I was trundling along the Yarra this morning, minding my own business, when I spied up ahead a bloke who seemed to be doing it tough: he was pushing along on a scooter. At first I thought he was on one of those dinky Razor jobs, but then I realised it was something a bit bigger. And at closer inspection his technique seemed pretty good—smooth strides with a regular hop-switch to change kicking foot, he was getting along pretty well, not doing it tough at all.
As I drew up behind him, I noticed it was no ordinary toy scooter—it was one serious sports vehicle, something a bit like this:
I dropped in beside him for a chat. I guessed he was getting his fitness up to speed for cross-country skiing but it turns out he's a runner keeping up his training while protecting his back, and presumably his knees as well. (But he gave me points for recognising that it's something that cross-country ski teams use to maintain fitness in the off-seasons.)
Sure, compared to a bike he wasn't breaking any speed records but he was getting the workout that he wanted and he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
I don't think I'm a convert but I still reckon that's one cool bike—a utility cyclist might even want to grab one to use as a lightweight city bike.
More info
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Kickbike Australia is the local importer (and source of photos of hot chicks and buff blokes with tight bums, presumably sculpted by scootering)
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Check out the mad descending in this race footage
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Kickbike is the "World portal for the Kickbike scooters and Kickspark sleds"
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IKSA "the world organisation for footbike (scooter)-and kicksled sport"
Comments
Yes Gents-- These machines are absolutely addictive. Meets us at the World Championships this year and we'll see if our training has been any good!!
footbikeUSA Racing
I recall on the ATB a couple of years ago I passed a bloke riding one of these.... we were just coming into Geelong and he was doing quite a good pace... still no match for pedals and variable gear ratios though....
I can go one better than that: in 2003 a Finnish bloke completed the 1200-odd kilometres of the Paris-Brest-Paris event on a scooter.