Encouraging more pedal power

So, I guess the first thing I really HAVE to do is address Harry’s bequest in the last post. For the record, I do not believe male extinction is a good thing, even though, strangely enough, I sing with 48 or so other women in my local Sweet Adelines chorus. Also, I don’t have any daughters (or sons for that matter). So, this column would die with me, Harry. That would be a shame.

I spent a long weekend down in Cape May, New Jersey, where I remembered how to ride a bicycle again. My aching thighs! Given the amount of pedal traffic there, the townsfolk would appreciate the contest launched last week by Specialized Bicycles and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, both out in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest (which also has backing from Google) encourages contestants to submit designs for pedal-powered ways of helping reverse climate change. Here are the official rules. The contest closes on Dec. 15 and the winners will be announced on Jan. 15, 2008. The prizes include $5,000 and Specialized Globe bicycles.

To kick off the contest, Specialized Founder and President and Mike Sinyard rode their bikes the 600 miles from the company’s headquarters in Morgan Hill, California, to the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas.