The Dynamic Duo

You’d be hard pressed to find a better pair of engineers to work together on a project. Well, actually I take that back. I’m sure there are pairs of people out there who bicker less… but when Nick and Matt are working together it’s hilarious. I think it’s partly because they know each other really well now.

They’re like an old married couple… somehow it all works out, and everything is fine and dandy.

Nick is a “materials” guy… if you’ve got a question about welding or fatigue, he’s the one to go to. Matt has lots of energy, always… he also seems to lose his keys, wallet and cell phone everywhere.

They aren’t the smartest guys at Cal Poly… nor the most talented. But there is something special about both of them. From the outside Nick seems like a typical shop monkey… a guy you’d expect to be on the baja team, a shop guy with the typical engineer’s complex. He’s much more than that once you get to know him. He’s more complicated than that… and an honest guy inside. He’s actually very understanding too and sees the big picture most of the time.

I’m not sure what Matt looks like from the outside… frankly I think what you see is what you get. The person that Matt presents himself as… yep, that’s Matt. He’s a lot simpler than Nick. He’s pretty hilarious though. Oh yeah… he’s kind, generous, and quite helpful.

Actually, come to think of it… I have no idea how these two actually work together. Somehow though, in three months they’ve come up with a bike and are ready to head off to Battle Mountain, Nevada. Frankly, they’re just ordinary people doing something extraordinary.

Testing in California Valley

Walkie talkies are a great invention. They let people communicate over large distances in a clear and concise manner. For example, we planned to use a few walkie talkies so that the start can communicate with the finish along with the bike rider. Communication over 5 miles would otherwise be quite difficult.

Walkie talkies, of course, become toys when given to male engineers. “What’s your vector victor?” “Roger, Roger” “You don’t have to make the ‘CHHKK’ sound… the radio does that for you!!”

The day started with an early meet up at the hangar. From there we drove to Santa Margarita where we met up with the Leone’s, and Dr. Andrew Kean over breakfast. It’s a quiet place to eat… most of the customers seemed to be locals or people just drifting through. The food was… well, not too bad. A bit on the heavy side, but perfect if you’re going to be burning up a lot of calories the rest of the day. Overall though, we had a great, relaxed meal and some good conversation.

From there we continued west on highway 58 for about an hour. On this highway, in the middle of nowhere is a flat, straight stretch of road long enough to test a human powered rocket. There aren’t many stretches like this… this one actually doesn’t meet the requirements needed for an official attempt, but it’s close enough to do some testing. Plus it’s in the middle of nowhere, so traffic isn’t a big problem.

We parked behind the firestation/library/community center… apparently it was “spaghetti and meatball/BINGO” night. Nick, Joe, Matt, Dr. Kean, and myself unpacked the bike while George and Carol went and set up the track.

With the bike unpacked, Matt took a warm up run without the top. He fairs well, and the launch is fine. Although the wind seemed to be picking up a little bit. About this time George and Carol come back to where we’re at with a report of the course condition. Apparently there is a moderate sized pothole in the middle of the course… along with a few tarantulas crawling across the road (crikie!!!). Matt is the most freaked out of us concerning our arachnid friends. It's probably because he has to ride the bike down the road and we don’t.

During our discussion/setup a local rancher rode up on a green ATV and mentioned that if we wanted to we could use the air strip just inside of his property. Very friendly nice fellow… he mentioned that he’s seen “us” out here practicing a few years ago. We surveyed the strip and decide to stick to the road we’ve been using.

By this time the wind has picked up a bit… quite a bit. The problem with the wind is that with the faring on, the bike is harder to control. We tried launching Matt… but the 35-40mph winds had the better of us and Matt ended up on his side.

Probably the best asset of this dynamic duo are their attitudes toward the project. Even with the bike laying helplessly on its side, like a turtle stuck on it’s back, Matt’s laughing could be heard outside of the speedy turtle’s freshly scarred shell.

As a team we decided that it was best to pack up the bike and call it a day. The wind was too much, and the placement of Matt’s head made balancing the bike a bit of a chore.