SkyBike
Franklin Institute.
This is a bike on a tight rope and balanced so it can't fall. You ride up and over the heads of the people in the museum below you and the safety net, though you can't fall. I have never ridden it, because I am just to afraid of heights. Maybe when I go on the 16th. No promises.
SkyBike - how badly do you want to learn physics?
By Zack Phillips
GUEST WRITER
For most youngsters in the early stages of learning that skill of utmost importance – bike riding – the scary part seems to be the thought of falling and banging a knee on the pavement.
But what if the surface of the earth, instead of being only a few feet below, were a few stories under your cycling legs? And what if instead of training wheels, the vehicle were riding along a tightrope?
That’s the arrangement organizers at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute have developed. For only $2, cyclists of all ages can ride SkyBike, a high-wire apparatus designed to give a first-hand lesson in the laws of physics.
“It works primarily on gravity, balance and counterbalance,” says Jeff Guaracino, Director of Communications at the Institute. “You can’t weight more than 250 pounds because that’s how much the counterbalance is.”
Amazing for its simplicity. As one pedals the cycle – which actually resembles an exercise bike more than a typical ten-speed – a large ballast hanging from the apparatus follows along underneath, ensuring the device is secure enough for the non-daredevil crowd. The rider also wears a harness and a large net hangs in between the high wire and the museum floor thirty feet below.
Guaracino doesn’t deny this being something of an amusement park-like attraction.Along with the IMAX and 3-D theatres, this ride seems to indicate a new, more action-based direction for the educational institution. “Our job is to inspire kids to learn more about science,” he explains. “Without a doubt, things have changed. Kids today are a lot different than kids who grew up in the 50s. It’s the TV generation, the Nintendo generation. Everything is in Virtual Reality. So while we teach timeless science that will never change, the way we teach it does.”
And like the one-of-a-kind super-coaster that attracts crowds to theme parks, the SkyBike (one of only two such rides in the US) has been bringing in big numbers (though no specific figures are yet available). “We think it really has enhanced the [museum] experience,” Guaracino adds. “It’s one of those memorable things.”
Not that the high altitude hasn’t deterred a few riders. “I made it about three inches then stopped,” admits Guaracino. “I didn’t like it.”
“But I’m not a fan of heights.”
SkyBike
Franklin Institute.
This is a bike on a tight rope and balanced so it can't fall. You ride up and over the heads of the people in the museum below you and the safety net, though you can't fall. I have never ridden it, because I am just to afraid of heights. Maybe when I go on the 16th. No promises.
SkyBike - how badly do you want to learn physics?
By Zack Phillips
GUEST WRITER
For most youngsters in the early stages of learning that skill of utmost importance – bike riding – the scary part seems to be the thought of falling and banging a knee on the pavement.
But what if the surface of the earth, instead of being only a few feet below, were a few stories under your cycling legs? And what if instead of training wheels, the vehicle were riding along a tightrope?
That’s the arrangement organizers at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute have developed. For only $2, cyclists of all ages can ride SkyBike, a high-wire apparatus designed to give a first-hand lesson in the laws of physics.
“It works primarily on gravity, balance and counterbalance,” says Jeff Guaracino, Director of Communications at the Institute. “You can’t weight more than 250 pounds because that’s how much the counterbalance is.”
Amazing for its simplicity. As one pedals the cycle – which actually resembles an exercise bike more than a typical ten-speed – a large ballast hanging from the apparatus follows along underneath, ensuring the device is secure enough for the non-daredevil crowd. The rider also wears a harness and a large net hangs in between the high wire and the museum floor thirty feet below.
Guaracino doesn’t deny this being something of an amusement park-like attraction.Along with the IMAX and 3-D theatres, this ride seems to indicate a new, more action-based direction for the educational institution. “Our job is to inspire kids to learn more about science,” he explains. “Without a doubt, things have changed. Kids today are a lot different than kids who grew up in the 50s. It’s the TV generation, the Nintendo generation. Everything is in Virtual Reality. So while we teach timeless science that will never change, the way we teach it does.”
And like the one-of-a-kind super-coaster that attracts crowds to theme parks, the SkyBike (one of only two such rides in the US) has been bringing in big numbers (though no specific figures are yet available). “We think it really has enhanced the [museum] experience,” Guaracino adds. “It’s one of those memorable things.”
Not that the high altitude hasn’t deterred a few riders. “I made it about three inches then stopped,” admits Guaracino. “I didn’t like it.”
“But I’m not a fan of heights.”