The Wildfire Human Powered Vehicles Grand Opening

On Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25, between 10:00 and 3:00 both days, I held the Wildfire HPV shop Grand Opening to get the word out that we are here and open for business. Saturday, a steady stream of people came by after about 11:00 PM, and I had a good time chatting about recumbents and velomobiles. It was overcast for most of the day, but in the afternoon in between showers we managed to get in some test riding, primarily of the trikes.

On Sunday morning the family piled into the car for the grand opening ride planned that morning, and on the way to the shop we came alongside a pickup truck with a recumbent with front fairing in the back. We wondered if they were headed for the shop to go on the ride as well, but they turned the other way. A couple of minutes after we pulled into the shop parking lot the pickup pulled in after all, and he introduced himself as Dale. He unloaded his bike, a short wheelbase, under seat steered Vision, and we chatted while unloading the vehicles and getting set up for the ride. After a few minutes a visitor from the previous day named Ed, who had said he might show up for the ride pulled into the parking lot with his Gold Rush Replica.


Before the ride

We were about to set out on the ride, but first we had to put on my daughter's helmet...It was not to be. Her nap time had passed about a half hour before, and there was no way we were getting that helmet on her head. So after a short discussion, my wife, Elyse opted to stay with her and to set up some hors d'oeuvres in the shop before heading home for naptime.

The ride went fairly smoothly - although one of us did take a spill after catching his front wheel where the pavement dropped off into the soft shoulder. No injuries to report, though. The turnaround was out at the working pier in Camp Ellis where we talked cycles for 20 minutes or so before starting back.


Ride pictures

We set a faster pace on the return trip which was otherwise uneventful except for a short stretch where we chased a roadie. Back at the shop we swapped bikes for a test spin in the parking lot before Ed headed home. Dale hung out for awhile before he headed off to work in the afternoon. A bit later in the afternoon, some relatives stopped by to see the place, and that wrapped things up.

Over the course of the weekend I got to meet a bunch of new folks who are interested in recumbents and did some more to get the word out that Widfire HPV is here and open for business, so all in all I consider it to be a successful weekend.

Later this season I'd like to do another ride. Check back in the news section periodically for updates.