The weather warmed up just enough to make a ride bearable. So we went for it.  Note the figure 8′s we did in a parking lot.

Since we had the bike outdoors sans rain, I took some photos of it that more clearly show the various components. A few people have said, “I can’t tell how it works.” Perhaps these will help.

Gareth had a lot of energy today and was able to get the bike rocking side to side when the kickstand was down. I think this means we’re going to have to purchase the heavy duty stand offered by Hase. I’ll be visiting RBR this week to see about ordering that.

Two weeks without updates can mean only one thing: it is too cold to go for a bike ride.

Until that weather warms up, we won’t be riding anywhere. Of course, we expected this would happen, but it is incredibly hard to see the bike sitting in the house and not be able to ride it.

Click the thumbnails below to see our journal page for today’s ride and our route as hastily drawn in Google Earth.  We didn’t take the GPS today, so I faked it.

 

Wow… uh… Gareth’s story made the front page of the local paper. An online version of the article is now available. (The article was moved to their archives and can no longer be accessed, but click Read More below to read a local copy.)

Brandy and Gareth read the article together this morning while I slept in a bit, but after a while, Gareth could no longer stand the wait. He and Brandy came into the bedroom to wake me up with a plea to go riding.

So we did.

I started off with a short ride to get used to the feel of the steering and the shifting. Everything went smoothly, didn’t feel too awkward. Once I returned, we put Gareth in the front seat, strapped him in, and took off down the street! Our first ride was no more than five minutes, a proof of concept ride. We didn’t biff, neither of us got scared. Thus emboldened, we took off on a 15 minute ride around the neighborhood and had a great time.

By then, it had started raining again, so we hauled the gear inside and dried everything off. While I was toweling off helmets and frames, Gareth was telling Brandy that he liked going fast and that the ride was “scary in a fun way”. He’s hooked. And so am I.

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As promised, we gave Gareth his bike today. He was quite excited to get into the seat and start pedaling, even though pedaling a recumbent is a bit different than pedaling his trike at school.

Because of the short time frame, we improvised a harness system using an old hip restraint from one his seating systems and a weight lifting belt from Wal-Mart. They worked surprisingly well!

Make-A-Wish, the Centre Daily Times, and all of Gareth’s grandparents were in attendance for the presentation today and got to see both Gareth and me on the bike. Gareth received the bike, a Spongebob jersey, various maps of bike trails, word icons for describing our trips, and reflective ankle straps. I’m sure he thought it was Christmas all over again.

Word of warning for anybody considering something like the Pino – make sure you have wide hallways or, better yet, a garage. We don’t have either. Maneuvering the bike between rooms is insanely difficult and has resulted in the removal of two chunks of wall that will need to be patched and painted (they’re small, but enough for me to notice). Thank goodness we were going to repaint this summer anyway.

Now we just hang back and wait for the first spot of good weather. I need to get in a brief training ride to get used to the bike. After that, we’ll get Gareth on there. Please, Winter, hold off just a little longer!

The bike is ready!  I stopped in today to see how things were going, and it is done.  Sam @ RBR took a few minutes to get the upright seat positioned properly for me and to position the handles to my liking.

I then got back to the office and gave M-A-W a call to finalize details.  We’re shooting for 3PM on Saturday for the unveiling/presentation to Gareth.

I spoke some more with our M-A-W volunteers.  M-A-W would like to do an official presentation of the bike to Gareth once it is ready.  They’re hoping we can do it this weekend, but I need to stop in at RBR and see what the schedule is like for completing the bike.

Sue (one of our volunteers) mentioned something about a large bow and calling the CDT.  Ought to be quite the event.

One of the gifts I’ve purchased for Gareth is a Trails & Ride Journal. The second half of the book contains individual pages for recording one’s rides along with weather and trail conditions. Using those pages, I built a small vocabulary of words for Gareth to use (since he is non-verbal) as we talk about whatever ride we went on for the day. They might be useful for others, so I have included them here.

Since the last post, I have discovered that the rack quickly breaks down into smaller pieces. Thank the maker! This revelation will also make it easier to store the rack as I can now wall mount it.

Speaking of wall mounting, Gareth has indicated that he would like to have his bike in his bedroom. If you’ve ever seen his room, you know that the child has far too many worldly possessions and no room for a bike. So we’re going to hang it on the wall. The challenge is on to find a wall rack that will hold the Pino at 46 pounds and 83 inches long.

I called our Make-A-Wish contacts to see if there was anything special they wanted or needed to do now that the bike was in. Sounds like they have a procedure to go through once a wish is fulfilled, including taking some photos. They’re going to call back with more info and to set up a time to meet again.

Gareth’s physical therapist has purchased some materials for making his harness. We’re still mulling over the design aspects, but it shouldn’t be much longer.

I used to worry that I was pushing Gareth into this bike, that I was projecting too much of my own desire for us to ride together onto him. Let me just say that I no longer harbor such reservations.

Gareth loved his bike. Absolutely adored it. While fitting him for the pedals, we put his feet on both and held them in place while he turned the crank all on his own. It was just too perfect.

Jorene was on hand to provide a pedal restraint solution and to look at what we could do regarding torso restraints. Everything looks doable.

We also took the rack home tonight. Oh man, that thing is a beast. Getting it up and down the basement steps is going to be nightmarish but oh so worth it.

The bike will be finished up by late next week. After that, they’ll get my fitting done (seat and handle adjustments). Then it’s ours.