Purple Pedalin'

Wheelpower. Everyone's gotta have one.

Thank you YahooOOooOOooOOoo!

Genius gray matter between two handlebars.

Fat tire (not beer).

More gray matter in a box.

I learned how to ride a bike in a most Rocky Balboa way. My dad taught me how to ride one, of course, when I made the transition from tricycle to two wheels with two little wheels hinged on either side of the bike tire, which is like bowling with the gutters up. On one of my evening bike rides to the park, one of the little wheels fell over and after giving me some time to get used to a slight imbalance, it was Ye Ye who yanked off the other wheel and sent me careen down a little slope for the first time ever on a real bicycle (as Ah Ma shouted for me to be careful and was there after the inevitable crash). Gotta fly now.

Most people get themselves a car after college graduation, in a symbol of freedom and readiness to take on the world. I bought myself a bicycle, still the same Specialized I whizz around Chicago in. I rode it downtown to work when I was a Ketchumite and rode it uptown to coffee shops, softball games, bars and festivals. As time went on, I became more and more reliant on my bike, for the sheer pleasure of feeling a summer breeze, the efficiency of getting places without having to look for parking or quarters and soon, the rationalization of saving gas. I have never minded showing up a little damp without the opportunity for make-up and having to lug a messenger bag around for the wonderful opportunity of watching the city scenery roll by. Life is beautiful from 15 miles per hour.

A few weeks ago, my good softball buddy Cheng asked if I would like to ride a bike and take pictures for Yahoo!, where she works. If so, they would send me an Electra Cruiser outfitted with a Nokia N95 cameraphone mounted in-between the handlebars. For every 60 seconds the bike is in motion, a picture would be taken and immediately uploaded to Flickr via a GPS system. This all would be powered by a control panel mounted on the back of the bike, which also houses a solar panel to allow the bike to charge as it transports in daylight. Pretty cool, huh?
Of course I said yes and last week, Wheelpower arrived. There has been a satellite bug we've had to deal with but the amazing technology and ingenuity of Yahoo!'s Jason Anello makes this an extremely cool project. It's part of Yahoo!'s Start Wearing Purple campaign, in which the company is trying to flood the world with its brand of purple. Some people wear purple clothes, some wear purple shoes, and I'm one of about 30 in the world from Vermont, San Diego, New York and San Francisco to Sydney, London and Stockholm to ride a purple bike. And I get to keep it.

It's fun riding an easy bike, very smooth and comfortable. Although it's made of lightweight aluminium, the control panel and its secure casing is a clunker, slowing my ride down considerably. I take almost twice as long to get anywhere, but it's teaching me important lessons in taking it slow and enjoying the scenery even more. (Also, you can't really take good pictures while speeding, can you?) I've also made friends with most of the other Purple Pedalers and barring a few rain interruptions, have rode Wheelpower just about everywhere in my daily routine and beyond. Check out our wheeling and dealing adventures at www.flickr.com/photos/wheelpower, and soon we'll be live on startwearingpurple.yahoo.com.

Wheelpower may not be a suicide machine, but he'll do his best to ramrod till the break of dawn!