Rail Biking

[us56456712]

I just ran across this article and since it relates to biking in a quirky way I thought others might find it interesting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/n...re-of-track-is-in-doubt.html?mwrsm=Email&_r=0

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

The thought of trying to out run a locomotive just turns me off.

~Rafael~

 

[emfife]

Cool story, thanks for sharing.

 

[barnbikes]

Would rather try this style if I was to do it.

 

[us56456712]

The thought of trying to out run a locomotive just turns me off.

~Rafael~

It's done on abandoned RR grades but I had a similar thought, what happens when another RR bike is going towards you?

 

[us56456712]

Would rather try this style if I was to do it.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

It reminds me of paddleboats. Might be fun for the first 15 minutes or until you realize that you have to pedal back (which ever comes first).

 

[mornview]

Cool; there are a lot of stretches of old railroad tracks out here, much of it in pretty scenic areas. Could be fun .

 

[us56456712]

Cool; there are a lot of stretches of old railroad tracks out here, much of it in pretty scenic areas. Could be fun .

I bet you could build a conventional type bike with the 3 pipes as in my posted picture but use fat tire rims with rubber strips on the inside of the rim. It would be more stable then the one tire balanced on the rail. When my wife was at university she had a boyfriend who had an old land barge convertible. They and 2 more would let the air out of the tires and drive onto the RR tracks and lay back and watch the stars go by, no hands for 26 miles. It was popular back then and they called it "tracken". The grade was a tourist steam line and used only in the day.

 

[Fv2]

I've seen rail riders before,the are forums available and a few sites that sell plans and parts to build one.