Two wheels and a handlebar. Pete Hummers scoots around the Outer Banks of North Carolina on a Kickbike and a Footbike.
This could be big – at least in America. “Kickbike and Enjoy It,” a play on “kick back,” is appearing in the 15 March issue of the venerable news magazine.
It may be the work of “KickbikeAmerica’s laid-back chief, David Nadolski, who recently quit his day job to focus on selling and promoting kickbikes.” At any rate, the momentum seems to be building.
A couple of YouTube videos have been uploaded on footbiking. YouTube user “footballfit” has posted “Kickbike Speed & Power Training” on the cross-training strength and benefits of the purest two-wheeled sport, and “44rea” from Down Under has put up “Kickbike Fitness,” in which they mention some of the history of the sport, plus an interesting observation about the reason for the small rear wheel.
Mario Reijne very kindly sent in two pictures of Peter Groeneveld’s beautiful 28″ footbike, on which he (Peter) hopes to set a new 24-hour record. Here’s the second pic.
Apart from the elegant esthetic of the two large wheels, I guess their size should help with momentum – once it gets up to speed it ought to be easier to maintain velocity. Good luck to Peter, and thanks again to Mario!
Rob Sweitser sent news of this project: a kick up the notorious Alpe d’Huez to raise money against brain cancer:
“Here in Holland we are organising a footbike charity event to help fight cancer: specifically brain tumors. It is called ‘SteppenTegenKanker.‘
Kingston, N.Y., elementary school students are being offered a chance to win a kick scooter if they’re polite:
Under the school’s monthlong Manners Come from the Heart Campaign, students are being given “a little incentive” to preface requests with “may I” or “please” and to remember to say “thank you,” Childs said. Polite students will have a chance to win a Razor Kick Scooter.
I’d call that a little incentive.
…a statistic that Kickbike and AW Footbike would love to boast. I can’t recommend Razor®s; there are too many other scooters more suitable for children, but they do give a frame of reference for describing footbikes: “Like Razor®s on steroids.”
As Jesus said, “he that is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50b). On the other hand…
The great Dutch champion has written a post for the FootbikeUSA weblog with news from the Netherlands.
Among other things, he says he expects Peter Groeneveld to break his (Mario’s) 24-hour record, on his own (Peter’s) self-made carbon footbike “with two 28-inch wheels, with a total weight of 4,3 kilograms.” I’d like to see that bike!
It’s a beautiful cruiser, created by Yahoo! Kickbiking mail-list member Elden. He writes: Read the rest of this entry »
This excellent Frank Patterson illustration perfectly captures the ennui of the cold-season (foot)bike enthusiast. We’re exploring exercise and transportation variants and tweaking our rides. That nut must have rolled under the bed.
Well, what with eating and exercising like a hunter-gatherer, I’ve been going around in minimal footwear for a while now, influenced first by this article that I read in April, 2008:
Shoes are bad. I don’t just mean stiletto heels, or cowboy boots, or tottering espadrilles, or any of the other fairly obvious foot-torture devices into which we wincingly jam our feet. I mean all shoes. Shoes hurt your feet. They change how you walk. In fact, your feet – your poor, tender, abused, ignored, maligned, misunderstood feet – are getting trounced in a war that’s been raging for roughly a thousand years: the battle of shoes versus feet.
Peter's photos only here
Gary Schmitt: Kick Racer Primal Living in the Modern World
Outer Banks Onstage
