Car manufacturers have a pretty dire track record when it comes to bicycle design. Their efforts are often overweight, fitted with indifferent components and outrageously priced.
Honda RN01
One honourable exception is Honda with the RN-01 which has to be one of the most dribble-inducing machines ever made.
Honda began by making motorcycles and after a reasonable amount of success in the motor trade they made their very first foray into the bicycle world in 2004 by forming Team G-Cross Honda.
The team signed Greg Minnaar, the 2003 world downhill champion, as the lead rider for their assault on world class downhill races. They brought an F1 level of detail to the proceedings and a budget that ran into the millions.
The bike they used was specially developed by Honda’s motorcycle R&D engineers. The R stood for Racing and the N stood for Natural Force. The 01 signified that it was Honda’s very 1st bike. Every component was custom built. Showa was responsible for the unique suspension, but the main point of interest was the Honda gearbox which was one of the very first on a mountain bike.
RN01 gearbox
The Honda team guarded their secrets zealously. The box was removed and placed in a case after every run and screens were erected around the machine when servicing took place. Not much has since been revealed about the design, it hasn’t emerged elsewhere, but it’s known that by placing the freewheel in the bottom bracket the riders were able to change gear without pedaling.
The RN01 at work
The Honda team had a successful run with over 20 international wins until the plug was pulled in 2007. It was cited that plans for production would never be profitable so there was no more reason to race.
What became of the bikes themselves? As they were prototypes they followed the motor industry protocol of being crushed for liability reasons. As far as we know a couple were gifted to riders, a stolen frame washed up on Ebay minus all the cool components and that’s about it.
Honda is still sitting on the technology they developed. Quel dommage.
When was the last time you felt serious G-force? The most likely case is a car crash, in which case you probably don’t remember it. If it was for fun then a roller coaster probably offers the leisure seeker the highest G out there. In sports Luge riders can reach up to 5 times their bodyweight, and air racers hit 9G in tight turns.
The effects of any sustained G-force aren’t particularly fun – blackouts, tunnel vision, inability to move the limbs at all, unconsciousness and death are all possibilities. People believed that the human body could only take so much. One man set out to explore the limits of G tolerance, and in the process saved a huge number of lives by endangering his own.
Colonel John Stapp
Colonel John Stapp was a USAF flight surgeon who dedicated his career to transport safety. In the late 1940s he was assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory’s most pressing research – the effects of deceleration on humans.
At the time it was assumed that no one could survive more than 18G and planes were being designed to this specification. Evidence gradually emerged that pilots were surviving higher G impacts only to be killed after the structural failure of their aircraft.
It became clear that research was necessary to measure what the human body could tolerate. The initial plan was to use a 13 stone dummy named Oscar Eightball, the reasoning being that if 18G was fatal it would be ridiculous to subject a live subject to anything approaching that.
Dr. Stapp inspected Oscar and announced that he had done the calculations and he himself would eventually be the test subject, despite warnings that he would be turned into a sack of jelly.
To simulate the forces in a crash a rocket sled was used. It was located at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base – the home of the X planes and The Right Stuff) on a track originally built to test captured V2 rocket motors.
The Gee Whiz
The sled was designed to replicate aircraft landing velocities followed by the violent deceleration of a crash. Rocket motors brought it up to 200 mph over a 2000 ft railed track and metal scoops plunged into water generated the effects of a sudden slow down.
In December 1947 after 35 test runs with Oscar, Stapp rode the rocket. His first ever run simulated 10G which he described as ‘exhilarating’. Over a period of time speeds and impacts increased and Stapp made a nonsense of existing theories, taking up to 35G, forcing designers to start making helmets, harnesses, seats and cockpits much stronger.
His list of injuries began to grow as the experiments progressed. He cracked collarbones, ribs, broke his wrist twice, burst blood vessles in his eyes and went temporarily blind on several occasions, but his dedication never wavered.
Research moved on to the effects of ejecting at high speeds during the 1950s and Stapp was once again the willing test subject. A new rocket sled named ‘Sonic Wind’ reached 632 mph and came to a dead stop in 1.4 seconds to replicate ejection at 1800 mph. Stapp experienced 46G and survived.
Stapp in action
He was soon dubbed ‘The Fastest Man on Earth’, ‘The Bravest Man in the Air Force’, around the base itself he was known as the ‘Careful Daredevil’, a B Movie was made about his exploits, but Stapp was only interested in using his newfound celebrity to push the issue of car safety as he realised his findings were just as applicable to the road.
By demonstrating to the Air Force that as many pilots were dying in car crashes as plane crashes, he persuaded them to build one of the very first car crash test facilities and it became a cause he dedicated the rest of his life to. He brought together manufacturers, legislators and researchers to act on his results and to this day the Stapp Car Crash Conference is one of the world’s leading forums in improving crash safety.
Next time you put on your seatbelt you know who to thank.
In these days of FMX madness it’s easy to forget that once upon a time there was a sports called Trials Riding. The sport itself seems to have been slightly lost in a wave of blaring music and roaring 250s, but its delicacy and skill make for an amazing watch.
Julien Dupont, is one of the people bringing new avenues to the sport. A French trials rider, he has has applied the Parkour art of traversing any obstacle to two wheels.
If you’re unsure as to how that manifests itself then here’s the man himself to demonstrate. He may pop up at an unlikely location near you soon.
There are many activities out there that simply never occur to us. Luckily there are other people out there who these things do occur to.
One example is paddling off a very high waterfall. Tyler Bradt, an American kayaker, holds the world record for a waterfall plunge – 186 ft of it. The event took place in April 2009 at Palouse Falls in Washington State.
Palouse Falls
He reached 100 mph during the drop and on landing in the deep pool at the bottom of the falls Bradt was pushed 20 ft underwater for 7 seconds. The only injury sustained was a sprained wrist.
It was captured on film as part of an upcoming feature named Dream Result that also captures white water action in Canada, Chile, Iceland, Norway and China.
If that’s just part of what’s in store then we can’t wait. Check the trailer below.
Let us assume for a moment that you’ve just come into a vast amount of money, or you’ve been diagnosed with an unpleasant disease and have recently wangled an enormous loan from your neighbourhood gangster that you’ve no intention of paying back, what could that money buy you in terms of experiences?
It seems that you’re alive at the right time. Well done.
With the collapse of communism, economies and the relentless demand for new sensations the possibilities are almost unlimited. Let’s have a look at what’s out there.
1 – Dive the Titanic
The Titanic
If you have £28,000 and 12 days to spare then you can go down and have a look at the remains of the Titanic, going only where scientists, James Cameron and other rich and bored people have been before. Travelling aboard a Russian Academy of Science owned ship, once you’ve covered the 350 or so miles from Newfoundland you descend 2.5 miles down in one of their submersibles. Once down there you can weep over little Leonardo Di Caprio, take some pics or just tick it off your list. Taking souvenirs away is not encouraged.
2 – Drive an F1 car.
Piece of piss?
Ever watched a backmarker in an F1 race and thought you could do better? If you really wanted to find out that could be arranged.
There are no shortage of places offering F1 experience drives. Prices tend to start at around £1000 and rise rapidly. You may find the experience not all that you were hoping for as many of them detune the engines, reduce the number of gears and limit you to a tiny number of laps.
If you want it done right then things will need to be more involved. It’s pretty tough to find a complete top-line F1 car for sale. There are plenty around minus engines and electronics but your chances of finding the remaining parts are zero. Running one would also require a small army of people and computers.
To make life easier we’d recommend buying something already developed to run in the Big Open Single Seaters series. Slightly simplified 90s mid field cars start from £50,000. If you want something proper retro and easier to operate then a nice 70s Cosworth DFV-powered machine will be a lovely buy.
Rent yourself a race circuit. Not many have the noise levels allowing F1 cars, but you’d be looking at £5000 a day for a smaller circuit up to £25,000 plus for the Silverstone GP circuit. Of course if you’re that rich or dying then you may as well take it out for a spin on the public highway.
3 -Fly to Antarctica to have a look around
Buckle up
Almost all Antarctic tourism involves getting there by ship. Unfortunately this means you have to cross the Drake Passage which is renowned as the planet’s roughest patch of ocean.
Since you’re now rich, and thus important, the only option is to fly. Your options are fairly limited. Qantas offer day flights over the continent in conventional airliners. They reduce speed to lessen the pollution and allow more time for cooing out the windows but there is the small annoyance of not actually landing.
For $38,000 Adventure Network , the only people in Antarctica with a private camp, will fly you to various spots in the Antarctic including the South Pole.
If you intend to charter your own plane to get there then be warned that the US Antarctic program does not encourage logistical help for joyriders so if you run out of fuel you may be washing their dishes for a very long time.
4 – Climb the Seven Summits
161 people have climbed the highest mountain on each continent. The first was Richard Bass, a US businessman in 1985. Since then there’s been a bit of dispute over which mountain is in which continent so your task will be 8 summits -
Kilimanjaro in Africa, 19,340 ft. Everest in Asia, 29,029 ft. Mount Elbrus in Europe, 18,510ft. Mount Mckinley in North America, 20,320ft. Aconcagua in South America, 22,841ft. Mount Vinson in Antarctica, 16,050ft. Kosciuszko in Australia, 7,310ft. Carstenz Pyramid in Australia, 16.024ft.
That all sounds like seriously hard work, so we’ll have to get creative. If it really means that much to you to slog your way up from the bottom then try a pressurised version of one of these.
Roughing it
You will require a team of hardy porters. Be nice to them.
If you simply want to step outside onto a summit then our top tip is a Super Blimp
It’ll probably need upgrading to cope with breezes up there but there look like few more relaxing ways to get those peaks in the bag. Check out www.aeroscraft.com for your very own sky yacht.
5 – Fly around the moon.
The Ultimate
For $100 million a seat Space Adventures will fly you and a special friend around the moon. That seems awfully cheap but their mission plan utilises existing Russian technology that has already been there, albeit unoccupied. Within the last couple of weeks Space Adventures announced that their first taker has signed on the dotted line. There’s still time for you to nab the second seat.
Another in an occasional series where we rub your face in it by showing you where the Gods of sport won’t let you play.
This time we’re having a look at the Red Bull Compound. It’s a private facility at Wyvern Ranch in southern California devoted to motocross and it appears only to be accessible if they decide to invite you.
This seems extremely selfish as it must be one of the world’s premier playgrounds. It was originally built by young FMXer Lance Coury and family to improve his skills. Red Bull took an interest and helped evolve it into the site it is today.
Envious?
And what a site it is – over 650 acres there is a supercross track, motocross track, FMX park with multiple ramps, arenacross track, a technology centre where riders can watch themselves in action and fine tune their techniques and a maze of trails to ride. It also had a foam pit, the world’s largest at 3 stories tall and 100 ft in length. Sadly the foam pit burnt down recently.
Rest In Peace
This compound is where many of the Red Bull riders have worked on their most spectacular stunts in private. And they’ve begun to host FMX camps to take up-and-coming riders to the next level.
Unless you’re willing to bust your way in, it looks like the only way to have a trouble-free play on there is to catch their eye in a semi-professional manner. For everyone else the site’s orignal creators appear to be building something spectacular in Costa Rica www.wyverncostarica.com
It’s nearly winter Olympics time and we can’t wait. Even if the poor old Canadians have to slap snow on their hills by hand it’s still one of the only conventional sporting events that captures our undivided attention.
Before the event begins we can easily guess the nationalities that’ll dominate, but there is one corner of winter sports that shall be forever British.
The Cresta Run in St Moritz, Switzerland is probably the most famous winter sports venue in the world. You would expect it to be festooned with sponsorship and folks swanning around in rubberised unitards, but that isn’t the case at all. It’s an amateur racing club founded by British officers in 1885 and a regular human can still turn up for a burn in their jeans.
Working off the hangover
The club originated during the 1870s. British guests of the Kulm Hotel of St Moritz developed steerable sleds to race each other through the streets. The residents of St Moritz began to kick up a storm about having their daily business put at risk by high speed toffs bombing past.
In an attempt to keep residents and guests happy the owner of the Kulm Hotel and a Major Bulpetts built a natural ice run away from the town. The run descends 514 ft and is 1200 metres in length. Built from scratch every winter and open for 9 weeks until the end of February, riding takes place every morning.
The Cresta Run operates skeleton toboggans only. Unlike the Luge, riders go down head first and any steering and braking has to be done with spiked boots and shifting of the body weight as the toboggan has no control mechanism. The fastest average speed of the run is 53 mph and speeds top 80 mph by the end.
Serious skill is required. A conventional ice track is capable of holding an uncontrolled object within in its walls right down to the end, the Cresta Run is a more open half pipe that’ll do its best to throw anything off at the earliest opportunity.
Fledgling riders receive the ‘death talk’ from an experienced Cresta Runner. An X ray collage of nasty injuries over the years on the clubhouse wall is a testimony to the dangers involved. Limbs have been lost, trigger fingers torn off and the odd death has been known to happen.
The Cresta Run has two starting points. Beginners must set off at first from the clubhouse and if you pass with flying colours you’re allowed to begin at the top, much further up the course.
The most famous bend is known as Shuttlecock – an open bend that has a 1 in 14 chance of throwing you off the course. The outside of the bend is padded with straw and snow in preparation for disaster. If you’re one of the flyers you gain the right to wear the Shuttlecock Club tie.
The run is open to anyone on practice days if they join as a supplementary member for a price of around £300. They supply the equipment, you bring the clothing and insurance. Traditional clothing is encouraged, perhaps a pith helmet gets a discount. You must be over 18 and (whisper it) male.
If you demonstrate enough enthusiasm and other members vouch for you, you too can become one of the 1300 or so full members. You’ll be in good company, it’s a favourite haunt of upscale society as well as gritty British armed forces types.
