April Fools’ Day (April 1st, in case you didn’t know) is always well celebrated on the internet, and cycling websites have proved to be no exception to the trend of posting spoof news items today. I wasn’t quick enough to post my own prank, but here are a couple of cycling related April Fools’ stories from around the web that have tickled my fancy.
BikeRadar get first mention, for this well constructed and almost believable fakery fun. “Carbon fibre performance for everyone?” tells us of Jacobsen Carbon Wrap-It, an inexpensive, do-it-yourself system for wrapping aluminium bicycle parts in self-adhesive carbon fibre sheets. The kit promises, for the bargain price of $100, to provide the Holy Grail of cycle construction: improved performance with reduced weight. Too good to be true? Of course it is.
The test frame began life as an aluminium model, but was transformed into a carbon beast in a matter of hours
The Reading Evening Post deserve a mention too, for their item on a new safety scheme for cyclists in the area. In an interview, “DVLA cycle inspector” Rolf Pailo states that the new scheme will force cyclists to register their rides and display motorcycle style number plates if they plan use them on public highways, and also to pass a new cycle test. The intention of the scheme is to protect vulnerable pedestrians and car drivers from the loutish element in the cycling community who treat the roads as if they owned them, even though they don’t pay any road tax.
DVLA head of cycle enforcement, Rolf Pailo
Another British city has a go at fooling April Fools’ Day cyclists with Guide2Bristol‘s attention grabbing “City Cyclists in Congestion Charge Shock“. The city council are said to be introducing a four square mile “Wheel Zone” which will use RFID tagging technology to charge cyclists a daily fee to enter. This charge is intended to reduce cycle traffic in the city centre, making it safer for pedestrians and less congested for those road users who opt to pay the fee. In a further, eco-motivated innovation, the council will waive the congestion charge for those cyclists who make their bikes “carbon negative” by fitting an unobtrusive device (weighing just 3Kg) supplied by energy giant EDF. This device will generate energy in the same way as a normal bicycle dynamo and store it for later transfer to the National Grid.
Cyclists will pay a daily fee to enter the four square mile "Wheel Zone" in Bristol city centre
Even the respected New York Times get in on the fun, with this story on how Google has stepped into the bike-sharing arena as the hardware and software provider of the city’s new bike sharing service. With over 74,000 bikes, the New York programme is more than two times larger than it’s nearest rival. Google has named the service “Veloogle“.
Bikes waiting for pickup at a self-service docking station in Paris, where a sharing program began last summer.
Last but really by no means least, Bike World News go a step further than the others with a whole collection of cycling news stories that may or may not be April Fools’ hoaxes. They are running a competition to spot the fake stories amongst the real news, you have until April 7th 2009 to enter.
These are my picks from this year’s crop of cycling related April Foolery. Do you have a story of your own to share?
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