Traverse 13 | Page 17

timing instrument”, Alan replied dryly. I’d run over it. They did get my speed, but it wasn’t very good, only 291mph. The average of the two runs was 297.970mph. Good enough to be a new record, but still not the 300mph aver- age I was trying for. The trip through the mile marker had damaged the bike and my shoulder, I was glad it hadn’t put me down. Who knows what would happen at this speed? We still had time for two more runs, the dream wasn’t dead yet … but it was, the bike had had enough. A 298 start seemed promising but on the second run we lost power. It was over. We got so close. The bike is more than capable. We just need to put two runs together, two runs of over 300mph … 482 kilometres per hour. Ralph is not done and will again attempt to break 300 mile per hour on a sit on bike. With the salt at Bonneville being so good this year he’s confident he’ll be able to do it closer to home and can’t wait to try again. We’re hopeful that he’ll attempt the record at Australia’s Lake Gairdner, so that we can be a part of history.