"Man on a bicycle can go three or four times
faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He
carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of
only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man's
metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man
outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as
well.
Bicycles are not only thermodynamically
efficient, they are also cheap. With his much lower salary, the Chinese
acquires his durable bicycle in a fraction of the working hours an American
devotes to the purchase of his obsolescent car. The cost of public utilities
needed to facilitate bicycle traffic versus the price of an infrastructure
tailored to high speeds is proportionately even less than the price
differential of the vehicles used in the two systems. In the bicycle system,
engineered roads are necessary only at certain points of dense traffic, and
people who live far from the surfaced path are not thereby automatically
isolated as they would be if they depended on cars or trains. The bicycle has
extended man's radius without shunting him onto roads he cannot walk. Where he
cannot ride his bike, he can usually push it.
The bicycle also uses little space. Eighteen
bikes can be parked in the place of one car, thirty of them can move along in
the space devoured by a single automobile. It takes three lanes of a given size
to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using automated trains,
four to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only two
lanes for them to pedal across on bicycles. Of all these vehicles, only the
bicycle really allows people to go from door to door without walking. The
cyclist can reach new destinations of his choice without his tool creating new
locations from which he is barred."---not sure who wrote this--- sounds like the gospel to me :)
Yamato-Honu-Pono
Make- Bilenky custom
Size- Custom 21.5in
Wheelbase- 58in
Weight- Unloaded 50.2lb, Loaded 145lb
Gearing- Internal 14 speed Rohloff hub
Rims- 26in WTB Laser Disc FR
Spokes- Sapim Cxray
Tyres- Schwalbe Marathon XR 2.25
Tubes- Continental 26x2,25
Seatpost- Thompson/Cane Creek Thudbuster M3
Seat- ??? Not sure yet
Front rack- Surly Nice Rack
Rear rack- Evans Bikes, custom rear rack (Orcas Island, Wa.)
Front hub- Phil wood mtn disc 32h
Fork- Bilenky custom rigid (to fit the Surly with a disc)
Headset- Cane creek S-8
Stem- Ritchey comp 4 bolt 6 degree rise.
Handle bar- Ritchey Pro 31.8
Bar end- Profile Fatties
Stack height- 50mm
Brakes Levers- LX
Bottles cages- stainless
Bottom Bracket- Phil Wood stainless
Fenders- Front ,Apex--Rear, Apex.
Brakes- Avid BB-7, 180 rear rotor, 185 front
Why the long name??
When I was looking for a name in which to give my bike, All great 'ships' should have a name' I chose a 3 part name.
The first part "Yamato" is Japanese. I chose this name because it was the name of the largest heaviest battle ship ever built, it also means "Japan" or "Great Peace" or "Blessed Enlightenment" depends on were you look it up.
The 2nd is "Honu" this is Hawaiian for 'Turtle' since my goal is to go slow I figured this fits pretty well.
The 3rd is Hawaiian "Pono" and means 'Do what is right" or 'Righteousness' it is my belief that the Bicycle is the most Earth friendly way of Mechanical travel Humans have ever invented.
So if you put it all together you have "Yamatohonupono"
to me this means "Blessed enlightenment of the peaceful turtle that does what is right" I feel that my trip is done in the right spirit and with good intentions.
