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!

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!

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.

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.

The last entry questioned our lack of rides. That’s not really a problem now. Gareth and I did neighborhood rides on the 19th and 22nd, followed up by another ride on the Lower Trail on the 23rd. The biking bug has definitely bitten again.

In other news, the whole family will be biking in this year’s Tour du Port in Baltimore, MD on October 21st. This event will mark the first time Gareth and I will engage in extended road riding. Until now, we’ve stuck to trails, paths, and maybe a short stretch of street near the house. Brandy will also be making her road debut on the Catrike.

After some extended rides with the rock climbing harness, Gareth has professed his love for the comfort it affords him. This is great news as it means he is still happy to ride even after an hour and a half! One of these days, I’ll get photos together to show what modifications we’ve made with everyday materials in order to facilitate his cycling.

Has it really been nearly a month since the last ride? Painfully, yes. As the temperatures climbed into the 90’s, Gareth decided that riding his bike was not a priority over playing with Star Wars toys. My itch for a family ride finally brought the drought to an end.

On Saturday, August 11th, we drove out to the Lower Trail with our bikes and gear in tow. This was our first time doing two things: 1) using Gareth’s new rock climbing harness as a hip/lap restraint; 2) packing the trike panniers with Gareth’s supplies for a rest stop.

Let’s talk about the harness first since I’ve mentioned it in the past. It worked really well. The harness has two plastic loops meant for hanging supplies (like chalk bags) that are situated on either side of the primary restraint. All I needed to attach that to the bike was an appropriately short and taut bungee strap. The only trick to using the harness is that we have to put it on Gareth before we put him on the bike. The old restraint remained on the bike at all times. A small price to pay for a restraint that works much better for Gare. He told me that it was much more comfortable than his old hip restraint, which means that rides should be much more tolerable for him now.

The big lesson I learned on our 20 mile ride was that Gare needs to get off the bike at some point or else he’ll become quite uncomfortable. When Brandy bought a rack for my trike, I purchased panniers for it shortly thereafter. We put them to good use for our trail ride, packing them with a blanket, spare diapers, Gareth’s food, a camera, repair tools/supplies, et cetera. This allowed us to stop on the trail and attend to Gare’s needs (like the need to stretch) in order to prolong the ride. As a result, we ended up doing 5 miles before stopping off to rest and returning back to the trailhead. At no time did Gare express discomfort or a desire to stop the ride.

Actually, he really loved this ride. The Lower Trail is wide enough that we could ride right alongside Brandy. He got a kick out of being able to reach out his hand and touch his mom, and I got a kick out of being able to see my trike in action without actually being on it.

The trail itself is a beautiful, well maintained, flat stretch of crushed stone traveled by some very friendly folks. If you’re in the area and looking for a relaxing ride, it’s definitely worth the time. The only thing I would caution is that if your bike/trike is greater than 36″ wide, you might have difficulty getting it through the trailhead fences.

I think Gareth was relieved when we rode for a mere hour on Saturday morning. Turns out that we actually took the less hilly route by choosing the 20 mile over the 10. I tried the 10 mile route solo this past Sunday and was amazed at how uphill it really was.

We’re running into a bit of a problem right now, though. His hip restraints are now a bit too small for him, and they’re digging into his thighs. I think this was one source of discomfort for him on the 20 mile ride. Time to start looking for a new solution, something that will keep him in the seat and will restrict his ability to slide his hips under and out. I have an idea in mind, but it requires an experimental gear purchase.

I posted a few days ago about the arrival and installation of the Hase twin stand. Now that I’ve had several opportunities to use it with Gareth, I can say with confidence that if you’re going to purchase a Pino for somebody with a disability just order the heavy duty twin stand from the start. It makes loading and unloading Gareth much easier and allows me the ability to actually dismount the bike when he needs suctioned. Before this stand, I had to balance the bike between my thighs while twisting my torso back to front in order to get to his suction machine and then get to his trache.

Speaking of Gareth and riding, we rode three times over the Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday, we rode for an hour or so at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg. The great thing about that ride is that Brandy (my wife, Gareth’s mother) went along for the ride on my recumbent trike. She never learned how to ride a two-wheeler, so I’m thrilled that she took to the trike as quickly as she did.

Later that evening, Gareth and I went on a short ride not far from Colyer Lake as we were visiting his grandparents who had never before seen him ride his bike. And on Monday, we went out for a quick (1 hour) ride around the neighborhood, doing lots of fast turns and running through puddles from the shower the night before.

In adaptation news, Gareth and I have battled for a long time regarding his head positioning while sitting in the stoker seat. Gareth has a tendency to lean to the right. Normally not a problem, but while bike riding, that lean puts his helmet directly in the way of the handlebars as I’m turning left. There have been a few times where that has put us in a dangerous situation. Over the months, I’ve tried lots of possible solutions – different belts, shoulder harnesses, neck/head positioning pads – but none of them were effective. I now have a solution: a foam kayak roof rack. Foam block roof racks for kayaks come with two blocks that have a center channel meant for running a strap through and over the kayak. Those channels are also small enough and tight enough to grip to the side bars of the recumbent seat. Since sliding those into place, Gareth has been unable to get his head past the foam block and into the path of the handlebars. Problem solved. Foam block roof racks sell for about $20 (and I’ll try to get some photos of them fitted to the Pino since what I just typed probably doesn’t make any sense).

And, last but not least, Gareth and I are planning to attend the RBR Recumbent Rally on June 15th. If you’re interested in checking out the Pino, feel free to walk up and say “Hi”.

The twin stand from Hase has finally arrived!  Though, it arrived without mounting bolts and also without instructions.  After a bit of fidgeting, I was able to figure out where the various struts of the stand connect to the bike and now have it completely mounted.

Brandy gave it a test by sitting on the stoker’s seat with the stand down.  It held her weight comfortably with minimal rock, so it should do great for Gareth.  We probably won’t get a chance to try it out until Saturday.

I have to say, though… When you see it, it’s hard to think that it costs $245.

Gareth and I have gone for two more rides in recent weeks: one around the neighborhood; one around the south end of State College.

Neither ride has proper Ride Journal entries.  We seem to have become incredibly lazy about that.

Our ride around the neighborhood illustrated a major problem – Gareth has a very hard time keeping his head upright when riding the Pino.  As a result, his head flops to the right, and I find myself completely unable to turn left since the handles then smack into his helmet.  Not good.

During our ride in State College, I stopped by RBR to ask if there was any update on our new stand (no) and to talk about possible solutions for the head issue.  After some quick brainstorming, I came up with the idea of talking to a local fabricator about making side rails for the seat that would extend from the bottom (where the handles are mounted) to the top where the seat cover crosses.  For the sake of support, I think we would also have to create a rail that goes across the top to keep the seat from collapsing inward, though I don’t know what that might do for Gareth’s comfort when he gets older.

After RBR, we visited the home of my cousin Alex and the home of some friends of our family.

I’m really getting frustrated with Hase at this point.  It has been three months now since I put in the order for the new stand.  While the bike is mostly working well for us, I’m starting to think that we should have just gone with Bilenky since the drive to Philadelphia would have been much quicker than waiting for parts from Germany.