Saturday evening

The run tonight was slower than the run yesterday. Update will follow.

We went to The Owl for something to eat and the prize giving ceremony, and also for all the fun we had. We all got a medal for participating in the race, either in the speed runs or in the drag race. It was time to say goodbye to a lot of people.

It was late when we got back to the hotel, where we had to put Sjaaks bike back together again. It took some time, so it was around 1.30 h before we could all go to sleep. Sjaak is driving along a bit with Bram and Annette Wielemaker in their camper, and will cycle some more. Sjaak is going to enjoy cycling in Amerika for a bit longer.

We had a lot of fun. We hope to see everybody again next time.

Saturday morning

Since we're just a bunch of gits, we slept in again this morning. Jan-Marcel could do with the rest, because his legs were really sore from yesterday evening. The bike is fitted with a new tire, so we should be fine tonight.

At the Civic Center we had the meeting and now we are about to make pictures of the teams and the bikes.

Friday evening

The weather was looking very good this evening, with hardly any wind. Jan-Marcel started as the second bike in the second heat, after Damjan. The start was one out of the book. The run looked very good from the chase car too. At catch the bike did waver off to the left a bit. When we had extracted Jan-Marcel from the bike, which took some effort, the front tire was as flat as it could be. Jan-Marcel did say that he could not get the bike to go faster anymore, the flat tire explains that. He did get a decent speed, but not the speed he had wanted to reach.

At the riders meeting the speed Jan-Marcel reached turned out to be 76 mph. After diner at the Chinese restaurant,we went back to the hotel where Jan-Marcel took some time in the spa. The front tire turned out to have a number of punctures from goat head thorns. There must have been some on the road somewhere. The tire got changed, the bike is ready for tomorrow again.

Friday morning

This morning was a nice and easy one with sleeping in, having breakfast, and for some, spending some time on the warm-up bike. Then to the Civic Center for the ridersmeeting and the allocation of the slots for the heats during this evening runs and for the next morning. After lunch we went to a street near the High School where the drag races were held. Sjaak, Thomas and Erika took a turn in competing. Sjaak was one of the faster riders, but not the fastest. Erika turned out to be the fastest of the ladies on a Cannondale road race, borrowed from Robert Barnett.

Back at the hotel we split up in two groups. One half went swimming, the other group stayed at the hotel room for some needed rest.

Thursday evening

We got everything in the car and went to the 305 around 16.30 h. Jan-Marcel warmed up on Sjaaks bike which is stationed in the trainer Jun brought for us. More familiar faces were present this evening, George Leone was there with some of the CalPoly students. Tonight was really windy. Three heats again, with Jan-Marcel in the second heat as the second bike. Damjan was in front of him. Thomas started Jan-Marcel for his run. This was a bit more challenging due to the wind. Jan-Marcel was not riding very fast, the wind was gusty and pretty strong. In the last heat only three bikes started; Gareth, Greg and Todd.

It was a lot easier to get Jan-Marcel out of the bike this evening. This time he got out himself, yesterday we had to help him out of it. After all the heats were done, we went back to the hotel to put some things back in the room and the bike in the corridor. Now we are in the Civic Center to hear what speed Jan-Marcel had. It won't be fast.

Jun always announces the speeds. This evening Jan-Marcel ran 70 mph. When the meeting finishes we wil go to the Chinese restaurant again to get a meal.

Thursday morning

Yesterday we were just checking the bike, this morning the bike needed a bit more to it. The derailler cage wasn't in its original position anymore. Thomas managed to get everything working again, and that was really a job well done! Then it was time for the riders meeting again at 11.00 h. The morning runs had varying wind conditions. Alan had the highest wind speed until now. After the meeting we went to some more shops. We found new places for groceries, materials and shopping. Back to the hotel for lunch, the last hand on the bike repairs, and some swimming. Now we are having a bit of rest before the entire circus of the evening runs will start.

Wednesday evening

This evening we had 3 heats, Jan-Marcel was the first in the second heat. Toronto had a broken spoke and did not run the second time this evening. That opened up a spot for Jan-Marcel in the third heat. He would be the last one to ride this evening, after Barbara and Ellen. Just before the start the chain had fallen off. It took Thomas some effort to get it back on, in time to start. The first starting attempt resulted in a fall. James Schroeder helped to lift the bike up and put it back on its tires again, so Jan-Marcel could be started again. This time he did get going. Somewhere along the way the bike moved to the left lane to signal a problem and wanting to be caught. The chase car overtook the bike, Thomas and Erika got out to catch the bike. But Jan-Marcel had regained speed again and overtook the car and moved on. Thomas and Erika got back in the car again to chase the bike.

Jan-Marcel had a nice stop at the catch area, Barclay is very good at that. Jan-Marcel had trouble getting out of the bike, because he had blown up his legs. We had to help him out. It took him some time to regain himself, then we headed back to the hotel. Jan-Marcel pedalled a bit on the warm-up bike to get the blood flow in the legs going and speed up recovery a bit. Off to the Civic Center where we heard that he did 72 mph during this run. Now we are off to get something to eat.

Shortly after take off I wanted to shift gear but the chain came off. Riding at about 25 mph there was no way I could make it to catch safely, so I moved over to the left lane to signal distress. On the left lane just after the car came by, I managed to get the chain back on and was able to peddle again. I went back to the right lane to signal I was okay. I saw alot of vests moving in the right lane where the car was located to catch me. I went back to the left lane, passed the car and continued my ride in right lane. No worries about the chase vehicle it would catch up on me later.
Spinning out of the gear, I tried to switch over to the next one. But again, nothing happened apart from the chain that came off again. It took some time and effort to get the chain back on. The speed had dropped and when the chain was back on I had no idea whether this was in the same gear as it was before or a higher/lower gear. Again, had to shift because I spinned out in this one. And again the chain came off (for the third time during the run) and I had no traction what so ever. Just before the 1.5 mile marker I was able to get things going again. I kept in mind that the weather seemed to be good at start so I started sprinting to get at least a reasonable speed.

Wednesday morning

After a nice evening run on Tuesday we decided not to run this morning, so we did not have to get up so early. That gave us the extra sleep we really needed. After breakfast we checked the bike and the tires thoroughly. We took the frame out of the bike to make certain everything is still where it should be. The bike bag also needed some more mending, that was also worked on. We were early in the Civic Center for the riders meeting. Christien came in, she had crashed the bike during the morning runs. Luckily she was fine.

During the meeting the positions for the evening runs and the runs for the next morning were filled in. There will not be any qualifying runs in the morning, just some 2.5 mile runs after the 5 mile runs. Afterwards we got some groceries, such as drinking water and bananas. Then we got back to working on the bike and the bag again. The little rubber piece of the bicycle pump was too worn out, thankfully we could borrow one from Greg. Thanks, this way we can get enough air in the tires without having to resort to all kinds of tricks.

We had a swim in the pool in the early afternoon and Jan-Marcel is getting some rest for his evening run.

Tuesday afternoon and evening

A lot of school children came to watch all the bikes, ask for autographs and sit in the bikes. Busy but nice. A group of students from Reno was also there. We had lunch in the Civic Center as well. After we had some rest we set out for the track again for the speed runs. This evening we had three heats, Jan-Marcel was the first rider in the second heat. A lot of wind tonight across the track. So no legal wind, but Jan-Marcel managed to reach 64.7 mph.

To our great relief the Chinese restaurant was open for business tonight. We got a more than decent meal in good company.

Team Delft Mats-ched our expectations

This morning we got up even earlier than yesterday, just to be on time to be able to get everything ready and warm-up properly. Two qualification runs were held, Jan-Marcel was in the second. Mats, Delfts starter on skeelers, helped us wonderfully to get Jan-Marcel started. We needen two tries to do so. The Cygnus Chronos was on its way, Sjaak drove the chase car with Thomas and Erika in it. The bike passed through the time-traps nicely and had almost come to a complete stand still at the catchers.

After catching our breaths, we went back to the hotel for some stuff and drove out to the quite road again to practise starting. We are improving. The temperatures were rising and the sun was bright. We had to remove the hatch a number of times during practise, because it became too hot in the bike. Afterwards we got to the hotel to change and go to the Civic Center for the riders meeting, lunch and the show-and-shine where the school childred come to watch the bikes and ask for autographs.

The registered time of Jan-Marcel's qualifying run was 64 mph.

Monday Qualifying runs

Yesterday, the Chinese restaurant was closed, so we ended up in the Mexican restaurant to get something to eat. Then it was really time for some sleep. We got up very early, around 6.00 h, to get ready in time. We got some breakfast first, and then put all the stuff we would need in the car. Got off to the 305, where we arrived before the road closure. There were four heats, we were in the last one. Jan-Marcel was the first one to start. In his first try he moved too far to the left, so Thomas started him again, but the bike fell over. After Jan-Marcel, Christien, Peter, Barbara, and Alan also started or tried to start.

We packed everything in the car again and headed back to the hotel, took a swim and went to the Civic Center for the Riders meeting at 11.00 h. Jan-Marcel got a spot in the qualifying runs for tuesday morning.Lunch time, time for a nap, and off to a road in the neighborhood to practice starts and  stops until it started to rain. Back in the hotel we parked the bike in the downstairs corridor, and after a chat with Alan, Jonathan and the guys from the University of Liverpool we got out again for some food. We tried the Chinese restaurant again, but they seem to be out of business, because we noticed a sign "out of service". That's a bummer. We tried The Owl, and the food was better than earlier experienced there.

At 20.00 h we were at the riders meeting again where the speeds of the evening runs were announced. Rik had made a run over 80 mph. Well done.

Battle Mountain - Sunday

Sunday was used to put the bike back together again. We got some groceries and materials to make repairs on the bike and the bag. Once the bike was complete again, and we had had some lunch, we moved over to the Civic Center to finish the bike and try to mend the bag as good as we could. We could use materials and tools from the Toronto team. Getting the bike ready, always takes up more time than one expects. We would have liked to get some food before the 19.00 h meeting, but time ran out. Now it is time for the meeting, then we'll head over to the Chinese restaurant.

We arrived in Battle Mountain

After two very long days of travelling, we arrived in Battle Mountain on Saturday. The plane on Friday was delayed a bit, but we got on board alright. The que at the Immigration/Airport Security was long, but our bags arrived soon. When we got to pick up the bike at the Odd Size Luggage, we noticed that the bag was severely damaged, and the bike was also damaged. Sadly the luggage personnel did not want to give any service, we were only given a telephone number. Picking up the rental car took some time as well, it was very busy there.

Then it was time to pick up Sjaak at Oakland International Airport. He had travelled on Thursday to Oslo. We spent the night in Sacramento and travelled to Battle Mountain on Saturday.

. . . . (part 8)

The rear wheel

the intermediate hub

bonding the halves

well aligned

smile

and a new bag made by Verheul

We are ready for BM2014!

. . . . (part 7)

We have got a front hub

a rear hub

a cassette

a frame

the complete drive train

the rearwheel

will we make it. . .

. . . . (part 6)

We also have a frame

a seat

and rear wheel mounting points