speed...

[JohnRoberts]

#1 a runner just finished a full marathon (26.2? miles) in 2 hours and just under 2 minutes.... That is fast, I recall when the 4 minute mile fell, the 2 hour marathon is next record to fall.

{edit- I was still a young puke when the 4 minute mile record fell, so not only was I not reading newspapers, I wasn't even old enough to be delivering them..so my recollection of recalling seems questionable. It happened at an olympics but they weren't as widely televised back then. [/edit]

That is averaging 4.6 minute miles for 26+ miles. I could start running with him when he passed mile marker 26 and still get beat to the finish line the only 0.2 miles further.  :
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#2 less spectacular , a woman on a bicycle just broke the land speed record with >180 MPH, but that was assisted by a motor vehicle clearing the air stream ahead of her... In fact the record needs an asterisk (IMO) because the drafting effect is not completely neutral but probably pulls her forward some.

Still crazy dangerous (you don't want to fall off a bike or anything going a fraction of that speed) but never possible to go anywhere near that fast without the motor vehicle in front assisting. In fact they pulled her up to 150 MPH before releasing her tow cable.

JR

 

[scott2000]

That just doesn't even make sense...... Incredible......

I remember in elementary school we had one girl run a mile in the 4's one time. But it was only one mile.  Crazy I remember that but it was a pretty big deal.....

 

[PRR]

His son just took Mickey Thompson's old car out and smashed the LSR for piston power, with a backed-up 450MPH.
This 50-Year-Old Streamliner...
Danny Thompson's Challenger II Set ...
To me: the LSR has been 404MPH "all my life". Now finally it has moved.

A turbine/wheel (not jet) car just turned 483 MPH.

 

[benb]

#1 a runner just finished a full marathon (26.2? miles) in 2 hours and just under 2 minutes.... That is fast, I recall when the 4 minute mile fell, the 2 hour marathon is next record to fall.

That is averaging 4.6 minute miles for 26+ miles. I could start running with him when he passed mile marker 26 and still get beat to the finish line the only 0.2 miles further.  :
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I heard Roger Bannister (he did the 4 minute mile before I was born!) speak after a 10k run I did in the Atlanta area about 20 years ago.  About the only thing I remember him saying was "I admire all of you for running over six miles, I could only run a single mile at a time." It was quite the joke. I read his book, he did a LOT of training, running the mile at something like 4:30 as much as 25 times in a day.

#2 less spectacular , a woman on a bicycle just broke the land speed record with >180 MPH, but that was assisted by a motor vehicle clearing the air stream ahead of her... In fact the record needs an asterisk (IMO) because the drafting effect is not completely neutral but probably pulls her forward some.

Still crazy dangerous (you don't want to fall off a bike or anything going a fraction of that speed) but never possible to go anywhere near that fast without the motor vehicle in front assisting. In fact they pulled her up to 150 MPH before releasing her tow cable.

That does seem like cheating, she didn't have to accelerate from 0 to 150!

 

[scott2000]

I first had respect for what these guys do when driving fast after my buddy took me for a ride in his  Corvette. I think it was just around 650hp..... I almost passed out literally.... I know that's not anywhere near what some of these guys are doing but it was enough for me....

The force was incredible . I can see getting used to it after a while but to be able to drive under these conditions is pretty amazing actually.....

 

[rob_gould]

To me: the LSR has been 404MPH "all my life". Now finally it has moved.

A turbine/wheel (not jet) car just turned 483 MPH.

Wow!  There's no point of reference in that environment except the mile markers.  Which, having never been a driver of fast cars doesn't mean much to me

Can he actually steer?  I mean he can turn when going slowly of course, but at top speed surely any movement would just flip the whole thing?

My fastest on-land experience is the maglev train from Shanghai city to the airport.  315 kph felt fast then, but not quite like that video!

 

[scott2000]

My fastest on-land experience is the maglev train from Shanghai city to the airport.  315 kph felt fast then, but not quite like that video!

Imagine driving a car near that fast around this with cars right next to you/////

31 Degree Banking at Daytona International Speedway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDz_BOyBU4

reconstruction...wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO3ESoYIlMs

and those Indy cars....jeez

 

[PRR]

> a woman on a bicycle just broke the land speed record with >180 MPH

For those who don't know: drafting, even tow-hook, is a very very old thing, back to the first motorcycles which could go faster than a bicycle. 180 however is very fast.

A guy recently (my sources are old) got a record for 14 miles 22.5km in one hour. Yes, in my youth that was an easy pace. However he was born in 1911. His record is in the over-105 year old division, which did not exist before his run. His doctors tell him to stop competing.
this forum does not render Wikipedia links correctly
https://www.bicycling.com/racing/a20043264/106-year-old-cyclist-retires/

 

[rob_gould]

Your link is missing a )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Marchand_(cyclist)

Good story too, but he was a bit early for the early marathon racers who'd use champagne and strychnine to help them on their way!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/drinking-alcohol-when-running

Champagne was a favorite thanks to its supposedly rejuvenating effervescence

Lots of us might have felt that effect, but probably not at the 18 mile mark ;-)

 

[PRR]

> Your link is missing a )

I put the ")" there. This forum quits parsing at a ")". You could see that on my link (before I edited it), and on yours. You can actually fix this manually when you get to the "Wikipedia does not have..." page. That was not my intent, so I have re-edited my link.

 

[rob_gould]

Ha, yes - my apologies - mine does the same thing.  I was trying to be helpful but failed

Seems that putting the link in URL tags does the trick

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Marchand_(cyclist)

Anyhoo, good story

 

[Speedskater]

Two decades ago, a young friend of mine went rollerskating in the park.  Twenty four hours later, she had skated 283 miles! That was the World Record at the time, not the Woman's World Record, it was the world record.

 

[Rob Flinn]

#2 less spectacular , a woman on a bicycle just broke the land speed record with >180 MPH, but that was assisted by a motor vehicle clearing the air stream ahead of her... In fact the record needs an asterisk (IMO) because the drafting effect is not completely neutral but probably pulls her forward some.

Still crazy dangerous (you don't want to fall off a bike or anything going a fraction of that speed) but never possible to go anywhere near that fast without the motor vehicle in front assisting. In fact they pulled her up to 150 MPH before releasing her tow cable.

JR
[/quote]

She saves up to 30% energy by drafting.  WHat is also quite surprising is having a vehicle that will do that speed, considering how unaerodynamic it must be to provide enough shelter for her to draft behind.

One of my favourite records for cycling is that of Tommy Godwin ( http://www.tommygodwin.com/ ).  In 1939 he did 75,000 miles in a year & went on to do 100,000 miles in 500 days.  He was riding on a heavy bike in comparison to todays Carbon fibre bikes, & had an issue getting proper food because there was rationing in the UK due to the war.  As far as I'm aware the record still stands.    That's average 204 miles per day, which is a lot more than any rider does in a Grand Tour like the Tour de France which is only 21 days long ......

 

[boji]

Since we're on the topic of speed...The WRC drivers really take it to the edge...and beyond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2olMmKXCTo

 

[Rob Flinn]

Since we're on the topic of speed...The WRC drivers really take it to the edge...and beyond.

That reminds me a bit of ths local van driver who failed to see the roundabout ........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha8iJYeqixo

 

[PRR]

> She saves up to 30% energy by drafting.

27% by drafting another bicyclist. That would raise 30MPH to 34MPH. That's not 160MPH.

Speeds to 56MPH were routine behind pacing motorcycles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-paced_racing

This speed involves a huge deflector. At an extreme it should be approximately possible to get a bubble of air at zero speed relative to the powered vehicle. That's real tough, but you can arrange the bubble to shed air at the sides which is fed from dead behind, causing a draft *toward* the lead vehicle.

> having a vehicle that will do that speed

This run used a "dragster" which was purpose-made in 1995 for a guy who had broke 24 bones in 1988. The deflector is bigger than a chicken shed.
https://www.bicycling.com/news/a23281242/denise-mueller-korenek-breaks-bicycle-speed-record/

 

[Rob Flinn]

> She saves up to 30% energy by drafting.

27% by drafting another bicyclist. That would raise 30MPH to 34MPH. That's not 160MPH.

I suspect that the rider was being sucked along in the void behind the dragster.    I read that the dragster hadd 1000bhp.  That is very expensive to get that kind of power reliably.    Frequent engine rebuild territory.

 

[JohnRoberts]

yes.. you can see in the picture that she is actually hanging out slightly behind the chicken shed, so the goal may not be zero air resistance,  but she is very likely getting a push from the turbulence caused by the slipstream collapsing back into the vacuum created behind the  draft vehicle. 

For a sense of how much wind resistance is at 200 mph that draft vehicle reportedly has a 1,000 horsepower motor. Anyone who has ever driven a motorcycle without a fairing 100mph appreciates wind resistance (and horsepower required).

With zero air resistance on a flat, smooth(?), roadbed, the work involved is overcoming the rolling resistance of tires (reportedly they used motorcycle tires, any guesses about tire pressure?), and friction from wheel bearings and pedal drive gear.

A remarkable (very dangerous) feat but boost from motor powered drafting still requires an asterisk IMO. 

JR 

 

[PRR]

> I read that the dragster hadd 1000bhp.  That is very expensive to get that kind of power reliably.    Frequent engine rebuild territory.

It "had" 1000HP; but wasn't using it.

What will go 180MPH with a chicken shed attached? No Toyota. A million dollar super-car, but those owners hate shed-holes drilled into hand-bent trunk lids.

For well under $50K (maybe near $15K!) you can buy a second-best dragster. Maybe obsoleted by rules, maybe just built too heavy. It already has rear brackets for push-bar, parachute, maybe wing.

Two methods of estimating shed-power @ 184MPH come to 100HP-200HP; I'll agree that 250HP may be more honest.

The 430CID NA engine will do 1000HP for 7 seconds between rebuilds, but probably far over 50 Hours at 250HP. (The same block as a truck engine would hold 200+HP for 100K hours between rebuilds.)

They cudda just took the engine out of a 1959 Chrysler 300. Except those vintage Hemis are now more valuable than a Keith Black new-made dragster mill.

This run took 5 minutes. Counting a lot of practice runs with Denise, and many more with Fred, and an equal number of miles at 30HP rolling back to the start line, I think the engine is less than 5% burned-up after 23 years. It is much more likely to die of condensation and rust than over-work.

 

[smorphet]

One of my favourite records for cycling is that of Tommy Godwin ( http://www.tommygodwin.com/ ).  In 1939 he did 75,000 miles in a year & went on to do 100,000 miles in 500 days.  He was riding on a heavy bike in comparison to todays Carbon fibre bikes, & had an issue getting proper food because there was rationing in the UK due to the war.  As far as I'm aware the record still stands.    That's average 204 miles per day, which is a lot more than any rider does in a Grand Tour like the Tour de France which is only 21 days long ......

That was an astonishing record, both for the circumstances under which it was set, and the fact that it stood for so long.  It has, in fact, been broken recently.  It's probably fair to credit Steve Abraham, in the UK, for reigniting interest in the record.  He attemped it in 2015, and again since then, but ultimately failed to break it himself.  It was broken by Kurt Searvogel, in the US, who managed 208 miles per day (76076 miles) in 2015.  Then Kajsa Tylen set a women's record of 32327 miles, before Amanda Coker smashed them all with 86537 miles (237 miles per day).  Coker went on to break Godwin's 100000 mile record in 423 days.