I'm a finalist!

[Billfred]

Alright, so the local rock station had a promotion with the local scooter place. People on the station's email list could enter to become a finalist to compete in a race (on a manual scooter) on a 500-inch (that's 41.67 feet) course. The fastest time of the ten finalists gets a West Coast Mini-chopper.

And I'm a finalist.

So forgive me if I'm not my general post-happy self--I'm going to be training hardcore for this one. (Mainly because the scooter has to be better on gas than my car, which to me is drop-dead secksay. The mileage, not necessarily the chopper.) The race is Thursday. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[sanddrag]

By manual scooter do you mean like a Razor scooter? If it is one of those, those things are small. The riding platform is smaller than my foot. If it is that kind of scooter you race on t would probably be quicker to just pick it up and run but I bet that's again't the rules. Anyway, I wish you gook luck and hope you win!

[Billfred]

***WARNING*** The following is excessively lawyerish, and probably is not graciously professional. Alas, this is a civilian contest, where it's eat or be eaten.

Yes, it's a Razor-y scooter afaik. I am yet to see any rule that prohibits that. However, I'm not really sure about that. See, if I'm running with the scooter, then I lose free work. When I'm going with the scooter in a straight (or semi-straight) line, I have one foot causing friction with the track momentarily, then I coast on something with a far lower coefficient of friction with the asphalt (here, free-rotating scooter wheel on asphalt) than my left shoe. So I think that by actually scooting, I could probably save energy in movement, letting me exert less of a force for the same time...letting me use any remaining oomph in my leg to go faster.

Lemme ask if anyone knows this--if I train for my 41.67 feet uphill, would I be training my leg to exert more force over a flat 41.67 feet, or to exert that same level of force over a longer distance?

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Lemme ask if anyone knows this--if I train for my 41.67 feet uphill, would I be training my leg to exert more force over a flat 41.67 feet, or to exert that same level of force over a longer distance?

Bill, good luck with this adventure. I'm not sure of the answer to this one (Physics was never my strong point) but I do know that when I practiced for my bicycle road racing days, I had great luck practicing on hills and I also practiced on a mountain bike which had more resistance, from the tires and also the weight.

When I had the course down on a mountain bike, I hopped on a road bike and it was awesome. I had less resistance to work against, so it seemed easier to navigate the course with, hence I went faster with less effort. (Always a good thing)

My advice to you: If you are indeed using razor scooters for the race, then practice with a heavier scooter with pneumatic tires and also practice on an uphill course. Don't forget to practice on a razor type scooter as well though, just so you can get the feel of that.

GoOd LuCk!

[Billfred]

Alright, I did a hot lap of the block on my scooter...it couldn't have been more than four or five minutes, with the block being a massive downhill section followed by a massive uphill section.

I then promptly took a sip from my FIRST water bottle (hey, volunteering has its benefits), then crashed on the couch for a catnap.

Good thing it's only 41.67 feet, eh?

[Joshua May]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Lemme ask if anyone knows this--if I train for my 41.67 feet uphill, would I be training my leg to exert more force over a flat 41.67 feet, or to exert that same level of force over a longer distance?

More force, if I remember correctly. using the equation F=mg(sin(angle)), and since your weight (mg) is constant, the sin(angle) changes force.

sin(0) = 0
sin(30) = 0.5
sin(45) = 0.707
sin(60) = 0.866
sin(90) = 1 (don't think you'll be going vertical)

Therefore, the greater the angle, the more force you exert.

This should be right, gotta love Physics!

[Billfred]

Well, I'm back.

My time was 9.9X seconds, good for fourth place. Unfortunately, it was the top three that got to go again for the chopper.

But I did get a Rock 93.5 shirt, some pizza, and a drink. And I found out that they don't have an official robot. This could be interesting.