I voted for being inclusive of e-assist bikes at the AGM. Anything that encourages more people to race is OK by me. No e-assist bike will ever be able to compete with the Velomobiles in speed as assist is limited to 25kph. (15 mph) Nice to see Natalya racing. Great Video David almost as good as being there. Thanks.
The speed record attempts at Battle mountain do seem quite different from a BHPC event. That would certainly be fun to hold a special BHPC race in NewYork, but that would be too expensive for most of us on the other side of the Atlantic
@@LeesChannel Yes, but several BHPC members go along to help run the event and a couple of members build bikes and race them against the clock in timed runs. So like our BHPC sprint events which are usually included in most of our race meetings. Covid has put a stop to all US races from what I've heard. We are still racing though in the UK, maybe we have less restrictive Covid laws here?
That should have been swapped out, not only to prevent cheating, but also for her because it's a direct drive motor and it will be causing huge amounts of magnetic drag.
Yes, she was riding in the electric assist class (apart from a second attempt at the time-trial with the battery removed, by way of comparison). The BHPC is experimentally allowing riders with *road legal* electric assist to compete in their own class, primarily as a way to be inclusive of disabled riders like Natalya.
@@kimwall834 It seems like a terrible idea that goes against the ethos of *Human Power.* It also introduces all sorts of issues, ebikes stealthily being run higher than street legal speed or wattage (very easy to do), and people bringing motor-equipped cycles/velos and not reporting it so they have an advantage; they can claim they misunderstood or accidentally registered for the wrong class if they get caught, which would be harder because ebikes would be a regular sight. There are ways for one with a disability to participate, trikes or hand cycles in the slow race. She was already in a trike in the slow race, and even did the time trial successfully fighting against the drag of a direct-drive hub motor without electricity, whatever the disability is isn't preventing her from participating. Regardless, what if someone brought an ebike with throttle and essentially raced a moped around the track without moving a pedal? Ebikes with throttles are street legal after all. The whole idea is a corruption of the entire concept of BHPC, I hope it gets completely eliminated, or at least separated into its own event by a spinoff/sister organization (ie BEAPC).
@@LeesChannel Then they'd have turned up, participated and hopefully had fun meeting like-minded people and enjoying some high-quality car-free tarmac, while doing nothing to detriment the experience of purely human-powered riders. Assuming you're a BHPC member, you're welcome to vote against the continuation of the electric-assist class at an AGM, of course. Most members were supportive of the creation of an electric class, on the basis that one way or another electric-assist is a big part of the future of cycling, it's made cycling practical for many people who otherwise wouldn't and - crucially - we don't want to turn away recumbent riders away from our events because their trike or velomobile has a motor fitted (e-assist systems are increasingly integrated with the frame and drivetrain in a way that makes them impractical to remove for a one-off event). Cheating would be dealt with in the same way it would within the existing classes. Realistically, the E-class is unlikely to become seriously competitive.
@@kimwall834 Why not include electric skateboards and scooters then? You're removing the human element anyway. Swapping a wheel with a hub motor with a normal wheel is trivial, and the bike would operate as a normal bike. A bike with a middrive will operate like a normal bike without the battery. The excuses are nonsense. One way or another traffic will always be a part of cycling - should that be included too? Hey, I'm a pedestrian, it would be impractical for me to buy a bike for a one-off event, let me join like-minded individuals and walk around the track enjoying car-free tarmac. Put an electric bus there too, I have chronic fatigue syndrome but I still want to win.
