"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to one of the most cutting-edge aerodynamic facilities in the world." That's Brian Scott, tunnel operations manager at Catesby Tunnel in Northamptonshire, once an integral section of the Great Central Main Line from Sheffield to London, now a stateof-the-art testing facility for cyclists, cycling manufacturers and automobiles that opened in December 2021. "As far as I'm aware, there's only one place similar to this in the world," says Brian. "It's Laurel Hill in Philadelphia and is predominantly for NASCAR [National Association for Stock Car Racing] testing. Rob [Lewis, the brains behind Catesby's conversion] visited the facility and spent time with the owner [Chip Ganassi]. It's impressive but is only a mile long."
Size isn't everything, Brian - although Brian might disagree. He served in the military for years and is a man mountain who could cradle Cycling Plus' Hobbit-sized editor Matt in one of his large paws. He's also a Catesby historian, which is great
background fodder, but we're even more interested in the current, and investigating exactly what's in it for the cyclist. And with that, the eight-metre-high doors open to this once abandoned tunnel...
A BLANK CANVAS ...
to reveal no aerodynamic sensors, no 3D cameras, no measurement tools of any kind. "The first thing to say is that we provide standardisation for cyclists and drivers; they provide the diagnostics. This is more a barometric chamber than a wind tunnel as, when the doors are closed, the temperature is 10.2°C and humidity 90%. That's winter and summer." In other words, it's a blank canvas for aerodynamicists and sports scientists to paint their bespoke dragreducing masterpieces by bringing along their aerodynamic sensors, power meters and any other diagnostic tools they possess.
Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
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