The long Pennsylvania winter broke for one glorious day of 60 degree temperatures and sunny weather.

Gareth had been clamoring for months to ride his bike, telling family and teachers that he wanted dad to “fix the bike”. As soon as the weather was good, I got it out, got it tuned, and got Gareth on it for a monster hour and a half ride.

At the end of the ride, I was tired out, but he was still pedaling! If this is any indicator as to how this year will go, I foresee plenty of riding.

For those who are curious, we’re still using the same rock climbing harness, bungee cord, and weight lifting belt solution we devised last year. No need to change it yet since it continues to work quite well!

The RBR Rally was over the father’s day weekend. Gareth joined me for a ride along the 20 mile route – the same route that did him in last year.

This year, though, I came prepared. I packed water, food, medicine, diapers, a towel, sunblock, and an MP3 player. Bringing all the extra gear sure added to the weight, but we got through the ride without any major meltdowns.

We also cut it short by 5 miles, turning it into a 15 mile ride. At the 7-8 mile mark, the group stopped at a general store for a refresher. I took the opportunity to ask Gare if he wanted to continue on to our destination or turn around and head back to the car.

He chose the latter.

We had a nice solo ride all the way back to the car and managed to finish the ride without either of us hitting the wall. That’s a good ride in my book.

Gareth mounted up for a ride yesterday, but we never made it out the door. He has started scooting out of the seat on his Pino to the point that his butt is leaving the mesh. For some reason, the harness/bungee setup is no longer holding him back in the seat.

Part of the problem might be that he has grown quite a bit and needs to have the pedals adjusted for his now longer x-seam. I’m hoping I can get this figured out soon since the RBR Rally is in two weeks!

Monday was a lovely day for an hour long ride, so we did just that. Since this was the first extended ride of the season, we kept to the local neighborhood. We normally ride to Gareth’s elementary school and ride loops around the playground because it’s nice and flat – and because we can do figure eights around the basketball hoops.

I’m not so sure we can keep doing that.

While riding along a wall of the school, I noticed a sign that is either new or has escaped my attention for the past year. It read, “NO SKATEBOARDING, ROLLERSKATING, OR RIDING BICYCLES.” My suspicion is that it’s new because I can’t imagine having missed that on all of our prior playground rides. Plus, it was suspiciously clean and shiny.

My approach here is largely going to be to keep riding there until somebody yells at us, at which time we’ll just move to the parking lot. Certainly, we can stick to riding on the streets, but these flat self-contained areas are a lot more relaxing.

How surreal to be back in one’s middle school, standing in front of a group with your former math teacher (who has maintained his full head of hair while mine had long since disappeared).

Gareth, Brandy, and I showed up for the kick off of the 2008 Make-A-Wish dance marathon at Bellefonte Middle School to talk a bit about our story, Gareth’s wish, and how money that goes to M-A-W really goes to enriching the lives of kids.

After we presented, along with two other M-A-W families, we stuck around a little while to dance. I already knew Gare was lucky with the kindergarten ladies, but I had no idea he could charm middle school girls.

Gareth, the bike, and I have been invited to make an appearance at a local Make-A-Wish fund raiser in order to convey just how great M-A-W is and what it has done for us. Here’s hoping our colds tone it down just long enough for us to say or do something inspirational.

Looking to get somebody on a bike but don’t want to spend multiple thousands of dollars for high end equipment? If your child is able to perform gross motor arm movements (move each arm forward and back) and can pedal, this might be worth a look:

Anyway, the features of this trike are pretty neat because of the flexibility they afford. First up, it’s a direct drive trike, which means no gears. This is not a hill climber, commuter, long trail rider, et cetera. This is parks, driveways, neighborhoods, and parking lots material – just like any other standard trike. The cranks do have a freewheel, so don’t worry about having to keep the feet moving with the wheel when the rider is tired. The pedals would need to be modified/supplemented for any children unable to keep their feet on the platforms.

In the illustration above, you can see that the boom is adjustable. This trike suits kids up to 5′8″ in height and 220lbs in weight. This is a trike that should definitely be able to grow with any child. Adjusting the length takes less than a minute, so it is even suitable in environments where multiple children might want to use the trike.

Steering is achieved via handles on either side of the seat. The handles are linked to the rear wheels and pivot the rear for directional control. The rear wheels are connected via tie rod to ensure they maintain alignment. The steering mechanism itself is such that pushing forward on one direction requires pulling back on the other – but again, the tie rod makes it so that the two are connected in order to keep the wheels from turning in opposite directions. Rear wheel steering, however, has its downsides. At high rates of speed, steering force from the rear can whip the trike around pretty hard. Anybody riding will want to be careful they don’t roll the trike in a hard turn.

The Triton uses a caliper brake mounted to the front tire. In the time I spent inspecting the Triton, I didn’t think to ask if there was another braking mechanism should a child not have enough hand strength to manage the brake lever. I’ll ask about that the next time I’m at RBR.

So how’s adaptability? As mentioned before, the pedals can always be fitted to suit the needs of the rider. The seat is obviously the big question. The seat frame is such that it should be trivial to mount a harness system that suits your child.

My main concern would be for any child that requires a lap restraint (especially any children that like to scoot down and out of seats). A lap belt could certainly be mounted to the frame under the bottom pad of the seat. My concern stems only from the fact that the seat itself isn’t that deep – about 8″. That might not leave enough wiggle room for some.

The frame under the seat is suitable for anyone who wishes to fabricate a custom seat if the rider requires hip stabilization. There’s definitely room on the Triton frame for improvisation and innovation.

Having said all that, here’s the quick rundown on the Triton:

• Child must be able to pedal and move steering arms
• Braking might be an issue for children lacking grip
• Seat frame is open for necessary modification
• Trike grows with your child
• $200-$280 based on shipping and assembly

Since I don’t know anyone who has actually used the Triton, my observations here are just from looking it over and playing with the floor model at RBR. As always, do some research and ask plenty of questions before trying the Triton with your child. But at less than $300, it’s less of a gamble than just about any other adaptive equipment purchase you’re likely to make.

Last January, when Gareth first received his bike, we grabbed the first day that wasn’t below 30 degrees and went for a ride as we couldn’t wait until Spring to take the Pino for a spin.

Now, a year later, we’ve done it again.  Only this time, the temperature was more around 60 degrees.

We just went for a quick ride around the neighborhood, which was all we could squeeze in given that I have fallen out of cycling shape and the available daylight faded fast since I wasn’t able to be home to ride until about 4:30PM.  Regardless, we got out there.  Can’t wait for Winter to pass!

Gareth and I rode the Pino in Baltimore’s Tour du Port on October 21st. We pedaled the 10 mile route that wound around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, up Federal Hill, and out to Fort McHenry. It was probably the last day of warm weather we’re likely to see this season, so I expect that we’ll be riding far less frequently until Spring ‘08 arrives.

At one point, I had considered getting a Hase Trets trailerbike for Gareth.  We ended up not going that route for one very important reason – it would put Gareth in the back and down low, likely making him feel like luggage instead of a cyclist.  This is certainly not to say that the Trets isn’t a good option.  It just didn’t fit the goals we wanted to fulfill.

The utility of the Trets was that it was a recumbent trailerbike into which a child with limited trunk support could be strapped and still have access to his/her own set of pedals.  It also employed a 7 speed shifter and a freewheel to allow the child to determine his/her level of work while pedaling.  The one main requirement, however, was that it be hitched to a lead bike that would provide it with direction.

Not any more.  Hase has modified the Trets so that it can now accept a front fork, turning the Trets into an independent delta trike.

The Trets is largely unchanged aside from the fork modification, though it should be noted that the shifter remains in the lower position (by the seat) even with the addition of the handle bars.  If a child needs help keeping their hands in place on the grips, they will likely be unable to move their hands to change gears.

The downside to these revisions is, as usual, the cost.  The Trets originally sold for around $1,350.  The price with the trike revision, according to BentRider Online, is now $2,490.  That puts it well within range of adapted trikes from the likes of Adaptivemall.  The main question becomes one of positioning – is your child able to pedal from a recumbent position or does he/she require a more upright stance?

It’s always good to have alternatives, and the nice thing about the Trets is that when your child tires of pedaling, you can convert it back into a trailer to just bring them along for the ride.