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Car pushing bikes

convert air turbulance on motorway into wind in bicycle tube
  (+3)
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Two tubes for bicyclists hanging in the central reservation strips of motorways. Protected from bad weather the bicyclists can commute a serious distance in a straight line.

With a little help from the cars wooshing by. The air turbulence they cause are picked up by propellors on the side of the tube and converted into (clean) air in the tube in the driving direction of the bikes.

This does not have to be constant, every car passing by will just give the bicyclist a little extra push in the back. Traffic jams will also slow the bicyclists down...

rrr, Sep 22 2008

Bicycle Transportation Systems, Inc. http://www.biketrans.com/info.html
the proposed system, but without the air turbulance converted into wind in the tube [rrr, Sep 22 2008]


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Annotation:







       Perhaps also make good use of the difference in temperature inside the tube. The air in the top of the (transparent) tube heats up by the sun, the air under the (reflecting) surface with the bikes is cooler.
rrr, Sep 22 2008
  

       I suggest, instead of relying on the turbulence created around by the passing cars, your proposed system should utilize the much closer and easily tapped pressure difference created above the road that is just beneath each cars by using valved slots between each lanes. The added bonus is that, at least, you contribute to the aerodynamic efficiency of a passing car by partially filling up the vacuum in its tail end.
rotary, Sep 22 2008
  

       I like this, (+) though I'd also suggest that you add solar and wind generators to build the pusher breeze. This might be a reasonable answer to all to submissions with treadmill roadways.   

       The remaining issue is still the same, how do you handle entrances and exits in an aerodynamic fashion? They don't need to be, but it would help. In any case this is worth some work.
MisterQED, Sep 22 2008
  


 

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