Chapter 10 – Red It Is

Runs Six and Seven 

“Fear has always been a diminisher of life” – Marya Mannes

The Turbo bike was out.  If I was to get to my goal of over 200, I’d have to do it with 200 hp.  The world record is 211 mph, and who knows, he could have had a big tailwind that day.  The max speed of the bike stock is stated by the manufacturer to be 194.  I had it to 185 on my previous run; let’s see what fine adjustments we can make to get it to go faster.

We took the front brake lever off the bike for two reasons.  It was in the wind sticking out past the fairing, and a 200 mph wind has been known to depress a brake lever and apply the brakes!  I could stop without a front brake – with air brakes by slowly putting my elbows out into the wind and then my head as I slowed, and finally the rear brake.

So it is with other endeavors in life.  Small things are not so much of a problem when you are doing average things, but they can become critical if you are to achieve high performance and goals.  You wanna’ go high or fast, you have to master lots of things you didn’t think of before.

Dean ripped my knee pucks off my suit that are used to rub on the asphalt when road racing in turns.  I didn’t even know they were removable, but they were just velcroed on.  We leaned out the air/fuel mixture because we were at some elevation and it was hot.  Less air needs less fuel.

Dean told me to rev it to 10,500 rpm before shifting instead of 9000 rpm, and to stay in 5^th gear to get more rpm and more power.  I did all that.  Mile 2 ¼ – 181.95, Mile 3 – 184.23, Mile 4 – 185.2 and mile 5 – 186.24.

We got right back in line. It was a short line.  The team swapped windshields from the white bike while we waited our turn.  It was a little higher and they thought it would keep me out of the wind better.  I thought it did.

They told me to try to scoot my but back, which I did about 1 ½”, but my torso wasn’t long enough to get all the way back with the big gas tank in my chest.  This time, we were going to get to 10,500 rpm in 5^th gear and shift to 6^th and see what that will get us.  I did that and at mile 3 I topped out at 187.24, and it dropped to 184 in mile 4 and 182 in mile 5.  I hit soft salt at mile 4 and felt the rear wheel spin, slowing me down.

Sixth gear didn’t help because it dropped the rpm.  And fifth gear had the rpm but not the speed.  We needed a gear in between.  When we got back, Randall proclaimed sarcastically that the bike would not go 200, and he left on less than good terms.  We were glad he was gone.  You don’t need negative people on your team when you are trying to break new ground.

At this point, it was a physics puzzle.  As the rider, I didn’t know what I could do to go any faster. 

When confronted with a problem, share it.  Get more than just yourself thinking about it.  Crowdsource solutions.  Don’t give up.  Keep trying.

Chris and Dean, mechanics and racers both, tossed the problem in their heads…