Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Home is Where the Handlebars Are

I've been thinking about mobile offices lately. What happens when you attach a towable living structure to a bicycle or tricycle? First, check out Paul Elkins' bicycle camper, a small, towable, 100-pound shelter attached to a bicycle in order to camp more comfortably at the annual Burning Man event held in the Nevada desert.



Then, view the video of Casey Wong's tricycle home, which also has a door, a window, a writing desk and a fold-out bed. Casey's bicycle home, which is 3 x 4 feet in dimension, is a response to the high cost of living space in Hong Kong. Casey now has the ability to enjoy a view of the ocean from his home .



If you think these are newish ideas, take a look at the article from Modern Mechanix July 1935. Joseph Dorocke, from Chicago, Illinois, made a 50 lbs, 4-foot long and 2-foot wide collapsible bicycle sleeping trailer. The bigger box housed a smaller box inside of it. When stopped for the night, he could lengthen his bed to 8-feet of open or enclosed sleeping space in which a cyclist could comfortably catch up on some beauty sleep. (If you've made a bicycle camper trailer, make sure to post a link to photos.)



Triketrailer2 Triketrailer1 Triketrailer3



Paulekinsbicyclecamper2 Paulekinsbicyclecamper1_2 Paulekinsbicyclecamper3 Biketrailer1







Photos lifted from Paul Elkins' site, Reuters via Giz, and Makezine.com, respectively.