30 July
Day One of the American Solar Challenge!
The American Solar Challenge started this morning at 8:30 at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Teams we able to start in the order which they completed the Formula Sun Grand Prix, so we started fourth, behind Michigan, Principia, and Appalachian State.
As we were waiting to start, we prepared our car and talked to more visitors about what we do. It was a fun family event, and lots of people came with their kids and doges. The American Solar Challenge had provided bagels and yogurt for us, so most of our team made use of that. Following the bagels and yogurt, we did final preparations on our car and showed our observer that our lights and horn worked, before loading into our cars, ready to go.
At 8:30 AM, Michigan took off from the start line.
At 8:31 AM, Principia headed out.
8:32 AM, Appalachian State.
8:33 AM. Finally, it was Minnesota's turn. Eos took off faithfully, making it over the railroad tracks 50 feet after the starting line. A train was at the depot next to the road, and the juxtaposition of old and new was nearly poetic.
Since we started, Eos has reliably barreled on towards our first stage stop at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Made it to Dayton at 3:53 PM and got to chat with an alumnus of our project! It has been a beautiful day of driving and we are excited to finish strong through the hills of Ohio!
With the absolute end of the racing day at 6:00 PM, we pulled off the road with less than five minutes to spare. We normalized near a local park and have gotten to answer the neighbors' questions about who we are and what we do. Yet another opportunity for us to show people how much we love the project!
