7th November before noon
Day two at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire - Britain's fastest motor racing circuit. Today Adam has to do a lot more of the physical work as yesterday's experimental phase using other human guinea pigs (Science Shack's Jem and Chris) is over. How fast can he propel himself using his own (he's only human) power, Science Shack technology and a BBC budget?

8am
Desolate scenes in the workshop greet the crew this morning. As usual Jonathan, Chris, Jem and Lou worked late into last night to prepare for today's big water bottle powered cycle run - but they are behind time after they learned the plastic water rocket tubes they were using are no longer deemed safe by the manufacturers to pressurise.

Jonathan is to be found wrestling with a tyre from a dismantled four-wheel bicycle which is supposed to carry Adam to record breaking speeds this afternoon.

At Science Shack all our experiments are 'what you see is what you get' - i.e. most of them have never been tested before. Jem has calculated every last equation and is convinced the air pressurised water tank on the back of Adam's vehicle will, at the very least, shower the cameramen with gallons of water.

9am
Adam is a very relaxed traveler. His waterjet-powered vehicle is still in pieces but he continues to read his newspaper with no sign of anxiety. The team are still reeling from the news that the plastic tubing they had lined up was not going to be safe enough to pressurise with air but they feel confident the metal tank will work.

9.30am
The Great Pop Water Bottle in the sky has just burst all over Rockingham and Mike Wilkie our cameraman. The elements, time and technology are against us at the moment - but the Science Shack team always seems to pull the odd (bedraggled in this case) rabbit out of their collective hat when the pressure is on them.

10am
Adam tests out the power of his legs on the Rockingham Speedway track. He has high tech professional motor racing timing gear that clocks his speed on the rickety old Science Shack bicycle at 21 mph.

He then squeezes into the Windcheetah trike, which, being recumbent and made of super light materials, goes much faster than the conventional bike. Adam is hampered by wearing a bulky jacket and the wrong shoes (his feet keep slipping off the pedals) and only manages 24 mph.

But it is obvious to him that the Windcheetah has the potential to go much faster. Bob Dixon of Advanced Vehicle Design which makes the Windcheetah trike, explains that the recumbent bike - invented in 1932 - goes much faster than the traditional bicycle but that it was banned by the ruling body that governs the sport of cycling.

The Windcheetah is made of super light materials and is welded together with glue. Bob says that amateur recumbent cyclists regularly make a nonsense of the British (traditional) cycling records.

10.30am
Producer Jonathan checks whether the 'bicycle stability' test works by throwing the Science Shack bicycle forward down the racetrack.

As we know, your bicycle's sensitive front wheel falls to the left or right in a kind of snaking movement when the bike leans to the left or right. This is what gives bicycles such stability.

When Jonathan throws the bike forward with the handlebars turned round (the brakes have been removed so as not to get in the way) the bicycle stays upright much longer.

But if someone rides the bike with the handlebars turned round it will, paradoxically, be less stable because the front wheel stays more aligned. So if the rider leans over the bike falls sideways more easily.

11.30am
The Avery family, our first pop bottle rocket entrants, arrive for the great race. Kennita, 13, is an expert on which diameter tubes you can use to propel the vehicles forward 'we tried 8, 10 and 15 millimeters and 15 millimeters is best' she says.

Despite this great technical know-how she insists that beauty is more important than speed. Consequently her design, 'The Clown', is dressed up with a lace ruff and a red woolly nose. Adam is concerned these will make for a lot of wind drag on her vehicle but Kennita is not bothered.

Samantha's entry is called 'The Garden' and, like Kennita's model (and their brother Zak's), has a bottle pointing upwards. Samantha says she thinks Adam's water bottle rocket propelled vehicle won't work because the cylinder is lying flat instead of upwards, so all the water can't come out. Her Dad says the angle makes no difference - that air pressure is more than enough to expel all the water.

Zak is worried, above all, that his sister Kennita's bottle might spring a leak 'because Mum sat on it in the hotel last night'.

12noon
All entrants are now here and ready to go.

Three generations of pop bottle rocket enthusiasts arrive - Grandad, Dad and Nick Labsvirs. Grandad retired recently and turned to model making and his workshop has been raided by Nick to build his Pop Bottle machine. It sets itself apart by having a special anti-soaking device which allows you to fire it off without mishap, says Nick. He has also turned the exit nozzle upwards to keep the car pressed down on the road. Earlier models tended to take off.

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