The track is probably as close to perfection for speed trials as is possible at the moment. This was reflected in the breaking of the two-wheeled speed record previously held by the British Bluebell of the Nosey Ferret Racing Team. Unfortunately Bluebell couldn't make it this year.

In fact three vehicles broke the old record of 51.91mph. The Infinity bicycle from Indianapolis reached 52.46mph, the Easy Racer 53.22mph and the aptly named Lightning X-2 a staggering 54.18mph. Built by Tim Brummer from Northrop University in California it is a short wheelbase. fully-faired recumbent bicycle. It looks a little ungainly, but my, how it flies.

The fastest single-rider vehicle on the day was another Californian entry. the beautifully engineered linear drive Dragonfly. Utilising both hand and foot power, Richard Bryne sent it down the track at 54.92mph. Amongst the multiple-rider entries White Lightning, a grand-daddy as far as HPVs go, was the fastest at 55.92mph. White Lightning has been competing for a number of years and was the first vehicle to break the 50, 55, and 60mph barriers.

An interesting aspect of the speed trials was that half of the vehicles in the top ten were bicycles. Most previous thinking has concluded that low frontal area and increased stability of three wheels was the way to go for speed. It's at meetings like these that the seemingly wacky ideas sometimes come out on top. HPV development is still in its early days.

Another impossibly lovely day greeted us at Eagle Creek Park the next morning, The road race course wound around several square miles of natural woodland, pine forests and small lakes. It's difficult to concentrate on pedalling when the surroundings are as beautiful as this.

The course is testing with a fast, tricky corner at the bottom of a long descent. In the first race a quarter of the field wiped out on it, after that everyone took it more calmly. The versatility and cornering ability of the two-wheelers came through strongly again, with the Easy Racer and Lightning X-2 coming first and second in each of the races.

Easy Racers came out tops again in the practical vehicle section with an unfaired version of their race-proven machine. In the 'arms only' category, one had to admire the pluck and strength of the competitors. Arm wrestling with any of the riders in this category is not recommended.

After all the events were completed, we moved to a different part of the park for a picnic (Americans sure are great at socialising!) and presentation of the prizes. With approximately 50 vehicles competing in various events and guises, it was deemed well and truly a success. I was most struck by the warmth and friendliness of the American people. What they may lack in subtlety is adequately compensated for by their boundless enthusiasm.