CORVALLIS - There were crashes, mishaps and a few broken parts, but luckily it was the vehicles, not their drivers, that suffered the most Saturday in the utility leg of the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge at Oregon State University.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers hosts two national events each year, one on the West Coast, one on the East, and this year, Oregon State University won the honor of playing western host to the event, although OSU did not have a team in the running.

The challenge is open to ASME university teams from around the country that design and build human-powered vehicles, usually modified bikes, to race through a variety of challenges.

The events began Friday with a campus display of the vehicles, followed by an early morning sprint competition Saturday, which included plenty of spills in a 300-meter race.

The utility event, held Saturday afternoon, was likened to a steeplechase by chief judge Corinne Lengsfeld, a former racer who has been involved with human-powered racing since 1989.

The utility race is not entered by every team, and some teams design their vehicles solely for the utility run, which is designed to test if their vehicles can be used for commuting. The test includes activities a normal commuter vehicle would have to maneuver through, including a slalom, a grocery pick-up and drop-off, and a hairpin curve.

"I predict a lot of crashes at the hairpin curve," Lengsfeld said.

There were several requirements for the vehicles, mostly focused on safety, including side and roll protection, the ability to brake within 10 feet while going 15 mph, and being able to turn within a 25-foot radius.

"They also need to be able to drive in a straight line for 10 meters," she said.

Each vehicle designed for the utility course also has to have a trunk, because part of the course focuses on parking, picking up cubes of soda, and placing them in the cart.

"They can't carry the groceries on their person," she said.

Lengsfeld said she keeps coming back each year because of the riders.

"The kids are so awesome," she said. "They work so hard."

It was a long drive for students from Seattle University, but the ASME students who came to OSU for the utility event were ready for a challenge. It was their first time to attend the event, said Victoria Templora, the only female rider on the team and a senior at Seattle University. Each team is required to have at least one female rider, who must drive at least the first lap of the nine.

"Our ASME group didn't have any major competitions or big clubs," she said. "This was a good time to start. We made it a whole club thing, and included freshmen through seniors."

Seniors had many other projects to work on this year, Templora said, so the freshmen did a lot of the work designing and building their one-person vehicle, called "Rudy Hawkenheimer," in tribute to the school mascot, Rudy the Redhawk.

"One way it stands out is how high the seat is, it's got a high center of gravity. That makes it tipsy, but it increases the viewability," she said. "If you're going to ride it in the streets you don't have to worry about getting run over."

"The bike's a little top heavy," said teammate Andrew Lybarger, a freshman at Seattle University, who like his team members wore a red shirt that read "Engineers know all the angles." "That makes it a little nerve wracking."

During the race, there were a few spills and tumbles, and a couple of mechanical breakdowns. The four-person vehicle driven by the University of Denver team never made it past the second lap, as a major breakdown finished them off early.

Number 21, GateGator at San Francisco State University, also tumbled once, and its back wheel ended up slightly angled, making the vehicle rattle loudly each time it passed.

Number 20, Boise State University's Toro Trike, broke down just after the hairpin turn. Several spectators gathered around as he struggled to fix the bike, which had spilled previously, but no one was allowed to help. Finally, after a horn honk and a few adjustments, he was off again.

In the end, it was Number 10, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology's Zippy the Tatanka, that finished first. Team members wandered around the finish line, trying out each other's vehicles, laughing and cruising by on their other human-powered vehicles, skateboards brought for fun. Others struggled to fix their crippled bikes.

"Well, the thing's already busted," one frustrated team member said, crouching alongside his bike. "The worst thing we can do is bust it some more. Let's drill some holes."

The Human Powered Vehicle Challenge continues today during the endurance event. The 65-kilometer marathon goes all through OSU's campus, and includes tests of speed, balance and driving skills.

It's a 34-lap race, and takes place beginning at 8:30 a.m., at 14th Street and Monroe Avenue. Results will be announced at 12:30 p.m. today at a ceremony in the Valley Football Center. Cash prizes and trophies will be presented to the top teams in each category.

Theresa Hogue covers higher education. She can be reached at theresa.hogue@lee.net or 758-9526.