Who needs bike paths when you can forge your own?
That’s just what Judah Schiller did last Thursday. The designer biked across the Hudson River -and I mean that in the most literal sense. He didn’t take the George Washington Bridge, and he didn’t even use the Lincoln Tunnel. He biked across the water’s surface.
Schiller, a San Francisco native, is the CEO of design firm AIKO. He recently started the BayCycle Project, a venture that combines cycles and floats to create a bike-float of sorts. The concept works like this: you put the contraption in the water, hop aboard, and start cycling, just like would would on a normal nike. The floats (which his team at AIKO designed) keep the apparatus afloat, which the motion of pedaling propels the float forward. Just like magic, boating marries biking.
BayCycles have been getting a bit of traction on the West Coast. Schiller was inspired to kickstart the project after hearing complaints from his neighbors in San Francisco about the Bay Bridge. A massive reconstruction project just wrapped up on the bridge – but notably absent is any kind of bike lane. Officials estimate that it will take up to $500 million and a decade of work to integrate lanes into the design. Until then, people have no way of getting from San Francisco to the East Bay (and vice-versa). It’s a big issue… And this could be a solution. Instead of waiting years for the addition to be built, why not just bike across the bay?
Schiller recently launched an Indiegogo campaign for raise funding for the campaign. The whole concept might sound a little outlandish, but in his proposal, Schiller brings up a valid point: “Can you imagine being one of the first people to ever ride a bike down a mountain? That was only 40 years ago, when some “crazy” cyclists first rode their Schwinns down the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais, with denim wrapped around their handlebars for padding. Now, mountain biking is a sport enjoyed around the world.”
Seemingly “absurd” sporting innovations crop of everyday. Some are fleeting fancies; others truly gain traction. But which category will BayCycle fit into?
Schiller was the first person to bike across the Hudson River, and it’s safe to assume that his stunts won’t end there. He already has plans to host group water-biking outings across the San Francisco Bay, and wants to expand his service to cities all over the planet.
If you think that BayCycle fits into biking of the future, take a look at Schiller’s campaign on Indiegogo. Regardless of whether this idea finds footing, it’s an innovative concept that represents the imaginative future of cycling.
Image Source: [BayCycle]