Whenever I read a long-range forecast for the upcoming winter in the Pacific Northwest, each one says it will be wetter than normal — expect streams and rivers to overflow their banks for widespread flooding.
Must be time to look into the amphibious bicycle. Just ride along down your favorite road, deploy the floaties when you hit deep standing water, and pedal on.
Floating bicycles are not unheard of. I easily found a patent for one dating to 1981. Forbes.com touts an inventor from India who put one together over a three-day period during the monsoon season in his region. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the high-tech amphibious bike created by students at the University of Southampton in England.
Indian model
Writing at Forbes.com, Nicole Perlroth said the bike created by Mohammad Saidullah, above, is a simple contraption with the ability to save thousands of lives. Saidullah used his to more easily acquire flood provisions and visit his “love.”
Perlroth discovered it through the National Innovation Foundation, an Indian organization that takes simple innovations created in rural villages and helps bring them to market. According to the Foundation, the aquacycle has lots of uses, such as amusement, commuting on lakes, plankton monitoring, towing small barges, and cycle vending.
Patent model
Thomas Chew of Oakland, California, submitted the patent for the float attachment for the bicycle in 1981. In his paperwork, he says that other floating bicycles had been created before, but his was the first that didn't require adjustments of modifications when going from land to water.
A person could ride down the road with the floats attached, for instance. The front wheel has a disc that acts as a rudder in the water, and the rear wheel spokes have vanes or cups that are used for propulsion.
College model
The seven mechanical engineering, aeronautics and astronautics, and ship science students at the University of Southampton say that their amphibious bicycle — a recumbent actually — can also move seamlessly between land and water.
It is propelled using a paddle wheel.
While a professor said it could find a home in the leisure industry, a student said it could also be used to deliver humanitarian aid to flood victims.
Do it yourself model
There's another amphibious bike mentioned at the Instructables.com website, although there are no detailed plans for it.
The Tall Amphibious Couch Bike, actually a trike, is equally manueverable in traffic as on the water. It's kind of back heavy with the couch, but adjustments were made to prevent it from tipping backward on the road. It's completely stable in the water and cannot be tipped over.
It also features a small table to hold your favorite beverage. Details at Rat Patrol OZ.
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