Cycling in the Star Trek universe

[Sarcophagus Galacticus]

Hello all,
Just a general interest question I have been pondering, I am an avid cyclist who enjoys riding vintage racing bicycles and belongs to a local cycling club. I have never seen bicycle riding depicted in Star Trek. Not for exercise or recreation on the holodeck. It has not even been depicted on primitive worlds as transportation or major federation cities such as Yorktown base. If bicycles do exist, do you think they are high-tech or do people still enjoy a casual ride with friends in the fresh air?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I can see cycling still having utility for people who frequently travel between closeby locations. And there's no evidence people live sedentary lifestyles, people on Earth seem to be thin. If people still jog they probably still cycle too.

 

[at Quark's]

Bikes probably still exist, but now are fitted with emergency transporters, protective shields and force fields (just in case of an impending crash) , and quantum polaron inverters. No idea why these last devices are there, except that they sound cool and in line with the Star Trek universe.

 

[Timo]

We see bikes in historical settings, but even then only if there's the opportunity for a location shoot or the use of a vast studio-backlot street set.

Which is sort of understandable. Bicycles are mobile, meaning they're difficult to shoot, except when arriving or departing. They are also solitary, so even faking a shot of a moving bike won't give the chance to shoot dialogue. And they sort of have to be real, i.e. making one out of cardboard and plywood and silver spray paint won't work, so they will look lamentably real and non-futuristic, too.

Trek in general cannot afford to show ground vehicles of any sort, and some of the costs of shooting a bike are not that different from the costs of shooting an automobile. So the role of bikes in Trek is left to speculation (or to nonvisual Trek, and the novels do have references to pedaling at certain colonies, but it's not particularly common even in TrekLit).

It's unlikely bikes would get much more high tech than they are today as such - the only reason to have them around is because they are so simple. But augmented propulsion today and augmented propulsion in the 24th century probably won't differ much, and even if the clumsy steel chain and racheting transmission is replaced by a neat elastic band and smooth continuous transmission in the future, it won't change much.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kor]

In ENT, they found a bicycle in the abandoned colony in "Terra Nova." Other than that, Memory Alpha seems to indicate that bicycles haven't been depicted in futuristic settings.

I was wondering if there were any bikes in NuTrek, since there was plenty of footage on Earth. But I couldn't spot any. For instance, here's the chase from ST:ID (with TVH music, for an interesting effect):

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Kor

 

[1001001]

Everyone uses Segways.

 

[The Old Mixer]

In ENT, they found a bicycle in the abandoned colony in "Terra Nova."

Oo! Oo! We saw the remains of a tricycle in "Miri."

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

So the role of bikes in Trek is left to speculation

I think they turned them into musical instruments

 

[Timewalker]

In ENT, they found a bicycle in the abandoned colony in "Terra Nova." Other than that, Memory Alpha seems to indicate that bicycles haven't been depicted in futuristic settings.

I was wondering if there were any bikes in NuTrek, since there was plenty of footage on Earth. But I couldn't spot any. For instance, here's the chase from ST:ID (with TVH music, for an interesting effect):

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Kor

Heh. Note that a starship has just crashed into Earth, and that two crazy guys are running through the city. Note that absolutely nobody in the background seems to have noticed the starship crashing into their city, and not many have even noticed the chase.

This is one of the many reasons I found this movie so stupid.

I think they turned them into musical instruments

I have to wonder how the actress pulled that scene off with a straight face. I remember when I first saw this episode over 40 years ago. My first reaction was, "She's playing a bicycle wheel!"

 

[Kor]

If the latest trends in cycling are any indication, bikes in the 23rd century will be of the motorized or electric variety.

Kor

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Or they will all have those kinds of bikes where you're sitting in a chair.

Seriously, bike seats suck. Love biking, but bike seats suck. I don't mean to sound butthurt, but I am literally butthurt by bike seats.

 

[Greg Cox]

If people still enjoy horseback riding in the future, I'm sure some people must bike for recreation, too.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the holodecks have a bike riding simulation program, with all sorts of scenic and/or challenging routes on the menu.

 

[Tosk]

There were exercise bikes on the NX-01. And there was some stunt-dude riding one before going A over T from an explosion in First Contact. So still in the future. Ha, technicality!

 

[Timo]

Heh. Note that a starship has just crashed into Earth, and that two crazy guys are running through the city. Note that absolutely nobody in the background seems to have noticed the starship crashing into their city, and not many have even noticed the chase.

Umm, whaaaaaaat?

Everybody in those scenes is staring in the same direction (that of the disaster, as established by the butts of our hero and villain), and walking or often running towards it (as spectators of disasters do). There are no "normally behaving" people to be seen - "normally behaving" people would pay attention to the chase. That is, if they didn't have a downed starship to ogle.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Timewalker]

The people in the running scenes seemed more mildly inconvenienced by these two odd, rude men running around than they were concerned with OMG, a whole damn starship just crashed into the city!.

The people in the immediate vicinity of the crash were panicked, of course. But people elsewhere don't appear to have even noticed.

I slept through a whole wind storm here a few weeks ago and never knew it even happened, although it's normally a very noticeable thing. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't not-notice something like a massive object crashing into my city.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Heh. Note that a starship has just crashed into Earth, and that two crazy guys are running through the city. Note that absolutely nobody in the background seems to have noticed the starship crashing into their city, and not many have even noticed the chase.

Most of them seem to be running away from something very quickly. My guess is it's the crashed space ship.

 

[FormerLurker]

I have to wonder how the actress pulled that scene off with a straight face. I remember when I first saw this episode over 40 years ago. My first reaction was, "She's playing a bicycle wheel!"

I have to give her kudos. She did pull it off, and did so with flair. The actress may have been playing a bicycle wheel, but the character was believably playing whatever it was supposed to be. And that's all that matters, as far as I care.

 

[Nerys Myk]

 

[Timewalker]

I have to give her kudos. She did pull it off, and did so with flair. The actress may have been playing a bicycle wheel, but the character was believably playing whatever it was supposed to be. And that's all that matters, as far as I care.

Oh, I don't disagree. I used to work in musical theatre, on the properties crew. Some people just have no idea what goes into thinking up or making some of the stuff that actors have to work with, be it fancy, grungy-looking, or just plain weird.

 

[Timo]

The people in the running scenes seemed more mildly inconvenienced by these two odd, rude men running around than they were concerned with OMG, a whole damn starship just crashed into the city!.

I still don't get what you are talking about. When Spock and Khan run through that building, people are rushing out of the building, stumbling and staring in the direction the runners came from, barely paying attention to the runners. When Khan and Spock cross the street, people are running in the opposite direction, singly and in groups. They aren't doing their morning jogging, that much is obvious.

Indeed, none of the shots shows a single person who wouldn't be preoccupied with the crash and behaving accordingly abnormally. Everybody, but everybody, is like a compass needle pointing to the supposed crash. And if they don't run towards it, they walk on lawns like zombies, holding their arms thirty centimeters off their hips in the classic "I'm not a trained actor but I try to look amazed" pose.

The people in the immediate vicinity of the crash were panicked, of course. But people elsewhere don't appear to have even noticed.

The people at the street-crossing scene obviously can't even see the crash site. They nevertheless run towards it. And that's the farthest extent the camera ever gets.

The only thing that doesn't react to the crash is vehicular traffic, and much of that is no doubt automated anyway. Although even this only really applies to the cars and trams at the zebra crossing (and they couldn't go sideways even if they wanted) and the garbage scows; in the close-ups upward to the faces of the runners, you can see flying vehicles all heading to where the runners are coming from.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't not-notice something like a massive object crashing into my city.

You'd blend nicely in with that cast of extras in ST:ID, then.

Timo Saloniemi