RECREATION

Conference bike puts the party on the road

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, April 07, 2008

When you ride down Congress Avenue on a seven-seated bicycle, people gawk. They crane their heads out of car windows. Flash the thumbs-up sign. Shout funny things.

After all, it's not what you'd expect to see on a city street, even in Austin, which prides itself on all things weird.

"Oh my God! I can't see where I'm going!" screams Hayley North of Cincinnati, who has just rolled out of the driveway at the Embassy Suites hotel on South Congress Avenue, perched on one of the bike's backward-facing seats.

The bike looks like a blue metal octopus, belly up. Or a strange contraption from a Dr. Seuss book.

A company called Not Your Usual Bikes recently started giving guided tours across Austin on the bike. Riders are arranged in a circle, with a licensed driver facing forward. The bike, which actually rolls on four spare automobile tires, drives on city streets, taking up a lane of traffic.

On this day, passengers — especially the ones who can't see where the bike is headed — squeal as the beast whirls onto Riverside Drive. "It's kind of like taking a spinning class outdoors," North says.

She and co-worker Jill Kleiser, who are in Austin for a recreational sports conference, give beauty queen waves to slowly passing motorists.

"I feel like I'm at the dinner table," Kleiser says as she faces her fellow pedalers. "It's awesome."

Someone leans out a car window and hollers "Faster! Faster!" Another slows to ogle the rig. "Need a push?" he jokes.

Wes and Susana Stone had the bike shipped from Germany, where it was made, last October. They secured city permits for it in December and started offering bat-watching and city tours earlier this year. They also market the bike for business meetings (don't expect much productivity), speed-dating cruises (you thought riding a tandem taught you a lot about your partner?) and private parties. Or set up an obstacle course off the streets and blindfold the driver. Voilà, the perfect tool to teach communication and listening skills at a corporate team-building session. Or so the Stones say.

"There's no other bike like this anywhere near Texas," Wes Stone says. "We thought, 'What better city than Austin?' "

Boston, New York, Minneapolis and Chicago all have conference bikes. The $18,000 bikes are also available for rental in such far-flung places as Berlin, London and Dublin.

Eric Staller, an artist from New York, unveiled his first conference bike in 1991. It came after his Lightmobile, a Volkswagen bug covered with 1,600 lights, which he introduced in 1985. He moved to Amsterdam, biking mecca of the world, where he now rents a fleet of conference bikes.

"He thinks of this bike as more of an art piece than a bicycle," Wes Stone says.

Staller even had a special seat made for Wes Stone, who became paraplegic three years ago after a fall. Stone purchased the conference bike with a grant he received from the Texas Department of Assisted Rehabilitative Services.

"Everybody pedals. I'm in charge of steering wheel and brakes," Susana Stone tells six folks who have climbed aboard for a quick trip. They stash purses and cell phones in a basket in the center of the bike and start cracking jokes. Some seem a tad apprehensive.

Susana Stone points out the hydraulic brakes front and rear. The bike is 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. It has parking brakes and lights, and it can carry up to 2,200 pounds. The bike has two gears — slow and extra slow, jokes Stone — and its top speed is 15 mph. Helmets are available, but only riders 16 or younger are required to wear one.

"It's different, definitely different," Andy Rodriguez of Chandler, Ariz., says as the machine rolls along. Pedaling furiously forward while he glides backward, he flaps his arm and does his best Michael Jackson impression. "It feels like I'm moonwalking. Whoooooo!"

Not everybody has to pedal. But if you slack off, the other riders will know. This monster weighs 450 pounds. Add the weight of the riders, and a casual cruise turns into an easy workout.

No one seems to mind.

Aubre Jones, who is visiting Austin from Washington, D.C., says, "After sitting on a plane for three and a half hours, it's not bad to get a little exercise."