By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — Sunday morning’s rains took their toll on bikers hoping to use solar-powered batteries to make their rides easier.
The steady rain didn’t bother Michael Lukens too much, though. He finished about 15 of the 62 miles that his team had to complete.
“It’s not that bad,” said the 16-year-old resident of Bloomington, Ind. “It’s nice and cool.”
“But when you’re off your bike, it gets chilly quickly,” said teammate Ian Martin, 18.
Crowder College was host for Solar BikeRayce USA, an annual competition for solar-powered bicycles and other solar-powered vehicles. The race drew teams from across the country, including Bloomington, Kansas City and Mexico, Mo.
Teams’ vehicles were equipped with solar panels and motors that add power to a driver’s pedaling. Team members drove bicycles and recumbent — with the rider reclining — tricycles equipped with the motors in the 62-mile marathon.
The wet roads slowed down the three-wheeled vehicles, Martin said. He rode a recumbent tricycle on the course.
“As I was riding, I could see the water flying off of my tires,” he said. “Whatever energy I could have used to speed across the asphalt was used to spray water.”
This is the 11th year that faculty adviser Jim Graham has brought a team from Mexico High School.
“This is the first time we’ve had weather like this,” Graham said. “But what makes this fun is that all the teams help each other. Everyone is racing for everyone else.”
The team picked out uniforms at a retail store. The men chose loose-fitting, Hawaiian-print shirts.
“This is definitely a form-over-function uniform,” said William Seigfried, 18. “It might cause some drag, but it looks awesome.”
Drag was no problem: The rain saturated the shirt, gluing it to Seigfried’s back. The motor on his bicycle didn’t work, either. The thick cloud cover kept its solar panels from collecting much energy.
“The motor hasn’t worked the whole race, so it’s been a lot harder to pedal,” Seigfried said. “It’s basically 38 pounds of dead weight.”
The rain delayed a race for solar-powered cars. Bikers and car drivers shared the track in the afternoon session.
Even though the rain fogged up rearview mirrors, limited the functionality of brakes and rendered solar panels useless, it didn’t dampen spirits. As racers finished laps, they were cheered on by team members and race officials.
Terry “Rocketman” Rouse, 60, of Kansas City, was one of the competitors. The race was the first chance he had to test out an enclosed recumbent tricycle made from old election signs.
“The day after Election Day, I’m out collecting these signs,” Rouse said. “Especially the winners. I figure they aren’t going to need them for four more years.”
Rouse used pieces of the signs to form an aerodynamic shell over his vehicle. He said he rides the vehicle about 17 miles to work, staying in shape while not burning gasoline.
“Kansas City is not known as a bike-friendly town,” he said. “But people are very friendly when they get a look at this.”
Lukens said he also is an avid bicyclist. He rides to school often, even through cold Indiana winters.
He said his love of the activity got him involved with his school’s solar-powered bicycle team.
“I also care about the environment,” Lukens said. “I want to show people that there is a better means of transportation than a normal, internal-combustion engine.”
‘Human-assisted’
Race official Paul Hirtz, a professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, said many competitors’ solar panels were impaired by the cloudy weather. Competitors were allowed to use batteries charged from nearby electrical outlets, but those were quickly drained.
“There’s a lot more human-assisted propulsion than electric-assisted,” Hirtz said.
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