Over 85 mph in the Worlds Fastest Human Powered Machine
Todd Reichert, managed 85.71mph in his "Eta" speedbike on Thursday morning, comfortably besting the previous record of 83.13. Reichert is the pilot for team AeroVelo, and is competing in the World Human Powered Speed Challenge, taking place in Battle Mountain, NV this week where cyclists put their knees where their mouth is, and attempt to beat the record for peddle-powered speed. The 16th event of its kind, cyclists have a 5-mile run-up to gain speed, before hitting a 200 meter speed trap on a stretch of road hand-picked for it's flatness. The magic 200 meter stretch was even specially repaved with the annual event in mind.
If you were to describe what the team at AeroVelo does, "human-powered world firsts" would be a fair answer. The team's Snowbird ornithopter (flapping wing craft) managed a world-first 19-second self sustained flight in 2010. In 2013, the crew would bag the coveted Sikorsky prize, which required a controlled human-powered helicopter to fly for one minute. The land speed record, therefore, was the next logical prize. The record may have been broken, but with the event running for two more days, Reichert and the other competitors aren't done yet -- there's still chance it might be broken again, before the weekend is out. In the meantime, you can see the team's efforts from last year below.
From Youtube: Aerovelo's speed bike Eta premiered at the World Human Powered Speed Challenge in Battle Mountain, Nevada in 2014. Despite mechanical issues, the team placed third overall. Now Aerovelo is getting ready for another record attempt in the 2015 challenge. Get updates from this year's challenge at www.aerovelo.com
Named after the Greek symbol of efficiency, Eta is designed to be capable of speeds in excess of 140/km/hr. With it's aerodynamic shell giving it 100 times less drag then a modern car, the ultra-efficient
design makes Eta capable of exceeding highway speeds using less than 1 horsepower.
VisualUnity Presents Aerovelo's Eta - YouTube: