Time for two-wheel thrills

PETER BUFFA

Ride, Sally, ride. And that goes for the rest of you too.

Interesting news this week from the world of two-wheelers and

ten-speeds. The first is the Tour de OC -- a localized version of the

Tour de France. Tour de OC is a cycling marathon that raises heart

rates, and dollars, for the Royal Family Kids Camp in Lake Arrowhead,

a summer camp for abused children.

If you want to pedal your part for Kids Camp, you’ll have to wait

until next year -- the wheels were scheduled to go ‘round and ‘round

yesterday -- but that gives you plenty of time to get in shape.

It all happened at Vanguard University, which means it was a class

operation from stem to stern. There was something for riders of all

ages and at all levels, including a fun ride on a closed course for

kids up to 12, and long rides that started and finished at Vanguard,

ranging from 25 miles to 55 miles to 100 miles for those in desperate

need of counseling.

“We had 12 riders the first year,” said Newport-Mesa Unified

School District Trustee and former Costa Mesa police captain Dave

Brooks, co-chairman of this year’s pedal fest. “We will have about

150 riders this year.”

Now that’s progress.

Their goal this year was $45,000, which will send 100 Orange

County kids to Royal Family Kids Camp this summer for a week of

swimming, archery, fishing and woodworking, along with sitting around

a fire singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” “The Ants Go

Marching One by One,” and my personal favorite, “Had a Peanut.”

So to all those riders who circled the globe, sort of, for Royal

Family Kids Camp, you are the best. And not to worry, you’ll be able

to walk upright again in no time.

The other exciting bicycle news just rode in from Lafayette, Ind.,

which is like France, but much closer and much more friendly. Three

industrial designers at Purdue University took a break from making

boilers just long enough to come up with a revolutionary bicycle that

could actually take the hair-raising part out of learning to ride a

bike sans training wheels.

You remember that, I’m sure. Your dad or another fully grown

person jogged along beside you, holding on to the back of the seat

while you pleaded and screamed and wailed like a banshee for him not

to let go. He was shouting some meaningless directions to you, as if

you could hear him, and the only thing you were sure of was that you

were going to die.

Those first seconds of solo flight were an incredible rush, but

the thrill didn’t last long. As soon as you did the one thing he

warned you to never, ever do -- slow down -- it was all over. The

front wheel started to shimmy like a flapper on the bar at midnight,

and you were frantically skidding to a stop, or worse.

But given enough tries, you did it, and by the weekend, you were a

speed demon. If the boys from Purdue can ride their revolutionary

bicycle into the consumer marketplace, all of that will be a fond

memory.

They named their new bike, which looks like a high-tech tricycle,

Shift. Look, they’re industrial designers, OK? Lighten up.

The tip-off that this isn’t your mother’s tricycle is that the

rear wheels are very thin, like a racing bike, and mounted at a

45-degree angle -- almost touching at the top and splayed out on the

bottom.

When Timmy or Tiffany starts pedaling, it’s a rock solid tricycle.

But as they pick up speed, the angle of the rear wheels begin to draw

inward. At just the right speed, the wheels “close” completely and,

voila -- it’s a two-wheel bike.

If little Tiffany loses her nerve and starts to slow down, the

rear wheels spread open and -- drum roll please -- it’s a tricycle

again. The rider can practice and progress, or not, at any pace,

without ever making a mad dash for the Band-Aids.

This is huge, people, huge. Maybe not for the fully mature and

beyond, but for people who are small, this is big.

Lead designer Scott Shim, a professor of industrial design at

Purdue, said he and his partners had their epiphany on wheels while

trying to come up with an entry in the ninth International Bicycle

Design Competition in Taiwan. The fact that Shim has a 4-year-old son

who is raring to ride with the big boys didn’t hurt either.

Not only did Shift win first place out of 853 entries, but it got

a $15,000 prize for the Purdue team and their big-deal wheels.

Even though they’re still working on getting a patent on their

invention, hunting for investors, and a long way from getting little

Shift to the market -- they are already getting hundreds of letters

and e-mails from anxious parents across the country who have

laryngitis from screaming, “Go, go, go! No, don’t slow down -- wait,

watch the tree. Go, go!”

And the new bike is not just for kids. According to the Industrial

Design Society of America, Shift would find a wide market among

children and adults with physical limitations. Yes, it is true.

Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.

And that is the end of our ride. Big props to the Royal Family

Kids Camp riders. And to the boys from Purdue, the first-graders of

the world salute you.

I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs

Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].