2009 'Bent Event - a recumbent smorsgasbord!

DougMC just informed me of the upcoming 2009 'Bent Event over at Easy Street Recumbents this weekend. The event goes down Sunday, April 19th from 11am to 5pm at Easy Street HQ, 5555 North Lamar Blvd., Building C, Suite #C127. It's basically behind the big Goodwill/Half-Price Books building at Lamar and Koenig.

Check out what's in store for you at the 'Bent Event:

• Representatives from Rans Recumbents, Velomobile USA, Scarab Trikes, Synthetic Transport, and Kool Bikes Austin, showing off their stuff
  
• 11AM 'bent rides, including both a "casual" ride led by Thad Sitton and a faster "hard core" ride led by Sam Placette
  
• All kinds of central Texas 'bent riders with their wheels
  
• Florian Schlumpf's two-speed unicycle, from Switzerland (and we'll offer a hefty discount on a Schlumpf Uni hub to any unicyclist who can shift that thing "on the fly." It isn't easy.
  
• A fixed-gear bike equipped with a Schlumpf Speed-Drive, giving a second "overdrive" gear on an ordinary fixie.
  
• Human-powered rolling art from the Austin Bike Zoo
  
• Music and food
  
• Loads of bikes and trikes available for test riding around the parking lot
  
• A pre-production Bacchetta Carbon Aero racing recumbent
  
• A variety of bicycle-oriented mad scientists showing off their projects
  
• Guests from Houston's TeamBent, DFW's R-BENT, and South Texas's R-BEST clubs.
  

Mike Librick, owner and operator of Easy Street Recumbents, also posted the following request on the bicycleaustin google group:

I'm in need of cinder blocks or sandbags to help ballast the tent canopies that I'll have set up for the event. This largely takes place on parking lot, so I won't be able to stake stuff to the ground. Having some ballasts would help prevent embarrassing catastrophe should the wind kick up.

A more wacky item that I'm in need of is traffic cones (the orange things). I've got a few and a customer of mine can provide a few more, but the more's the better, so if you have some to loan then please let me know.

If you have any of the above items, give Mike a shout. Free food, music, Austin Bike Zoo, and more recumbents than you can shake a stick at. Sounds like a good time, and definitely well within the realm of strange biking events. Thanks for the heads-up, Doug!