Triker Dave (ICE Adventure)

Dave Beedon, a regular Trike Asylum reader and happy triangular enthusiast, owns an ICE Adventure, which he purchased from Coventry Cycle Works in Portland, Oregon. If you have any questions for Dave about his ICE, visit his triking page HERE, and he will reveal all you wish to learn. He is yet another ICEman in our triangular realm of freedom and fun!

Click HERE to visit Dave’s Flickr page.

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DAVES’ HOMEMADE TRIKE RAMP

My car (minus two rows of seats and with a custom-built floor) is ready to be loaded with my recumbent trike. A home-made ramp makes the loading easy. The previous system is known as the “brute force lifting” system, which was not much fun.

The upper ends of the ramp assemblies have been positioned next to markers on the car’s floor. The bottom ends will be positioned at the correct width by the narrow board at left (it rotates 90 degrees clockwise and interlocks with the right ramp assembly).

The assemblies are made of 1×4 lumber, each has one horizontal board and a vertical guide board. The boards are held together by screws. The left assembly also has a thin spacer board held in place by (and rotating on) a short nail. The right assembly also has a small stopper to hold the spacer in a horizontal position.

The spacer board has been rotated into position, where it engages the right ramp assembly. A small stopper block keeps the spacer horizontal. The ramp is now ready for use. The first version of the ramp used a nail to engage the spacer with the right ramp assembly. The present design eliminates the nail and the inconvenience of keeping track of it.

Masking tape shows where to position the right ramp assembly.

Ready to load the trike into the car. There is no assembly for the trike’s center wheel because it is not needed. I lift the rear of the trike, either by the rack or the frame of the seat, and push the trike up the ramp. Vertical guides on both assemblies keep the wheels on the ramp.

The trike and nested ramp assemblies are stored and ready for travel. The two short strips of masking tape show me where to position the upper ends of the ramp assemblies.