Every June, during the Kluane to Chilkat Bike Relay, almost every possible type of bike can be seen travelling the road between Haines Junction and Haines, Alaska. Serious competitors race on high-tech marvels made of super lightweight alloys while more casual riders pedal clunkers that usually gather dust in the garage.

But all of the bikes have one thing in common -- conventional upright frames -- and while they may be the norm, some people think that they are just dead-end technology. They would like to see recumbent bicycles allowed in the bike relay, and other races as well for that matter.

A growing number of people see recumbents -- those odd-looking bikes in which the rider's feet are out in front of the body -- as the most advanced bicycles around today. Recumbents are the most visible form of what are called human-powered vehicles (HPVs) which many enthusiasts hope will eventually offer a serious alternative to the internal combustion engine.

HPVs have been designed for use on land, water and air. There are HPV hydrofoils, submarines and even helicopters. Of course conventional bicycles are also HPVs, but afficionados will argue that true HPVs maximize the performance of what they call the "human engine."

The HPV movement really started with the recumbent bicycle, which has been around for more than a century. A cartoon picturing a recumbent was published in 1892 and a real recumbent bicycle was displayed at a Swiss bike show in 1895. In 1914 Peugeot manufactured a recumbent bike.

But the brakes were put on the recumbent movement in 1934 when the Union Cycliste International (UCI) banned them from sanctioned races, ruling that they were not really bicycles. The ban came eight months after a French racer riding a recumbent bike beat all challengers, and broke most of the existing time-trial track records in the process.

In the 1970s interest in recumbents and other HPVs resurfaced in California. Then E.I. Dupont, the chemical manufacturer, offered $15,000 to the first human-powered single-rider machine that could top 65 miles per hour.

When engineers set to work to meet this challenge, they determined that the recumbent design was at least 25 percent more efficient than a conventional bicycle, and in 1986, a rider on a recumbent bike captured the Dupont prize.

Recumbent bikes are still judged to be the fastest bikes on the road under most conditions, and they are still banned from sanctioned races. A group called the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) runs its own set of races.

The IHPVA and other recumbent fans argue that the ban has stopped widespread acceptance of the bikes. The association would like to see more people using recumbents as basic transportation, which will not happen until they are more affordable. Right now only a few small companies produce the bikes, and that has kept costs high.

Many people are now interested in recumbents for reasons other than their speed. Jim Hawkings, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, is waiting for his new recumbent bike to arrive. He says he based his choice on the fact that the bikes are so much more comfortable than road bikes.

"Riding one feels awkward at first, but once you get used to it they are really comfortable, and time just sort of passes when you are on a recumbent. I think you can ride one comfortably all day long," says Hawkings.

Hawkings already owns another HPV, a water bike. He says these craft make sense because people have more power in their legs than in their arms. He also likes the fact that you can steer the water bike by leaning, so your hands are free for things like holding binoculars.

But he does not think that the ultimate pedal-powered watercraft has been invented yet, particularly for a place like the Yukon where people can make extended wilderness trips.

"With water bikes there is a real niche for a touring boat. Most are not set up for carrying gear, so they are more of a toy at this point."

Hawkings would like to see the same engineering expertise that goes into designing cars applied to vehicles like water bikes. In some fields this application is already happening. Huge amounts of engineering expertise are being applied to HPVs, and Canada is a leader in some of these endeavours.

A team of graduate engineering students from Ecole de Technologie Superieure in Montreal has set four world speed records with their human-powered submarine, the Omer 3. Pedalled by one person, the sub reached a speed of almost seven knots.

Now the same group of students is working on a design for a helicopter, hoping to capture the Sikorsky Prize, which has stood unclaimed since 1980. The helicopter must be able to hover for one minute and reach a height of three metres. The Quebec team plans to test its craft in the summer of 2000.

While designing a human-powered helicopter might be an engineer's dream, Hawkings points out that these sorts of HPVs will never be practical for transportation. Recumbent bikes and water craft hold the most potential in that area, and Hawkings would like to see them in more widespread use.

"Human Power is very underutilized as a means of transportation, particularly here in North America. It seems there is a lot of good useful technology out there that could be very affordable if it became mainstream," he says.

"I'd like to see HPVs taken more seriously as a means of transportation rather than just a form of exercise. Unfortunately there are a lot of severe limitations here because of the climate, but you could cut down on vehicle use a lot in the summer. I'm more excited about commuting with a comfortable bike."

For more information on HPVs, try the IHPVA website at http://www.ihpva.org. Another good website on HPVs can be found at http://handcyclequest.com/hpvlinks.html.