I've got a new way to get around. My girls learned to ride their two wheel bikes without training wheels, my wife got her old bike tuned up, and we thought a trike would be a good idea. We took our first ever family bike ride on Tuesday night and I loved it. If my body and time allowed we'd still be riding. I love the ability to do something active with my girls as opposed to just watching them.
The type of trike I got is a TerraTrike Traveler. There are three hinges on the frame, the seat detaches and the sway bar comes off. That allows the trike to fold up for easier packing in vehicles. When it is all collapsed it fits in the trunk of most cars. TerraTrike is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I ordered it from Pedal in Portage, Michigan so it didn't take long at all to arrive. The staff at Pedal were absolutely wonderful. They let me try out the trike first, showed me how to fold it up and, definitely most importantly, they took great care of making sure I was aided through the process. Like most people, none of them had ever heard of ataxia but they seemed genuinely interested in me and how the trike could be used by someone like me.
Like I mentioned before, this was the first time we'd rode as a family. First, I had to unfold the thing. It was difficult this time but from now on it'll be a piece of cake. My driveway is only about three car lengths long but it slopes down to the street. I popped of the break locks and I was off on my first trike ride. Well, almost. My wife wanted my girls and I to pose for a photo first. Now I was off! The trike is designed for recreation and has an eight speed internal gear system. They mentioned I needed to be coasting when I shift, which is not a very natural thing for me I found out. Once I got the hang of that it was smooth sailing... until my calf decided to cramp up. It was still so much fun! I cant't wait to get out there again!
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Ride number two, 1.5 hours. I love it.
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