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Originally Posted by jamesqf
So where in that does it say anything about the location being selected for altitude? I don't see it. All I see is a quote that confirms what I said earlier: the event is held there because there's this long straight & level stretch of road, which has very little traffic so the authorities will allow it to be closed to traffic for the competition... ...
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Soon after the event, there was a lot of info about it - in Dutch. International media were slow to pick it up and went less deep itto the story (in general, I did not read the entire Internet).
So, does height matter? Was the location chosen for height?
Well, they did try to set the record at sea level. And failed miserably.
See
Ligfiets.net | Snelweg dicht voor fietsrecord
In the Dutch province Friesland (Fryslân) an 8 kilometer of highway had been closed to allow for the record attempt. Due to high winds they only achieved 78 km/h, less than 50 mph. But though they expected to go faster than 100 km/h, they did not believe they would break the record there because:
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... In de woestijn in Nevada kunnen fietsers sneller, omdat daar minder wind staat en de hoogte beter is.
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Yup, Nevada is higher, and that's better.
Another amazing detail;
this link not only describes the height of about 1500 meter above sea level as ideal, it also explains the way the pedals in the Velox2 moved around the crankshaft
in a flat ellipsoid motion so the rider needed less space for his legs while pedaling, and the body could be kept lower.
This years Velox3 had a normal crankset again as the aerodynamic gain of the ellipsoid system was offset by the added friction and vulnerability.
See
http://www.hptdelft.nl/nl/index.php?...d=39&Itemid=50. Sorry, Dutch again; the English page (replace /nl/ with /en/ in the link) is a bit of a stub.
The record attempt at Battle Mountain had almost failed because of the wind. Only on the last day were they able to set te record, despite the still strong wind. And of course the fix against the deforming body shell.
I bet if they try again next year with the Velox4 having a body shell that is properly stabilized and luck with the weather they can go even faster, much faster maybe.
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