Stare me down!

I just love the stares I get from people. I mean, I don't really, but I think that now they're staring more because of the chair and I like that.

Today (on Black Friday of course), we went to the famous Rice's Market to do some crazed shopping. It is an outdoor flea market with some paved roads with big cracks and other areas with big stones. Apart from the droves of people choking the lanes, rolling over the uneven, and sometimes rocky terrain, was cake. It makes going out in the world so much easier. This chair (the Trekinetic K2) is like getting new legs.

I also love any downhill grades. This chair rolls so freely. It's fun to just let the chair go. Because of the great tracking the chair has, all I have to do is tweak the drum brake handles to slow my decent or guide the chair left or right.

Why front wheel drive is better

"When you propel a traditional rear propelled wheelchair, you are effectively pushing only against your body weight. If you push hard enough, you might lift yourself out of the chair. That limits how effectively you can push. Trekinetic realized that doesn't quite happen with front wheel propulsion, because the reaction to pushing is resisted and supported by the backrest.

The only reason it wasn't done before, is that nobody could make a front wheel propelled 3 wheel chair run straight. Trekinetic finally solved this with their innovative rear wheel bias system. Then they found their big wheels at the front idea, had a totally unexpected ability. Namely that the chair could traverse uneven and rough (off-road) surfaces with unheard of ease. Even the power GTE model benefits from this configuration."

 While these are the words of Trekinetic, I agree with what they are saying. It really is amazing having the wheels up front. It makes such a difference with the mechanics of pushing the chair. As I've said before, using the K2 is wonderful and the wheels up front made pushing seem easier, almost effortless in certain instances. Then hopping in my old chair, pushing seemed so foreign and wrong.

Don't judge a book...

While one might assume that because the Trekinetic K2 (top right) has these bad-ass wheels and really kick-ass profile that it is strictly for off road/down-hill racing, that's not entirely true. This chair is totally rad and built for getting everywhere, but it is also built for everyday use.

This is totally a "don't judge a book by it's cover" scenario. I've definitely come across people that have said, wow...is that a newfangled recumbent mountain bike? Or, hey, I have similar wheels on my mountain bike.

Now, interestingly enough, I did get this chair primarily for its outdoor versatility, but I also did get it to replace my twenty-year-old, beat up Quickie (similar model to the yellow chair, top left). I can see that there are similarities to the specific bicycles shown here. There is a specific road bike and a specific mountain bike.

There is a difference, though, in that with wheelchairs, you use them all the time. You sit in them day in, day out; whereas with bicycles you only use them for certain time frames. I mean, yes, there are certain chairs that you might only use for certain situations. For instance, rugby/basketball chairs are too modified to use everywhere or racing chairs are only used for road races.

I must say, hopping in the K2 makes the day much more enjoyable and nothing stands in my way.

(Trek bicycles are only used as representations of all road/mountain bikes and I do not mean to show any allegiance to the brand).

Friends...

I have the best friends in the world. There, I said it. Sure, I have over "1,000" friends on Facebook, but seriously, they are awesome.

Some of these friends go to the next level, however. This is the story of one particular friend...

When deciding upon the Trekinetic, I realized I'd have to pay $800 for shipping. Mike, of Trekinetic fame, (seen standing with my chair) suggested flying over to pick up the chair or if I knew someone who would be in the London area around the end of June/beginning of July, I could have them retrieve the chair.

I haven't flown in like forever, and if I did fly there, what would I do with my old chair (which I'd have to travel with...). Not to mention the expenses of travel, room and board. I decided to not fly to London and retrieve my chair.

The other opportunity was to call in a major favor. My friend, Sarah, was going to Ireland and England during that time because her daughter was competing in the world championship Irish step dancing competition. I asked, no, pleaded on my knees to see if she would go out of her way and stop by the company and gather my new wheelchair and brelly (umbrella for people on this side of the pond). She originally said no, her itinerary was already booked solid. I bribed her with some decent IPAs and she eventually said yes. Actually she almost had to plead with me because i didn't want to put her out...she is the best.

While in London, she hired a car and went to the shop/factory. She met the one and only, Mike Spindle, creator of the wonder-beast! She then forced her daughter to wheel herself through the airport so that the chair would be put in the airplane's hold for free instead of me paying a shipping fee. Although, because the chair is so AWESOME, Hannah had a blast! Everyone kept asking Sarah and Hannah about the chair and thought it was so cool, from security to other passengers, to the customs people, even!

And they wheeled it empty most of the time (through the airport) and people wondered where the person for it was!

Ooh baby, it's magic!

Now, as an able-bodied individual, you might think...what's all the hubbub...so it just has knobby tires and they're in front instead of the back. Big whoop!

I'll tell ya, it is a big whoop. This summer at Surprise Lake Camp, I found everything to be so much easier. It really set my mind at ease. Dirt roads are the main paths everywhere and this year my older son was on the other side of the lake. Previously, I would walk places with a cane or a big stick. But really would time my walking so I wouldn't really need to move that much. I would also try to bum rides from the few people who drove around in the golf carts. Needless to say, I would rarely get to the other side of the lake if I didn't have this chair.

It is almost magical. I kid...there's no magic involved, but it is a really cool chair. Having those big knobby tires up front really keep this thing moving. Down hills, across fields and rooty/rocky terrain and through the woods to grandmother's house we go... Also, with the wheels being further in front, there is a lot longer that your hands can be pushing. This helps a lot when pushing up hill. I was amazed at the difference it made.

There is also an issue that you run into when using normal/standard wheelchairs of tipping over while going up hill. You have to lean forward and you're always fighting to keep from tipping. Not having to worry about tipping is huge. While you do adjust the angle of the seat to be more upright, it doesn't change your purchase on the wheels and it actually makes going up hill easier.

This here's a photo of Heidi in Western Australia. I can't tell if she's taunting the water or has just wheeled herself across this stream...

Tennis, anyone?

In my teenage years, I found a love for tennis. I found a tennis pro in Oceanside, N.Y. who taught others in wheelchairs and went for lessons. I also used my time in gym class to focus on tennis skills.
 

It was neat to not have to do any of the normal stuff in gym (well, in a chair, one couldn't really do all the normal stuff). I actually looked forward to gym.

Tennis in a wheelchair is great. It is one of the few sports you can play against able-bodied people. As a quad (quadriplegic), I am allowed two bounces to return the ball, other than that, all the other rules are the same.

With all of these lessons and practice, I became quite good (imagine that!). What was I to do with all this skill? Well, it turns out that there were quite a few tennis tourneys around locally and nationally. I entered and traveled to different places around the US for tournaments. I played in Flushing, NY, at the US Open site which was really cool. I even met Ed Koch there one year. I also played in a tournament near New Haven, CT, which is where I was first given the nick-name "Walking-Talking Quad". Another multi-day tournament brought me out to the west coast to Costa Mesa, CA.

Pictured here, I am in my first chair (prior to the yellow rigid chair I still have now and just recently replaced with the K2). It was a sporty fold up style chair. I had a metal bar added to the push handles in back to give it some rigidity. It did not however come with enough batteries to power these pants which appear to be brighter than the tennis ball!

Song to accompany today's blog post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB2f6-U72Zk