap
unknown....................44.46Vm...............................45.42Vm...........................44.86Vm
unknown....................982.6Wp.............................1006.2Wp...........................969.2Wp
unknown......................6.02Ah...............................6.967Ah............................6.951Ah
unknown....................50.3V at end of run..................unknown............................50.5V at end of run
Some photos to follow in additional post. More photos can be seen at my flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmbates/sets/72157605279784351/ As of today I've only upload a select few. More should be uploaded at a later on.
(Edited on November 3rd 2008) Upon rereading this thread I noticed that the two video that Cal had posted of my velomobile were no longer on line. Cal had given me permission to post the videos and they have been on my flickr account for many months now. There are 38 photos and two videos in the ePower Challenge 2008 set
A personal
Thank you! to all who participated with the forming of the event, the riders who came out to partake, the sponsors who made it possible and especially the power-assist sponsors who on short notice stepped up to the plate and donated money, prizes and gifts for the ePower Challenge. Let me not forget the rather rowdy cheering section by the start/finish line. It was wonderful to see it all. I couldn't hear a thing do to the rumbling inside of the velomobile but I did see the smiles and clapping.