A day at the beach, and the future of aquatic cycling.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

I spent the day at the beach with my folks and my little brother and his wife, and at one point, we were shooting the breeze about boats, and talking about how boating gas is so expensive that it's only a matter of time before we bring back boats with galleys (a la the Roman trireme) so that people can go boating, get exercise, and not waste money on gas.

Then somebody mentioned the Hobie "Mirage Drive" system, which uses a pedalling action to drive some flipper/propellers, and started talking about how awesome it was. I looked it up on the internet, and it is indeed awesome:



But there are way more options. Like this guy, who commutes on his HydroBike:



Or these European folks racing about on a wide variety of Human Powered Boats (Human Powered Hydroplanes are way cool!):



But the king of all the Human Powered Boats I've seen on the web this evening, has to be Steam Boat Willy, a Human Powered Hovercraft.

No kidding.

A HUMAN POWERED HOVERCRAFT!

A hovercraft powered by somebody pedalling it! It's like stupendous cake with awesomeness sauce! I WANT!

Holy cow, just check out this video! (Fast forward to the 1:40 mark. This guy may be the greatest inventor of the decade, but his camera skills need some help.)



Just as more and more people are starting to see bicycles as a viable means of transportation for commuting, errand running, and recreation, I have a feeling that moreand more folks are going to start getting excited about boats they can ride around in while getting exercise, not using gas, and get from point A to point B and back over water efficiently. With a speed of 4-8 knots (6-10mph or so), they can actually be a useful option.

I've got a letter in to Hobie about their interest in adding the Mirage Drive to a Party Barge. I'll let you know what I hear.