Author: admin

  • Loose Screws

    Couchbike video shoot

    When a production company from Los Angeles called last week about doing a video shoot involving the Couchbike, I told them it sounded great.  But as I looked out the window at the blanket of snow covering everything in sight, I wondered how amenable they might be to doing all this a little later on, say in May. No luck there, so we scheduled it for this week and hoped for the best.

    This has been an incredibly snowy winter. In the month of January, the temperature in Kitchener-Waterloo only went above 0°C for a total of three hours.  That’s meant that whatever snow has fallen has generally stuck around. However, it finally did warm up this weekend. It also rained a lot. So by yesterday morning the roads were clear and ready for couchbiking.

    Hulabiking

    Mike and Dave were sent over from Toronto to record the sound and video. Natalie and I rode the couchbike around. We also did some hulabiking and I spent some time in the garage tweaking wheels which may or may not have needed truing in the first place. Overall, a fun day. Watch for the footage in an upcoming show with the working title “Loose Screws”. Wait, what!?

    Wheel truing

  • Craig Cardiff at Humanities Theatre

    Craig Cardiff

    Craig Cardiff will be performing at Humanities Theatre at the University of Waterloo on Thursday March 5, 2009. Craig was kind enough to authorize the use of his music in the “Tips for Cyclists” video below. I’m a huge fan of Craig’s so I will definitely plan to attend.

  • A Beaver Is Eating My Canoe

     

    Matt Jackson has just come out with another anthology of travel stories. This one titled: A Beaver is Eating My Canoe: True Tales to Make you Laugh, Chortle, Snicker and Feel Inspired, features my story of cycling from Dawson City, Yukon to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT in the wintertime. That trip doesn’t sound like a barrel of monkeys to you? It wasn’t. But Gary, Ray and I found that at minus 40° you can only cry for so long before the icicles dangling from your eyelids make you look downright hilarious. If you’re thinking about cycling the Dempster highway in the middle of winter, or are thinking about maybe not doing it, but saying that you did, I definitely recommend this book. Look for it in stores this holiday season!

      A Beaver Is Eating My Canoe
  • Treadmill Bike in Little Tokyo

    Treadmill Bike in L.A.

    It looks like we’ll have to add another shift to the Treadmill Bike production line. Last week, I was in L.A. for the taping of some treadmill bike action for Japanese TV. I’m not at liberty to share photos of the celebrities involved, but I will say that I had a great time. Below is a shot of my host Yuji testing out the bike the night before the shoot. The clip is set to hit the airwaves in Asia around New Years.

    Treadmill Bike in L.A.

  • And it’s hard to hold a candle… in the cold November rain

    KW Santa Claus Parade

    KW Santa Claus Parade

    The pedal powered pickup truck (above) was the most coveted spot in this year’s Kitchener-Waterloo Santa Claus Parade, or at least among the bikes making up the Tree Huggers float. The rest of us got rather soaked out there, but it was nice to see the city getting ready for the holiday season.

    Congrats to all the parade participants and attendees alike.

    KW Santa Claus Parade

    KW Santa Claus Parade

  • NYC Video Shoot

    Treadmill Bike in NYC

    Today, we were in New York City for a video shoot about the Treadmill Bike. The famous news anchor Amanda Bergen proved to be a natural treadmill biker. Filming was done by Joe the Cameraman. On this the eve of the US election, Joe wanted to emphasize that he was in fact Joe the Cameraman, not Joe the Plumber.

    The footage will be used in a series of health information segments aired in waiting rooms of physicians across the U.S. Watch for this fun clip in a doctor’s office near you!

    Amanda Bergen introduces the Treadmill Bike

  • Bike, Scooter, and Chopper Projects for the Evil Genius

    I just received a copy of Brad Graham and Kathy McGowan’s latest book Bike, Scooter, and Chopper Projects for the Evil Genius. Like Brad’s last book Atomic Zombie’s Bicycle Builder’s Bonanza, this one features step by step instructions for creating a variety of unique bikes using only basic tools and inexpensive parts.

    Besides trikes, scooters, choppers and tall bikes, the book also explores various electric vehicles. Along the way, the reader will find the encouragement needed to design and build their own completely unique bikes.

    With Christmas on the horizon, this book would be a great gift idea for the evil genius in your life.

      Evil Genius Book Cover
  • Moving Day

    Moving a couch by bicycle

    This week, I’m busy moving operations to the new headquarters across town. I moved the couchbike last week and got one of my couches relocated that way. However, there was still one more couch to move, so Mohrgan and I popped it in the back of the pickup truck bike and hit the road.

    Moving a couch by bicycle

  • New World Record for Sam Whittingham

    Varna Diablo powered by Sam Whittingham

    Congratulations to Sam Whittingham who, just yesterday, set a new World Land Speed Record. Sam’s speed of 82.3 mph (132.4 km/h) also qualifies for the .deciMach prize for breaking Mach 0.1 or 1/10 the speed of sound.

    Here’s the record setting run:

  • Bicycle Forest on the Gadget Show

    It was a privilege to be featured on the Gadget Show earlier this summer. Here’s the clip in case you missed it.