TORONTO, Sept. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Canada's Team Aerovelo put on quite a show during the World Human Powered Speed Challenge in Battle Mountain, Nevada, when their aerodynamic speed bike Eta, piloted by Aerovelo Co-Founder Todd Reichert, broke the previous world record of 133.78kph / 83.23mph, set in 2013 by a team of Dutch students, three times!
* On Thursday, Sept. 17, Eta powered to a fantastic speed of 137.93kph / 85.71mph.
* On Friday, Sept. 18, Eta broke that record, hitting a speed of 139.21kph / 86.50 mph.
* On Saturday, Sept. 19th, Aerovelo broke Friday's record when Eta hit a speed of 86.65mph / 139.45kpm!
The multi-record-breaking performance capped off a year of testing and refining Eta on state of the art tracks and in their University of Toronto lab, after placing third in 2014. After six years at the competition, the last two with Eta, Co-Founders Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson were thrilled with the performance and hard work and efforts of their team of volunteers and University of Toronto students from the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. "This has been a dream of ours for years. This year, we spent more time preparing and testing, and it feels incredible to have all that pay off", said Robertson. Reichert commented, "We knew going in Eta was the fastest bike we've ever built, but the course at Battle Mountain is so unique, this was the first time we really saw the bike perform to its full potential. I'm really proud of the work we've done."
*Watch the video from Aerovelo's FIRST record breaking performance at the World Powered Speed Challenge*
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaaBYl_LnxAecUOgfVTQHvg
*Photography is available at www.aerovelo.com/media*
Held the week of September 14-19, 2015, in Battle Mountain, Nevada, the World Human Powered Speed Challenge draws record-seeking cyclists from around the world to test their high tech speed bikes on highway 305 - the straightest, flattest, smoothest road surface in the world. The international Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) sanctions all records.
Eta is generously funded by Google, who came on board to support the project after Aerovelo's Human Powered Helicopter, Atlas, won the AHS Igor Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Challenge in 2013 with a record-breaking flight. Their support allowed Aerovelo to focus full-time on the bike and test on the finest test tracks in North America. The project also received incredible funding and support by donors, including significant contributions from The University of Toronto, GMC, Indeo Ideas Inc., Visual Unity and many others.
Resource Links:
http://www.aerovelo.com/
http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2015/speedchallenge.htm
https://www.facebook.com/groups/123929127660938/
Youtube: Youtube.com/Aerovelo
Twitter: @AeroVelo
Facebook: Facebook.com/AeroVelo
SOURCE Aerovelo
Image with caption: "Aerovelo (CNW Group/Aerovelo)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150922_C5794_PHOTO_EN_503467.jpg
Sharon Warren/Marsha Newbery, Communications/Marketing Consultant Director of Communications, [email protected]/[email protected], 416-453-4280/647-678-6913
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