Close quarters: Weaver inside Virtual Edge ©Matt Weaver

You get the feeling Matt Weaver is a man not content with second place.

Any day now, Weaver is once again set to challenge Lars Teutenberg's human-powered vehicle (HPV) Hour Record distance of 81.16km/50.42 miles.

Weaver's two previous record attempts at the California Speedway, USA, in his vehicle The Virtual Edge, had to be aborted due to excessive wind speeds and technical problems respectively.

However, The Virtual Edge, which uses a video system for navigation instead of a conventional windscreen, recorded speeds of 90.12kph/56mph during testing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early 2000.

 

	Challenge: The HPV Hour Record

Weaver believes these speeds could have been exceeded were it not for technical problems.

He is adamant The Virtual Edge is capable of sustaining speeds of 120kph/75mph for the required hour.

This figure would smash Lars Teutenberg's Hour Record, as well as the 90kph/55.924mph average speed required to win the US$25,000 Dempsey-MacCready Hour Record Prize.

Weaver has gone faster than any other person in the USA solely using muscle power. His record of covering 200m/656ft in 6.44 seconds in a HPV from a flying start equates to a speed of 111kph/69.46mph.

But this still ranks him the second fastest man in the world using purely his own power, after Canadian Sam Whittingham, who holds the record of 117.1kph/72.74mph.

Weaver is different from many other top-level HPV riders, as he dons the hats of designer, constructor and rider.

The majority of other HPV riders work with dedicated designers to produce their vehicles. By contrast, Weaver constructed his first HPV, called The Cutting Edge, while he was an engineering undergraduate at the University of California in Berkeley.

 

Design model: Air pressure on a HPV ©Matt Weaver

It was a phenomenal success and won titles at both the 1990 and 1991 International Human Powered Vehicle Speed Championships.

In the 1990 championships, his HPV averaged just less than 72kph/45mph, a fraction under the then Hour Record.

Weaver is seeking sponsorship for a new HPV, provisionally called The Eta Edge.

He believes this revolutionary vehicle will be capable of top-end speeds in excess of 160kph/100mph. If it ever reaches fruition, he can be confident it is likely to be too fast for second place.

NOW Sport would like to thank Paul Gracey for his contribution of video footage to this production.