A number of our athletes including Michael Hale, Brad Wills, along with Bryce and Trent Morey race HPV’s (Human Powered Vehicles).  Michael and Brad are heading to Murray Bridge, South Australia, this weekend to compete in a National 24hr HPV race, a race they won last year.  We wish them well this weekend – Pedal fast boys!!!!

Bob and Helen quizzed Michael Hale on what HPV is all about and where he is heading this weekend with his team mate, Brad Wills.

So Michael, for people that don’t know, what is HPV?
HPV is Human Powered Vehicle, it has the same principles as a normal bike except your pedalling on your back.

How long have you been doing HPV?
I have been doing it since about 2007 with my school, and just over two years with Tri-sled fresh racing

How many in your HPV team?
There is around 15 all up but only the fittest and most capable 8 or 10 riders get selected for the big races.

Have often do you train together?  And where do you normally train?
We all train on a Sunday night at Casey Fields from 4 till 6:30
We also sometimes do some endurance training at Chelsea velodrome on a Saturday.

How far would you normally ride in an HPV training session?
In a 1 hour training session, I end up doing 40 to 50 kilometres

What is your maximum speed you’ve ever done?
Probably about 60 km/h but that’s around a technical course if I had one straight stretch of road it could be a lot faster!

So, we know you’ve told us you’ve crashed before.  Can you tell us about your most memorable crash experience?  What happened?  Did the car survive to live another day?
Haha umm… it would probably be one training session on a Sunday night I was training with Zane Hunter he was in a HPV in front of me and I was behind him, and earlier that day the guys in my team were trying out powermeters in the rear wheel of the HPV and they didn’t put the wheel back in properly, so I was just cruising and all of a sudden the rear wheel fell out and jammed in between the body and the frame and it launched me off the road and I ended up doing four barrel rolls before coming to a stop upside down. These things are surprisingly very flexible and strong as they are made out of high grade fibre glass so it did live another day. 

Do you have any big events coming up?
Well the main big event is this weekend in Murray Bridge which is the 3rd and final round of the Australian International Pedal Prix.

 
How does the 24hr HPV racing work?  How long is each riders turn?  Do you manage to get much sleep?  How do you race in the dark? 
There is over 200 HPVs on the track and they all have transponders which count laps and really it is just whichever team does the most laps within 24 hours.
Each rider aims for a 1 hour stint but some guys can handle a strong pace for a bit more than one hour.
In one race we have had the team split up into a day and night crew so our strong riders start the race until night then they go to sleep and then the night crew races until morning then the day riders wake up and race till the finish! The track is fully lit up with spotlights also there are two hundred other HPVs going around with lights on.

What happens if you get a flat tyre during a lap?  Is there neutral spares around the circuit?
Every team has a allocated pits section so they usually can make it to the pits before the you are riding right on the rim.
But if there is a bad mechanical there is a safety car that transports the rider and the HPV to their pit area.

Any other cool things that you want to tell us about it?
Yep we won the series last year so wish us luck this time!

Well, thanks for chatting with us, Michael.  Goodluck to you and Brad this weekend, and ah…make sure your rear wheel is put in properly!!!
[HaHa]. No worries [will do]!  Thank you.