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2008

Greetings Atomic Zombie Krew and wannabes! Don't be shy - join our world of crazy bike builders!

OK, this might be my last entry this year, unless something really important happens. The weather is very cold now in the -20 C range, and still very little snow. It's officially winter. Yuck! If only I could find a way to enjoy this season. I might take up snowshoeing just to help pass the long, cold winter days. Even skiing is so unpredictable. Who knows when we'll have enough white stuff to justify buying a season membership.

The Builders Gallery was updated several times this week. A whopping 38 new entries are now part of this elite group of homebuilt choppers, tandems, trikes, recumbents, tall bikes, quadcycles, crazy bikes, spincycles, electric bikes, and robots. There are many cool bike projects in the gallery, so be sure to check them out.

Maybe you'll be inspired to build your first bike, or add to your homebuilt projects. We now have over 500 projects in the gallery thanks to your creativity, ingenuity and hard work. Give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back! Keep sending in those pictures of your completed projects and join our worldwide community of builders and garage hackers! Kudos to all of you!

We received a copy of the brand new The Best of Instructables Volume I: Do-It-Yourself Projects from the World's Biggest Show & Tell book which contains our ChopWork Orange Chopper Bicycle (on page 166).

If you're a fan of MAKE Magazine and love to tinker, this book is definitely for you. There are more than 120 projects with step-by-step instructions, loads of pictures and parts lists. It's a really great book, and would make an awesome gift for someone you know, or maybe even for yourself. Go ahead, you deserve to treat yourself!

It's been another busy, but rewarding year, and our little homebuilt bike community continues to grow. We are fortunate to be surrounded by so many fun, talented and caring people. So many new projects are planned for 2009, as well as new features for the Support Forum and Builders Gallery.

We hope that you have a safe and joyous holiday season. We will be taking some time off this month to catch our breath and spend time with family and friends. Don't worry; we'll still be in the forum daily to connect with all of you. In the meantime, the latest newsletter is now online, so happy reading!

Cheers friends.

Alrighty then. You know how many sleeps until Christmas. The crazy shopping season is upon us. Reading the news headlines makes me shake my head in disbelief. I'm trying to stay away from stores as much as possible. Yikes! Some people take Christmas way too seriously. Just makes you want to stay in the garage and hibernate until the insanity subsides. Same madness every year.

Hope that all of you celebrating Thanksgiving in the USA had an enjoyable and safe holiday. We enjoy reading about your adventures and misadventures while you work on your homebuilt bike projects. There's alot of ingenuity out there, and it's inspiring more people to join in this craft. Our community is growing each week, so spread the word!

We have a bit of snow on the ground, but not as much as other parts of the world, especially our southern neighbors. Sorry, folks! However, our time will come soon enough, as long as the freezing rain stays away. It is getting colder, though, enough to put on the long underwear on long walks. Only five months until spring!

As if we don't enough on our plate, we decided to launch a new web site containing some do-it-yourself chopper and tall bike projects. Here's the current list of 10 free projects (yes, they are absolutely free):

1. AfterBurner

2. ChopWork Orange

3. Granny's Nightmare

4. Mountain Lion

5. Carnage

6. SkyWalker

7. FireCracker

8. Stinger

9. Tour de Hell

10. Wizard

There are also sections on how to weld and bike hacking. We hope you enjoy these chopper and tall bike projects. More will be added throughout 2009. If there's time over the next few weeks, maybe we'll be able to convert each project to a PDF file. We'll see. If not, that will be on the To Do list for 2009.

Not sure if the Hammerhead Winter Bike will be done this month, so stay tuned here and to the forum for announcements. If not, there's always January.

Plus, the Builders Gallery was updated today, and there will be more updates this week.

Special thanks to all of you for being so cool and fun to be around, even though most of us don't see each other face-to-face. Despite so many negative things going on around us, let's strive to keep building our positive, friendly community.

A big Atomic Zombie thumbs up to Crank it Up Cycling for All in the UK (hi Chris) for their dedication to cycling, recycling, education and bike building. They've sent us some pictures of their homebuilt bike projects for our Builders Gallery and do many great projects in the communities of Halifax, Huddersfield & Bradford.

Yes, the snow arrived two days ago, not much. Just a light dusting, but some pretty high windchill and cold temperatures, already -14 C (6.8 F). I was hoping for another three weeks before the ground froze, but so much for hope. Once again I can't believe we're almost done 2008. It's been the busiest bike building season for us yet. We made a commitment to stay organized and on track, and are satisfied with how much we accomplished in mere months.

First, the Atomic Zombie forum was completely redone, although the glitches drove us nearly insane and we had to archive the old forum which didn't sit well with everyone. We tried to import the old forum and members list, but the two software programs just didn't get along. We'll keep the archived one online for awhile yet.

Then, we completely changed the Atomic Zombie store and more headaches arose that delayed things for a few months. Finally got that sorted out and before we knew it, we had to make a book deadline for Bike, Scooters and Chopper Projects for the Evil Genius before the end of May.

That brought us into late spring and the pressure was on to get as many homebuilt bike projects done right away. This year was definitely focused on recumbents, as you will see by the list below. We plan on expanding more into electric bikes, trailers, scooters, and vehicles next year for sure. I was typing out the list and was impressed with how many bike builds there were this short season:

1. Marauder Reloaded

2. DeltaRunner Trike

3. LodeRunner Cargo Trike

4. HighRoller SWB Recumbent Racer

5. CycleBully Electric Cargo Trailer

6. TourMaster LWB Recumbent

7. Vigilante Chopper

8. Tradewinds Tandem

It's amazing what someone can do in his spare time! Just imagine if we could do this stuff full-time! And, of course, eight new videos were filmed and edited, too. Brad does all of the editing and music himself.

If there's enough time this year, the Hammerhead Winter Bike will be done, too. But that all depends on how the weather holds up. Even the kerosene heater in the garage can't keep up when we reach the -20 C to -40 C range. No kidding! If Brad has his way, though, he'll be in the garage every day trying to get it built before Christmas. Who knows, miracles can happen.

So, as you can tell, we've been very busy trying to get things rolling this year, and have many more plans in 2009. There will be more features added to the Builders Forum, and the Builders Gallery will be getting a complete make-over, too. I'm working on more gallery updates, and we hope to have a cool gallery software program installed early next year so it won't take so long to update it. That's the goal. Just not enough hours in the day to get everything done, but the gallery is important to us and our fellow garage hackers, so we are determined to find away to improve it and keep it updated.

Thanks to the folks at Bent Rider Online who showcased our HighRoller SWB Recumbent Racer on their site earlier this month, and said some nice things about the Atomic Zombie Krew.

Also, thanks again to The Best of Instructables Volume I: Do-It-Yourself Projects from the World's Biggest Show & Tell for profiling our ChopWork Orange chopper in their book.

We have some exciting new projects slated for 2009, so stay tuned to the forum for updates.

Cheers, friends.

Yay, the HighRoller Short Wheel Base Recumbent Racer is now available for download! I know, it took longer than expected, but the weather has been so unpredictable, after several false starts, we finally got a decent full day to take some of the bikes to a quiet spot for some pictures and videos. We got the remaining pictures and videos of the CycleBully Electric Trailer, DeltaRunner Trike, and HighRoller. Brad is now editing the videos and adding music as I type this. There will be another announcement when the videos are done.

Whew! It has seemed like such a busy year, and we're proud of the collection of project plans we have completed so far. There are so many more ideas on the Atomic Zombie sketchpad, and at least another one or two to complete by the end of this year. There will definitely be a winter bike, but depending on if and when we get snow, might not be able to post the plan until January. We definitely will need snow on the ground for that one.

Back to the HighRoller, this recumbent bike has some interesting features, including its reclined seat, high bottom bracket and handlebar position. Not only is it comfortable, the rider is also visible to traffic and can turn corners at pretty decent speeds without needing to slow down. You really can achieve some impressive speed on this one, and get a great workout at the same time. It's a simple, efficient design. We hope you like it.

Not only is the weather quickly changing and turning cold, we changed our clocks back an hour earlier this morning for Daylight Saving Time. Unfortunately, this means that it's completely dark by 6:30 pm. What a bummer! This time of year always messes me up. My sleep patterns will be out of whack all week. That hour change does not make us outdoors people very happy. It's now 7 pm and I feel like going to bed! Definitely hard staying motivated in the evenings now, when you're body is telling you to relax and go for a snooze.

However, some changes can be good; it all depends on your perceptions. Do you consider your cup to be half full or half empty? Changing jobs and changing where you live (even who you live with) can be scary and stressful at first, but sometimes we need change to re-focus, re-evaluate, or maybe embark upon a new journey in our lives. I've had my share of jobs, some of which I stayed at simply for the paycheck, but I sometimes wonder what I'd be doing right now if I stayed complacent and just "settled", even though the pay of many jobs was pretty pathetic!

One thing is for sure, there are always opportunities for change, and I like to keep my options open. For many of us, gone are the days of being in the same job or with the same company for 15, 20, 25 or 30 years. We have to continually upgrade our skills and diversify to stay competitive in our respective careers. I'm glad that when opportunities come my way I'm more likely to say to myself, "Why not, you never know what might happen." Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"People do it everyday, they talk to themselves... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it." -  Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Cheers, friends.

Yes, it's that time again. Trying to get as much done as possible before the inevitable snow and frigid temperatures make us want to crawl back into a warm bed and hibernate until spring. There just never seems to be enough time to get everything done.

I'd rather not dwell on the economic chaos going on around us, but let's face it - it sure has been a heck of a stressful year for alot of people. I'm not normally interested in the daily stock market sagas, but, man, it's sure set many folks into a panic. Me, well, I know we'll end up paying more for this and that; it's always the average person who ends up footing the bill for the incompetencies of those who have more money and power than most of us will ever achieve, but c'est la vie.

Getting tired of the trendy phrases yet? "Economic correction", "market re-grouping", "investor panic", "recession", "depression", "accounting errors", "over optimistic quarterly earnings". With all of this doom and gloom in the headlines lately, it's no wonder many people have the blues! I just keep reminding myself that despite the daily negative press, things could always be worse, I suppose, and not one government or group of people/corporations is responsible for the current mess. Back to happier thoughts.

Brad finished the latest bike project, the HighRoller Short Wheel Base Recumbent, and we're planning to do the pictures and videos this weekend. The weather has caused some delays and it gets dark here now about 7 pm, so we're really pressed for time. Stay tuned to the Forum for updates and announcements. We hope to have the plan available for download in 3-4 days.

He also has a design in the works for a rugged, sturdy winter bike or trike, which he plans to work on from now until late January/February. Since we're usually knee-deep in snow by then, it will be a fun project to work on and test in the outdoors.

I addition to the bicycle projects, we have agreed to do another book for McGraw-Hill Professional, "Mind Performance Projects for the Evil Genius." Tentative projects include: biofeedback, lie detector, heart rate monitor, body temperature monitor, lucid dream devices, hypnosis, brain wave monitor, and so on. They will be fun and practical, but fully functioning projects. Brad has made some of these devices before from scratch, and found them to be interesting, so now he'll show how you can make your own at home without spending a ton of cash. It will be out in early summer 2009. Stay tuned for announcements.

A big thank you to Justin Lemire who trekked across Canada this summer on his homemade custom recumbent e-bike and stayed with us. He sent us a couple of his custom made e-bike monitoring systems as a thank you for our hospitality when he rolled into our city last month. We will be keeping in touch with Justin and letting him know of our upcoming electric bike projects. More on next year's line up of Atomic Zombie bike projects will be posted in a few months. There will be more trikes, recumbents, tandems, choppers, scooters, e-bikes and trailers.

Also thanks to the folks at MAKE Magazine and Instructables for inviting us to be a part of a new book, The Best of Instructables Volume I: Do-It-Yourself Projects from the World's Biggest Show & Tell .

MAKE Magazine is also including some of our practical jokes and spy gadgets projects in an upcoming edition, too: MAKE: Technology on Your Time .

Cheers, friends.

Again, another year is closing in fast and there's a chill in the air signaling that winter is on the way. It wasn't the best summer here weather-wise, but we sure did get many projects done in the garage despite the late start in June. I guess we shouldn't complain much, considering the natural disasters and strife around the world. At least we have a roof over our heads we can afford and food in the cupboards.

Brad got the CycleBully Electric Trailer completed recently and it's now available on the Atomic Zombie store. It took a little longer than expected to get finished, but well worth the effort. It can be used alternatively between recumbents, delta trikes and upright cycles, capable of carrying about 200 pounds of goods. We've been testing it now for over a week and it handles beautifully, even on our horrible streets. No tipping, handles corners effortlessly at decent speeds, no drag at all, keeps up to traffic when needed, just an overall excellent electric assist utility trailer that pushes you around when you need that extra boost. Hence the project name CycleBully. Get it?

A hearty congratulations to Justin Lemire who successfully rode his electric recumbent bike   across Canada from Vancouver, British Columbia to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Despite some nasty headwinds, hurricane and powerful storms from Ontario to Nova Scotia, Justin completed his journey and kept posting updates and pictures along the way to a forum, www.endless-sphere.com . Many of us have been tuning in daily to catch the latest updates. It was our pleasure to have Justin stay with us last month overnight. A rare opportunity to meet someone so down-to-earth, intelligent and interesting to converse with. Hope we cross paths with him again soon. Here are the stats of his journey that he provided recently on that forum:

Total Distance: 7110 km
Total Energy Used: 100.7 kWh

Total Energy Bill: $ 8.57
Captured Regen Energy: 2.4 kWh
Net Energy Used: 98.3 kWh
Average Speed: 33.4 km/h
Energy Usage: 13.8 Wh/km
# of awesome people: countless

Kudos to Toronto bike artist and enthusiast, Janet, who recently uploaded two stencil inspired by Atomic Zombie's Bicycle Builders Bonanza on her Flickr photo album. Thanks Janet!

Also, kudos to a brand new magazine based in Toronto, Dandyhorse. Janet sent us a copy of the premier issue last month and it's a quality piece of work.

We have started a new Classified Advertising section in the Atomic Zombie forum. Some folks have been asking us about advertising on our site, so if you would like more information on submitting Classified Ads, please contact the Classified Advertising Manager.

The October 2008 newsletter is now online at http://www.atomiczombie.com/newsletter/oct2008.htm , and the Builder's Gallery was updated on September 17. More updates will be done over the next week, so stay tuned to the Support Forum for updates.

Next up in the Atomic Zombie garage, a short wheel based recumbent and a winter bike, similar to the Hammerhead. We're frantically trying to wrap things up this season. It's always a rush at this time of the year, but we manage to squeak by. Keep up the great work, everyone! Whew! That was a long entry.