Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504270018
SECTION: TOUR DUPONT PAGE: TD-19 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Don't look for them at the finish line, though. Even the Lance Armstrongs and Viatcheslav Ekimovs of the world would have trouble riding some of Klein's contraptions, although he did design a bike with rockets on the handlebars.
That bike and other Klein creations will be part of the exhibition at Tour de Tech, a university-sponsored engineering and science exposition that will take place Thursday through Saturday on the Virginia Tech campus. Stage 4 of the Tour DuPont finishes in Blacksburg on Sunday.
This is the third year the university has sponsored Tour de Tech. The exhibit is put together by the Center for Intelligent Material Systems and Structures (CIMSS) at Virginia Tech, the university's College of Education and Montgomery County school officials.
Tour de Tech is a program designed to show school children that science and engineering can be fun. Adults, likewise, are entertained by the exhibits.
``We want to convey the message that science and engineering technology are so pervasive throughout our society in ways that we may not think about,'' said Craig Rogers, founder of the CIMSS at Tech. ``There's incredible engineering in bicycles, for example.''
Klein's exhibit demonstrates that clearly. Klein, director of the University of Illinois Bicycle Institute, specially designs bicycles that demonstrate scientific phenomena and engineering feats.
One of Klein's specialities this year will be a bike that can steer, balance and follow another bicycle without a rider. He also will perform an experiment that shows how bikes stay upright, and he will use a custom-made bicycle that toddlers can learn to ride in minutes - without training wheels.
Other exhibits featured in the Science and Technology Expo will include new bicycle technologies that have applications in everyday life, state-of-the-art advances in clothing and textiles, and specialized training techniques used by cyclists.
The Science and Technology Expo will be held in Squires Commonwealth Ballroom. Hours are 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m. on Thursday and 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Friday.
Saturday's activities will include a series of fun runs for youngsters ages 1-18 (small children can participate in a 50-yard ``Toddler Trot,'' older youngsters can run in a mile race) at 10 a.m. followed by a bicycle rally at 11 a.m. An ``Energetic Social Ride'' of 10 to 15 miles will be held at noon, and a family ride of one to two miles will begin at 12:30 p.m.
Klein will be putting on a demonstration Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. in the commuter parking lot on Prices Fork Road.
These events will serve as a prelude to Stage 4 of the Tour DuPont, which will finish at the Virginia Tech Mall at approximately 3 p.m. Sunday. The final jaunt through Blacksburg will be longer than last year's sprint to the finish line.
The riders will enter Blacksburg from the west on U.S. 460. They will take a left on Mount Tabor Road, a right onto Happy Hollow, then a right on Harding Avenue. Cyclists will turn right on Owens, make a left on Turner, a left on Old Turner, then a left on Stanger Road. They will circle the Virginia Tech Drill Field before heading for downtown via Kent and Washington streets. They will hit Main Street and head for the finish line on the Virginia Tech Mall.
by CNB