As the President of Flying Bike Club, it was completely irresponsible of me to get everybody in this much trouble, and for the record I take full responsibility. I promise to make a full confession once I figure out how to get back.

When everybody was having lunch in the landing hatch at the Weather Pillar, I went off to find a bathroom. I followed the halls around but couldn't find one, but there was an elevator, so I figured I'd just take it up to the next floor and look around. Turned out to be some kind of express elevator, though, and shot up a long ways. And I mean a LONG ways.

The access portal was about 300 ft up. When the elevator finally slowed down and let me out I was at the tippy top of the whole thing. There was a control room, like a bridge on a big ship, and through the windows you looked waaaaay down to the clouds, and could see the curve of the whole earth all around. It was insane. I have pictures.

Then, I don't know if it was me or what but those klaxons started going off, and the elevator wouldn't respond and lights were going off and I thought the whole thing was going to blow up or something. So I left the control bridge and walked out onto the roof of the pillar. I just wanted to get out of there.

On the roof were a bunch of antennas and some random cables and stuff, but there was also a bike! Kind of a clunker. Obviously some kind of official Weather Pillar bike they must use for getting around the installation. But where would they go?

It was then I saw a landing platform, and beyond it, over the edge of the Weather Pillar, I could see the air was rippling. The clouds and bits of land I could see below were fluttering through it. I realized it must be some kind of jet stream, blasting out of the side of the pillar, and the Weather Pillar techs must use it to get around between the pillars. Because they use flying bikes!

The warning horns were still going off, and the elevator still wouldn't work, but instead of just waiting around to get in trouble I figured I should try and make a run for it. So I hopped on the Weather Pillar bike, and pushed off the edge of the platform and into the jet stream.

It was a lot more powerful than I thought.

I think now I'm in the Bahamas somewhere. It's warm, and there's lots of ocean around, and maybe some bigger land in the distance. Cuba? Florida? It's about my fifth weather pillar since I left. I haven't made landfall, because I'm so far away from school I kept thinking it'd be a quicker trip back if I could just find my way back to where I started. But that's turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought.

The Weather Pillars have all seemed to be unoccupied. At first I thought that was lucky, but now I'd rather just turn myself in and be done with it. Luckily there are break rooms on each one where I've been able to find some box macaroni and cheese or chips to keep me fed. And now I do know where the bathrooms are. I'd pick up a phone or something in the control rooms but I'm afraid of messing something up. Hopefully I'll run into a janitor or somebody eventually and sort this out.

But in the meantime, please let them know it was all my idea, and I am the only one who should get in any trouble.

For those of you who haven't been to a weather pillar before, it's a lot of fun. As you know, the weather pillars manufacture the weather for their surrounding biome. Most people have only seen them on the horizon, stretching up into the clouds that gather near the top of the spires. There isn't a lot of security because the only access is about 300 ft up their sheer walls. But we've got flying bikes!

Landing is a little tricky because there's just a small platform outside the hatch, so we'll be coming in one at a time. We'll be circling in a holding pattern as Big Edna does a pinpoint landing and opens the hatch, then begin individual landings on a first-come basis. Once we're all inside we'll take some time to explore and hang out.

Bring a lunch! We'll be taking off from the apple orchard around 11am on Saturday. Hope to see you there!

Great Flying Bike Club Picnic today! And a big shout out to Big Edna for piloting the three-wheeler out to the Troll Bridge--the brie and baguettes made it really special. The weather's still a little blustery, and the few bikes that got caught in the treetops were par for the course. If you're the one came back with the red & white checkered blanket, it belongs to Big Edna.

For next weekend, we're planning a trip to the weather pillar in the north. It'll be our longest trip so far, so be prepared!

Hope everybody had fun at today's Flying Bike Club meetup! I apologize about the bird problems--I thought we had everything worked out with the Remote Viewing Falconry Club but apparently not. We're clearly scheduled for the airspace above the apple orchard on Saturday morning, but apparently not everybody got the memo. I'm sure we'll have it worked out by next week.

In the meantime, everybody feel free to share your stories of your flying bike adventures!

Happy flying!

We've all been there, @Glitter. Scraped knees are always a part of learning how to ride a flying bike!

Just remember it's not the bike that does it--it's your mind set. I started out on my little brother's tricycle with my hands on the handlebars and pushing it around the cul-de-sac with one foot. After about 50 times around I forgot I was stuck on the ground and lifted off! It was an amazing feeling Till I hit a streetlight and fell and broke my ulna.

So it's best to start off with some beater bike till you get the hang of it. Then you can start to trick it out with wings and tassels and stuff.

Join us down at the apple orchard this morning for Flying Bike Club! This week's topic: Repair in the Air--Tips & Tricks! Also, Decoding Flying Bike Gang Symbols.

Thanks to everybody who showed up at Flying Bike Club today! It was really great to hang out and see all the different bike types and learn what we could from each other. From @Mouthy Rogers' balloon tire method to the Forker sisters' tri-wing model, they were all totally awesome.

For those of you who are just starting out building your own flying bike, remember that it's not the aerodynamics or even aeronautical feasibility that makes our bikes fly, but merely our belief and force of will. Which is clear when you look at my old clunker with the basket and the banana seat. Those pinwheels are just for show!

We took some nice little spins over the campus grounds, but I look forward to some longer road trips in the future. I ride every day, so if you run into me up there in the sky, say hi!

Flying Bike Club is here!

A lot of us have been building flying bikes, so I thought it was a good time to start a Flying Bike Club, where we can all get together and ride and exchange our ideas about flying bike construction.

We'll meet on Saturday morning at 11am near the apple orchard, where @Randy Bernstein's Intramural Flying Club used to meet. There are good places to take off and land down there.

Even if you don't have a flying bike, feel free to come and watch! Just don't ask to ride anybody's bike. ;)