You're Invited to the Adaptive Trike Rikert Launch Party!

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who came out to support Adaptive Trike Rikert at the launch party! We had a great time showing off the fat tire recumbent trike and talking to everyone about the benefits of adaptive sports.

Help Adaptive Trike Rikert reach its next goal!

The Adaptive Fat Tire Trike and Bike Program at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vermont is raising funds to purchase a hand-pedal adaptive trike to expand the program to people with spinal injuries. ​

Donate today!

We invite you to join us on Thursday, December 13th from 5:30pm on at American Flatbread Middlebury Hearth for the launch of a unique new adaptive cycling program! The Adaptive Trike and Bike Program at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vermont is designed to provide people with physical limitations access to the benefits of year-round outdoor exercise.

The story of this program begins with Larry Buck, a New Haven, VT resident who suffered a stroke in 2009, leaving him with limited mobility on his left side. Larry’s always been an active participant in sports, including hockey, biking, skiing, and swimming, and he knew he wanted to get back to an active lifestyle as soon as possible. Pedaling a two wheeled bike was no longer an option, but Larry wasn’t about to let that stop him. Right after leaving the hospital, he went out and purchased a recumbent trike. Many miles and a year later, he’d “literally rode it into the ground” and knew it was time for a new, more durable and adaptive trike that could take him wherever he needed to go.

Larry met Anja Wrede of RAD Innovations at one of ACORN’s Tour de Farms rides, and after an assessment of his needs, RAD custom built an electrically assisted Hase Bikes Kettwiesel recumbent trike that got him back on the road for three seasons of the year. It soon became evident to Larry that, for the sake of his physical and mental well-being, he needed to go a step further, to find a cycling solution that would keep him active and moving throughout Vermont’s long winter months. A fat tire trike was the ideal solution. Fat tires allow riders of all ages and abilities to negotiate snowy, muddy, off-road terrain, making cycling possible in conditions that would otherwise keep cyclists at home.

But Larry didn’t stop there. He wanted to share this gift of mobility, this ability to enjoy the outdoors in all weather, with others who might also be struggling with the isolation and inactivity that winter weather brings. He collaborated with his friend Mike Hussey, director of the Rikert Nordic Center, to develop an adaptive fat tire trike and bike program. RAD Innovations is proud to support this endeavor. This fall we built the first adaptive recumbent trike for the program, complete with fat tires and an e-assist motor. 

The Adaptive Trike and Bike Program’s goal is to one day have a fleet of fat tire trikes for riders of all abilities to enjoy, and is now raising funds to purchase and build a hand-powered bike for use by individuals with spinal injuries.

We’re excited about the possibilities of this project, and are committed to providing the expertise and equipment needed to see Larry’s vision come to fruition. We invite you to learn more about this program at the Adaptive Trike Rikert Launch Party, where Anja and David will be on hand to provide information and answer questions. We’ll be screening video about the program and adaptive cycling in general, and David will be speaking about the larger impact of adaptive sports and RAD Innovations' experience helping people around the world. We hope to see you there!

More Information:

Adaptive Trike Rikert GoFundMe page - help make this program vision a reality!

New Haven man helps launch adaptive trike program at Rikert - a great article in the Addison Independent about Larry & the Adaptive Trike Rikert program.

Adaptive Trike Rikert Launch Party event info on Facebook - let us know you’re coming!
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RAD’s adaptive bike assessment and build process - learn how we help individuals of all abilities enjoy freedom through mobility.