Blind solo world land speed record attempt

[trikeschick]

In 1997, Billy Baxter, a soldier with the 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, lost his sight after contracting a rare disease. On 2 August 2003, he set the blind solo world land speed record on a motorbike reaching an impressive 164.87 miles per hour.

On 17 August 2013, Stuart Gunn will attempt to beat that record. And on 18 August 2013 he intends to smash it!

Read the full story here and show your support to one hell of a gutsy guy: https://www.keepbritainbiking.com/blog/trikeschick-blog/blind-solo-world-land-speed-record-on-a-bike-set-to-be-beaten/
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"Light travels faster than the speed of sound, which is why some people appear bright until they speak"

[trikeschick]

Only a week to go - I was hoping to go to this but can't due to work. Anyone else going?
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"Light travels faster than the speed of sound, which is why some people appear bright until they speak"

[Derivative]

Okay, props to the guy for keeping at it. An inspiration.

But...

[soforene]

[Derivative]

[Quornholio]

[Derivative]

[trikeschick]

It simply means he goes for it unaided. Pretty amazing and all for a little humour but am sure if you connect with him and ask sensible questions he'd be happy to respond.
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"Light travels faster than the speed of sound, which is why some people appear bright until they speak"

[reed]

Very cool and whatnot... But I can't help but think that you don't need eyes in order to go fast in a straight line...
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Generic XOR 50, Gilera SMT 50, GSXR 400 GK73A, Ducati Monster 600, Honda Hornet 600.
Sold. Stolen. Written off. Sold. Current.

[Quornholio]

And how does he know how fast he's going, and whether he's going in a straight line or not?

[-Matt-]

Main thing that interests me about this, i'd love to know how his sense of balance is affected on the bike without vision.

Personally i'd feel pretty damn uncomfortable riding [in a private road ] with my eyes closed, i'd imagine.

Let alone doing so at a land speed record

And similarly, when do you know when to put your feet down, i'm sure you feel the braking, but when do you know you're about to stop or not.

[G]

Bikes are naturally stable - I've tried closing my eyes (on private land, of course) and it's fine - just as you can take your hands off the bars and not exert control with your feet, sit on the pillion seat, side saddle, stand on the tank, skitch and the like and the bike generally remains stable.

I don't quite get the 'blind speed record thing' - obviously the bloke enjoys it, but then some people like cruisers .
For me, it wouldn't really be 'riding' an more.

I've gone a good chunk faster than his current record in 'safe' conditions and it was pretty boring.
I've ridden at 20mph and it was much more exciting.
The difference with the latter being that I could see stuff either side of me brushing my face, which is what gave a much better sensation of speed.

[-Matt-]

Didn't explain myself too well, as usual , i was meaning more in terms of 'drifting' across gradually rather than fully loosing your balance/falling off. Although the bike would remain 'upright' i'd of thought over the distance/speed hes intending to do it'd be very easy to veer off the track gradually

[G]

Ah, I see; he has someone that communicates which way to go by radio.

[-Matt-]

Oh no pressure on the radio operator then

[soforene]

[johnsmith222]

[Hetzer]

I do get the whole "the world would be a duller place if people didn't do stuff like this" but I still can't find much more of a response than the usual nihilistic "meh".
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[trikeschick]

And he did it! Massive congrats: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/paralysed-scot-smashes-world-record-2184558
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"Light travels faster than the speed of sound, which is why some people appear bright until they speak"

[Hetzer]

Yay.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"