paulhus@euclid.DEC (N. CHRIS PAULHUS DTN 223-6871 MLO8-3/T13) (10/09/85)
1. To Randy Blackwood - On behalf of IHPVA and the Indy chapter of IHPVA, I offer you an apology. (But don't feel singled out: we had troubles getting some entrants and workers in too!). The problem is with the people at the Indy Motor Speedway. They think they are Gods gift to racing. You can't rent the Speedway and take over the way you can at most venues. At IMS you obtain permission to use part of their wonderful facility for a few hours and you dance to their tune. As an SCCA corner worker who has worked at race tracks from Nova Scotia to California, I have never seen the likes of these people (Daytona is a bit like them, but still workable). You might then ask, 'Why do you use IMS? Find someplace better!'. It is true that the track at IMS is the smoothest, best maintained surface any IHPVA racer has seen. It also has a 14' downslope from turn 4 to turn 1 that is just legal re. the DuPont prize and produced the fastest runs. Another factor is the willingness of the people at the Indy chapter of IHPVA to organize and run such an event. We in the Northeast have tried to put something on and couldn't find the needed workers/organizers. [ Willing, competent workers are a rare resource and it pays to let them have a fair amount of freedom of choice (just so long as it doesn't produce critical problems). ] It's too bad you didn't make it to the other events. They are a lot more relaxed and fun. The 200m sprints are the ones that get all the national publicity and, therefore, many people are up tight. Again, I'm sorry you had these problems. 2. Look pedals - I've been using Look pedals since mid-August. Since I ride a recumbent, they are a god-send: formerly I couldn't reach the pedals to tighten toe straps and would pull out of the clips when climbing. The Looks lock you in. period. I dumped at 1 mph twice while getting used to them (once at NEAR, once at TFCE). It just takes time to learn to twist out rather than pull out. Note: you would normally think that you would twist out by swinging your heel outward. I have found that they unlock better when I swing my heel inward! It seems like it takes about 45 degrees of outward twist to get out, but only about 15 degrees of inward twist. I'm sure that the actual numbers are different, but this is how it FEELS. The T nuts they want you to install in your shoes are a cludge. When you get them in, they protrude into the ball of your foot exactly in the area you apply pressure to the pedal. I mixed up some epoxy and leveled (faired in) the area between and around the three T nuts/shoe. Since the shoe doesn't bend, I expect no problems with the epoxy cracking/coming loose/etc. I run the adjustment at minimum to ease getting out. Since my Avatar has a very high bottom bracket, I can't comment on road clearance. I located their cleats using the location from my old (regular cleats) bike shoes which had be RADed. You can't RAD the Look cleats. I talked to Bill Farrell at NEAR and he is aware of the problem but is working with Rick Howell in Vermont to develop a better step-in binding, so he isn't worrying much about the Looks. The Howell cycle-bindings are supposed to go on sale in March '86, but I've hear that there may be a problem with venture funding and they may be delayed. From what Howell has told me, his system will be far superior to the Looks. There will be three systems (pedals plus special shoes = system). One for tourists, one for tri-atheletes, and one for racers. John Allen stopped by Howell's place in August so you might see an article in Bike Tech soon. Sorry to be so wordy, but this is an important new development and I wanted to tell what I know. N. Chris Paulhus DEC-Maynard decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-euclid!paulhus