I was rolling through channels on the TV tonight, and stopped when I saw a couple on Blind Date riding this monstrosity; a bicycle built for 7 that’s available for hire in New York City. The thing has wheels that look like they belong in the trunk of a subcompact car and a frame that must weigh upwards of 200lbs, so New York wouldn’t be a bad place for it since the thing is definitely not built for hills.
The Blind Date thing ended badly, and the bike ride didn’t help at all. As they pedaled down a gentle grade, the guy driving the PartyBike started swerving back & forth to liven things up a bit, and ended up dumping the thing. The girl did a face plant on the pavement, and the rest of the date went downhill from there. Not pretty.
(Note: I was going to link to Blind Date’s website in this post, but decided against it when I saw the horrid Flash-based site they call home. It’s even worse than the show. Every page jump gives you another 1300 to 1800k file load before you see anything. If you’re really interested in seeing it, a Google search ought to get you there. But you’ve been warned.)