|
 Arte
Johnson's Tricycle - On the comedy variety program ROWAN
& MARTIN PRESENTS LAUGH-IN/NBC1968-72 comedian Arte Johnson made
bicycle riding history when he created the famous "adult on
tricycle" skit. Dressed in a yellow raincoat, Arte Johnson's
adult body precariously balanced itself on a child's tricycle.
Furiously pedaling the trike, Arte suddenly came to a dead-stop,
slowly tipped over and then lay silent on the ground, hands
still gripping the tiny handle bars and feet still on the
pedals. The skit spawned the phrase "pulling an Arte Johnson"
that referred to someone who falls off his bicycle. And thirty
years later, the skit is still popular and on the minds of Tom
and Ray Magliozzi (a.k.a. "Click and Clack" on the PBS radio
program CAR TALK. In May 1999, they referenced Arte Johnson's
bike skit in one of their columns (http://cartalk.cars.com)
that discussed speedometers and drive shaft speed correlations:
|
Ray: |
"To understand
it better, think back to Arte Johnson of television's
"Laugh- In," the guy who used to ride the little kid's
tricycle across the stage. The equivalent of "drive shaft
speed" is how fast Arte's feet are pedaling. So if his
legs are turning 50 revolutions a minute, in one minute he
can make it roughly across the stage at the NBC studios in
"beautiful downtown Burbank." |
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Tom: |
But if he were
on one of those old-fashioned tricycles with the HUGE
front wheels, and his legs (i.e., drive shafts) were still
turning 50 times a minute, he'd be out the door and
halfway across the parking lot in a minute -- which means
he'd be traveling a lot faster explained ...Now that's an
extreme example. Plus, Arte's getting older now, and he
probably doesn't get on a tricycle very often. But based
on normal variations in available passenger car tires,
your speedometer can be as much as 5 percent to 10 percent
off for this reason. |
|
© 1999 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi
and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate,
Inc. |
TRIVIA NOTE: Dan Price, a
45-year-old Oregon man pedaled 4,250-mile cross-country on a
tricycle trip to draw people's attention to the benefits of
pedal power and gas-free travel. Riding an average of 50 to 60
miles per day on the 33-pound, 27-speed tricycle, Price pedaled
from Oregon to San Diego, across Texas and through New Orleans,
then through western Florida. He began his trip from his
hometown of Joseph, Ore., on Nov. 1. 2002 and finished in Key
West, Florida on February 14, 2003. Arte Johnson would be proud.
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