35th annual Michigan HPV Rally

In the 1-hour time trial Saturday morning, Mike Mowett of Detroit on his carbon fiber Morciglio M1  passes Charles Brown of Dearborn on the wood frame bike he built.  Mike finished 2nd in the 1-hour; Charles, 8th.

Words and photos by Mike Eliasohn

The 35th annual Michigan HPV Rally took place Aug. 10-11, 2019, at the Waterford Hills sports car racing track in Clarkson, the location every year since 1986. 
There were only 24 entries, down from 31 last year.  Human Powered Race America events in North Manchester, Ind., and Northbrook-Kenosha also had lower turnouts than past years. (In comparison, at the 2016 rally, there were 37 competitors and 41 HPVs.)
Among the missing were the University of Toronto, which last year had three streamliners, two manufactured recumbents and five riders at the rally, and a few regulars, so hopefully next year we will have more competitors.
The consensus was there will be a 36th annual rally next year, despite the decision of Tedd and Donna Wheeler of Reed City that this would be their third and final year as rally organizers and Bruce Gordon of Buchanan that after several years of doing the timing and scoring, this would be his final time.
So thank you Tedd, Donna and Bruce.  Help will be needed to organize and run the 2020 rally. Hopefully there will be a date available on the Waterford Hills schedule so we can return the rally to May or June.
To celebrate our 35th, a barbecue was planned for Saturday evening at the track, but it had to be cancelled a couple of days prior. But thanks to competitor Dave Johnson of Olivet and his wife, Andrea Funk, owner of www.TooCoolTshirtQuilts.com, for buying pizza and soft drinks for that evening. (Free plug = free food.)
Two scheduled events, standing start kilometer on Saturday and tricycle race on Sunday, were not held.
Here's the top three in each class:
Streamliner (4 entrants): 1) Dan Zolyniak, Toronto, Ontario, Mistral streamliner built by him and his wife, Amanda, 350 points; 2) Dennis Grelk, Donnellson, Iowa, Barracuda streamliner built by Warren Beauchamp, 330; 3) John Simon, Portland, Moby streamliner built by Terry Hreno, 310.
Streetliner (4):  1) Tony Levand, Lemont, Ill., homebuilt two-wheeler, 340; 2) Jeff Hunn, North Manchester, Ind. velomobile, 315; 3) Eric Winn, Brighton, Blue Velo Strada velomobile, 290.

Great White was suffering from indigestion, so Dave Johnson left the streamliner's fairing at home in Olivet and raced the bare carbon fiber bike built by Rick Wianecki in the stock class. He finished third overall .

Stock (9): 1) Dennis Grelk, homebuilt, 335; 2) Robert Lloyd, Whitmore Lake, homebuilt, 305; 3) David Johnson, Olivet, Great White streamliner minus fairing, 249.
Women (1) Amanda Zolyniak of Toronto, Raptor low racer built by her and her husband, Dan, was the lone competitor, 300.
Tricycle (2):  1) David Hull, Pepper Pike, Ohio, Holdsworth upright tricycle, 360, 2) Eric Penn, Detroit, Catrike Pocket, 225.
Junior (4): 1) Johannes Hinterseher, Novi, age 13, Trident folding tricycle (often on two wheels), 355; 2) Cameron Lloyd, age 12, Whitmore Lake, modified Rans Enduro, 320; 3) Amalie Hinterseher, upright bike, 155; 4) Elisabeth Hinterseher, upright bike, 145.  The Hintersehers are the children of Michael and Linnae Hinterseher. Michael finished fourth in the streetliner class.

Tony Levand of Lemont, Ill., won the streetliner class in his homebuilt machine.  Somehow the fairing has room for Tony, a 20-inch front wheel and 700c rear. It's front wheel drive.  (Photo from 2018.)

Here's the top two in each event:
Saturday:
One hour time trial:  Streamliner – 1) Dennis Grelk, 23 laps (1.4 mile laps), 31.53 mph average speed, 2) Dan Zolyniak, 22 laps, 29.966 mph. Streetliner – 1) Tony Levand, 20 laps,26.969 2) Michael Hinterseher, Novi, Milan SL velomobile, 18 laps, 23.845 mph. Stock – 1) Dennis Grelk, 19 laps, 26.358xx miles, 2) Mike Mowett, Detroit, Morciglio M1, 19 laps, 25.925 mph.  Women – 1) Amanda Zolyniak, 15 laps, 20.081mph.  Tricycle – 1) David Hull, 13 laps, 17.462 mph, 2) Eric Penn, 11 laps, 18.813 mph.  Junior – 1) Johannes Hinterseher, 11 laps, 14.615 mph, 2) Amalie Hinterseher, 8 laps, 10.547 mph.
Hot laps (time for fastest single lap of 1.4 mile track): Streamliner – 1) John Simon, 54.483 sec., 2) Dan Zolyniak, 56.856.  Streetliner – 1) Tony Levand, 53.833 sec., 2) Jeff Hunn, 1:06.152.  Stock – 1) Joseph Solecki, Royal Oak, Schlitter high racer, 56.011 sec., 2) Ishtey Amminger, Memphis, Tenn., Cruzbike 57.506.  Women – Amanda Zolyniak did not compete.  Tricycle – 1) David Hull, 1:23.137, 2) Eric Penn, 1:32.035.  Junior – 1) Cameron Lloyd, 1:30.872, 2) Johannes Hinterseher, 1:34.09.

For the second year in a row, Amanda Zolyniak of Toronto was the lone competitor in the women's class.  She's shown here during the Sunday morning road race. She completed 18 of the 20 laps at an average speed of 19.963 mph.  She and husband, Dan, built her carbon fiber Raptor low racer.

Hill climb: Streamliner – 1) Dan Zolyniak, 24.85 seconds, 2) John Simon, 26.34.  Streetliner – 1) Michael Hinterseher, 23.59, 2) Eric Winn, 27.25.  Stock – 1) Joseph Solecki, 18.5, 2) Eric Winn, 23.72.  Women – 1) Amanda Zolyniak, 27.94.  Tricycle – 1) David Hull, 23.10, 2) Eric Penn, 25.44.  Junior – 1) Johannes Hinterseher, 32.75, 2) Cameron Lloyd, 41.46.
Coast down:  Streamliner – 1) Dan Zolyniak, 2) Dennis Grelk.  Streetliner – 1) Jeff Hunn, 2) Tony Levand.  Stock – 1) Dennis Grelk, 2) Robert Lloyd, Whitmore Lake, homebuilt mid-racer. Women – 1) Amanda Zolyniak.  Tricycle – 1) Eric Winn, 2) David Hull.  Junior –  1) Johannes Hinterseher, 2) Cameron Lloyd.
Urban transportation contest: There were seven competitors. Scores were based on: 1) Evaluation for such features as lights, rearview mirrors, fenders and other “weather protection” features, cargo carrying capacity, carrying a lock and visibility; 2 and 3) finishing position in the hill climb and coast down and 4) time in the obstacle course, which tested maneuverability, speed and braking.

In the urban transportation contest, Dennis Grelk approaches the end of the obstacle course, where the goal was to stop quickly and smoothly.  With his Surly Pugsley fat bike, shown here, plus his streamliner and stock class low racer, Dennis was the only competitor taking part in every event. And after the rally was over, he and his mother, Mary, drove more than 500 miles home to Donnellson, Iowa.

1) Joe Solecki, Royal Oak, Schlitter Encore high racer, 26 points, 2) Tim Potter, Okemos, 1983 Nishiki Seral upright bike, 23 points; and 3) Dennis Grelk, Surly Pugsley upright fat bike, 21 points.  

Although Joe's very laid back high racer is not the kind of bike one would think of for "practical" riding, of the seven UTC competitors, he scored first in the hill climb and coast down and second on the obstacle course. 

His bike lacked fenders and a horn or bell, but had lights front and rear, reflectors, bags big enough to carry two bags of groceries (he said he sometimes uses the bike for shopping runs), a lock, tools, tire pump and inner tube or patch kit.  

Tim uses his bike for his daily 6-mile commute to his job as manager of MSU Bikes, the on-campus bicycle shop.  The evaluation score for his bike was 18 points; Joe had 17, but outscored Tim in the hill climb, coast down and obstacle course.

In the one-hour time trial Saturday morning, Joe Solecki of Royal Oak on his Schlitter Encore leads Ishtey Amminger of Memphis, Tenn., on his Cruzbike. Joe finished 4th in the event; Ishtey was 5th.

Another view of Ishtey, on his front-wheel-drive, moving bottom bracket Cruzbike. Behind him during Sunday morning's 12-mile road race.  Behind him is Johannes Hinterseher on a Trident.  Ishtey finished second in the stock class in this event; Johannes was first in the junior class.

Sunday:: 

200-foot flying start sprint: Streamliner – Dan Zolyniak, 41.27 mph, 2) Dennis Grelk, 41.04 mph. Streetliner – 1) Tony Levand, 38.73 mph, 2) Michael Hinterseher, 38.61 mph. Stock – 1) Mike Mowett, 38.72 mph, 2) Dennis Grelk, 37.56 mph. Women – 1) Amanda Zolyniak, 30.68 mph. Tricycle – 1) David Hull, 26.61 mph. Junior – 1) Johannes Hinterseher, 23.07; 2) Amalie Hinterseher, 22.56 mph.

35 lap/21 mile road race (course does not include hill; each lap is .6 mile): Streamliner – 1) Dan Zolyniak, 36 laps, 27.192 mph, 2) Dennis Grelk, 26 laps, 26.217 mph. Streetliner – 1) Tony Levand, 35 laps, 27.402 mph, 2) Jeff Hunn, not recorded.
20 lap/12 mile road race: Stock – 1) Dennis Grelk, 21 laps, 24.188 mph, 2) Ishtey Amminger, 20 laps, 22.731 mph. Women – 1) Amanda Zolyniak, 18 laps, 19.963 mph. Tricycle – 1) David Hull, 16 laps, 18.127 mph. Junior – 1) Johannes H., 15 laps, 16.243 mph, 2) Cameron Lloyd, 13 laps, 14.589 mph.

Complete race results here:
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQ9Q2yuQy_KHhx-zeadWl5qaZYpC7basG_RRPpphDQBNBMpqaQa-2RuRXVJlVeVBosDI8v9BwzYFMZ6/pubhtml

Except for the hill climb/coast down.  Those results here:
http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/racing2019/waterford2019_hpra_results.htm

Rob Lloyd's photos can be seen at:   https://www.flickr.com/gp/146396513@N07/sj0yik

Tedd (standing) and Donna Wheeler of Reed City decided the 35th Michigan HPV Rally would be their last as organizers and Bruce Gordon of Buchanan would be his last doing the scoring and timing.  Thank you Tedd, Donna and Bruce. But others will need to step up to keep our event going.

Charles Brown on his homebuilt wood frame bike.  He built the bike from poplar wood in 2002, when living in Florida. "I was trying to build something that was easy to live with – with good steering, ride, comfortable rider position, etc., but it wasn't build for speed," he said in an email. But now that's back in the Detroit area, he's thinking about building a long wheelbase wood bike, which would better cope with the area's bumpy streets.

Glenn Gehrke of Davisburg, who races a car at Waterford Hills, stopped by on Aug. 10 to see if anything was going on and discovered the Michigan HPV Rally.  Here, Linnae Hinterseher, who did not compete, shows Glenn her QuattroVelo four-wheel velomobile.  

These two sandhill cranes were observers of Sunday morning's top speed event until they decided to take off, literally.  Unfortunately, I (Mike E.) wasn't able to photograph both cranes in flight.  (Thank you, Donna Wheeler, for knowing these were sandhill cranes.)

If you find things in this report that need correcting, or want to help with the Michigan HPV Rally in 2020, please contact mikethebike2325@comcast.net.

High and low at the HPV Rally

Words and photos by Mike Eliasohn

Robert Lloyd of Whitmore Lake on his homebuilt mid-racer and David Hull of Pepper Pike, Ohio, on his Holdsworth tricycle, prior to the start of Sunday morning's 9-mile road race.

There's always some especially interesting vehicles at the Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Rally. Here's a look at two of them at the 2019 rally, Rob Lloyd's homebuilt mid-racer and David Hull's upright Holdsworth tricycle.

Here's Rob Lloyd with his homebuilt mid-racer on Sunday morning.  The frame may look like carbon fiber, but it's steel, painted flat black.

Rob first appeared at the Michigan HPV Rally in 2017 with his then-new homebuilt long wheelbase bike, which he later modified with a larger front wheel.  (See blog entries July 16, 2017, and Aug. 15, 2018.)
He first raced his new short wheelbase creation at the Northbrook/Kenosha weekend July 27-28, but had problems with the chain jumping off the idler wheel. But he had that problem resolved in time for the Michigan rally.
Rob said on a 12-mile loop in a state park that he often rides, he averages 2 mph faster on his new bike than he did on his old homebuilt and on a Rans he also rode.
The mid-racer weighs about 30 pounds; wheels are 700c rear/650c front.
Rob maintained a build diary with lots of in-progress photos on www.bentrideronline.com. Go to "specialty discussions," then "homebuilders" and finally "midracer."
What's next, he said, is building a similar bike for son Cameron, 12, who finished second in the junior class on his modified Rans Endure. And if Rob gets that done in time, "I do want to put  on some bodywork for next year."  (As of early September, Rob started a build diary for his son's bike on bentrider.com, under the heading, "mid racer -- for a shorter rider.")

Rob Lloyd during the 1-hour time trial Saturday morning.  He finished third in the stock class, finishing 18 1.4-mile laps at an average speed of 24.063 mph.  For the weekend, he finished second overall in the stock class.

In the 35 years of the Michigan HPV Rally, two other upright English tricycles have made an appearance, but neither was raced. David Hull was the first to compete.
David is from the U.K., but has lived in the U.S. for about 30 years. He said he put the trike together about three years ago.
He later told me (Mike) in an email that he has a photo of his grandfather riding a trike in the 1950s, so "wanted to try one for myself. I quickly realized they are hard to come by over here, but found a guy in the U.K. who was willing to ship me the axle."
He then found the 1972 Holdsworth two-wheeler at Ohio City Bicycle Co-op in Cleveland, where he volunteers.  David did all the work himself to mate the axle with the frame, including building the rear wheels.
(Holdsworth started in 1922, selling cycling clothing by mail order, and began making bicycles apparently in 1933. It made conversion axles from 1935-75. Holdsworth bicycles are still being made – holdsworth-bikes.co.uk – but no tricycles.)
He mentioned that in the old days in the U.K., before indoor trainers and rollers were common, many cyclists fitted a conversion axle so they could ride safely on three wheels through the winter months, then when spring returned, remove the axle and reinstalled the single rear wheel. 
Some background:  Quality two-wheels-in-the rear tricycles currently are made in the U.K. by Longstaff Cycles and Trykit Conversions/Geoff Booker. They make them rom scratch as three-wheelers, which results in proper geometry and lighter weight.  For instance, there's two rear stays, which extend outward from the top of the seat tube to the outer ends of the rear axle. (Trykit also makes a conversion axle.)

In contrast, David's conversion keeps the rear stays of the original frame, plus two bolted-on stays extend from the seat tube to the outer ends of the axle.

Traditional British trikes, such as David's, only drive the left wheel and there's two brakes on the front wheel, but none in the rear.  The conversion axle fits within the rear stays in order to lower the bottom bracket, hence the center of gravity, plus it moves the rider's weight rearward, which increased stability.

To stay upright on corners, trike riders have to do a lot of leaning, often more than shown here, during the Sunday morning road race.

David did win the tricycle class, but there was only one other competitor, Eric Penn, on a recumbent Catrike Pocket and he only competed on Saturday. Sunday's scheduled tricycles-only race was cancelled.

But still, his performance was impressive.  In the one-hour time trial Saturday morning, he rode ten 1.4-mile laps at an average speed of 17.462 mph.  He had the second fastest time overall in the hill climb, 23.10 seconds (but was 20th in the coast down).  He averaged 18.127 mph in Sunday morning's 9-mile road race. And in the 200-foot flying start sprint, he did 26.61 mph.

To read more about upright British tricycles, go to www.tricycleassociation.org.uk and the March 9, 2017, entry on this blog. Roman Road Cycles, which built two-wheels-in-front upright trikes, one of which is shown in the blog article, is no longer in business. 

Owosso Bike Fest 2019

For fans of "non-usual bicycles," there were two events in Michigan on the weekend of Aug. 10-11, forcing them to choose attending one or the other.
There was the 35th annual Michigan Human Powered Vehicle Rally, of course, but also the 15th annual Owosso Bike Fest, for those interested in cruisers, stretch cruisers, vintage bikes and that sort of thing.
Michigan HPV Rally co-founder Terry Gerweck chose Owosso. 
The official Bike Fest was on Sunday and included showing and selling bikes.
Prior to that, Terry reports, on Friday evening was a peddlers pub crawl, then on Saturday afternoon, a 22+ mile ride from Owosso to Ovid and back on the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail.  On Sunday was another ride, to Corunna and back, which included a visit to the bicycle museum iat the park in that community.
Terry took six used bikes from Jack's Bicycles in Monroe to the Bike Fest and sold three of them and one of his own, which he also sold.
Here's his photos.