Feds Spent $300,000 Studying How to Ride Bikes

The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $300,000 studying how “humans interact with bicycles,” the latest example of what a House committee chairman calls waste in the agency.

The premise for the project, which was conducted between October 2009 and June 2013, was that bicycle dynamics are “poorly understood,” and researchers set out to come up with new designs to encourage more Americans to bike to lower their carbon footprint. […]

To fulfill this goal, the researchers built two bicycles and rode them on treadmills. …

4 years ago, my wife and I thought we would like to take up bicycle riding. As neither of us had been on a bike in over 30 years, we thought used bikes would be the way to go.

We were wary of used bike websites, Craigslist, etc. as we did notice quite a few used bikes on websites and in want ads were offered as "For Sale. New bike. Ridden once. Best offer."

(What might this be trying to say to us?)

Then a friend from the UK, and an avid bike rider, came to visit and we wanted to show him the Keys and The Everglades. Searching for a suitable place to view The Everglades, I stumbled across the Shark River Valley bicycle trail. Lo and behold they rented bikes. Shazzam! We could try biking without buying and see if it was for us.

After about 100 yards, it was evident that we enjoyed riding bikes again. (Note: While it is true you never forget how to ride a bike, you do lose a LOT of your invulnerable attitude) Also, riding in my boxer shorts and cargo shorts for the 15.4 miles of the trail was a daunting task for me and I vowed to buy some appropriate clothing if we continued to ride in the future.(BTW - those bright shiny bike pants DO serve a purpose, i.e. ease the pain of numb-nuts and sweaty crotch syndrome) We all managed to complete the ride.

Next morning - WOW! I could not find a drugstore quick enough to procure some Gold Bond Medicated Powder!

Now 5,000 miles later, we again await the annual visit from our UK friend and our 5th Shark River Valley ride.

From painful experience, we found that bicycles are like shoes. A proper fit by a knowledgeable bike mechanic/salesperson makes a LOT of difference! I am 6'2" and my wife is 6' tall. Looking for more suitable bikes after using Wal-Mart specials the first year, we discovered a great bike shop where the owner took one look at us and said he had nothing on the floor that would fit us but he could put two bikes together in about an hour. We went to lunch, came back, rode the two he had assembled for us and were amazed at how much easier they were to ride for us.

With that in mind, I would have to opine that any study like this one, is about as useful as a study to find one brand of athletic footwear to fit every use, person and sport.

BTW, if you are a biker, you need to check out the Shark River Valley ride! Birds, gators, fish, turtles, deer, otter, hawks, eagles! And The Everglades is not a swamp. It is a river of grass flooded by the Shark River which is about 60 miles wide, two feet deep and crystal clear.

Your points are valid. The investigation should be funded by bicycle companies that stand to gain from such improvements. I can see no role for taxpayers in such a study.

Others would say that it is immoral for such advances to be monopolized by a single company, keeping everyone except that company from benefiting from the research.

In my experience, companies do only research that has a clear potential for profit, preferably in the short-term. Government funded research tends to be more open and ask the basic "how" questions that lead to the basic mechanistic understanding that allow companies to develop the profitable products. I am a basic scientist; the things I do in the lab typically percolate to the commercial world a decade or so after they become commonplace in the lab.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.