Hudgin with a prototype design for his arm and leg powered bike.IxEd

Editor’s note: Freelance writer Scott Lunt spends his cycling time piecing together impromptu loop rides and running occasional errands. Soaking in the Tucson sun since 1994, he can be found two-wheeling around town on his Bacchetta Giro 20 recumbent.

When Louis Hudgin was a child in Tucson, he saw an arm-powered child’s scooter and wondered: “Why isn’t it arm and leg powered?”

The question stuck, and years later Hudgin started experimenting with building a bicycle that combined the power of all four limbs.

He soon found the answer to his original question: ”It’s very difficult to do,” he said.

But after experimenting off and on over the course of 30 years, Hudgin overcame the difficulties. He now has his seventh prototype and a patented design that demonstrates how a little arm power can go a long way in boosting pedaling performance.

Unlike a rowing cycle, Hudgin’s design combines a rowing motion of the arms with standard pedaling. Simply put, it incorporates a second chainring and chain that’s cranked by pushing and pulling on the handlebars. Power is transferred to the pedaled crankset.

According to Hudgin, the arms contribute about 25 percent more power on an average ride and up to 60 percent more power during maximum effort.

What’s more, he said, the design allows for the elimination of dead spots — the spots where no power is generated during a stroke. Riders can generate power 100 percent of the time because the arms power through the natural leg dead spots, and the legs power through the natural arm dead spots.

Because riders on standard upright bikes tend to use their handlebars for support, Hudgin found that the design works best for recumbents where handlebars are used strictly for steering control.

Recently, I met up with Hudgin to see first-hand how his design works.  He brought one of his two prototypes, a modified older model Rans Strato Cirrus. He’s also modified a Cycle Genius Sparrow. Both are long-wheelbase recumbents.

We were joined by his son Al, who, as a teen had been an Arizona State Junior Criterium champion. Al led us on a loop through Marana and Oro Valley that involved some moderate climbing, the type of terrain where Hudgin’s design excels.  I was on my Bacchetta recumbent and watched as they quickly rode away from me.

Here’s a short video showing his Rans prototype in action:

Recumbents are known for being slow climbers because you can’t stand and get that extra burst of power. Hudgin’s design overcomes that. For recumbent riders “that makes going up hills easy,” he said. “Comparable to a diamond frame. And probably better.”

In fact, Hudgin rode his modified Rans on the 111-mile route in last year’s El Tour de Tucson. He said with a smile that he passed lots of people, completing the tour in less than six and a half hours.

As I watched Hudgin, obviously fit, row and pedal it was clear that his arms were giving him an extra boost for climbing. Throughout our ride, father and son politely held back so I could keep up.  Then it was my turn to try out his bike.

At first it was awkward because I didn’t expect the resistance when I pushed and pulled the handlebars. Hudgin pointed out that it helps if you already know how to pedal a recumbent so you can concentrate on the arms. Quickly, though, I stabilized and immediately felt the boost in power. Other than that initial awkwardness, the ride was just like on any other long wheelbase recumbent with the added benefit of a full-body workout.

Hudgin said it doesn’t take long to get used to the rowing motion, and the arm power can be adjusted to fit different arm lengths.  The handlebars can also be fixed for pedal-power only.  He would like to license his design, but is also considering building the bikes himself.

For more information, contact Louis Hudgin at landlhudgin@msn.com.

A "crossbike" is a bicycle-friendly crosswalk. Tucson's first is located at Third Street and Swan Road.

Cyclists using the Third Street Bikeway now have a better way to cross Swan Road. (See the video of the crossbike in action at the end of the post)

The City of Tucson activated the region’s first “crossbike” — a combination of a bicycle crossing and a crosswalk.

The crossing utilizes a traditional HAWK crossing, but adds features to make it more usable by bikes. The city added green pavement markings on either side of a traditional crosswalk to illustrate that cyclists will be present.

“Typically when you have just two white stripes it is insinuated that it is a pedestrian crossing only,” Tom Thivener, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian program manager said. “We wanted to make a conscious attempt to make it obvious to users and motorists that bikes are to be expected as well.”

In addition to the pavement markings, the sign motorists see says “crossing” and shows a picture of a pedestrian and a bicycle.

Tucson Velo reader Alan Solot said in an email that he rides the route every day and that the intersection is an improvement.

He said now that he has ridden it a few times, it’s more clear how it is supposed to function. Here are his observations about the intersection.

The crossing is designed, as one is westbound, to be approached by going on the sidewalk from Hawthorne and NOT from 3rd St.  They have the sidewalk marked with indicators to show that it’s OK to ride on the sidewalk.  There are signs on Hawthorne to inform riders it’s OK to go on the sidewalk. I actually think they’ve designed a reasonable solution to the intersection for westbound riders. The problem I now see is that the bike route is signed to have westbound riders go to 3rd and not to Hawthorne. It needs to be re-signed and to make it clear that Hawthorne is now the way to go. (See the map)

(Editor’s note: I used Third Street instead of Hawthorne while shooting the video. I didn’t notice that Hawthorne appears to be the preferred route. 

As for eastbound cyclists, Solot said it’s less comfortable because it requires cyclists to cross from the right side of the road to the left side and get onto the the sidewalk area in order to reach the crossing. His concern is that there may be cars turning right onto Third Street that could create a conflict with cyclists.

Thivener said he is working with the intersection designers and contrators to clean up that part of the intersection to make it easier to use.

Additionally the city is planning to create signals to tell cyclists when it is OK to cross and when they should stop. Cyclists will have a green crossing light when the HAWK is a solid red, but once the light begins to flash indicating the motorists can treat the intersection like a four-way stop, the cyclists’ light will be red.

Thivener said the crossbike didn’t cost much more than a regular HAWK. The additional expenses came from reengineering the sidewalks on either side of the signal and adding the green markings.

Similar treatments are in the works for a crossing along the El Paso Greenway at Granada and Cushing Street. The city is also investigating adding crossbikes to all the major intersections along the Aviation Bikeway.

Once again bicycle and pedestrian funding is under threat from federal legislators.

Here’s an excerpt from the League of American Bicyclists post about the latest threat.

For the past 20 years, the federal Transportation program has included dedicated funding for biking and walking. Over the course of twenty years and three federal transportation laws, federal support for bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure projects has slowly ticked upwards. As a result, more and more communities feature safe roads for people who travel on foot or by bicycle and more people are bicycling — there has been a 40% increase in bicycling from 2000 to 2009 and a surge in Bicycle Friendly Communities.

In 1992, Congress passed ISTEA, the first federal transportation bill to include funding for transit, biking, and walking. As each consecutive transportation bill passed and continued dedicated funding for biking and walking, funding increased from $23 million for 50 new projects in 1992 to $297 million dollars and 971 projects in 2000, to a record $1.2 billion dollars and 3010 projects in 2009.

However, recently there has been a drop in funding and projects — since 2009 — as a result of the decline in stimulus spending that was available for a limited period and uncertainty over the future of the programs. A similar phenomenon occurred between 1997 and 2005. Now, however, a new transportation bill threatens to eliminate federal support for biking and walking infrastructure all together.

Thursday, the House Transportation Committee will vote (see timeline) on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking. Representatives on the Transportation Committee are key positions to save dedicated funding for biking and walking.

The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the long awaited multi-year Transportation bill, eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure —Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities all over the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safe and accessible in communities across the country.

We can’t let that happen  – take action now and ask your elected officials to preserve biking and walking.

The bike corral in front of Time Market adorned with bows on day of unveiling in October 2009.

Editor’s note: This post was written by Colby Henley one of Tucson Velo’s newest contributors. Henley is a daily bicycle commuter and advocate. 

The City of Tucson installed its first bike corral in front of the Rialto Theater in August 2009, the second at Time Market in October 2009, and the third at Epic Cafe in April 2010. Since then, no new corrals have been installed, but Tucson’s bicycle and pedestrian program manager Tom Thivener maintains a list of potential future locations, including some along the Modern Streetcar route that would need to be temporary installations or delayed altogether due to streetcar construction.

Thivener said that businesses that would like to have the city install a bike corral on the street near their location can submit a written request to the city. The requesting business would need to be okay with losing an on-street car parking space and need to get approval from any other businesses within 50 feet of the lost space. Additionally, if the space has a parking meter, approval from Parkwise would also be needed.

Here’s the list of potential future bike corral locations:

• 7th Street at 4th Ave
• 48 W. Pennington – City High
• 135 S. 6th Ave – Downtown Kitchen north of new sidewalk extension
• Treat north of Speedway – Xoom Juice
• Copper east of Campbell – Blue Willow
• 123 S. Stone - Cope Behavioral Health
• Pennington near Stone – University of Arizona
• Congress Street west of Stone – Fox Theater (streetcar)
• Congress Street – Yoga/Sparkroot (streetcar)
• Food Conspiracy Coop/Cafe Passe/Antigone Books (streetcar)

Where else do you think would be a good location for a bike corral?

Two bills that could have a major effect on riding bikes in Arizona advanced through the state’s House Transportation Committee yesterday.

A bill allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs (HB2211) and a bill banning texting while driving (HB2512) advanced past the Transportation Committee for the first time in four and six years respectively. Both votes were 6-2 in favor of the bills.

The bills’ co-sponsors caution that there are still challenges to getting the bills in front of the legislators for a vote.

Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, has been trying to get the yield law passed for the last four years. He said now that the bills have passed the Transportation Committee they go on to the Rules Committee.

He said usually this isn’t an issue, but in this case the chairman of the Rules Committee, Rep. Jerry Weiers, R-Glendale, was one of the two no votes during the transportation committee hearing.

Rep. Steve Farley

Patterson said the Rules Committee is designed to ensure the language is constitutional and then forward the bill on to the house.

“Unfortunately sometimes politics get played in the Rules Committee and the chairman has broad powers to just sit on a bill and not do anything with it if he chooses,” Patterson said.

Patterson said he would work with Weiers to assuage him of any concerns about the yield bill.

The texting ban is in a similar position. While it passed the Transportation Committee, its fate is in the hands of Weiers and the Rules Committee.

Both Patterson and Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, who has been pushing for a texting ban for six years, suggested the public email Weiers letting him know they support the bills and want them moved out of the Rules Committee.

Patterson said the support from the 15-20 cyclists that showed up at the hearing went a long way toward getting the yield law approved.

He said one cyclist told the members about his commute through Phoenix that takes him past 50 stop signs. He told them about how inefficient it is to stop 50 times during a commute.

Patterson said passing the yield law would benefit the state.

“It would make Arizona an even more bike friendly state,” Patterson said. “Certainly I would hope it would improve chances of Tucson and Pima County achieving platinum status and then some cities in other parts of the state trying to achive higher ratings as a bike friendly community.”

Farley said there is still a lot of work to do to get them made into law, but he is happy they were moved forward in the progress because both bills will make road users safer.