Hello, 

we don't have Electrathon where I live (Newcastle, Australia) but there is a similar event which I think would be a lot of fun.  Since Electrathon has been around a long time I think some of you here would have some thoughts and maybe some advice.



Here is the event website.
http://www.hunterevfestival.net/evprize.html
There are some funny rules like ">1.2m eye line", "standing on foodpegs" and "pelvic sit bones".  But if you look at the above video and compare it to gravity bike video below I think you'll notice a definite aerodynamic advantage can be had using fairings and minimal frontal area.



One downside of this event is the 50kg minimum rider weight.  Since I am 100kg I'll need to enlist a small women or child to ride the little ebike to victory.

Let me know what you think. :)

Actually it is 60 minutes no 90 minutes thankfully.

I have confirmed the rules and will go with a faired bmx style bike with a 50kg rider.  It should be very good.

Average lap speed is 58km per hour.
Crossed yellow line at 0:13 and crossed it again at 1:27.
60x60/74 seconds= 48.6486486486 * 1.2km track length = 58.3783783783 km average speed.

I have noticed that fast vehicles need to slow down to to get through a turn to avoid a loss of traction. My bike is expected to have an average speed of 40-50km.

I have read that Electrathon racers will use a pulse and glide technique to use power on the straight and coast around the rest of the track. This is efficient because it uses the motor's power when it is in it's most efficient rpm.

I wonder if I should use this technique or if I should simply engage a 350 watt constant button for the entire hour. This avoids human error but the motor may be running at a less efficient rpm when the bike is going up hill.  There is also a concern with going too fast around turns or avoiding other slow riders.

Different driving strategies work according to what is the most dominant factor or combination of factors that will effect the effectiveness of your use of power. What is most important? Should you drive to minimize aero drag? Maximise battery capacity? Keep the motor RPM and current in the most effective range?

The most reliable way to discover the best strategy is testing. Try steady current for ten laps. What was your time and power usage? Try lift and coast for 10 laps and compare. This will give you some idea but keep in mind that Puekert's effect will change the usable capacity of your battery between the different techniques. How does that effect the results?

BTW My understanding of the lift and coast technique is to accelerate coming out of the corner and come off the throttle well before the next corner. Aero drag goes up exponentially with speed, so this  strategy allows you to maximise cornering speed and minimise power draining top speed.