HPV bicycles 600+ mpg

I just started biking this year, and I really love it. I'm pushing 40 and hadn't ridden a bike since I was about 13, so I was sort of wondering whether I was going to be able to pull it off. So far, I've been able to travel nearly everywhere I need to by bike and haven't had any problems. I'm fortunate to live in a smaller university city, so my longest round trip commute is only about 10 miles. I was surprised to find that it really doesn't take me that much longer to get places by bike, and depending on traffic patterns and how far I'm going, I can sometimes get places faster that way. It does take more planning to avoid dangerous intersections, and I don't know how committed I'm going to be in January when the temperature falls well below freezing, but so far, so good. I've cut my driving miles in half, and I'm in better shape than I've been in in years. Another side benefit is that I get to see what's going on in the community. When I'm in my car with the windows up and radio on, I feel a lot more detached from the rest of the world. My son is too young to bike very far with me, and my wife's health doesn't permit her to bike, so we have to take a car when we go anywhere as a family. The rest of the time, I really try hard not to drive.

I encourage everyone to bike, walk, take public transportation and carpool whenever possible. The biggest barrier for me to doing these things was in my mind. It's never too late to try something new.

I guess my intent was that a vehicle that could travel at car speeds would likely put you in a somewhat safer position in traffic, given the absence of a safe place to ride a bike.
Cars and trucks are certainly WMD in my mind as well. My community is a generally safe place to ride because it as been designed to be so. Once I leave my area however, what a nightmare. I work on a military base and have only a 5 mile commute. 1 safe mile in my neighborhood and 1 safe mile on base. It's the 3 in between that can test your mettle. To tell the truth, if I could wave a wand and make the cars and trucks disappear I would do it in a heartbeat.
I think a good many communities have tried to remake themselves into something sustainable like the neighborhoods of old and many have been successful to a large extent. I am not going to go Howard Kunstler here, but I think better design that takes mass transit, bicycles and pedestrian access into consideration,like much of Europe as you point out, may be what is necessary to get folks out of their cars and follow your recommendation to slow down and smell the roses.It really is the only way to go!!

Don't be fooled by gas motorcycles, they can use less fuel but also make more pollution because most don't have any pollution controls. You also have to use the same road area as much larger vehicles and your speed can be very high so the safety is very poor.
A bicycle rides on the side of the road and more often has it's own bike lane. You can also go slower which is always safer, speed kills is not just the drugs. The bicycle also doesn't endanger others and safety is more that just you. It's all of us.

the solar stacks

here are some links to the event. I plan to bicycle to it next year. I'm only 40 miles away and have never gone yet.

http://www.ihpva.org/dempsey_macready_prize.html

A new World record of 85.991 km was set by Fast Freddy Markham riding the Varna Mephisto. Fred is 49 years old and 20 years ago in 1986 he won the Dupont Prize of $30,000 for being the first cyclist to exceed 65 mph in an HPV (65.48 mph for 200 meters with a flying start). Apparently you don't bet against Fred when prize money is involved. (By the way, Paul MacCready was responsible for initiating the Dupont prize with his connection with Richard Woodward, who was in charge of Public Relations for Dupont).

There were some very fast lap times during the competition - 89.51 kph by Fred on lap 2 (5.662 mile lap), 87.52 kph by Damjan Zabovnik on lap 2, and 87.125 kph by Rob English on lap 2. In his 2004 hour run, Matt Weaver went 90.12 kph on his second lap (2 mile lap). Obviously higher speeds are possible for the HPV hour if conditions were ideal.

Prizes-serious money
1. $18,000 - Fred Markham - 85.991 km - July 2, 2006, Casa Grande Arizona
Nissan Auto Test Track.

2. $10,000 - Sam Whittingham - 84.215 km - July 31, 2004, Dudenhofen, Germany
Opel Auto Test Track.

3. $6,000 - Matt Weaver - 82.755 km - Oct. 9, 2004, Fontana, California.
California Motor Speedway.

4. $4,000 - Damjan Zabovnik - Special prize for fastest foreign competitor
over seven laps in Nissan event. Slovinia.

5. $2,000 - Rob English - Special prize for second fastest foreign competitor
over seven laps in Nissan event. England.