Weird Bike Wednesday - Mahalia, the Alligator

Riding Mahlia, the alligator tricycle

While looking for weird bikes this week, I found a whole bunch of them at Krewe of Kolossos. They are located in New Orleans, and have created quite a menagerie of "art bikes" for riding in parades. My favorite is an alligator called Mahlia (Named after local civil rights activist Mahlia Jackson). It was built on a tandem trike, and is 14 feet long. The head and tail were made from a variety of recycled materials, including cardboard beer boxes, New Orleans Yellow Pages and leftover paint. Mahlia debuted in 2011 and has been appearing in parades ever since. If you don't like riding an alligator, your other options include:

• Hammerhead shark
• Killer Whale
• Crayfish
• Eagle 
• Bull 
• Triceratops
• Pelican
• Grasshopper
• Seahorse
• Panda
• Honey Bee

Touring Tuesday - Southernmost Century

Mile 0 of U.S. Highway 1 in Key West

The southernmost century in the continental United States runs from Key Largo all the way down to Key West  At the end of the ride, you will be less than a century away from the island of Cuba. Lori Rackl, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, rode this this route and wrote about it for a newspaper article in the Chicago Tribune early last year. Key Largo Bike Tours offers supported bike tours, but Lori and her husband decided to go on their own after purchasing the company's $5, 54-page guide.

Originally, they planned to do the route in one day, but circumstances forced them to do it in two days instead. Lori said that was probably a good thing, otherwise they might have missed things like:

• Hand feeding big tarpon at Robbie's Marina
• Seeing rare and endangered key deer
• No Name Pub, a former brothel with a ceiling covered by dollar bills
• A homemade boat at Memorial Park that carried 17 Cubans to freedom in 2013

If you prefer to spend a little longer riding the keys, Pedal Across Wisconsin (yes, you read that right) has their annual Florida Keys Bike Ride scheduled for December 3-8 in 2018.

The ceiling at No Name Pub

Friday Photo - Muppets on Bicycles

Muppets breaking the law by riding more than two abreast

The Muppets have been riding bicycles for quite a while now. Kermit first rode a bike back in 1974. Director James Frawley said every time he shows The Muppet Movie, some asks how Kermit rode the bike. His reply is "I put him on a three-wheeler until he got his balance, and then I put him on the two-wheeler."

Frank Oz commented that he often works on difficult scenes that don't excite the public, but finds people get really excited about something that was easy to do. In the first film, considerable effort was required to do a balloon scene with Gonzo. Filming Kermit on the bike was easy, but that's what everybody talked about. "That's why we have a whole bicycle parade in The Great Muppet Caper."

I hope the Muppets continue to ride bikes, but they should do it safely. In the photo above from The Great Muppet Caper they are riding more than two abreast. Also, none of them are wearing helmets. Now I know it has to be tough finding helmets to fit frogs, pigs and whatever those other things are, but they need to set a good example for the young kids who admire them.

Thursday Video - Frank Zappa Plays the Bicycle

Frank Zappa playing a bicycle on the Steve Allen TV Show

This week's video goes way back - to 1963. Steve Allen had a syndicated late night TV show called "The Steve Allen Show." On it he had a variety of unusual guests, one of which was a young Frank Zappa playing the bicycle. Zappa is virtually unrecognizable here, since he lacks the mustache and beard of his later years. The quality of the music is rather dubious, but I think it's worth three minutes of your time. The video is black and white and of low quality (All video was low quality back then)

Weird Bike Wednesday - Rimski's Bicycle Piano

Rimski at his bicycle piano

This three-wheeled bicycle piano belongs to an Englishman named Rimski. He's a performer that you can book through the Let's Circus website. When he pedals, his piano bike moves sideways. If it moved forward, he wouldn't be able to see where he's going. I'm not sure how he steers.

Here's a video of Rimski in action. It's about three and a half minutes long and shows him doing a variety of things, including a headstand on his piano.

Touring Tuesday - Cycling Kangaroo Island

Cyclist in front of Remarkable Rocks (photo courtesy of Champion United)

As I write this, it's zero degrees with a few inches of show on the ground in Indianapolis. When the weather is like this, I dream of cycling in the tropics or the southern hemisphere. One such place I would like to ride is Kangaroo Island. As you might guess from its name, it is part of Australia. It is located about 70 miles south of Adelaide, in the state of South Australia. Roughly 90 miles long by 35 miles wide, it is considered one of the best islands in the world for viewing wildlife.

The island has numerous wildlife protection areas, with the largest and best known being the Flinders National Park. It was established as a wildlife conservation area in 1919 to protect endangered species. After its establishment, some native mainland Australia species were brought to the island. These include the duck billed platypus and the koala. The park also has some interesting geological formations, such as Remarkable Rocks in the photo above.

For a personal account of cycle touring Kangaroo Island, please visit Mike & Judith's Tour of Kangaroo Island. In 2008 they spent two weeks traveling from Perth to the island and cycling around. Here's a Lonely Planet video that shows some of the island's wildlife:

New Year Doesn't Start With Good Cycling Weather

Poor Bicycle

Unfortunately, 2018 isn't starting out with bicycle friendly weather. Up in Goshen, Indiana the third annual Ice Cycle New Year's Day Ride is scheduled for 11:00 A.M. on New Year's Day. The expected temperature is 3 degrees with a wind chill of -14F.

Fortunately there is a spin class that meets at Circle City Bicycles on Mondays & Wednesdays at 6:00 P.M., and Saturday morning at 9:00 A.M. The first week is free, so why not give it a try? For more information, call our store at 317-786-9244.