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From: linden@positive.eng.sun.com (Peter van der Linden)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Bicycle NoMadness (was Re: Don't put a penny in your ear in Alaska!)
Date: 11 Dec 1993 00:01:31 GMT

Why does anyone bother with that "In article <2e7t8bINNlai@oasys.dt.navy.mil>" crap, anyway? If you've got a thread-following newsreader, you don't need it, and if you don't it only annoys the pig.

Anyway, "In article <2e7t8bINNlai@oasys.dt.navy.mil>" galcik@oasys.dt.navy.mil (G. Galcik) writes: > this guy who has a $1.4M motorcycle.
> [It had] "a connection to the Internet".

John "Tink belong mefella too" Switzer clarifies: > Back in the late 80s there were a lot of stories about a guy who had
> built a custom bicycle with all sorts of gadgets including multiple
> portable computers, solar cells, and a phone connection (eventually

John is quite correct. It was a bicycle, not a motorcycle, and it was hand-built by Steven K. Roberts who later piloted it all over the US, and (figuratively) all over the Internet.

Steve was sponsored by Sun for a while; I remember visiting him in the workshop we had made available. Steve had outfitted the workshop with an enviable array of equipment. As he was showing me the milling machine (!) he introduced it as "Cecil" -- my mind raced, then I fixed Steve with a beady eye, and enquired "because Cecil B. de Mill, right?"

Steve has built several combinations of recumbent bike; one of them was called the "Winnebiko (in honor of Sir Winston "puke my shoes" Churchill, no doubt). I can easily believe that the value of all the electronics sponsorship, labor, and design work is in excess of $1.4M For example, the Winnebiko featured 5 computers (SPARC, Mac, PC, etc) solar panels, 2-meter multimode ham radio, motion sensitive pager activating security, cellular phone, satellite link, air horns, disk drive, 3 modems, over 30 circuit boards, speech synthesizer, tv, digital shortwave radio, and much, much more. And a flute.

Steve pedalled this over 14000 miles -- he is quite an athlete. He wrote a book on his experiences "Computing Across America", ISBN 0-938734-18-0. I got him to sign my copy, explaining why he didn't ride his bike from Milpitas to Sun Mtn View where he gave a talk. He wrote "too hot!"

After the Winnebiko, Steve built and even more gigundo velocipede called the BEHEMOTH. He pedalled that around some, sending regular e-mail to his supporters and funders. Right now Steve is at University of San Diego working on an ocean-borne version. It started life as a canoe, rapidly became a catamaran, and is currently a trimarine (three-hulled) vessel. I confidently expect this to become a elevenomarine eventually. Maybe Bill at San Diego could provide an update?

I still get e-mail from Steve every couple of months -- I'll post the next one if I remember. He truly is someone who pedals to the beat of a different drummer. More power to him!

--
linden@eng.sun.com P. van der Linden Your Kibo Number is now 2 Developer of the monomial distribution: I get all of it. Inventor of the Lambada-Calculus: teaching logic thru spanish dance steps.