Michigan HPV Rally - June 11-12, 2011

The 27th annual Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Rally will be June 11-12, 2011, at the Waterford Hills sports car racing track on the Oakland County Sportsmen's Club grounds in Clarkston, near Pontiac.
The oldest such event in North America is open to riders of all human powered vehicles -- recumbents, regular bicycles and tandems. There are classes for streamlined, unstreamlined cycles, tandems, women, youth and tricycles. The rally is conducted using Human Powered Race - America rules (www.recumbents.com/hpra/rulesand.htm). Note: HPRA rules require all vehicles to have mirror/mirrors enabling rear vision to both sides.
The track is 1.4 miles around, with nine turns and one hill.

ENTRY FEES: One day only, $30; both days, $40 (includes $10 MHPVA membership. $1 of each entry fee goes to support the work of the League of Michigan Bicyclists). Test ride pass, $5. Spectators free.
Even if you have no interest in racing, come and see some unusual and some very fast bicycles and tricycles. Some members of the Great Lakes chapter of the FreakBike Militia are expected to bring their creative bikes on Saturday to show, not to race, which will mean even more unusual bikes to see.
Prize money will be awarded to top finishers in each class.

SCHEDULE:

Saturday, June 11

8 a.m. - Registration and technical inspection.
9 a.m. - One-hour time trial - Streamlined and superstreet classes.
10:30 a.m. - One-hour time trial - Stock and other classes.
Lunch (bring your own food or eat at a nearby restaurant).
1:30 p.m. - Hill climb/coast-down.
1:30 p.m. - Urban transportation contest. Hill climb/coast-down is part of the UTC. There also will be an obstacle course and scoring by judge for each bike's "practical" features (lights, fenders, cargo carrying capacity, etc.). Entry fee is $30, even if only competing in the UTC.
3 p.m. - 1-kilometer standing start sprints.
6 p.m. - Dinner at nearby Big Boy.

Sunday

8:30 a.m. - Top speed sprints.
10 a.m. - Tricycle race (infield course).
10:30 am - Road race (faster vehicles).
11 a.m. - Road race (slower vehicles).
Note: Course for Sunday road races does NOT include hill.
Awards ceremony hopefully no later than 1 p.m.

The event address is 4770 Waterford Road, Clarkston MI 48346. For map of the track, visit http://www.waterfordhills.com/info/facilitymap07.pdf

For additional information, contact: Mike Mowett, 586-863-3902 or mowett@aol.com, or Mike Eliasohn, 269-982-4058 or mikethebike@acd.net.

TO GET TO THE RALLY:
From I-75, get off at exit 91. Take M-15 south to Dixie Hwy. (US-24). Turn left, continuing south about 1 mile and turn
left onto Waterford Road, then proceed to track.
If coming from the west, take U.S. 23 north (or south) to M-59 (Highland Road). Go east on M-59 to Airport Road, then left
(north) to US-24. Turn left, then immediately right onto Waterford Road. Go about a half-mile to track.

PLACES TO STAY:

MOTELS (with approximate distances/direction from Waterford Hills track)

Clarkston - Clarkston Motor Inn, 6853 Dixie Hwy. (US-10), 248-625-1522, 12 rooms, 2 miles northeast.

Hartland - Best Western of Hartland, 10087 M-59 at US-23, 810-632-7177, 61 rooms. About 18 miles west.

Waterford – Comfort Inn, 7076 Highland Road (M-59), 248-666-8555, 111 rooms. About 3 miles southwest.

Waterford – Waterford Motel, 2201 Dixie Hwy. at Telegraph Road, 248-338-4061, 50 rooms. About 6 miles southeast.

Waterford – Holiday Inn Express, 4350 Pontiac Lake Road, 248-674-3434, 83 rooms. About 7 miles southwest..

Whitmore Lake - Best Western of Whitmore Lake, 9897 Main St. (off US-23, exit 53), 734-449-2058, 61 rooms. About 33 miles southwest.

CAMPING

Free camping available overnight Friday and Saturday at the Waterford Hills Sportsman Club, site of the HPV rally, starting at 6 p.m. Friday. Restrooms, showers available and possibly electrical hookups.

STATE CAMPGROUNDS (www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails)

Highland Recreation Area, 5200 E. Highland Road (M-59), White Lake, 248-889-3750. Two miles east of Highland,

Holly Recreation Area, 8100 Grange Hall Road, Holly, 248-634-8811. Five miles east of Holly.

Ortonville Recreation Area, 5779 Hadley Road, Ortonville, 810-797-4439. Four miles northeast of Ortonville.

Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, 7800 Gale Road, 248-666-1020. Closest to Waterford Hills track, about 4 miles west.

PRIVATE CAMPGROUNDS (www.michcampgrounds.com)

MHPVA annual meeting - March 12, 2011

By Paul Pancella, secretary. Editing and photos by Mike Eliasohn (unless otherwise mentioned)

The 2011 annual meeting of the Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Association took place March 12 in the community room of the REI store in Ann Arbor. About 25 people attended, including some non-members, possibly attracted by the meeting location and notices in area bike shops prepared and distributed by Bob Krzewinski.
Bob, who also arranged use of the meeting room, started by introducing the WolverBents organization, explaining its goals, structure, and activities. He said some bike shops that previously sold recumbents no longer do so (or went out of business), but Midwest Bike and Tandem in Ann Arbor has started selling recumbents.
Bob then talked about the pros and cons of recumbent cycles, with some useful tips for newcomers interested in buying their first one.


JOHN MORCIGLIO of Waterford shows Arrowhead, which he created for racing in time trials. Seat height is 16 inches; wheels are 650c front and 700c rear; and weight is just under 21 pounds. He completed building it late last fall. "This bike I could sell, but probably won't," he said. But, if he were to sell it, it probably would be about $3,600 for the frame or $5,500 for the complete bike.


JOHN MORCIGLIO shows his Thunderbolt low racer, which weighs 23.75 pounds. The frame sells for $4,750. John built his first carbon fiber recumbent in February 2008 and now builds them for a living. As of the meeting, he had built 20 recumbents and three upright bikes and was building an 11-foot long recumbent tandem, with the riders back-to-back, for a customer in Texas. He can be contacted at 248-499-9915 or go to www.thundervoltman.com.

Then MHPVA President Mike Mowett briefly described the history and purpose of the organization.
Bill Frey started show-and-tell by showing his 1984 Tour Easy, which he bought new and recently had refinished. "I'm still riding it," he said. "I'm not planning to sell it." He also owns a newer Fold Rush.
Photos and captions describe the other bikes shown at the meeting.
During the business portion of the meeting, last year’s minutes and this year’s treasurer’s report were quickly approved. Treasurer Bill Frey indicated that the board’s plan to increase the available fund balance (after the 2009 Michigan Human Powered Speed Challenge at the Ford Motor Co. proving grounds) has begun to succeed, in that a net increase of about $300 was realized. Another year or two employing the same strategy will bring us to the desired fund balance level, barring unforeseen circumstances.


JOHN FOLTZ (left) of Haslett showed his M5 Carbon High Racer (made in the Netherlands), which he purchased in 2009. Both wheels are 700c and it weighs about 24 pounds. He described it as "amazingly fast." He can cruise 25-26 mph and it's also a good hill-climber. Helping hold the bike is Bill Frey. John also showed his Optima Baron low racer.

Next we discussed the 27th annual Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Rally weekend, scheduled June 11-12, again at the Waterford Hills sports car racing track. With minimal discussion, we agreed to follow the usual schedule and program, including camping availability and steak fry Saturday evening.
Paul Pancella informed the group (with regret) that he will not be able to attend the rally this year, so won't be able to run the urban transportation contest in parallel with the hill-climb/coastdown. The request was made for volunteers to take Paul’s place. So far, no one has volunteered, but anyone interested in running the UTC should contact Paul at paul.pancella@wmich.edu.
Bill Frey mentioned he has developed an Excel spreadsheet that functions to simulate power demands for the Waterford course, including the hills, with various vehicle and speed parameters as inputs. It also can be adapted for predicting power required for maintaining speed on any grade. He offered to make it available to anyone for the asking.
All officers and board members were reelected: President, Mike Mowett, St. Clair Shores; vice president, Mike Eliasohn, St. Joseph; secretary, Paul Pancella, Kalamazoo; treasurer, Bill Frey, Grosse Pointe Farms; and at large, Terry Gerweck, Monroe, and Don Smith, Chesterfield.


MIKE MOWETT (left) shows his Challenge Fujin, which he has owned for a few years and has some improvements made by Don Smith (right). Don made the Zotefoam ribbed foam seat padding, which he can make in different colors, patterns and thicknesses, and modified the Rotor System cranks to reduce internal rotating drag. The Rotor system eliminates the "dead spots" when pedaling. For these and other specialty work for HPVs, contact Don at bbmracing@yahoo.com.

Jim “Chainsaw” Johnson, president of the Great Lakes chapter of the FreakBike Militia was introduced. He expressed a growing appreciation for important traits that the HPV community has in common with the FreakBike movement, and let us know that the Militia will again be represented at our rally in June.
President Mowett made a brief report on developments at the Human Powered Race America race director’s meeting. He said changes to rules and classes for this year were minimal this year. Anyone interested should go to the HPRA website, www.recumbents.com/hpra.)
Mike then highlighted some other events recumbent riders are looking forward to this year, including the 100-mile Black Bear Bicycle Tour July 31 from Grayling to Oscoda and Calvin’s Challenge on April 30, a 12-hour event starting in Springfield, Ohio. He also has explored developing a new century ride for the east side of the state, incorporating Belle Isle and some of the Metro parks.
The meeting started at 12:30 p.m. adjourned at 3:20.


MIKE ELIASOHN shows his work-in-progress recumbent, intended for around-town use and for easy transporting in the back of his Ford Focus station wagon. Welding and some fabrication has been done by Precision Welding & Repair of Berrien Springs; the rest by Mike. The "holder" is Bill Frey. (Mike Mowett photo)


PAUL PANCELLA of Kalamazoo showed one of the two ICE B1 folding bikes he and his wife, Anne, bought to take with them when traveling. Unfortunately, ICE, a British company, has since stopped making B1's in order to focus on making its line of recumbent tricycles.