Lynne Branham

Hydrobikes are safe for everyone. It has ergonomic seats and comfortable riding mechanism, which means you never get tired. To top it up, the pleasure you get from riding a water bike with your family is simply unbelievable!

What would be the safest and most enjoyable thing to do on a holiday? Trekking, Snow skating, Rafting or a pleasure fishing ride on your waterbike with your kids along? Definitely a water bike right?

So, next time you want to go for a picnic, what would you take along? Your picnic gear, fishing and you favorite waterbike isn’t it?

Any excercise or physical activity that connects you with the environment naturally is a good means to keep you healthy. And when you enjoy it, nothing like it !

Water biking is a perfect example of physical exercise that does just that. And water biking is the perfect way to health - it charges your mental well  being and takes care of your physical health.

How ? Read On..

1. Pedals - While water biking, you use your leg muscles to push and pull the pedals. This is as good as cycling uphill and downhill. A perfect synchronization between your mind and body can ensure that your body gets the adequate excercise.

2. Balancing - Although your water bike takes care of balancing, you feel the balancing over water. This is as good as swimming. A perfect combination of your physical activities and mental focus can ensure you fun and enjoyment while doing water biking.

3. Cycling - Waterbiking involves cycling , but it is different in the fact that there are no roads, but you have to find your way in the waters. This exercise is a great way to keep your mind focussed and sharp on objectives.

On the whole, waterbiking is the perfect way to good health and mental relaxation. It syncs your body and mind with nature. And guess what, you don’t have to pay heavy bills for it !

In this article, we discover some of the reasons why the SableFish is becoming endangered and how we can stop this reckless behavior.

The SableFish for decades has been considered a delicacy by the Japanese and other Eastern Asian Races and is often hunted for its meat.

This has in turn caused a great loss in the numbers of SableFish..

Another reason for the death of the SableFish has been the loss of its natural habitat which has been caused by the destruction of coral reef’s in the pacific thanks to global warming.

Now, we can take a bold step towards preserving the SableFish and other endangered sea fish and ensure ecological balance by using the HydroBike which is a great new way to travel in the liquid lane!

It is common knowledge that its easier to ride a hydrobike than a normal bike because there’s less friction in the water.

But, the overall fitness quotient and fat burnt with the hydrobike is a LOT MORE than what can be achieved by any normal land bike.

Here are some obvious reasons why a hydrobike is good for working out:

1. Less muscle strain but more work done.
2. Travelling in the water eliminates risks of accidents.
3. The hydrobike will help you burn fat at a phenomenal rate.
4. You don’t tire out very quickly
5. Your leg and calf muscles get stronger and enable you to gain muscle strength.

Even though many contemporary fitness experts are not aware of the Hydrobike and the amazing fitness exercises which can be performed using it, some fitness experts are already advocating the use of the hydrobike for getting fit and staying healthy.

And whats more, the waters aren’t as polluted as our roads yet, which means that you can commute on a hydrobike without getting into too much vehicular smoke or pollution.

So, what are you waiting for?

Purchase a Hydrobike NOW

They may be individual or group sports which involve different water bodies which may range from small tanks to large rivers.

Man has taken part in different water sports for a long long time ranging from the ancient boat races of the Sumerians to the modern rhythmic swimming.

There are a few major advantages of water sports over other sports:

• Not much sweat involved

An obvious advantage of water sports is that there’s not much sweat involved and you can participate in a water sport without sweating too much and also staying cool at the same time.

• More fat you burn

Water Sports can actually help you burn your fat quicker and easier without spending too much time working out.

• Your Respiratory Organs Get Better

Water Sports can actually help you to strengthen your respiratory organs and it helps in improving the breath rate and strengthens the heart muscles.

• Safer

Water Sports are safer than other sports which actually ensures that you don’t get hurt too much thanks to falls or hits while playing them.

• Easier to Master

Water Sports are easier to master because they involve lesser exhaustion and more work out.

There are numerous other advantages to water sports which we will be covering in future posts.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Bob Barrett pedals two miles across Puget Sound from Ketron Island to Steilacoom. “Here, you’re part of the Sound itself,” he says.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

“I don’t have a death wish. I’m not here to drown and I’m not risking my life,” says Bob Barrett, who’s been making his water-bike commute for nearly seven years.

Related

Nat Hong and Bob Barrett commute on Puget Sound by bike - water bike, that is - to their jobs in Bremerton and Steilacoom.

“This is pretty hard to beat in terms of a pleasant commute,” said Hong, who lives on Bainbridge Island and teaches at Olympic College in Bremerton.

The drive would be 80 miles round trip. But with his water bike, the trip to work is just 12 miles - including one mile on the water.

Hong said he used to be irked because he could look across the water and see the place he worked.

“It needled and gnawed at me. The long drive didn’t make sense.” He began water biking in September.

Hong, 54, rides a regular bicycle a half-mile to the water, hops on his water bike for the 12- to 15-minute ride, and has another bicycle waiting for him at Illahee State Park in Bremerton. He rides up a steep hill to his job.

For nearly seven years, Barrett has been riding his bike two miles across Puget Sound from his home on tiny Ketron Island to a marina in Steilacoom. There, he catches a bus to his job as a safety-and-training instructor with Pierce Transit.

Like Hong, Barrett says his commute is good for the environment.

“I don’t buy gas. I’m putting no pollutants in the water,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for a long time and it feels quite natural. I don’t have a death wish. I’m not here to drown and I’m not risking my life.”

The 125-pound, $1,400 HydroBike has two pontoons, adding stability. The pedals drive a propeller. Hong and Barrett figure they can cruise at 5 mph.

Barrett, 64, said he first saw the bike at a boat show and was intrigued. He said he’d buy it and ride it until it paid itself off, which included saving the $3-a-day ferry fare from his island home. He got hooked and has been riding it five days a week. His crossing takes 25 to 30 minutes.

He’s put almost 6,000 miles on his bike, and it paid for itself a long time ago. The other benefits are a bonus.

“Here, you’re part of the Sound itself,” he said. “I go slow enough I see birds and seals, and it keeps my health good.”

While Hong looks at the weather forecast before he ventures out on the water, Barrett said that in the more than six years he’s been water-biking, he has been turned back only six times by the wind. He wasn’t even deterred by a recent snowfall.

Hong said he developed his love of biking in Denmark, where he spent a sabbatical and biked everywhere. He said he didn’t have a car and biked nearly 4,000 miles that year just going to work.

For his local commute, Hong had considered kayaking to work, but “I’m just intrigued by biking.”

“I see a lot of wildlife. A baby seal pup came up right next to me. Winter birds on a calm day look like confetti strewn across the water. I have a wonderful view of Mount Rainier.”

Hong admits his wife worries about him and thinks he’s a little crazy. But he, like Barrett, wears a life jacket. And neither has fallen in the water.

“I don’t want to burn gas,” Hong said. “I want to try to stay fit as I get older, and I like being outside. I have one of those jobs where I do way too much sitting, and this is a good antidote.”

As for Barrett: “My wife makes sure my life-insurance policy is up to date.”

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

In 18 years and over 10,000 bikes in use, only 50 failures have been reported.

This is a picture (taken in Sept of 1990) of our staff celebrating the end of a 1,000 hours, failure free, endurance test of the Hydrobike Propeller Drive.

The test proved that the drive could survive 10 times the average predicted service thrust load for 1,000 hours of continuous operation.

The Drive was installed in a 40 gallon stock tank filled with water and driven through a transmission by a 1 1/2 hp electric motor geared to simulate 250 lb of thrust loading. After the test the unit was dismantled and checked for gear, bearing and chain wear and for any signs of damage from this rigorous test. There were none!

Further proof of the Drive’s “bullet proof” design, is that after 18 years of operation and over 10,000 in service, there have been less than 50 failures reported.

Remarkable.