The 2009 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix is once again creeping up very quickly with less than 2 months to go until the first 24hr for 2009. We decided as a team at the end of last year that BYR wont be taking to the track to defend our title in 2009.
However you will see a BOR (Bendigo Oldies Racing) vehicle out on the track in a refurbished BY-08. BOR is a team comprised of our Parents, Pit Crew, Former Teachers and people who have all gone out of their way to support us over the past years. In what will be a first for BYR our dedicated pit crew Chris Crowe and Marcus Sloane and Mike Turnbull will swap spanners for lycra as the rest of the team make their wonthaggi debut.
The normal riding team will perform a complete role reversal and see what the race is like on the other side of the pit wall. The BOR team may not have Youth on there side but if one thing is for sure, they will be out there giving 110% effort at all times.
The following are the members of Bendigo Oldies Racing and how they are linked to BYR:
Chris Crowe = Pit Crew.
Marcus Sloane = Pit Crew.
Mike Turnbull = Pit Crew and Flora Hill SC HPV teacher.
Paul King = Parent of Daryl & Gavin.
Stuart Ridge = Parent of Callan.
Ash Hill = Flora Hill HPV teacher.
Josh Pell = Helper at races.
Joel Derrick = Helper at race
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Bendigo Oldies Racing for Wonthaggi 2009
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Black out in Bendigo
Well, it turns out that you really can't win them all.
Below is a picture of our work session last night:
Yep, you guessed it - the power went out!
It has been over 43 degrees C for the past four days up here and black outs have been common across Victoria.
This doesn't really make a work session - particularly the use of lathes - very productive.
So, we went and swam in the dam.
Prior to the outage, work has been progressing well on our rig for Wonthaggi.
This includes an extensive rebuild of BY-08.
We'll be fielding a great crew for the first 24-hour race of 2009 and it should be a lot of fun!
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
An open letter to the AIPP
Back in December last year, we sent a letter to Andrew McLachlan and the Board of the Australian International Pedal Prix covering a few issues and recommendations.
You can read the full letter below and encourage you to provide feedback to event organisers (AIPP or otherwise) in the future.
As someone who volunteers with the Energy Breakthrough each year, we do collect some feedback via an online survey, but it's always good to hear from more people about what worked and what didn't.
You can read the full letter below and encourage you to provide feedback to event organisers (AIPP or otherwise) in the future.
As someone who volunteers with the Energy Breakthrough each year, we do collect some feedback via an online survey, but it's always good to hear from more people about what worked and what didn't.
"Dear Andrew and members of the AIPP Board,
Firstly, congratulations on a great and successful Australian International Pedal Prix in September 2008. This 24-hour event remains the pinnacle of Community HPV racing and the amazing level of competition throughout the field make it one of the toughest to win.
As the year draws to a close and we reflect, I wanted to write to you to congratulate you on a number of areas that I felt went well, and offer four recommendations for the future.
With 223 vehicles taking to the track in 2008, the resulting racing is chaotic, messy, rough and slow. I would like to recommend a cap on entries at 200 teams for 2009. This could involve category caps similar to those loosely imposed on the Community Class. Bigger and busier is not necessarily better.
I believe you will see fewer serious track incidents and riders will enjoy themselves more with fewer vehicles on track.
During the 2008 event, I was stationed with a friend on a marshal point on the front straight. It was the hectic first few hours of the race and so whilst we had a great view of the start, we were very busy pulling vehicles out of fences on both sides of the track. My second recommendation is to provide 2 hi-vis reflective marshal vests at all marshal points. My third recommendation is to monitor rear lights through out the night period. There are several unlit sections of the track which make tail lights crucial to safe racing. I have witnessed a number of incidents caused by poor or non-existent rear lights.
My fourth and final recommendation is related to the cycling criterium. I would like to see it held prior to HPV Practice session on the Friday, in better lighting conditions.
On a lighter note, Paul Richards remains the premier HPV race caller in Australia. His preparation, knowledge of the sport and delivery is excellent. I know this view is shared along pit lane. Well done Paul.
Furthermore, the management of the lap timing and the posting of the results onto the AIPP website within hours of the event was an outstanding effort. Your scrutineering process and procedures is also second-to-none in Australia.
Best of luck for the 2009 Australian HPV Super Series.
Kind regards,
Bendigo Youth Racing Inc"
Thursday, 8 January 2009
2009 Regulations and Super Series Information Released
The 2009 Regulations and Super Series Information have been released on the Australian International Pedal Prix website.
This might not sound very exciting, but the details in these documents largely determine how wide, high (and low) we can build vehicles to race.
From first glance, the key changes to the vehicle specs seem to be:
- Rear tail light: Must have a minimum of 3 LEDs flashing at once and must be robustly mounted
- Lap seat belt mounting points should be 50mm forward of the 'normal' position to avoid the belts 'riding up'.
- Full floor coverage, apart from wheel openings, are recommended.
- Firm seat padding is recommended.
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