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rcharlton

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Joined
Jun 20, 2005
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641
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
11/2005
Country
CA
State
Ontario
City
Toronto
Up until last fall I was riding my hands free recumbent trike. It is a front wheel drive with one wheel out front and two in the rear. It has a coaster brake – so I can brake with my feet. It has lean steering so I don’t need hands to steer. The only thing that causes me problems is shifting. I have a grip shifter to which I have attached a vise grip. Every time I need to shift I have to get off my trike and move the vise with my foot.

Since last fall I've had a significant drop in my FVC - I'm somewhere between 30-35, although my legs are still strong. Biking is my life and so I figured that the only way to keep going was to get an electric assist motor.

The ebike conversion is pretty straight forward but it is not compatible with a coaster brake so I needed to find a new way to stop my bike.

I finally found someone willing to help me and they have been working on my trike for about a month. It should be ready this week.

Now I am wondering if I will be able to ever use it even with the power assist, on account of my lungs. Plus the conversion was insanely expensive - money we just don't have and that will just be added to our massive debt. I am wracked with guilt - but it is also a dream to keep riding.

Even if I can only use the trike for one season it will be worth it. My dream is to bike my daughter to her first day of kindergarten this coming September. The route is all on park bike paths so car traffic is not an issue.

I should be able to cruise at 20km/h with minimal effort.

If things don't work out check out the used equipment section for a good deal on a used hands free power trike.
 

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Cool bike Richard. You've mentioned it b4 and I wondered what it looked like.

AL.
 
that is sooo cool:D
i'm jealous as my new scooter only goes 4mph:-(
my son is a qualified car/bike mechanic and offered to boost it up ............but i think that would invalidate my insurance on it:-( and i suppose it would effect how much use i'd get out of a full charge.
 
Richard the trike looks really quite nifty. Please don't be wracked with guilt even if it doesn't work out. I think that creative thinking and optimism is likely a big part of your personality. Those qualities are wonderful in a person. They make you the special guy that you obviously are.
Laurel
 
Richard that's excellent!

I can't help feeling the money is an investment in all sorts of intangible assets way beyond the trip that you have planned. It's a testimony to your creativity and your spirit. If it speaks clearly to us, then it must be a far stronger statement to those closest to you. Bravo!
 
that is so sweet that you want to do that with your little one... i bet you will be able to.
dont worry about the money, if it works out for you, its well worth it and she will never forget her first day of school.
 
Thanks for the support guys. I feel better about going ahead with this project.

I will give a full report after I take it for a spin.
 
I agree with the others, its a great idea, and you shouldn't have any regrets about doing something for yourself that helps you feel as good as biking does... after all, its not like its something illegal that you wanna do! And the therapy value for biking will help you immeasurably.

Enjoy the time with your little daughter, it goes by way too fast! Mine is now a junior in high school, yikes!
 
Richard, this is great. I love stories like this. Can't wait to hear how it works out.
Tom
 
that is sooo cool:D
i'm jealous as my new scooter only goes 4mph:-(
my son is a qualified car/bike mechanic and offered to boost it up ............but i think that would invalidate my insurance on it:-( and i suppose it would effect how much use i'd get out of a full charge.
Olly,

I suggest you go for your son's offer and boost the speed to 6 mph. Makes a huge difference. I doubt it would change the miles/charge much, if any, although your son would likely know.

John
 
Richard, I too am insanely jealous. Before this frigg'n disease I was a keen biker. Used it to commute to work, grocery shop and mountain biked on trails on the weekend. My last time on a two-wheeler was about 6-7 years ago. Several weeks ago I was returning from running my dog on a series of trails here with my big scooter. A party of four was also returning to the parking lot with their three-wheeled, recumbent bikes. I was quite curious and one of the woman had real difficulty walking so I approached them and struck up a conversation. The disabled woman offered me hers to try out. I needed two people to assist me onto to it but it was a joy to ride. Very easy on even my legs. I considered getting one but it would need two people to get me aboard and transport would be difficult I think even in my rampvan. Nonetheless it was great to get that bike feeling one last time.

I hope it works out for you and you get to peddle your daughter to kindergarten next fall. One of the highlights in raising my kids was my daughter and I peddling our bikes two miles to her day-care when she was about five. I think it was the proudest day of her young life.

John
 
Thanks for the replies everyone

Hey John

Was the trike you saw pretty low to the ground?

Would it make a difference if the bike was more upright?

Check out these trikes
 

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Hi Richard,

Yes, in fact all the trikes I've seen here (Arizona) are low seaters like your second photo. Haven't seen any like the high seater. I think the more upright design would make quite a difference for my accessing and getting off a trike. But how do you peddle it? The "peddles" seem more like foot rests.

Are you getting closer to riding yours?
 
John

Oh - just noticed that the yellow bike is a hand pedalled bike. But you would be able to get a foot pedalled version if that would be better. There are a number of upright trikes.

In either case you'd be able to equip it with an electric assist motor which would significantly reduce the effort required to cycle.

I pick up my trike this week. Been waiting for some puncture resistant tires.
 
I'm starting to feel like Job when it comes to my bike.

Every time I overcome one obstacle something else is thrown at me that prevents me from riding it - flat tires, torn valves, improperly installed wheels, brake failure, broken seat. When I had the use of my hands, I could fix most of these problems myself - but now I either have to pay someone or I have to direct someone else who is completely unfamiliar with bikes - which is an exercise in frustration for all concerned.

I accept that there are a lot of things I can't do now because of ALS - but I am infuriated when I am prevented from doing an activity that I am otherwise able to do but for a technical difficulty - especially when I know that ALS will completely remove my ability to do this activity in the near future.

After 6 months of being told by people that no one can or will help me- I finally found someone who was willing to try. They had my bike for 2 months and it was finally ready 2 days ago. They did a great job. Knee operated brakes, foot operated shifters and an electric motor. Took it out for a ride yesterday - everything worked great - it is was amazing to be able to accelerate up hills - you still need to pedal but the motor helps a lot. I did get beat up a bit as my head and arms were flailing and flopping all over the place - but next time I'll wear my neck brace.

It was just thinking how great it was to be able to ride again- and then it happened. I was about 1.5 kms away from my destination when my GD SEAT SNAPPED IN TWO.

The seat always suffered from a design flaw and this will be the second time that I will need to replace the seat.

So now I have to find someone to design and build a new seat.

The good news is that even though my FVC is about 30% I still managed to bike 10kms with no problem - and this included a couple of hills of nearly 1km.
 
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