Kick Scooter DreamsKickbike, footbike, scooter, Xootr, or Trikke it!

Kickbiking in Taiwan

Kickbiking website in Taiwan.

Documentary telling the story of a recumbent rider with Parkinson's - Looking for donations

Definitely worth searching out, and contributing to:

"Larry Smith, a retired police captain, beloved small-town baker, and avid cyclist has had Parkinson's disease for the last 20 years. This spring film makers will follow him with cameras as he bikes across his state of South Dako ta to raise awareness about the benefits of recumbent cycling and Parkinson's. Larry refuses to give up or submit to the prognosis of a wheel chair. Instead, he demonstrates the power of keeping your body active and mind positive, proving that sometimes the best cure is living life to its fullest. As Larry’s wife Betty states: “if you love life, and have a life that you love, you'll fight for it.

http://www.recumbentjournal.com/news/community/item/290-donations-sought-to-tell-story-of-recumbent-rider-with-parkinson%5C 's.html

Gary Fisher's Bike Stolen

Hard to believe, especially in the middle of San Francisco, but Gary Fisher's personal blue Trek was stolen - from the basement in his home! 

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2011/gary-fisher-bike-stolen/

French Kickbiking Association

When we first got involved with the sport of kick biking was hard to find any devotees, even online. We couldn't find any in person here in Japan. There were lots of kick bikers in Finland, Holland and the Scandinavian countries. There was even a reasonably sized organization in the US loosely coupled to a forum on Yahoo. Rapidly that's changing. There are more and more participants and more and more organizations supporting them and the sport springing up around the globe.

The latest one we found is a new French kick biking association. I won't try to pronounce the association name because my French is terrible, you'll have to attempt it by yourself. The group does seem extremely well organized and has regular competitive events. They even have a manual French championship as part of the IKSA Eurocup initiative. And, members actively participate in quite a number of marathons, semi-Marathons, and half Marathons, and bicycling races, etc. that are held regularly throughout France. There is no mention on their website whether or not they attempted to join the Tour de France, but I'm sure they turned out to watch it in force.

As you might expect, the organization has an FAQ page that includes all the typical questions. Where can I buy a foot bike; is it difficult to learn; how fast can you go; how often do you change feet; what's the hardest part to learn; is it easy to maintain; you carry luggage; is it safe...?

It's great to see interest in the sport growing so rapidly. At the same time were wondering why the sport hasn't taken off here in Japan. It seems like a natural. Kids in our neighborhood all have really cheap razor scooters. A lot of their parents, who are young adults, also use them. And the Japanese, to a large extent, are bicycle fanatics. But, so far, there really hasn't been much interest that we can see in kick biking or even adult scootering. We're doing everything we can to change that, of course.

Fixing a flat made easy (Video)

Sooner or later, if we do any writing at all, were all going to end up with a flat tire. And, it's never happened when it's convenient for us. Thankfully, fixing a flat tire isn't rocket science. What little bit of practice and some self-confidence almost anyone can do it.

This video tutorial uses a tarot trike recumbent trike, but the basic advice and techniques work fine for other manufacturers and models.

I wish they spent a little more time explaining the process for mounting and dismounting the rear tire, especially the routing and adjustment of the chain. When I have the time I'll check see if there's another video that goes into that in more detail.

The tools required are minimal and can be easily packed along with you when you ride. Although I've been riding a bicycle since I was about four years old, and changing tires soon after that, I was very pleased to find that there is still things to learn that can make my cycling life easier and much more enjoyable.

For example, with a recumbent trike there is no need to remove either of the front wheels when you have to fix a flat. It might seem obvious, but it sure wasn't that obvious to me until one of my friends asked me how difficult it was to fix a tire on a trike.

Jimmy Carter rides a Trikke! (Video)

Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn may be in their 80's, but they are still tremendously active, and use Trikke's for regular exercise:

There's something wrong with the video embed code that's causing the video to be offset to the left, but it will play if you click on it.

Amazingly Simple Shoelace Solution!

Any avid, or even casual, foot bike user, and even those that cycle regularly, have suddenly almost had their foot torn off as their shoe laces catch on some part of their HPV. Personally I twisted my ankle so badly one time when the shoe laces on my right shoe caught in the bicycle chain and immediately locked everything tight as a drum. Luckily I was able to maintain control of the bike.

I've tried lots of strategies, including double, triple, and quadruple knots, velcro lace keepers, etc, but this lacing solution is so brilliant and simple that it had me hitting my head on the side and saying, "Duh, why didn't I think of that!"