Each year at Carnegie Mellon University, students eagerly prepare for the Spring Carnival and the historic Sweepstakes race. This event sees students investing months into crafting advanced carbon-fiber buggies designed to zip around the campus hills.
Sam Radziwon, a senior in mechanical engineering, decided to take a nostalgic approach by constructing a wooden buggy named Balsa, which is set to race in an exhibition on Friday morning.
Two years prior, Radziwon served as the Booth chair for Fringe, an independent student group known for its participation in various campus traditions. His experience with woodwork during this time sparked the idea of building a buggy from wood. “It started as a joke: I’ll build my own buggy, it’ll fit me, I’ll make it out of wood because I understand Booth,” Radziwon remarked. “Fast-forward to this year, and one night I thought, let’s do it.”
How it works
This year, ten teams are competing, with several presenting multiple buggies.
Balsa is distinctive for its top-loading design where the driver enters via a hinged hatch and sits feet-first. The wooden structure requires a larger 26-inch bike tire at the front, a departure from the standard six-inch buggy wheels. Radziwon’s design is the first feet-first entry to comply with race standards since 1998. Unlike typical buggies with steering-connected brakes, Radziwon’s buggy uses handheld brake handles.
“This bike fork still has the handle bars on it, and down at the bottom, I am steering with my feet,” Radziwon explained. “This takes a lot more turning force than any other buggy.”
Standing at 5 feet, 9 inches, Radziwon is taller than the usual buggy driver, who is about 5 feet.
“I have to wear a chest protector underneath my harness, which cuts out a little more room,” he said. “It’s pretty tight.”
Approximately 12 Fringe alumni will be enlisted as pushers for Balsa, compared to the usual five required for a standard buggy.
Elizabeth Koch, CMU’s director of Student Involvement and Traditions in the Division of Student Affairs, noted that early buggies were also made from wood before carbon fiber became common. “These old, archival buggies didn’t look the way they look now, so it is an homage and it is new, all at the same time,” she said.
Balsa will participate in an exhibition heat to evaluate its performance on the course, Koch mentioned. “It won’t likely be competing against anybody else, it will be rolling on its own, in its own glory,” she added.
Fielding other peoples’ reactions
Now president of Fringe, Radziwon began constructing Balsa in the fall. His announcement of the wooden buggy was met with surprise. “Not horror, but something close,” he jested, but he has demonstrated the feasibility of his creation. “Every time I’d hit a different milestone, they’d be a little bit incredulous.”
Sam Istvan, another senior at CMU and co-head booth chair for Fringe, assisted Radziwon with the frame of the buggy. “People are astonished by it whenever they see it because Buggy is already confusing enough,” Istvan commented. “Then this is a wooden block with bike wheels.”
Tiegan Duncan, a junior in mechanical engineering and chair of the Apex Buggy team, took notice of Radziwon’s project. “He explained the concept to me, then I instantly decided … he had to let me help,” Duncan recounted. Their proximity allowed Duncan to contribute to aspects such as the custom metal brake mounts and steering design.
Taking to the course
Balsa will commence from the Edward Manning Bigelow monument, more than halfway along the 0.8-mile course, where buggies usually gain speed in the “freeroll” section, reaching up to 40 mph. “I’d be genuinely amazed if it even gets close to half that speed,” Radziwon quipped.
Radziwon performed a mathematical analysis to predict Balsa’s performance, but acknowledged the unpredictability of real-world conditions. “The biggest concern most people had was how to stop this much weight moving that quickly,” he said. However, using bicycle components allows for effective braking on all three wheels simultaneously. “It has parts designed to take this realm of force.”
During Balsa’s practice run, Duncan ensured Radziwon was up at 4 a.m., even calling his roommate, and joined in pushing the buggy. “It looked good,” Duncan said. “He pretty much held a decent line for where the drivers usually are, given the fact that he couldn’t start where they usually start. Then he made the turn, which we had lots of confidence in.”
Koch observed the practice and the students’ reactions. “There’s so much joy — the students after they made it around the corner, they were jumping up and down,” she stated. “The joy on their faces was amazing.”
On race day, Duncan will manage the Apex team and looks forward to seeing Balsa in action. “Apparently, we’re getting engineering degrees, but my major is Buggy. My major is putting these tiny women into carbon fiber torpedoes on wheels and throwing them headfirst down hills,” Duncan joked. “Buggy is one of the big reasons I’m happy I went to Carnegie Mellon.”
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