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We decided not to go out to the track today, but to spend the time recovering and trying to sort out some cooling systems for the bike. Dave and I went out for an hour’s spin at 4am and explored some back roads in the dark, then when we got back we did some updated of our websites before having breakfast. I then went off for a nap whilst Dave and Becky cracked on with installing the AC…. When I went down later they had made good progress – there was a piece of coroplast carboned into the nose to create room for an ice dam, ice packs had been introduced behind the seat, and an ice-water drip system was being implemented for the back of the bike. Dave had built a rack over the rear wheel cover to hold two camelbak bladders to give gravity feed for this purpose. My contribution was a hand operated misting spray – Matt Weaver was installing a highly complicated, crank driven pump system – mine was much more low tech. Two $1 spray bottles were sacrificed; one trigger was mounted on the handlebar like an additional brake lever, pulling from a water bottle reservoir mounted on the sub frame, and feeding a nozzle positioned to spray up at my forearms and chest. This eventually worked really well, with the cooling spray making a noticeable difference. We also added some foam to the shoulder area of the shell (once again, just like with Mango, I am too narrow for the bike!), and a piece under my bottom to try and reduce the brusing I picked up yesterday. And then it was time to get ready for tomorrow and get to bed…..
Meanwhile, at the track, Damjan had been running at record pace, despite having to freewheel over the worst of the bumps in order to concentrate on control. And with not long to go he even started accelerating. But then disaster struck and his front tyre blew, putting him out with 11 minutes to run – and 42 miles completed. His bike is so small and slick, but with the smallest front wheel of anyone there (17”) the bumps were a problem. And sadly he didn’t have a spare tubular for it, so his racing was over. Freddy also had problems, getting two fast laps in before his intermediate drive came loose and he lost his chain. Rob Hitchcock, riding the Kyle Edge enclosed for the first time, fared even worse, crashing on his launching gear. He then managed to get going with a hand start, but lost control going into turn 1 and went down for a second and final time. Steve Delaire’s brother Craig then knocked out an hour in Steve’s machine, with around 37 miles – not so fast, but only the second rider after myself to actually complete an hour so far. |