Turnout was lower than in past years. Several of the competitors were ill, and the change of date and venue might have hurt attendance. Races had to be moved from White Bear Lake due to poor ice conditions there. While Lindstrom is 20 miles north of our usual White Bear Lake course, I found it much more pleasant drive.
Ray Brick on Tachyon, a rear drive streamliner with 2 front skates
Mark Stonich on Junkyard Dawg, a rear drive, MWB recumbent with 1 suspended front skate, and Gossamer Walrus, a front drive, rear steerer with 2 rear skates
Bryce Ronnander on Contraption, both front wheels driven by hand and foot power, single rear wheel steered by tilting the seat base with his butt.
Alexander Roth on Hockey Skates.
Sean Costin on an upright track bike with studs in the rear tire, and sandpaper on the front tire. A whisk broom was duct taped to head tube, to brush snow off the sandpaper.
Tim Dunsworth on a Tour Easy with a 3rd wheel on a sidecar-like framework
Brian Brick on BioHazard A modified upright road bike with a 20" studded rear wheel and a skate mounted to an extended front fork.
Jon Nygren on Frozen Assets a trike with 2 ice boat blades in front.
Fred Finch on Dave's Czechoslovakian Ice Hockey Bike. Skates on extended fork and under BB shell. Perforated sheet metal band around rear tire for traction.
Dave Krafft rode his M27A3, an FWD SWB low recumbent and the Possum Lodge Special, Matt Stonich's current 24lb racing recumbent, fitted with a suspension skate similar to that on Junkyard Dawg.
| 10. | The only event is the "World Championships" |
| 9. | Nobody trains. |
| 8. | No amount of bribery could get us invited to Salt Lake City. |
| 7. | "World Championships" venue selected 5 days before the event. |
| 6. | Spectators are put on spare bikes to fill out the field. |
| 5. | "World Championships Award Banquet" is orgainized by pushing 3 tables together at a tavern. |
| 4. | 2 words; "No Austrailians". |
| 3. | The "Starters Flag" is a snow shovel. |
| 2. | The only part on the winning machine, less than 15 years old, is an 8 foot piece of muffler pipe. |
| 1. | A 9 year old skates over to see what's going on, and takes 5th in the drags. |
It wasn't close, it wasn't even fair. On such a course, whoever is on "Gossamer Walrus" is going to win. It's not very fast in a straight line, but near as I can tell, it's only cornering limit is the ability of the rider to hang on without the G forces sliding him off the seat. With Eli out sick, I was the lucky one. I finished half a lap ahead of Dave Krafft, usually a much stronger rider than myself.
I can't complain about the poor attendance. Carl Gulbronson, Jon Sharratt, & both of my sons easily best me in both sprints and drags. Thanks to their absence, when I go to my 35th class reunion this summer, I'll be the only "World Champion" in the room.
| 100 Meters | Drags | Circuit | Total | Rider | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | Place | Points | |
| 4th | 3 | 3rd | 4 | 1st | 9 | 1st | 16 | Mark Stonich |
| 2nd | 6 | 1st | 9 | NR | 0 | 2nd | 15 | Sean Costin |
| 3rd | 4 | 2nd | 6 | 3rd | 4 | 3rd | 14 | Brian Brick |
| 1st | 9 | 6th (tie) | 0 | NR | 0 | 4th | 9 | Ray Brick |
| 5th | 1 | 9th (tie) | 0 | 2nd | 6 | 5th | 7 | Dave Krafft |
| 9th | 0 | 4th | 3 | 5th | 1 | 6th | 4 | Tim Dunsworth |
| 14th | 0 | 6th (tie) | 0 | 4th | 3 | 7th | 3 | Bryce Ronnander |
| 13th | 0 | 5th | 1 | DNC | 0 | 8th | 1 | Alexander Roth |
| NR = Not Recorded | DNC = Did Not Compete | |||||||