WHPSC 2024 will be held September 8-14th, 2024 at Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Register, Check-in and Technical Inspection  will be on September 6th.

Team meetings will be held on September 7th.

Check the  WHPSC pages  for full information.

Follow  the WHPSC Facebook group

WHPSC 2022 will be held September 11-17th, 2022 at Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Technical Inspection and team meetings will be held on September 10th.

After a two year break due to COVID-19 we are back and hoping to welcome you all in Battle Mountain for a fantastic week of racing!

More information on the WHPSC site

Five new records were set at WHPSC 2019:

On Monday Sept 9^th:   

Rosa Bas, Women's Single Rider: 75.88 mph, 122.12 kph

On Thursday, Sept 12^th:  

Ilona Peltier, Women's Single Rider: 77.10 mph, 124.07 kph

On Friday Sept 13^th:

Ilona Peltier, Women's Single Rider: 78.61 mph, 126.52 kph

Yasmin Tredell, Women’s multitrack: 56.42 mph, 90.81 kph

Calvin Moes and Evan Bennewies, Men's multi rider: 74.73 mph, 120.26 kph

On September 9^th, Rosa Bas of the The Human Power Team, a student team from TU Delft and VU Amsterdam, set a new Women’s Single Rider  200M  record with a  speed of 75.88 mph (122.12 kph) riding the Velox 9

The previous record of 75.69 mph (121.81 kph) was set in  September 2010 by French athlete Barbara Buatois.

Steve Sisolak, Governor of the State of Nevada has issued a proclamation declaring September  8th-14th, 2019 to be World Human Powered Speed Challenge Week.

Forms and event  information for rider/team registration are now available.

Please click the WHPSC link at the top right of this page for access.

The WHPSC is  adopting an additional safety requirement for all vehicles:

"A retention means sufficient to hold the rider in the vehicle during a 360 degree roll is required, commencing at WHPSC 2019."
 

While this is not an official IHPVA rule at this time, it is an additional requirement by the WHPSC.

We will also be encouraging teams to include in their design a roll-bar or similar structure to protect the rider in the event of roll-over.

On July 29^th 2018 Nici Walde rode the “M” velomobile to set new Women’s’ and outright 24-hours records of 676.47 miles (1088.67 km). She completed 227 laps of the Opel Test Center  in Rofgau-Dudenhofen, Germany. 

During the ride, she also set new Women’s records for Standing Start 12-hours at 373.477 miles (601.053 km) and for the MegaMeter (1,000 km) at 22:08:39.261 (hh:mm:ss).

Photo Credit: Opel

The World Human Powered Speed Challenge 2019 will be held at Battle Mountain, Nevada on the following dates:

Record attempts: Sunday Sept 8th - Saturday Sept 14th.

Racer/Volunteer Meeting: Saturday Sept 7th.

Setup days: Sept 5, 6 & 7th

Ken Talbot rode the ARION4 at  51.58 mph (83.02kph) in the Mens' Arm-Powered Category

Karen Darke posted successive records of 41.86 mph (67.37 kph), 46.05 mph (74.11 kph) culminating in 46.54 mph (74.91 kph) riding ARION4 in the Women's Arm-Powered Category.

Ishtey Amminger rode the CO2 at 60.94 mph (98.08 kph) in the Junior Men's Multitrack category.

On Friday September 14, Ken also set a new 200/600 Arm-Powered record of 33.81 mph (54.42 kph). Karen Darke rode the ARION4 for a new Women's Arm-Powered 200/600 record of 30.30 mph (48.77 kph).

Congratulations to everyone !

Last night (Sept 12th) Ken Talbot rode the ARION4, breaking the human powered land speed record at an astonishing 51.58mph (83.02kph). Ken is now officially the fastest human in history riding an arm-powered vehicle!

This morning, Karen Darke surpassed her previous world record, reaching 46.05 mph (74.11kph) becoming the second fastest arm-powered human ever.

The University of Liverpool team is so proud of everything both riders have achieved, their hard work, their dedication and passion which has led to these incredible records.

Early registration closes on August 20th -  just a few days away.

Register now and receive  a $25 discount on your application.

An option to pay by PayPal has is now available.

Click on the WHPSC button above for the necessary forms and PayPal information.

A special dual issue of the two IHPVA publications has recently been mailed to members.

In future, these publications will be distributed only by email to current members with an email address on file. Click on the "Join IHPVA" button at the top of this screen if you need to renew your membership and/or keep your email address up to date.

Detail information is now available for WHPSC 2018.

Go to    http://ihpva.org/whpsc/   for entry forms, waivers, racer/team information and everything you need for the event.

WHPSC  2018 will be held from September 10^th-15^th  at Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Details will follow as the event gets closer.

For more information or press inquires contact Al or Alice Krause,  WHPSC  event organizers:

a.krause@sbcglobal.net 

707-443-8261 before the event

707-845-3683 or 707-845-3643 during the event

or the Lander County Convention and Tourism Bureau at 775-635-1112

WHPSC 2017 is now only a few weeks away.

Application forms and details for entrants, teams and volunteers can be found at: http://ihpva.org/whpsc/index.htm

Also, please vist the WHPSC site at http://whpsc.org for comprehensive information about the event.

For more information or press inquires contact Al or Alice Krause,  WHPSC  event organizers at a.krause@sbcglobal.net  707-443-8261 before the event 707-845-3683 or 707-845-3643 during the event or the Lander County Convention and Tourism Bureau at 775-635-1112

A statement from the IPHVA board, as of March 28^th, 2017:

The board has had a long discussion about various aspects of the flying start rules. As a result of this long discussion, we have recently passed two motions. Detailed wording of rule changes remain to be worked out.  However, the board felt strongly that the result of these two motions should be communicated without further delay.

The first motion concerned launch carts, and the ban on such devices was upheld unanimously. Launch carts were ruled to be a violation of the vehicle integrity rule. We are aware that such a ban may discourage the development of certain HPV designs. However, if launch carts were to be allowed, this could encourage the development of vehicles that become utterly dependent on them to start, and it was felt that is not a direction that the original spirit of the HPV rules should encourage. Furthermore, defining an exception to the vehicle integrity rule could open a Pandora’s box of devices and approaches that also skirt this rule.

The second motion concerned the use of skates by launch assistants.

The use of skates by launch assistants is banned, effective January 1, 2018. This issue was more controversial, and the vote in favor was not unanimous. However, rationale for the skate ban was the equivalence between the pusher/skater combination with pushers plus a launch cart. The majority of the board felt that if launch carts were not allowed, skaters shouldn’t be allowed as well. We are aware that several teams use skaters for launches at WHPSC. We felt that a delayed implementation of this rule would allow adequate time for teams to retrain their people, and to adjust their vehicle designs if necessary.

***********************************

The 18th annual World Human Powered Speed Challenge will again be held in Battle Mountain, Nevada from September 11th-16^th, 2017. 

The world’s fastest bicycles will attempt to break the human powered land speed record.

The challenge is against the forces of nature and the viscosity of the air itself. The record to beat is an amazing 89.59 mph set by Todd Reichert in 2016 when 10 countries from around the globe came to compete. Teams from France, Russia, Japan, Canada, Italy, Mexico, USA, the Netherlands and Britain, including many collegiate teams, brought their high-tech pedal powered bullet-bikes to achieved amazing speeds setting many National and World records.

Click here for a full press release:http://ihpva.org/whpsc2017-press-release.htm including information and links for Graeme Obree's film "Battle Mountain" about his experience at the 2013 event.

For more information or press inquires contact Al or Alice Krause,  WHPSC  event organizers at a.krause@sbcglobal.net  707-443-8261 before the event 707-845-3683 or 707-845-3643 during the event or the Lander County Convention and Tourism Bureau at 775-635-1112

Content removed.

On July 9th, 2016 Mathias König set two new world records at Aldenhoven, Germany, riding a Milan SL MKII:

6-Hour Men's, Standing Start:

• 234.13 miles, 376.79 km at an average speed of 39.02 mph, 62.80 kph.

1-Hour  Men's, Standing Start (Single Rider, Multitrack):

• 42.32 miles, 68.11 km.

During the week of September 12 – 17, 2016 several new records were set for the 200M Flying Start Speed Trial on successive days at Battle Mountain, Nevada:

Sarah Piercy – Women’s Arm Powered (Multitrack): 24.85 mph (39.99 kph);

Florian Kowalik – Men’s Junior (Age 15 to 17 years): 62.69 mph (100.88 kph),  63.86 mph (102.77 kph) & 65.93 mph (106.10 kph);

Gareth Hanks – Men’s Multitrack: 73.95 mph (119.01 kph);

Todd Reichert – Men’s: 88.26 mph (142.04 kph) & 89.59 mph (144.17 kph).

For full results and information from WHPSC 2016, go to the WHPSC pages at http://whpsc.org

Florian Kowalik again rode the Gee Bee  to a new Men’s Junior (Age 15 to 17 years) record on September 15th, 2016. His speed of 63.86 mph (102.77 kph)  exceeds his previous record of  62.69 mph (100.88 kph), set the previous day. 

For current  results and information  from WHPSC 2016, go to  the WHPSC pages at  http://whpsc.org

New 200 meter Flying Start  records were set at Battle Mountain, Nevada on September 14^th:

Todd Reichert rode the Eta at 88.26 mph (142.04 kph) to set  a new  Men’s record. This eclipses his previous record of 86.65 mph (139.46kph) set on September 19^th, 2015 at the same location.

Florian Kowalik rode the Gee Bee at 62.69 mph (100.88 kph)  to set a new Men’s Junior (Age 15 to 17 years) record. This exceeds the previous record of 61.45 mph (98.89 kph) set by Mackie Martin  at Battle Mountain on September 18^th, 2003.

For current  results and information  from WHPSC 2016, go to  the WHPSC pages at  http://whpsc.org

Pieter Pas has set a new Men's 1-hour, Standing start, Multitrack record of 43.92 miles (70.68 kilometers) riding the PP3.0. He set the record at the Dekra track in Klettwitz, Germany on July 24th, 2016.

The previous record of 36.94 miles (59.45 kilometers) was set by Al Voigt in the Vector in May 1980.

Congratulations Pieter !

WHPSC 2016 will be held at Battle Mountain, Nevada  on September 12th -17th, 2016.

Click for the WHPSC 2016 Web pages:  http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2016/speedchallenge.htm

An exciting event with several new world records !

Check out Mike Mowett's Ms Excel-format  chart of the results with comprehensive information about each rider and their HPVs.

The approved official records are posted  on the IHPVA records pages.

On Thursday morning, Sept 17th,  Todd Reichert set a new Men's 200M record of 85.71 mph in Team AeroVelo's Eta.

The new record is  2.58 mph faster than the 83.13 mph record set by   Sebastiaan Bouwier of HPV Team Delft in  Velox 3 on  September 14th, 2013. 

On Friday evening, Sept 18th, Todd set another record at 86.50 mph in Eta. On Saturday evening, Sept 19th, Todd went even faster, recording 86.65 mph.

AeroVelo Team - image courtesy of Cindy Lu Turner

New records were set on Monday, Sept 14th at Battle Mountain:

•  Florian Kowalik set a Men's   Junior Multi-track (trike) record of 53.41 mph in   Completely Overzealous 2 (CO2). This is the first-time entry in this specific class, which does  not have any   previous record. Florian susbsequently raised his speed to 57.92  mph on Thursday, Sept 17th.  

• Liz McTernan reached 24.72 mph in an unfaired handcycle, beating the prior record of 21.39 mph, which was set by Michelle Malewicki in 1992.

On Tuesday, Sept 15th,  Ellen van Vugt set a new Women's Multi-track record of 51.91 mph in Completely Overzealous 2 (CO2)  and then raised it on Sept 17th to a second record of 54.453 mph, in the same vehicle. 

Keep abreast of all the Battle Mountain results at WHPSC.ORG

The 2015 World Human Powered Speed Championships will be held  September 14th -  19^th at  Battle Mountain, Nevada for the 16th consecutive year of racing. SR 305 provides  one of  the straightest, smoothest and most ideal road surfaces in the world for HPV records.

The 4,619ft (1,408m) altitude road allows riders an acceleration zone of over 4 miles, enabling them to reach their maximum velocity before being timed over a 200 meter distance. The section of the road used for this event was newly refinished in 2009, with a smooth surface specially prepared for human powered vehicle racing by Frehner Construction and the Nevada Department of Transportation, using a Nevada Department of Tourism Grant from the US government.

Click here for a PDF copy of the 2015 Poster.

Be sure to follow the action daily and  check the  event website  for links, updates, results and photos.

A list of the planned entrants can be seen here.  

Check out Mike Mowett's  unofficial but very interesting lists of riders and records to be challenged.  The complete information is also available in Excel format.

Contributions to the WHPSC Prize Fund would be greatly appreciated.

Please check out the WHPSC and IHPVA  pages on Facebook

Special notes for competitors, teams and volunteers:

1.  IHPVA Rule 3.2.3.2 Flying Start has been revised to permit push assists by  no more than 3 persons per single rider vehicle with an additional 1 person  per additional rider (e.g. Tandem).   The complete rules can be found at the IHPVA Rules page. 

2. The Start Order Selection Process is detailed here.

    3. WHPSC forms and information are now available:

• Team Information (final version) - MS Word, PDF  and RTF formats
• Application Form -    MS Word, PDF and RTF formats
• WHPSC Schedule -    MS Word, PDF and RTF formats
• Special Events & Meetings Schedule -    MS Word, PDF and RTF formats
• Chase Vehicle Rules -    MS Word, PDF and RTF formats
• Volunteer Information -    MS Word, PDF and RTF formats
• Waiver of Liability -    MS Word, PDF and RTF formats

4. Note that launch dollies or carts will no longer be allowed at the WHPSC  after 2015.

During the week of September 8th -  13th,  2014,  22 cyclists from from 8 countries will gather on SR305 outside  Battle Mountain, Nevada for the 15th consecutive year of racing on what is arguably the straightest, smoothest and most ideal road surface in the world for HPV records.

 Mike Mowett has posted a list of the current entrants here

The 4,619ft (1,408m) altitude road allows riders an acceleration zone of over 4 miles, enabling them to reach their maximum velocity before being timed over a 200 meter distance. The section of the road used for this event was newly refinished in 2009, with a smooth surface specially prepared for human powered vehicle racing by Frehner Construction and the Nevada Department of Transportation, using a Nevada Department of Tourism Grant from the US government.

Be sure to follow the action daily, check the  event website for links, updates, results and photos!

Barring any unforeseen complications or technical weirdnesses, you should be able to see live coverage from the post racing wrap-up meetings on the  USTREAM  channel.

Please contribute to the  WHPSC   prize fund.

Check out the Facebook groups for the  WHPSC   and the  IHPVA.

28 cyclists from 8 countries will compete this year! Look for daily results and pictures here
.

Baring any unforeseen complications you should be able to see live coverage from the post racing wrap-up meetings here.

Find the WHPSC group on Facebook!

The IHPVA also has a Facebook group!

The IHPVA has established two new competition classes for Junior Riders and Multitrack Vehicles. The purpose of the classes is to recognize prior achievements by younger riders and multi-wheeled vehicles and to promote their activity and development in the future. 

During the week of September 10th through September 15th 2012, cyclists from around the world including Australia, France, Russia, Scotland, USA, Canada, and the Netherlands will gather on SR305 outside of Battle Mountain, Nevada for the 13th consecutive year of racing on what is arguably the straightest, smoothest and most ideal road surface in the world for HPV records.

The 4,619ft (1,408m) altitude road allows riders an acceleration zone of over 4 miles, enabling them to reach their maximum velocity before being timed over a 200 meter distance. The section of the road used for this event was newly refinished in 2009, with a smooth surface specially prepared for human powered cycle racing by Frehner Construction and the Nevada Department of Transportation using a Nevada Department of Tourism Grant from the US government.

Be sure to follow the action daily, check the event website for links, updates, results and photos!

Also visit the USTREAM channel set up for the event, we plan to cover the post run wrap-up meetings twice daily, technology permitting
 

special thanks to Newmont Mining Corporation for their annual support

Like us on Facebook

The 12th annual World Human Powered Speed Challenge returns to Battle Mountain Nevada September 12-17 2011

Proudly sponsored by Hydrive Energy and brought to you by the IHPVA.

Check the event website for daily updates, results and photos!

check here for the Hydrive TV commercial!

there is a USTREAM channel set up for the event we hope to cover the post run wrap-up meetings twice daily, technology permitting

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/whpsc

The 11th annual World Human Powered Speed Challenge returns to Battle Mountain Nevada September 13-18 2010

Proudly sponsored by Hydrive Energy and brought to you by the IHPVA.

Check the event website for daily updates, results and photos!

check here for the Hydrive tv commercial!

The next issue of HPV News and the 2010 Membership Roster is in the mail, some of you may have already received them.

by Sean Costin 9/05/2009

Several new IHPVA one hour records were set on the weekend of July 18th, 2009 during the Michigan Human Powered Speed Challenge at Ford Motor Company\'s Michigan Proving Grounds, in Romeo Michigan. This event, organized by IHPVA board member Mike Mowett was designed to both provide a world class venue for setting records, and to run HPRA style human powered vehicle races for the non-records setting racers. This well attended event represented a return to the large world championships that the IHPVA enjoyed in the 1980s and early 1990s.

IHPVA Records set were:
56.295 mph, 90.598 kph, Sam Whittingham , Varna Tempest
52.208 mph, 84.020 kph, Barbara Buatois, Varna Tempest

More information at the Michigan Human Powered Speed Challenge event website

Chris Broome - January 1st, 2009

The bottom line is that the ‘Association of Associations’ concept of the IHPVA re-organization of 1999 just didn’t work as planned and the human-powered community was losing focus, direction and sense of community.

The multiplicity of similar names was very confusing, even to those of us within the organizations and it was almost impossible to explain clearly to outsiders.

Following the 1999 reorganization, the IHPVA was not a legal entity. It was not incorporated or registered and accordingly has not had legal funding or even the legal foundation for its name.

As President of the HPVA at that time and an early Chairman of the IHPVA, I was deeply involved in the name changes and the reorganization. But it was extremely difficult to sustain sufficient enthusiasm to make even parts of the proposed IHPVA structure work. I was not successful in keeping the enthusiasm alive or in forming a legal entity and my successors have all suffered the same fate.

The anticipated benefits failed to materialize. The enthusiasm for the concept dropped very quickly, as did the number of volunteers willing to help bring about the proposed change. As the years passed, even the proponents of the 1999 reorganization realized that the change wasn’t working and that substantive action was needed.

As Alice Krause has written, HPVA board presented a proposal to re-establish the original name and change the bylaws to reflect the change at the annual HPVA membership meeting in 2006. The membership approval vote was unanimous.

The organization has gone back to its origins and reclaimed the name established by its founders. The organization is incorporated as the International Human Powered Vehicle Association in the USA and is registered in the U.K.

The plan to reaffirm our mission of promoting human powered vehicles and their technology by inviting the affiliation of the current national organizations into a larger unified community. We are improving our publication of information through a restructured ihpva.org website with an open archive of Human Power, the IHPVA technical journal.

The website will also publish course records and race and event records, where the event organizers submit the observation and timing information.

Online forums are now available to improve communications between individuals and organizations throughout the world.

We invite all members of national organizations to become IHPVA members, to volunteer for any of a multitude of tasks in running events and the organization, to run for office if they wish, or to just enjoy the satisfaction of being on the leading edge of human power and its supporting technologies.

Chris Broome
Board member, IHPVA
Former Chairman, IHPVA
Past President, HPVA

Alice Krause, Eureka, California, USA - August 2008

The wait is over!

If you hadn’t noticed the masthead already, please look again. Our organization has gone back to its roots and reclaimed the name given us by our founders. We are officially the International Human Powered Vehicle Association!

read the whole story