Saturdays News - Recumbent Bike: Human Powered Vehicle

Recumbent Bike -- Human Powered Vehicle
Good sample of the recumbent trike, this is VeloMobile, but many trikes made by many manufacture shop.



Human powered vehicle, riding in Vilnius Lithuania. Good presentation of www.velomobiles.eu production.

Recumbent Bike -- made in Florida
The Brazilian mechanical engineer, Paulo Camasmie, developed from the prototype to the best manufacture recumbent trikes in the USA.  See Catrike.

It's Catrike - Part 1

It's Catrike - Part 2

Big Cat was created in 2000 by Paulo Camasmie, a Brazilian Mechanical Engineer. Paulo always dreamed of designing, engineering and manufacturing new quality products to improve people's lives. Big Cat is the fruit of that vision.

The Catrike has received so far 6 awards for the Trike of the Year by the readers of Bent Rider Online. Big Cat has also been elected in 2008 the Manufacturer of the Year under 100 employees by the Manufacturer Association of Central Florida, and in 2009 the Manufacturer of the Year under 125 employees by the Manufacturers Association of Florida.

At Big Cat we focus on product development, engineering and process design. The result are great products that look fantastic, work beautifully and flawlessly, require very low maintenance, are user friendly, and sure to provide many years of fun and pleasure at an affordable price. As a consequence of that, we are making over 2,300 trikes and bikes every year and growing steadily.

Our passion for design & engineering is reflected in our product, which speaks for itself. A good example is the breakthrough design of the Catrike Space Frame, fully triangulated and an impressive relation of strength, stiffness and weight, and its "magic carpet" like ride & handling.

Production is one of our main areas of strength. We make our frames in house in our facilities in Florida using a production system process we developed ourselves. This system is based on lean manufacturing, but adapted and perfected to our needs. We focus on simplicity, reliability, flow and visual controls which makes us a benchmark in manufacturing. We have a great control over quality and an always expanding know how in product design based on the experience of actually making them ourselves. We call our system "Flow Manufacturing" or informally "The Cat way".

The future is bright for Big Cat as we have several new exciting products in our R&D queue, and we have a wonderful team of people working in this company.

Try it for yourself at one of our 140 selected dealers and experience the exhilarating feeling of riding a Catrike or Catbike.  (Many shops sells Catrike in Canada).

Saturday Comics - March 31st / 2012

For Better and For Worse

by Lynn Johnston /2006-10-23

(This a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim [14th of the series stroke of 88 -- every week])

"... with him will be precious."   

Dilbert

by Scott Adams / 2012-03-29

"Your page layout is ugly!"

Garfield

by Jim Davis / 2012-03-30

"... drinking from my Hot Tub!"

Pickles

by Brian Crane / 2012-03-28

"Hey ladies! What is cookin' ?"

* I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons.  It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very low.  Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using  GoComics.com and Dilbert.com.

Saturday News Articles - March 31st / 2012

Cycling Comfort At Its Best

(by Bentley Cycle & Trading Post)

Tadpole Recumbent Trikes.

The trikes we ride are known as "tadpole recumbent trikes". (We can also order delta trikes which have the two wheels on the rear & one on the front).  "Recumbent" means that you are sitting in down with your feet in front of you. These "trikes" have three wheels with two in the front and one behind the rider. This style of trike is known as a "tadpole".

A Bike?

These trikes ride like a little sports car or a go-cart. With their extremely low centre of gravity it is easy to take fast turns without fear of flipping over. Like a bicycle, these trikes are pedal powered and will go as fast as you can pedal. Unlike a bicycle, the trike does not lean when turning, so it is up to the rider to lean and keep all the wheels on the ground. Turning is done with the steering bar that goes under the seat and has handles on each side.


Comfort?

Riding a trike is similar to pedalling a really comfortable lawn chair. Most of our trikes have a mesh seat which keeps you cool, and many models offer adjustable seat positions. Some people ask if it is uncomfortable to pedal with your feet in front of you. Actually, it is very easy and isolates most of the pedalling effort to your legs, which means that your entire upper body does not become fatigued. The recumbent trike is fast becoming the cyclist's machine of choice for long tours precisely because you can ride all day without hurting.

Fast?

It depends on who is asking and how much riding experience you have. Because of the recumbent position of the rider, different muscles are used to pedal. You cannot use gravity to help you by standing on the pedals and instead you learn to "spin" the pedals. Most people that are currently fast riders will find the trike to be slower initially because of this.  However, once accustomed to the recumbent style of riding it is possible to go very fast. One of our team riders has a modified trike and regularly cruises at 40km, with flat-road burst speeds of 60km, and down-hill even more.

Expensive?

Adult trikes range in price from $699.00 usd to over $5000.00 (import costs will apply as charged to dealership)...  Just as with bicycles, much depends on the features and components. We offer many ways to customize your trike to best fit your needs and budget. When considering the price of gas nowadays, people everywhere are looking for alternative transportation. Replacing some of your commute with riding a trike will save you money and provide a healthier you.

Safe?

Riding a trike is very safe and offers some safety advantages over riding a conventional bicycle. It is very stable at any speed and eliminates the need to balance. Instead of wobbling up a hill you can go as slow as you want and even rest without taking your feet off of the pedals. Riding in traffic is also very safe. Since most people have not seen trikes regularly they usually give you more room and slow down to take a look. If you are riding in tight traffic you can enhance your visibility with a flag or neon coloured tail-sock.

More?

If you want to learn more about trikes we have lots of information on our website. For trike reviews and articles about trikes check out www.bentrideronline.com & try a google search on "recumbent tadpole & delta trikes....."

Where to find them?

Bentley Cycle & Trading Post
Bentley, Alberta, Cdn.
4932-50th Ave. P.O. Box 114
Phone/Fax # 1-403-748-3176
email:   bentleycycle@shaw.ca
website: www.bentleycycle.net

 Comments of SSTattler:

SSTattler: Monty, Gary, and myself went to Bentley Cycle & Trading Post last summer.  The shop has a huge new recumbents - on the ceiling, mounted on the walls, and sitting on the floor.  We were welcome to sit on the trike,  discuss about accessorizes & parts, and, if we want, take the trike for a demo outside.  The Bentley gentleman knows some people have a disability - you absolutely need 1) SPD pedals (any bike shop, cures a "gimp" leg), 2) Bentley can adapt a trike  to one-hand to the gears & the brake (me - necessary as well).  My advise to you:

• Come to my house (or Monty's house or ...) - see a real recumbent trike - maybe it is for you and maybe it is not but I least you can see it.
• Take it for a ride - in the garage or a couple of blocks.  A have MR-Swift (made in Australia) with one-hand controls, and a Catrike (made in Florida) with normal controls.



SPD Pedal / Shoe
(e.g. Mountain Equipment Co-op)

• If you do not know what "SPD pedals" (and mostly people do not know) SPD means "Shimano Pedalling Dynamic" and the cost is approximately $35 for the pedals & $50 (and up) for the shoes.  They work for years, so the investment is minimal.

   Have a beautiful ride / John A.

Singing Therapy Helps Stroke Patients Speak Again

by Richard Knox from NPR

Laurel Fontaine, 16, (left) and her twin sister Heather. When Laurel was 11 years old, she suffered a stroke that destroyed 80 percent of the left side of her brain. The singing therapy helped her regain the ability to speak.

Debra Meyerson was hiking near Lake Tahoe 15 months ago when a stroke destroyed part of the left side of her brain, leaving her literally speechless. It happens to more than 150,000 Americans a year.

But now Meyerson is learning to talk again through an approach that trains the undamaged right side of her brain to "speak." Specifically, it's a region that controls singing.

Read the full article.....

Intelligent, Affordable Rehab Robot to Help Stroke Patients

Professor Mihailidis

U of T's Alex Mihailidis Designs Table-Top Technology
by Erin Vollick for U of T News

Associate Professor Alex Mihailidis Rehabilitation is crucial after a stroke. Yet patients don’t always do their exercises because they’re boring or difficult to do at home.

But what if you could make them easy and fun?

Enter University of Toronto Associate Professor Alex Mihailidis of the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the Faculty of Medicine and his intelligent, table-top robot.

"This new robot will help to advance the use of robotics in stroke rehab," said Mihailidis, “as it will provide an affordable and accessible technology that can be used in hospitals, clinics, and in the home.”

Read the full article ......

(copied from StrokeNewz)

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Saturdays News - ReJoyce: Rehabilitation Devices for Stroke

ReJoyce - Rehabilitation Devices for Stroke

Rehabtronics develops devices for people with movement impairments resulting from stroke, spinal cord (SCI), brain, and other neurological injuries. ReJoyce, released in 2011, is a hand, arm and shoulder rehabilitation workstation. Recent scientific studies have shown that ReJoyce-based therapy can help people recover arm and shoulder mobility, and hand dexterity. ReJoyce is currently available for clinical use around the world.

If you are interested in ReJoyce-therapy at home, check out our At Home Stroke Recovery Program (http://www.hometelemed.com/).

The following is a compilation of videos about ReJoyce (http://www.rehabtronics.com/) and from organizations like the Rick Hansen Institute and the Alberta Heritage Fund for Medical Research.  Also look at the HomeTeleMed Blog (http://www.hometelemed.com/blog/) -- lots of various Blogs, YouTube, Flash, Vimeo, ... and lots comments/e-mail.

(SSTattler: Many thanks from Dr. Prochazka / Dr. Kowalczewski / and many more ... They made ReJoyce from a prototype to a real device in Edmonton -- now worldwide).


Introduction to the At Home ReJoyce.


 
Telerehabilitation At Home using ReJoyce.


 
Jennifer Gabrysh, use the At Home using ReJoyce.

Saturday Comics - March 24th / 2012

For Better and For Worse  by Lynn Johnston /2006-10-22

(This a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim [13th of the series stroke of 88 -- every week])

Click Me!

 "A stroke isn't going to get our way..."   

Dilbert               by Scott Adams / 2012-03-21

(Pick The Best Of The Week for your good humour)

Click Me!

"I can't sign off ..."

Garfield            by Jim Davis / 2012-03-14

(Pick The Best Of The Week for your good humour)

Click Me!

"Target practice!"

Pickles                 by Brian Crane / 2012-03-16

(Pick The Best Of The Week for your good humour)

Click Me!

"That guy on TV is talking so fast ..."

* I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons.  It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very low.  Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using  GoComics.com and Dilbert.com.