The rider in this photo is Dr. David C. Joyce, President of Ripon College. Ripon College is a private university set in the scenic Kettle Morraine area of southeastern Wisconsin. I got wind of their “Velo-ution” and was able to talk to the publicity director, Cody Pinkston, to get some photos of Dr. Joyce who is driving the Velo-ution. The press release Ripon College sent out follows. For the record, I want to go back to college–at Ripon. Who wouldn’t want to go to a school with a President that can tear up a trail and thinks progressively?

Ripon, Wi; Among the many choices Ripon College’s class of 2012 will face is whether or not to bring a car to campus this fall. Those who pledge not to do so will receive a big incentive: a brand-new mountain bike to keep. Dubbed the “Ripon Velorution Program (RVP), it is the first of its kind in the nation.

Incoming students starting their first college semester at Ripon will have the option to sign an RVP pledge this spring saying that they will not bring a car to campus for the duration of the upcoming academic year. Those who participate will be given a brand-new Trek 820 mountain bike, a Trek Vapor helmet and a Masterlock U-Lock to keep.

Here’s a link to more of the story on the Ripon College website:http://www.ripon.edu/velorution/

Meet Eric Bjorling, also known as “Hootie” to all his colleagues and friends. Bjorling, 25, is a promotional wizard, all around team player and he was the mastermind behind “Project M,” also known as the launch of One World, Two Wheels.

It was August 2007 in Madison, Wisconsin and all Trek staff were anticipating John Burke’s first presentation of the One World, Two Wheels program. No one more so than Hootie who was given the task of assembling, storing and transporting 1,000 Lime bikes for the dealer show. Mille is Latin for thousand, thus “Project M.”

The presentation was a hit — it ended with a standing ovation at the news of Trek’s pledge of $1,000,000 to the Bicycle Friendly Community program and $600,000 to International Mountain Bike Association. At the end of the presentation, Burke surprised the 1,000 dealers in attendance by telling them they could opt to ride a bike to the off site dinner location. All 1,000 dealers took to the streets of Madison led by Burke himself. It was a school of cyclists, moving in a long, winding line down East Washington stretching at least a kilometer long.

When asked how he felt upon taking on Project M, Hootie had this to say: “The first thing I thought was ‘I’m going to need a whole lot of aspirin.’ The second thought was of who I was going to have to get to help me complete the tasks. You can do anything if you have the right team.”

There were a few hitches along the way but Bjorling is a problem solver. Building, storing and moving 1,000 bikes and helmets brought a few challenges but an even bigger one was getting the permit for the ride. True to form, Bjorling found good partners.

“I cannot send enough love to the Madison Police Department, said Bjorling. The route we took was revised because the Midwest Shriners were having a parade nearby at the same time. I had these horrible visions of a mini-car/camel/bicycle pile up but in the end, the camels were the least of our worries. The Police were patient with our riders and riding at night with a police escort through the city was something I’ll never forget. Everybody we worked with at the city offfices was great.”

The entire Trek company of dealers and employees could not have been prouder at the accomplishment of Bjorling which made the launch of One World, Two Wheels one of a kind. Thanks, Hootie.

To read about the launch of the One World, Two Wheels program from a Trek staffer who blogged about the launch, click here: http://bicycledesign.blogspot.com/2007/08/1000-limes.html

If you’d like to follow Hootie’s adventures, click on his blog”Life in the Bike Lane.” Check it out here: http://trekbikes.typepad.com/rec_and_fitness/2008/02/tag-backs.html

I get emails everyday with news of projects that leave me in awe of what the human mind can do. One of the emails I got came with the message that is the headline of this post and it’s so true; turn an artist loose with no limits and cool things happen. Here are two of my favorite bike-turned-into-art projects.

The first is the “Green Hummer Project.” Upon opening the website to the Green Hummber Project I found a “hummer-esque” vehicle that is powered by two humans and rolls around the streets of Savannah, Georgia as a poster vehicle for over-consumption.

The Green Hummer is competitive with the real H2 on many levels and beats the H2 in several categories: gas mileage, weight, load to weight ratio, and cost. It’s also comparable on height, width and seating capacity. Either vehicle will get you around town but you can’t argue with the massive savings in cost and fuel that the Green Hummer offers.

You have to give these students credit for ingenuity. While not a school project, many of the Green Hummer project builders are or were students at the Savannah School of Art and Design. Read more about it: http://greenhummerproject.org/

The next groovy thing is a video clip sent to me by a Trek colleague who said the video would “make Fred Flintstone proud.” I spilled some coffee as I watched it because I was giggling, then laughing at the great spirit behind this pedal powered “car.” As my Trek colleague put it, “My favorite part of the video is the driver talking to the cop. That’s all I’m going to say except enjoy! http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/clips/toronto-cops-dont-like-bicycle-cars-329652.php

Kevin Blake, who by day is an engineer at Trek Bicycles, came up with the idea of using pedal power to push show about 13 years ago.  In 1993 Blake built a recumbent commuter tricycle with a friend and remembers thinking “could I put a blade on the front and push snow?”

His friend was skeptical about it working at all because of traction and weight issues with the light weight trike.  Undeterred, Blake figured that if he could “snowplow” with a regular shovel then it should be possible to use the legs in a pedaling motion to do the same thing.  

It took another eight years for Blake to acquire a junked Craftsman riding lawnmower to use for the chassis of his brainchild snowplow.  Every time he shoveled snow in those eight years he would think about his pedal plow.  Then one day while watching the show “Monster Garage” he was inspired.    He immediately turned off the TV and started sketching some ideas for the snowplow.  Within four months (Oct ’03 – Jan ‘04) of working after hours and week-ends Blake had a functional machine. 

The machine was built with what Blake calls “bench-top engineering.”  According to Blake: “I started by putting the lawn mower chassis on the work bench and going from there.  For example, I sat on the machine, put my feet up on imaginary pedals and realized that the frame of the mower were too bulky.  So I removed the gearbox, rear wheels, front wheels, and steering linkages from the mower frame.  I then arranged them on the floor and laid out a steel frame that would tie the pieces together.”

After some cutting, welding and bolting Blake had a frame with wheels that he could sit on.   Even better, it worked!  The joke in the Blake household was Blake calling his wife to make sure she didn’t shovel the driveway before he got home so he could plow it with his invention. 

What’s next? Now that Blake’s invention has been awarded a runner up prize in Specialized “Innovate or Die” contest, he figures the next version of his snowplow machine will be designed with computer aided design software.