Perhaps you misunderstand me. I don't accuse her of taking anything from professionals, as I don't think they're competing. I only think, when making a claim of record bicycle speeds, if those speeds are not achieved without assistance it should be clearly noted. They didn't hide it, but the title slightly mislead me and left me disappointed it wasn't a human powered speed, because that speed would have more than doubled the previous record and that would be amazing.

This is a feat of skill and bravery. It simply is not a feat of purely human powered speed. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it's clear, imo.


Nice trip. 2500 miles is a good chunk of the distance coast to coast (depending on the route). Where did you ride to/from?
I've never done a long distance ride like that, I just rode to school and back daily...over 35 miles round trip...and around town. Up here in Humboldt, the roads are terrible so I don't ride much anymore, skinny racing tires don't do well in potholes. I'm getting too old and broken for serious mountain bike trail riding, which is sad considering the trails I have available.

I'm intrigued by the sand swap idea, but also concerned about the introduction of invasive species that may be living in that sand. Just a thought if you make the trip.

If the record is 99.9% due to the equipment, give it to the engineer, not the ballast. ;-)
Eric Barone hit 141 on his own with some downhill, but no tow, no draft. That's more impressive to me, but still largely a function of his equipment.
I've never topped 40 without a draft or hill, and I used to ride 25-30 miles a day.

The fastest unassisted human powered bicycle speed is 89.5 mph. That record I can accept without an asterisk.

Edit: using that full faring recumbent bike and the dragster tow in/draft the dragster would always be the limiting factor, not the bike rider. The tow has to do with making it possible, wind resistance is the limiting factor on bicycles, but even without any getting up to that speed using human power is not possible. She needed fresh legs to keep up for under one minute under optimal conditions.
I think pro riders don't go for this record because they don't see it as a legitimate riding record, just a dangerous equipment test.

Your video, Astonishing, Giant, Human-powered Theme Park, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Yeah, I saw that. I really don't know how I feel about it.
On one hand, yeah, it's ridiculous and therefore cool, but there's a part of me that likes the idea of surfing being human powered and sees this kind of thing as an invasion. I feel the same way about snow mobiles and jet skis.

It's completely irrational, I know. I think I'm just turning into a grumpy old man

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Gamera-II-The-Human-Powered-Helicopter

Gamera II - The Human-Powered Helicopter has been added as a related post - related requested by lucky760.

I foresee a day when we will all fly back and forth to work, or to the grocery store, or cinema, on 170 foot diameter human powered helicopters.

Wired had an untouched clip of this flight:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/07/human-powered-helicopter-prize/

Crazy Human Powered Ferris Wheel has been added as a related post - related requested by PlayhousePals on that post.

Many thanks!

In reply to this comment by arvana:
*quality

>> ^bmacs27:

Lance Armstrong might be able to make it down the block.


This could be like a Rube Goldberg of grocery shopping.

"Need bread from corner store. Must build human powered helicopter to get there."

>> ^kymbos:

You're all fake!


hehe

also check this out someone already did a flapping one man flier ..probably on sift
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/human-powered-flapping-wing-plane-first-ever-to-take-flight-video/2388

"Built from carbon fiber, foam, and balsa wood, the Snowbird weighs just 94 lbs. and has a wingspan of 105 feet, which is comparable to that of a Boeing 737–amazingly, the Snowbird weighs less than all of the pillows on board.

The wings’ thrust is due primarily to a low-pressure region around the leading edge, which integrates to provide a force known as “leading-edge suction”. The wings also passively twist in response to the flapping. This is due to a structure that is torsionally compliant in just the right amount to allow efficient thrusting (”aeroelastic tailoring”). It should be noted, though, that twisting is required only to prevent flow separation on sections along the wing. It does not produce thrust in the same way as required by sharp-edged wings with little leading-edge suction."

They should think differently and make a Human powered Generator to power an electric engine powering rotors via gears. Gears on everything.

*dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/Human-powered-ornithopter

This video has been nominated as a duplicate of this video by chicchorea. If this nomination is seconded with *isdupe, the video will be killed and its votes transferred to the original.