I think they should try to build a tanden bicycle (a bicycle built for two or three or four).

My husband and I would be honored to be judges.

-- Carolyn (cookingcassy@teamjohnson.com), March 27, 2001

Answers

i think that you are stupid to think that they can build a tandom bike before sun down and how will they judge the bikes????????!!!!!!!!!!

-- kevin ray rhodes (kmr.dcr@aol.com), March 27, 2001.

One poster mentioned that they would have built a four person "peddle powered paddle bike" (say that five times fast!) for the amphi- vehicle competion. I for one would have loved to have seen that.

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), March 27, 2001.

Hey, you haven't been paying attention I did build one before sundown, and believe me it would have been a lot easier with wheels. That is how we powered the air compressor for our air cannon.

JustJay

-- JustJay-captain-Three Rusty Juveniles (justjay@neo.rr.com), March 27, 2001.

Dear Kevin: Please don't call anyone "stupid". It will expose you to all manner of well-deserved crtiticism. Also, please learn to spell the word "tandem". That way, you won't look so stupid when you post your messages. And by the way, what makes you think four people couldn't build a tandem bicycle in ten hours? Just because you couldn't? Look at some of the incredible inventions that have been assembled on this show- in ten hours. I think a tandem is entirely possible, although what they really need to go for is a quadracycle- one that will hold all four team members. Or is that too stupid?

-- Chip Haynes (ehaynes@co.pinellas.fl.us), March 28, 2001.

Ditto about the "Calling someone Stupid". Bad choice of words. I made a similar mistake asking someone to stop using ALL CAPS.... He wrote me back and told me that he was almost blind and couldn't read his own type. A little compassion goes a long way.... NOW... A tandem bike is fairly simple to build in a day. With team Art Attack and an expert, the four person human powered bike would be harder but totally possible. We build kinetic sculptures here in Eureka, and rigging four bikes to a jackshaft and a final drive complete with a paddlewheel system is pretty simple with the technologies we've explored. We make some pretty cool hubs out of old bikes that really streamline the project. If a team can pull an engine from a car and strip it down in one day..... and reassemble it into a dune buggy, then a 4 person bike is a cakewalk.

-- Duane Flatmo, Art Attack (flatmo@humboldt1.com), March 28, 2001.

Wow...we protect our young, eh?

-- Dan Denney (Rustrenegades@hotmail.com), March 28, 2001.

Hey, they're not MY young!

-- Chip Haynes (ehaynes@co.pinellas.fl.us), March 29, 2001.

...what they really need to go for is a quadracycle - one that will hold all four team members. This idea is ok but not with "peddle" power. Let's take it up a "notch", you're in a "junkyard" w/MOTORS and make/rig your own drivetrains! Peddle power- NO! MOTOR- YES! The "bigger" the motor the better! Quadracycle:NO;"Quadaxle" Pulling Contest: "YES",4-team members/4-motors, "not-ganged" together,let the clutch(es) fly and see what team has the best puller! I can just see the tire smokin' burnouts, smokin' clutches and redlined motors! Yea', now we're talkin'!! How 'bout my idea JunkyardWars2001? NITRO BILL.

-- Bill Leseberg (drwdl@ptd.net), March 31, 2001.