I was an active participant at BF for some time, until the negativity in A&S threads discouraged me and a series of medical issues "knocked me off" my bikes -- I thought permanently.

Amidst the current craze for kick scooters of various kinds and the (IMHO) rather silly infatuation with toys like "hoverboards" (that don't hover at all), I've belatedly discovered a device that Europe seems to have known about for some time -- full-bicycle-sized kickbikes, or footbikes.

It turns out that the prostate problems that don't allow me to comfortably ride a bike saddle anymore (I've never liked bents) are solved by the standing position on a footbike. And the cardiovascular disease that limits my strength and stamina can be dealt with by adding electric power assistance to the footbike. Presto! The old guy is back on two wheels.

Now, there are issues of legal definition. Bicycles are usually required to have operable pedals. Footbike-like devices with power assistance often end up being classified under vehicle code provisions that were written to cover those nasty, noisy little buggers that are powered by smelly two-stroke gasoline engines and clumsily modified to badly cover modern electrically-assisted devices. The results are often illogical and bizarrely restrictive WRT operation. Here in California, though, these things are beginning to change and there is hope (my legislative contacts say) for even more favorable changes in the code.

Also, of course, there is resistance in the cycling community. Some (perhaps many) just don't believe it's a bike if it isn't powered by pedals and a chain, and never will. Some simply hate the idea of power assistance. But, overall, I think minds are at least beginning to open.

So, I'm back to explore the possibilities with other members of the cycling community and, as always, to learn. And to try to add some insight and knowledge gained from nearly six decades of cycling and tinkering (even, sometimes, in A&S, without paying too much attention to the infighting).

Finally, RIP Tom Stormcrowe.