Weird Contraptions on Rail Trail

I often do my warmup on a rail-trail before turning onto the road to do some hill work, and today I saw the strangest things on the trail. Two people, each "riding" (it's hard to figure out what to call this activity) a thing that looked sort of like a scooter, but taller, and with three wheels instead of two, one up front and two behind. There was that same tall handle that a scooter has, but their feet stood on platforms over each of the rear wheels. There wasn't any sort of chain drive mechanism that I could see, but they seemed to make the things move by steering the handle from side to side. I guess the physical benefit is probably to the core muscles since it seems to be a repetitive twisting motion, sort of like kayaking.

The woman had a tiny dog in her backpack--he seemed to be smiling!

Anybody ever seen such things before? I probably should've slowed down and talked to them, but I really had a good pace going and didn't want to interrupt it.

I'm guessing what you saw was a Segway. I've seen a few around. Cities like DC are beginning to use them for tours, instead of walking.

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Originally Posted by Bad JuJu

I often do my warmup on a rail-trail before turning onto the road to do some hill work, and today I saw the strangest things on the trail. Two people, each "riding" (it's hard to figure out what to call this activity) a thing that looked sort of like a scooter, but taller, and with three wheels instead of two, one up front and two behind. There was that same tall handle that a scooter has, but their feet stood on platforms over each of the rear wheels. There wasn't any sort of chain drive mechanism that I could see, but they seemed to make the things move by steering the handle from side to side. I guess the physical benefit is probably to the core muscles since it seems to be a repetitive twisting motion, sort of like kayaking.
The woman had a tiny dog in her backpack--he seemed to be smiling!
Anybody ever seen such things before? I probably should've slowed down and talked to them, but I really had a good pace going and didn't want to interrupt it.

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I saw one of those a couple of days ago! It was the strangest thing. No, it wasn't a Segway, all I could think of was that it looked like a mechanical crab-thing. It looked kinda awkward, but I could see the physical benefits.
It wasn't very space efficient, either, as the range of motion forced the rider to take up the entire bike lane.

I have one!

It's a TRIKKE. And it is FUN! (they have brakes, too)

www.fitter1st.com is where I got mine.

http://fitter1.com/trikke-scooter.html

I saw one in the spring. Some fella was using it on the multiuse trail where I ride, hogging both lanes. If I'd have only had my handlebar-mounted supersoaker w/me :p He didn't have the technique down and was all over the place. Thank goodness I haven't seen him since.

I also saw a rather hunk-ish guy using one at Haines Point awhile back. Now HE had the technique down.

A couple of weeks ago there was a couple demostrating trikkes at my local beach. It looked so fun, I had a try. You achieve movement via the twisting/turning of the handle bars. It's a bit tricky at first, but with a bit of practise I suppose you could get quite good at it. The couple also said, that it was possible to ride centuries on it. Now, that's something I would like to see!
But I'll tell you this, it sure does give your upper body a good workout. A few minutes on the trikke & my arms were hurting.
They gave me their business card http://www.landzooom.com/index.html

I've seen infomercials on the Trikke and would love to try one out... I enjoy rollerblading, I think it'd be a fun way to cross train from biking, especially if it gives your upperbody a work out....

Though, what kind of terrain can they handle? We have a lot of chip sealed streets around here. I would imagine that one would have to wait until they got packed a bit better. Even then, it's hard to rollerblade on those streets.

They look like fun, but... all that wide side-to-side motion would be very dangerous on road shoulders or on bike paths shared with others on foot and on bike! Can't really get up hills either? Might be good on wide empty streets and parking lots...
Glad to see it is not motorized- no more wasted gasoline!!!!

Yes, these had to be Trikkes. I'd never seen them before today and didn't know such a thing existed. They do seem to take up a lot of space, but these two folks must have known what they were doing, since they didn't take up more than their side of the trail, and they stayed in single file so that was nice.

I have no idea how they'd do at climbing, but they don't look like the sort of thing you'd want to take out on the road. But, who knows?

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Originally Posted by Kalidurga

I'm guessing what you saw was a Segway. I've seen a few around. Cities like DC are beginning to use them for tours, instead of walking.

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No wonder America is overweight. Honestly.

There is an older couple here that always rides them on the trail my hubby and I ride. They are very curteous and stay in their own "lane". I think it looks like fun!

One of the neighborhood kids has one. I don't think he does the twisting thing much, but he seems to have fun on downhills. I've debated asking for a try-out.

Thanks for letting me know what the contraption is.

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Originally Posted by alpinerabbit

No wonder America is overweight. Honestly.

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Thanks for saying that for me ;)

Those Trikkes, though, look like they would be a good workout and very fun. Someone should make the tourons, umm, I mean tourists use those instead (Did I say that???). ;)

I really don't use my arms much on my Trikke, it's far more my butt and thighs.

You shift your weight as you lean/turn the front wheel. Feels like skating. There are people who commute on theirs, and you can ride them uphill (but it takes serious work).

I'd rather commute on my bike. The Trikke is just for fun at our house. We play with it in the school parking lot and playground.

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Originally Posted by alpinerabbit

No wonder America is overweight. Honestly.

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You don't know that half of it. People at work ride the elevator up ONE floor and the folks in their 20s complained so much about having to walk in from the "far away" parking lot that the powers that be redistricted the reserved parking. Now a lot of the older, higher paid folks have to park out in Lower Slobvia. [it's not that far, for crying out loud, either].

Oh, when they opened a Dunkin' Donuts nearby, there was a MASSIVE celebration.