Battle Mountain - Day 3

To make sure that we all have a position in the evening sessions, David and Thomas will make a run on the long course this morning. Both are eager to show what they are worth. Because of the state of Thomas' ankle, we decide to let Thomas go first, so he will start David later on. Thomas is concerned that his ankle will be to painful to ride if he has to push David first. Luckily we have Rob Hitchcock to help us this morning; Jan-Marcel can stay in bed a little longer and will be able to ride as good as possible tonight.

Rob Hitchcock and Team Cygnus 

We are well before time on the parking lot at the "gravelpit" of the local mine. The team has really gotten into its stride, the car is unpacked and the warm-up bike is set up. David and Thomas can take their time warming up, because everybody has to wait for the schoolbus to pass and the qualification runs to be completed.

When it's time for Thomas' run, the winds have picked up and is no longer legal. It's a pity, but Thomas' legs aren't feeling as good as they can be after standing up most of the day during the "show and tell". Nevertheless he is able to reach a substantial 64.72 mph or 104.15 km/h. The speed is caused by the bad weather, because nobody reaches a speed above 65 mph.

A lot of riders decide not to run because of the weather and thus we are able to start David in the second heat when we get back. When we start David the bike is pulling to the right and David is heading for the stop sign on the side of the road. Luckily David can hit the brakes in time, and we can start him for the second time. Again the bike is pulling to the right. We decide to stop trying and determine the problem so we can solve it.

It is soon established that the infamous brake lever is causing the pulling. When it is rotated downwards it collides with the frame and limits steering to the left. Problem found and solved, so we put our name on the list for the last heat. Unfortunately it is too late so we cannot start anymore; NDOT cannot keep the road open for us any longer. David will have to try again tomorrow morning.

We can be short about the evening runs. It has been clouded all day and when we are about to leave for the track, we see several showers of rain passing by. When we are on our way, the road is wet and raindrops are still coming down. When we get to the start everybody is gathered by the side of the road. It is "cold", windy and moist. The evening session is cancelled. Riding in these circumstances is useless.

We do shake hands with State Trooper Arthur Aten. Indeed the State Trooper who got us all speeding tickets for exceeding the speedlimit last year. It is nice to see him again and he still recognizes all of us.