Alt Bike Culture - No Hands King

This clip is from an article in the News and Observer last Sunday. This guy wants to do a 3,000 mile wheelie across the U.S.A. with no handlebars and he's looking for a sponsor with $5,000. He has a checkered past, but has improved his record and his lifestyle significantly since becoming involved with bicycles. It appears he might as well be riding a unicycle although I suppose it wouldn't be a wheelie then.

http://www.newsobserver.com/lifestyles/extras/story/610575.html

That's insane.

Seems like a pretty cool accomplishment. But I doubt this guy has ever really biked anywhere except on flat pavement in the city. Good luck biking accross steep hills and fast drops doing a wheelie. This guy just might die. You notice he doesn't even have handlebars on his bike? Pretty scary if he perchance needed to use them. Dang yo.

I admire his enthusiasm but I doubt he'll get across a single state, let alone the entire country. I'd bet my Gary Fisher that he doesn't make it all the way without hurting himself or giving up.

His front wheel is only a couple inches off the ground on with no hill, so his center of gravity on that bike is way to the rear.

If he tries to climb mountains, I don't know whether any amount of leaning forward will keep him from falling over backwards, especially if he means to keep the front wheel from touching the ground.

Also, it's singlespeed bike where you can't stand off the seat because there are no handlebars (although you're near a standing-over-the-pedals position to begin with). Yet another reason I would wonder how he would make it up mountains.

Of course, railroads cross mountains mainly by using roundabout or switchback routes that don't require any steep grades. Is there a rails-to-trails route across the rockies?

His front wheel is only a couple inches off the ground on with no hill, so his center of gravity on that bike is way to the rear.

If he tries to climb mountains, I don't know whether any amount of leaning forward will keep him from falling over backwards, especially if he means to keep the front wheel from touching the ground.

Also, it's singlespeed bike where you can't stand off the seat because there are no handlebars (although you're near a standing-over-the-pedals position to begin with). Yet another reason I would wonder how he would make it up mountains.

Of course, railroads cross mountains mainly by using roundabout or switchback routes that don't require any steep grades. Is there a rails-to-trails route across the rockies?
Well he'd probably swith to a different bike to go cross-country, maybe take off the front fork all together and add a three-speed hub.

Hooo-Ahh!!!

I remember a shipmate of mine, while stationed at a Naval Air Base, he had taken the handlebars off his bike and replaced them with a shift lever (old friction type).
I asked him if he thought it might be a safety hazard, but he said "That's all you need to steer the bike."
And he said that he'd been riding the bicycle like that for fifteen years and never had an accident.

I can't understand him...

I drive by his house, and often him everyday on my way to work. He seems extremely stable on the sidewalk/street where he rides everyday, but people are right I doubt he has trained on inclines and other terrains.

yeah, i've seen this guy a bunch too, on my way across the south part of Raleigh... Over the past couple years he's added some ballast to his bike and a big American flag to the back

Wait until he encounters a 30+ mile climb in the Rocky Mountains on his way across the country. Or a high-speed descent around sharp curves at 50 m.p.h. Good luck with that.