Quadracycle Surrey
Yesterday, Jen and Mimi (who finally got here after horrendous rush-hour-all-the-way drive from Seattle which took them three hours longer than it took me on the train to get to Eugene) and I strolled around Bend and eventually, rented a four-wheel quadracycle surrey to tool around some of the local bikepaths for a couple of hours.
It was a riot.
The surrey had a bench seat on which we could sit three across with two steering wheels, only one of which was connected. The two people on the outside of the bench pedaled—the drive trains being independent—with the “driver” on the left steering.
Mimi drove most of the time and did a fine job except when she got distracted and almost drove us into the river. We covered about 5 miles in around two hours, including a half-hour stop for drinks at a riverfront restaurant.
Although I can’t see how this quadracycle could be a viable on-road vehicle—especially in Seattle with our hills—(at anything more than the slightest uphill grade, we had to get out and push), riding around in it really made me wonder about the possibility of some sort of human-powered family vehicle.
Surfing the net, you find lots of places that manufacture quadracycles, but all seem to be recreationally-oriented. On the other hand, that’s how bikes are marketed most of the time, too.
I would love to be able to run errands around our town on a surrey-like vehicle. I think it would be hilarious to go out to dinner together as a family or take in a movie or just do all our shopping on one. The tandem is adequate for much of this, but being able to be all three of us together—and side-by-side rather than front-to-back—was particularly conducive to domestic harmony—or at least, hilarity.
Getting another bike would make eight—and that would be overkill—but a quad? That’s a bike of a different color.
It was a riot.
The surrey had a bench seat on which we could sit three across with two steering wheels, only one of which was connected. The two people on the outside of the bench pedaled—the drive trains being independent—with the “driver” on the left steering.
Mimi drove most of the time and did a fine job except when she got distracted and almost drove us into the river. We covered about 5 miles in around two hours, including a half-hour stop for drinks at a riverfront restaurant.
Although I can’t see how this quadracycle could be a viable on-road vehicle—especially in Seattle with our hills—(at anything more than the slightest uphill grade, we had to get out and push), riding around in it really made me wonder about the possibility of some sort of human-powered family vehicle.
Surfing the net, you find lots of places that manufacture quadracycles, but all seem to be recreationally-oriented. On the other hand, that’s how bikes are marketed most of the time, too.
I would love to be able to run errands around our town on a surrey-like vehicle. I think it would be hilarious to go out to dinner together as a family or take in a movie or just do all our shopping on one. The tandem is adequate for much of this, but being able to be all three of us together—and side-by-side rather than front-to-back—was particularly conducive to domestic harmony—or at least, hilarity.
Getting another bike would make eight—and that would be overkill—but a quad? That’s a bike of a different color.
posted by Professor Dave at 11:56 AM
1 Comments:
I think you should rename your blog to "327 Experiences of Summer!"
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