Frenchman rides solar-powered bike for 4 months to Shanghai

Florian Bailly rides his solar-power bike.(photo:eastday.com )


Florian Bailly introduces his bike. (photo:eastday.com )

After riding 13,000 kilometers and crossing the Eurasian continent and through 12 countries, the 27-year-old Frenchman Florian Bailly made his appearance at the door of the Rhone-Alpes Pavilion in the Puxi Urban Best Practices Area of the Shanghai World Expo with his distinctive bicycle, the "Sunrise No.1" at noon on Sept. 28.

What Bailly rides looks more like a "tricycle" than a bicycle. The modified bicycle has two solar panels, each weighing about 20 pounds. The weatherworn body of the bicycle looks a little old, while the solar panels, brakes and other components are unbroken.

Bailly’s arrival immediately attracted the attention of many visitors. After explanations by the staff of the Rhone-Alpes Pavilion, visitors all cast admiring eyes towards Bailly, and some even wanted to try riding his bicycle.

The reporter learned that the 27-year-old Bailly is the director of the Publicity Department under the French Provincial Committee of Savoie and is a dedicated public servant. When he was 23, he visited China for the first time riding an ordinary bike.

On June 5, 2010, he asked his department for a leave of absence and started his 100-day journey from Rhone-Alpes to Tokyo, Japan by himself, and this modified solar-electric bike was all he carried with him.

It is said that his modified bicycle is powered by three kinds of energy, the kinetic energy generated by the human body, the electric energy that plays the accelerating function through the pedals, and the solar energy that reinforces the electric energy. Bailly's journey is a brand-new sporting experience of the sustainable energies brought about by the latest technologies, and probably this kind of journey will become a new travel means for people in the future.

Bailly began his journey from Chambery in France and traveled across Italy, central European countries, Ukraine, Russia and the Kazakh Steppe.

He also traveled crossed the Taklimakan Desert, the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall after entering China, and finally arrived at the Shanghai World Expo Park. He took this opportunity to display his "French-style bicycle" and used his own method to interpret the Shanghai World Expo's theme of "Better City, Better Life."

Bailly will depart for Tokyo on Sept. 30 after a short rest. It is Bailly's dream to cheer with his "Sunrise No.1" as the sun rises on Mount Fuji, and his dream will come true in the near future.

The webstie eastday.com contributes to this story.

By People's Daily Online