Peter Hellenbrand says the physics he deals with at work don't have much to do with his bike riding. "This is the world I live in...there's a little bit of the uncertainty principle when I'm balancing, but that's about it."
Peter Hellenbrand has a physics degree but he wasn't thinking about physics on Thursday evening at Lincoln Park. He was too busy jumping on logs, on his bike. Hellenbrand who has lived here in West Seattle for about 18 months, works for Boeing and enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities but really loves this kind of biking. "Physics doesn't really apply to this stuff," he said," if you try to think about it logically it's not going to do you much good."
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He's been riding bikes since he was five years old but this kind of riding has been his passion for around ten years. His bike is called a "trials bike" and it's specifically designed for this kind of riding. It has a very low gear ratio, no seat, big tires and good brakes. "It's not designed to go for laps or just riding around," Hellenbrand said, "It's designed for this and it does that well."
It's a lot of work to leap from spot to spot on a bike Hellenbrand proved, "It's a very good work out. You're firing all your muscles as hard as you can on a lot of these moves. You are balancing and then you're exploding too."
He bikes in several places but calls Lincoln Park his favorite spot.
Hellenbrand has fallen a few times but "I've never officially broken anything," he said.
