Urban Transportation Contest 2007
By Paul Pancella

The Urban Transportation Contest is once again on the slate of events for the first day of our Waterford Rally weekend (6/23/07).  The UTC is designed to judge the best vehicles for moving people around town on their most common errands and commutes, on paved roads, in all weather, in normal traffic, and with modest cargo capability. The emphasis is on the vehicles, rather than the skills or strengths of individual riders, and on getting the contest done in a reasonably short time.

This contest is open to all competitors at Waterford at no extra charge. The results will not be included in the HPRA points series, but there will be prizes for the top finishers. Vehicles will have to pass the same technical requirements as for the rest of the rally, with the exception that rearview mirrors will earn points, but are not required for UTC participation.

The UTC will happen at the same time as the hill climb/coast down event. Since only a few vehicles can be judged at a time, you may run the hill before or after your turn in the UTC. The score from the coast-down will be part of the UTC scoring, as a way to judge aerodynamic efficiency. You can use the same vehicle that you race during the rest of the rally for the UTC, or you may enter a different vehicle.  If you do decide to use the same vehicle, you are allowed to make modifications to it for the UTC. 

If you enter a separate vehicle in the UTC, get an official vehicle number from me, then be sure to run it in the hill climb/coast down in addition to your primary racing vehicle. To compete in the UTC, you should register on Saturday morning like everyone else. There will be some additional paperwork to fill out for the UTC. I need to have your UTC forms by about 11 am, and the contest hopefully will start about 1:30 pm.

The contest

Tasks and judging will be the same as in previous years, with one exception:  All vehicles in normal operation must contact the ground in at least two places.  We award points more or less equally in three areas:

· Utility –  The basic ability to do the job, and do it efficiently

· Safety – Mostly of the operator, but including security against theft.

· Convenience – The ideal urban vehicle is fun and easy to use. Here we include items that affect operator comfort, as well as cargo capacity.

Some data must be supplied by the contestants themselves.  It is important to be able to report your largest and smallest useable gear ratios, preferably in gear-inches. If you don’t know these numbers, you will have to count teeth. If you have a standard derailleur system, I need the number of teeth on the largest and smallest chainrings on the front and sprockets on the back, along with your drive wheel diameter, and any step-ups or step-downs in between.  The rest of the tasks happen at three stations, which can be done in any order. Contestants keep their own scoring sheets with them until all tasks are completed, then turn them in to me.

One station, as mentioned, is the hill-climb/coast-down. We only use the coast-down distance for the UTC score, not the hill climb time.

The second station is for static testing. The vehicle and operator will be weighed, with points awarded for lower vehicle weight as a proportion of operator weight. We will measure the height of the operator’s eyes (higher is better for seeing things) and the overall length and width (smaller is better for getting around and storage). We will evaluate daytime visibility and lighting systems. Reflectors and bright colors are good and bright lights will earn points. Weather protection will be evaluated (velomobiles get lots of bonus points here).  Don’t forget your lights, tools, and tire repair kit!  We will check for tools, spares and anti-theft devices. Finally, a judge will evaluate rider comfort.

A third station is for dynamic tests: turning radius and simulated grocery run.  The latter is the only timed part of the contest, where the timing starts with the operator at some distance from the vehicle, choosing zero, one, or two bags of dummy groceries. On the clock, the groceries are loaded, the driver mounts and starts on a parking lot course marked with plenty of turns. (Groceries can't be hung from handlebars; they must be secured to the vehicle or rider.)

The clock stops at the finish line, but the rider must then apply the brakes, attempting to stop as quickly as possible while maintaining a straight course. Points are awarded for faster times completing the course and for shorter braking distances. Fifteen seconds of time is subtracted for each grocery bag carried. Time penalties may be assessed for dropping or abusing groceries, hitting cones, falling off the bike, etc.

When contestants finish all of the tasks, they should turn in their forms to me or one of my official helpers. Depending on the number of contestants, final results may not be available until Sunday morning. Prizes will be awarded at the start of the general awards ceremony.  More details of how points will be awarded can be found in the June 2004 newsletter: http://lmb.org/mhpva/newsletter/2004-06/  Past winners include Ray Carpenter, Bob Krzewinski, and Wally Kiehler.  We hope plenty of you bike commuters out there will enter the UTC and see how your rig measures up!