Author Topic: Handcyle with wheelchair  (Read 9244 times)

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Offline handcycle

Handcyle with wheelchair
« on: January 22, 2009, 05:59:21 pm »
I am a 30-year post paraplegic and will be handcycling solo this summer E-W on the transam.  I have two dilemmas I am trying to resolve.  1st; Any ideas how I can tow my wheelchair efficiently?  My rear tires are 26" on both my trike and w/c so I was thinking of re-using the same set to save weight.  But I need to be able to remove my wheelchair from tow, remove my tike rear tires, and put them onto my w/c, all without standing.  Obviously I will need to get off my bike frequently to enjoy the trip and refuel my body.

2nd; hearing lots of scaring dog chase stories and I sit low to the ground.  Any easy tips to keep them from chasing and biting you?

Offline Westinghouse

Re: Handcyle with wheelchair
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2009, 12:15:52 am »
If I were you,  what I would do is this. I would do some practice riding like you will be doing on tour, and work it out. You could put your gear on the WC using it as a trailer. Because I am not familiar with getting around as a paraplegic, I am not able to advise you on that. Perhaps it is possible for you to rig up some sort of release on the connection between the bike and WC that can be thrown by pulling a wire or something. Once it is released you could cycle back around to the WC for what you need to do. A problem might be relieving yourself. You most likely will find yourself out in the middle of nowhere, and much in need of a private place to take care of bodily necessities. How would you get off the road, and maybe over a guard rail or fence, and off into the bush?

As for dogs on tour, I have had many experiences with them. Some cyclists might carry pepper spray, which I have done but never used. I saw another advise carrying a water pistol containing a mixture of water and ammonia; this I have never done. The fact is that dogs can be an occasional annoyance or hassle or whatever, but by and large they are not a real danger unless one comes charging at you from out of nowhere, startling you, and causing you to involuntarily swerve out into traffic. It happens.

There is something about the movement of cycling that sets dogs off into a headstrong frenzy of barking and chasing. I mean, you come along, and there is some dog in a yard. It has been lolloing around all day perhaps. It catches sight of you going by on your bike, and it immediately goes nuts. It starts barking, snarling, yelping, and growling, and chasing you at high speed and going for your heels with all its might. I have seen dogs go absolutely bananas at the sight of me cycling, even if I was two hundred feet away from them. I have seen them come charging out at me, stopped only by a fence around thge property. They would follow all along the fence line to the end, and then go ape trying to jump over the fence or tunnel under it.  This kind of reaction comes from dogs of all sizes from the largest dogs to even those little Mexican Chihuahuas. That is no kidding. I wa cycling through some town. Somebody was carrying one of those little Mexican dogs. It saw me. It went crazy trying to jump from its owners arms and chase along.

I have worked out a manner of dealing with dogs. In spite of all the noise and chases not one dog has ever actually bitten me.  However, they do seem to be fond of going for the feet, and some have come close to biting. First, slow down a bit, look at the dog and yell out a loud, sharp report, and when I say loud and sharp that is what is meant; something like you might expect to hear from a marine corps drill sargent. You might have to yell a number of times. The yelling will bring some dogs to a halt. Some will stop temporarily and continue, and slow down or halt every time you yell. Just yell out hut or ha loud, sharp, and clear. If that does not dissuade the cur from pursuing his pleasure or whatever it is he gets out of the chase, come to a dead stop and give him the yell. He will stop. He may turn around and take off. He may tarry a while and snip and growl. He may come close, but my experience is the actual attack will not happen. I have cycled 34,000 miles through 19 countries, and six or more times across the USA, so I know of what I speak.

I have always ridden an upright touring bike, therefore, having a dog running along and chasing at my heels is a different matter from riding a recumbent with the animal more nearly at the vital parts such as torso, head, and throat. My general advice is this. If you are concerned, do what I have told you, and carry a water pistol with water and ammonia in it, if legal to do so, or a very good pepper spray, not one of those little key chain things, but a canister with a real fog or large volume spray that comes out, but do not use it as a first response. If you yell and stop and yell, the dog will stop his pursuit. In other words, do not run and it will not chase. Often, as you are stopped at the roadside waiting for the animal to lose interest, its owner will come out and call it back, and it trots on home. If you stop and it stops and loses interest, it might head back to its territory on its own, but if you take off it will turn around and continue chasing. Dogs, for the most part, are a temporary nuisance, but not a real serious danger. However, I am sure cyclists have been actually attacked, and perhaps even injured.

When stopped, the hound may come close, but will not actually sink its teeth into your hide. If it is particularly vicious or mean, give him a whif of the pepper spray or whatever, but I have never found that to be necessary. If you get off the bike and walk a ways, which you would not or might not be able to do, it could lose interest; get back on and cycle away, and it will pick up where it left off, or just go home.

Try not to let a dog catch you by surprise in close quarters. That happened to me once, and I tipped over injuring my ankle. It was at night on a quiet, placid road. A very large dog came charging aggressively from out of the bushes near the side of the road. All of a sudden I heard this very loud barking and snarling, and saw a blur out of the corner of my eye. In an attempt to stop, dismount immediately, and get the bike beteen myself and the attacking dog, I forgot my feet were strapped into the pedals, and tried to get off on the right of the bike, I fell over and twisted my ankle. Well, at least I fell over away from the dog and not toward it. After all that the dog just stood there looking at me, and turned around and left. It was one of the larger breeds of dog, and I am sure it would not have harmed me, but it caught me completely unexpected, and I reacted unthinking with a start. There was no time to think through what to do. The subconscious mind told me I was under attack and needed to respond, and I did.

You might have dog problems in some areas at times, and no dog problems whatsoever in other places. In 1984 in winter along highway 90 in Florida free ranging dogs were all over the place, and I might add, were often seen dead along the roadside after having been slammed by motor vehicles. In 2007 I cycled 90, and ther was not the first problem with the first dog; very different from 1984. In countrified areas dog owners may be more disposed to letting their dogs roam free. Some may be fenced in, but have some little tunnel dug out under the fence in some bush-covered corner. They actually seem to be smart enough to try and cover or hide their tunnels. Anyway, that is about all I can tell you. If you go into Eastern Europe, you may find canines of a very different stripe; very different from the friendly domesticated kind we are used to in the USA. For some of those dogs I encountered in eastern Europe, nothing short of a 12 guage shotgun would save you.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2009, 06:59:07 am by Westinghouse »

Offline valygrl

Re: Handcyle with wheelchair
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2009, 02:36:30 am »
RE: towing - I haven't got a clue, but maybe these guys do:
http://www.paradoxsports.org/

RE: dogs - pepper spray

Have a nice tour!


I am a 30-year post paraplegic and will be handcycling solo this summer E-W on the transam.  I have two dilemmas I am trying to resolve.  1st; Any ideas how I can tow my wheelchair efficiently?  My rear tires are 26" on both my trike and w/c so I was thinking of re-using the same set to save weight.  But I need to be able to remove my wheelchair from tow, remove my tike rear tires, and put them onto my w/c, all without standing.  Obviously I will need to get off my bike frequently to enjoy the trip and refuel my body.

2nd; hearing lots of scaring dog chase stories and I sit low to the ground.  Any easy tips to keep them from chasing and biting you?


Offline handcycle

Re: Handcyle with wheelchair
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2009, 02:46:07 am »
thanks for the helpful advice  :)

1971cuda

  • Guest
Re: Handcyle with wheelchair
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2009, 01:28:06 pm »
Hey! Im also a post wheelchair user thinking on doing a bike trip! I was surprised when I seen your post! I would like to chat and bounce ideas off of each other!

Offline tonythomson

Re: Handcyle with wheelchair
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2009, 01:39:26 pm »
Hiya and good luck, good advice from WH re the dog.  They can be scary but I also have never actually been bitten however in some countries where rabies is prevelant you can get packs of dogs which is scarry.  I tend to use my water bottle to give a good squirt at the nose.  On the whole though you shouldn'y have this problem in USA.  On the positive side any dog coming running at you sure encourages you to get up that hill you've been struggling with a bit faster. ;)
Just starting to record my trips  www.tonystravels.com

Offline geegee

Re: Handcyle with wheelchair
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2009, 01:46:17 pm »
I've seen several kits to convert wheelchairs into handcycles, but you're probably aware of them already:

http://www.davincimobility.co.uk/index.php?page=veloce_handcycle

Best of luck on your adventure. Don't fret too much about dogs, most of the worst behaved dogs are usually tied up or fenced. Plus, although you are lower to the ground, your three-wheeled set-up is more stable and you'll probably be able to reach for defense easier than an upright cyclist could.