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88 km/hr is slower than the one-hour standing start record for human powered streamlined bikes (90.6 km/hr for a single rider). I suppose that's because the large surfaces needed for the solar cells add to the frontal area and drag for the electric vehicle.

There's one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhkXr7M4JbQ&feature=channel

Ok, it does have shitload of rules associated with it, but on the technical side they have almost free reign.

For the top fully enclosed (and fully streamlined) class, Human Powered Vehicle (hpv) racing has only a few common sense safety rules. Here's a recent event, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZFsyjtLKQ It's a true designer and engineering challenge, although it can help a little to have a really top cyclist to pedal. International rules are here http://www.ihpva.org/home/

Don't they have to do it in both directions? Or is that some other speed record event?

There has been talk of modifying the rules to require 2-way runs, but it is pretty hard on the rider / athlete to do even one of these runs--two in a row would be a real killer. Also, it takes a lot of waiting for low wind speed, by the time you got turned around and got all the observers in place to go the other way, the wind might have come up. Full rules can be found here: http://www.ihpva.org/IHPVA/ihpvarules.html

Why are there no recumb[ea]nt races eh?

Get thee to IHPVA.

There are a lot of good sites on the web about making bikes of all types. The Internation Human Powered Vehicle Association has a library of links for DIY sites, some of them of exquisite sophistication, like Damon Runyard's carbon fiber bikes and some of the pedal-powered hovercraft.
The reason I tend to recommend atomic zombie is that rather than buying a bunch of 4130 and jigging up a gorgeous replica Greenspeed, complete with machining and tapping details for wheel mounts, the Zombie takes a BMX, welds a new bottom bracket shell onto a stick of tubing onto the front of the BMX, bolts on a couple pieces of plywood -- and, dude, recumbent! Half a dozen non-precision weldjoints and an hour with a tablesaw and you're done! It's much more encouraging to beginners, who might not have lathes and mills.
I like the website you pointed out, don't get me wrong. I'd love to build something like that. But if we want to get this critical mass of recumbent-builders going, start out with rickety dogbikes to give people a taste, then start building the superb designs.

Recumbent bicycles (random links plucked from Google) have an advantage because above about 15mph the key issue is wind resistance, which they reduce significantly, while also improving comfort.

Recumbents are great on the flat but don't climb so well, so they wouldn't necessarily make a great all-rounder but could suit your circumstances. The low position is not the greatest in traffic either.

One of the issues holding back bike evolution is that the racing organisations have strict restrictions on design regarding what is permitted in races.

This 'backwards' tricycle design (commonly known as a 'tadpole' shape) is very common among recumbent bikes.

Greenspeed
Windcheetah
Catrike
Build your own
Many others

The Dymaxion suffered from having rear wheel steering. Tends to be very, very unstable at anything over walking speed. Too easy to overcorrect, swinging the back end wide.

This 'backwards' tricycle design (commonly known as a 'tadpole' shape) is very common among recumbent bikes.

Greenspeed
Windcheetah
Catrike
Build your own
Many others

The Dymaxion suffered from having rear wheel steering. Tends to be very, very unstable at anything over walking speed. Too easy to overcorrect, swinging the back end wide.

The International Human Powered Vehicles Association has other interesting tidbits like this.

For now, "recumbent bikes" can go up to 110 kmph (= 68 mph), or up to 100 kmph (= 62 mph) over an hour, and the longest distance travelled by a muscular-power aircraft is 109 km (= 67 miles).

Except for materials and gears, mainstream bikes have truly changed little in the last 100 years.

The same basic diamond frame, same chain drive. And that is not a bad thing. THe chain drive on a bike is about the most efficient power transfer device ever designed. Many alternatives have been tried, and we keep coming back to the chain. The riding position closely simulates a walking/running movement. Optimized over several million years.

Go to the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB and look at Orville's bike. No real difference between that and a new bike. Same basic riding position.
Lance could hop on that bike, and trash just about any rider, on any new bike around.

Except for recumbents, there's been little real change. And even there, the riding position/movement is the same, just rotated ~90 degrees. Possibly better aerodynamics, though.

It's not the bike.
- Lance Armstrong

It doesn't get easier, you just go faster.
- Greg LeMond

Shut up and ride.
-Anon

I'm sure one could go faster, but unfortunately this particular competition has some RULES. (Section 3.0)

Rules are good, M'kay?
;)

Actually, they were given sufficient distance to start from. They can choose any distance, but their speeds are measured over a 200 meter stretch.

There are also several other different classes, for more info, here are the RULES

Also for a more detailed listing of the records (with km/h and miles/h):
Go HERE.

It contains more that just land speed records.

(I also read that he is only reported to have gone faster than 80 miles per hour, but I do not see it on the official site.

Actually, they were given sufficient distance to start from. They can choose any distance, but their speeds are measured over a 200 meter stretch.

There are also several other different classes, for more info, here are the RULES

Also for a more detailed listing of the records (with km/h and miles/h):
Go HERE.

It contains more that just land speed records.

(I also read that he is only reported to have gone faster than 80 miles per hour, but I do not see it on the official site.

I'm thinking the same thing. The kit-hobbiests dream. I would prefer printing molds (forms) for carbon fiber parts. My own home engineering lab for making bicycles, cars, etc...

Anyone know of a place to learn how to do carbon fiber construction (even to the silicone carbide level) I would be very appreciative...

Even car boosting orginizations like AAA peg the cost of driving at $.40-$.50/mile. If you start figuring in the indirect subisidies, the cost goes a lot higher. (all that sales and property tax that gets used to pay for road repair -- so called auto user fees don't come close to covering the direct cost of roads)

Besides the thing the converted is a MOPED. There are several compeeting definitions of "bicycle", but this doesn't even make the most liberal of them. (Intl. Human Powered Vehicle Assn, whose rules for eligibility are:

1. Vehicle must have a means of directional control, operated from the vehicle. (no guy with a remote control, trackside)
2. Land vehicles must have a brake. (they also do air and water)
3. No stored energy. (No batteries. Flywheels that are stationary at the start of the event are permitted)

I wonder why this thing was not built around a recumbent bicycle. When trying to re-invent a bicycle, it would make sense to base the design around a recumbent frame, thanks to their better efficiency and comfort (diamond-frame bicycles do cause impotence by hindering blood-flow in your groin, after all).

See IHPVA home page for more details.