I've wanted a recumbent for ages, they look very comfortable, have good air resistance because of the low profile and really scream out "LOOK AT ME, I'M AN ECCENTRIC".

when I stumbled opon the python design http://www.python-lowracer.de/ I saw a design that was radical, even for recumbent, it breaks many of the rules for conventional bicycle design, like having a negative trail. (see the site for like for more information)

I instantly knew I had to have one... but I had no welder. instead I'd have to build one from wood. There are a lot of fancy wooden bikes on the internet, but my favorite on is this http://www.woodenbikes.com/ . It's just so simple, so crude, so unclever it's clever.

Cleverness is a dangerous design trap. Try to be clever and you'll probably end up taking longer. better is to ask your self questions like "what compromise will make this  easy?" and build the simplest thing which could possibly work, test it, and then improve it.

"Hello World" is traditionally the first program one writes when learning a new programming language. writing a hello work program shows you the absolute basics of programming, it's like starting a car, driving it around a parking lot and stopping again. since I have been doing a lot of programming lately, and it had really been inspiring a rapid-prototyping approch I decided to apply my computer programming style thinking to building a bicycle, then I named the bike Hello World.

see this talk for an excellent argument for rapid-prototyping.

I was to excited to take photos of the early stages but here is the first version at the point you could sit on it:

this was enough to sit on it in a doorway and push my self forward and try to balance. It was difficult but encouraging. I could see that putting the pedals on the getting the chain line right was going to be difficult, so I made a jig to experiment with positions:

with this I could measure where the parts had to be, and check how much clearance I needed to be able to pedal, how close the pedals had to be to the wheel, and how close they should be to the seat. 

I realized that this would all be simpler if they the forward frame and the pedal housing where two separate parts which i could adjust and then screw together.

I tested the bike a bit, but found a few problems with stiffness. when you pedaled if twisted the front frame so that the wheel rubbed, and broke part of the pivot. I had just made it too thin and there was not enough wood to support the bearing.

I rebuilt the pivot with a few improvements, more wood around the bearings, and tapered into the curve of the front frame to make more room for the wheel.

it's still pretty rickity but it's at a point where it is actually ridable, if only just. 

these pictures look deceptively good:

there is still plenty of room for improvement, but I haven't done very much to get to this far, which is the whole point of a prototype. I havn't even glued anything yet. everything is screwed. 

the next things to do are:

• shortening chain
• straightening front wheel
• stiffening front frame
• and maybe, breaks...

and then, hopefully, I will be able to ride it to work!