Twike

If you’ve ever felt the desire to get in some cardio work while driving to or from work, you are going to LOVE this three-wheeled German-built contraption called the Twike. The rather unfortunate name is a combination of the two words Twin and Bike and effectively describes this light, two passenger electric vehicle.

See children, this is what happens when you combine a rabid enthusiasm for bicycling, the ignorance of anti-establishmentarianism, and a couple hits of acid.

Seriously, you want to save a few bucks on gas? It’s called “public transit”.

In Newark, New Jersey, Nik Wallenda broke the Guinness World Record yesterday for longest and highest bicycle ride successfully completed without a net. 235 feet across and roughly 13 stories up, Wallenda’s high-wire ride was partly publicity stunt, designed to drum up enthusiasm for Walledna’s upcoming performance with the Flying Wallendas at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s circus later this month.

Covered extensively by the Today Show’s witty commentariat, my favorite part of the footage occurs when the on-the-ground reporter struggles to be heard over the drone of the helicopter circling overhead as he attempts to explain somberly “The greatest concern now…is just the slightest gust of wind [could] catch him off guard here…” FAIL.

On Sunday, Frenchman Stephane Rousson embarked on his flight across the English Channel in is privately-engineered pedal-powered airship. Inspired by the infamous midnight escape scene in Stephen Spielberg’s movie, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Rousson’s attempt was a life-long dream finally come to fruition. “When I was young, I saw the movie and watched the little guy pedalling on a bike flying in front of the moon with ET,” Rousson told The Times, “I always wanted to fly.”

Earlier that morning, Rousson had mounted his 16-foot helium filled blimp, the Miss Louise, with the intention of pedaling from Hythe to Wissant in under 8 hours. Unfortunately, strong winds forced Rousson to scrap his plans 11 miles in, “We were about three-quarters of the way across,” Rousson explained, “but the wind was flowing in the wrong direction for me to make it across.”

[Photo Cred: Recumbents.com]

Sam Whittingham broke world records last week when he successfully managed to pedal his aerodynamic recumbent bicycle up to a world record breaking speed of 82.3 mph. Held on State Route 305 in Battle Mountain, Nevada, the original deciMACH Speed Dash offered a cash prize for the first human powered vehicle to reach over 75 mph. In 2002, Whittingham and his teammates shattered that record when they attained speeds of 81.02 mph, but they weren’t content to stop there. Training vigorously with his partner and bike designer, Georgi Georgiev, Whittingham arrived in Nevada last Thursday determined to break his previous record. With lady luck and perfect weather conditions on his side, Whittingham was able to do just that.

View footage of Whittingham’s incredible ride after the jump