Touring Tuesday - Cycling in South America

The sign says 'Share the Road" in Spanish

Here's an interesting blog called Rob's South America Trip 2014 by Rob Ainsley. It's about his travels through South America a few years ago. He did a lot of traveling by bus and took side trips by rented bicycle. Rob did a good job of getting to know the locals and visited many off the beaten path places. He found out that in Bogota, Colombia, they close off many of the downtown streets to cars from 7:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. on Sundays. During that time it's a festival with street vendors and people biking, walking, jogging and skating.

One of the most interesting places was an isolated town of about 500 inhabitants called San Cipriano. It used to have train service, but the trains have stopped running. To get there, you now have to take a three hour bus ride, then cross a river on a footbridge. Once on the other side, it is time to wait for what the locals call a "little witch." It's a small wooden platform with wheels that fit on the tracks. In one of the back corners is a motorcycle with the front wheel on the platform and the rear wheel on one of the tracks. These contraptions take travelers the final 7 miles to San Cipriano.

Rail service to San Cipriano

Friday Photo - Cyclists Encounter Storm Trooper

Luke! There's a storm trooper on the other side of the road! (photo courtesy of CyclingTips)

There's just no telling what you are going to see out on the road while riding your bike. In 2012 racers in Australia's Tour Down Under came across a storm trooper. We was walking across Australia to raise money for Starlight Children's Foundation. Those guys around the storm trooper are telling him "These aren't the cyclists you're looking for."

Weird Bike Wednesday - LFN Bicycle

The LFN bicycle (photo courtesy of New Atlas)

Here's a weird bike that was on Kickstarter in 2016. Instead of using a circular pedaling motion, it employs a vertical stepping motion. They bill it as "The only bike that makes you climb a mountain without the mountain." That doesn't really inspire me to buy one. It is also an e-bike. Apparently it didn't do too well on Kickstarter. They were looking to get $100,000 but only got $1,500 from 9 backers, so the project was cancelled. Here's the video from Kickstarter.











http://newatlas.com/lfn-bike-electric-vertical-pedaling/43689/

Touring Tuesday - Cycling on Nantucket Island

Montague folding bike parked in front of house on Nantucket Island

It's a little late in the season now, but you might want to take a look at cycling on Nantucket Island during the summer of 2018. The island is about 100 square miles in size, and roughly 30 miles south of Cape Cod. It's a popular summer vacation spot, and a good spot for casual, family riding. The high point is only 109 feet high, so there won't be any major climbs. You can take a 46 mile ride around the island. Be sure to allow time for sightseeing. There are three lighthouses and a whaling museum to visit. Among the artifacts at the museum is a 46 foot sperm whale skeleton.

Friday Photo - Milk Cans on Bicycles

Indian cyclists with milk cans on their bikes (Photo courtesy of Sarawakiana@2)

Here's a couple cyclists in Indiana carrying something I haven't seen in a while - old style steel milk cans. My aunt and uncle used these when they milked cows. I don't know if these cans are full or not. Empty, a milk can weighs about 20 pounds, so they would each be carrying about 40 pounds. The cans hold 10 gallons, and whole milk weighs 8.6 pounds per gallon, so that's 86 pounds per can for the milk. If they are full, each cyclist would be hauling 212 pounds.

Thursday Video - Hidden Motor Demonstration with Greg LeMond

Femke Van den Driessche prior to being busted for mechanical doping

Allegations of "mechanical doping," or the use of hidden electric motors in professional cycling have been around since 2010. It wasn't until 2016 that there was a confirmed case of this type of cheating. Femke Van den Driessche was competing in the women's under 23 competition at the Cyclocross World Championship when officials noticed wires coming out of her bike. For this she earned a six year ban from professional cycling.

In this short (under a minute) video, three time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond shows a bicycle with a hidden motor. I had always wondered if these motors were powerful enough to actually make much difference. As you will see, the motor makes the rear wheel spin at a pretty good clip. LeMond says it can deliver 250 watts for a half hour. That's pretty significant. While Mark Cavendish might generate over 1500 watts in a sprint, a typical pro cyclist will max out around 400 watts over a one hour time period.

Weird Bike Wednesday - Dutch Bicycle Bus

Pedal powered Dutch bicycle bus (photo courtesy of treehugger)

This Dutch school bus is designed to hold one adult bus driver and up to 11 kids age twelve or younger. It also has an electric motor for those times when the pedal power just isn't enough. These buses are manufactured by a Dutch company called Tolkamp Metaalspecials. In a 2012 interview, the company said they had sold a little over 20 in Europe, and ha inquiries from around the world.

At around $15,000 these pedal powered buses aren't cheap. They also leave the kids exposed to the weather. One of the bus options is a waterproof storage box for the kids' backpacks. They don't offer any kind of shelter for the kids themselves in case of inclement weather.