Local trike club to host ride through Bitterroot

by Sean Malcom

Stevensville resident, Jim Crews, has found a new sense of freedom with the help of his customized recumbent trike.

Following a work injury resulting in knee surgery and a broken foot, Crews has had a hard time getting around. “It’s hard for me to walk in rough areas, even just across the yard,” he explained. “So, I started looking around and I found these.”

What Crews found was a customizable recumbent tricycle that has been modifed with an electric motor and battery system. Catrike, a company based in Orlando Florida, makes the trikes before they are modifed with the electric motor. The motor is mainly used to assist in the pedaling process. While a manual pedaling mode exists, the motor makes pedaling up hills and for long distances easier and more efective.

Crews explained how each trike can be custom-tailored to each rider’s body. Since Crews has limited mobility in his knees, shorter pedal cranks allow him to pedal without irritating his knees. While simply walking his dogs to the park down the road from his house causes him pain, he is able to ride his trike 30-plus miles virtually pain-free.

Crews currently has two trikes and a special quad recumbent he has afectionately named “Traveller” (after Robert E. Lee’s famous horse). The quad is outftted with oversized mountain bike-style tires and is built to take on ofroad endeavors.

Not only has Crews found a new hobby, but the interest has spread with the formation of a trike club called Three Wheels of the Bitterroot. The club is composed of members throughout the valley that go on rides, share trail information and even help each other out with maintenance issues that arise. Crews explained that there are no recumbent mechanics in the state and a bicycle mechanic can only do so much.

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Crews frequently networks with other recumbent clubs outside of Montana. This coming weekend Crews and his club are hosting a group from Spokane, named Spokumbent. The clubs plan on riding trails throughout the Bitterroot from August 11 to 13.

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One of the main reasons the club was started was to help veterans. “We’re trying to get a foothold here so we can get some of our veterans involved,” he said. He continued, “This is fantastic PTSD therapy.” Crews explained the sense of freedom felt and how it “makes you feel like a kid again.”

While the hobby is a great way to explore, get outside and get ft, it does not come without danger. Crews said, “The biggest problem we have is drivers that are distracted.”

The trikes have front and rear LED lights and large bright fags, but Crews said he has still had a few close calls with distracted drivers. The trikes are roughly the same width as a standard bicycle at the handlebars and follow all the same road laws that bicycles do.

Crews wants to get more veterans involved in the club in the coming future. He hopes more people can fnd the physical and mental health benefts they can provide.

For more information, or to join, interested persons can visit facebook/threewheelsofthebitterroot.