Testimonials
If you have a personal story to tell readers about how riding a recumbent trike or adult tricycle has demonstrated the concepts of fitness, fun and freedom for you, please submit them here and we will be sure to post them promptly.
Cynthia and Steve,
It was a pleasure to meet you both yesterday. I felt like I have known you both for years...very strange...but I think we have a lot of things in common.
I wanted to let you know that my first ride for one mile or so was just like someone had given me my first step out of jail. (Not that I have a clue what that is like. I'm just assuming.) To be able to ride with the wind in my face and not have any difficulty moving the peddles or be worried that I was going to fall was just wonderful. I felt that "little" muscle ache that Steve said I would feel and knew it was time to stop. Today I have NO pain in my knees from it and a little feeling like I had some exercise on my thighs.
I can't wait to go again and I scoped out the street to my Mum's house to see if I could make it there. It is about 3 miles....So hopefully the weather will be nice later and off I will go!
Thanks again and I wish you and Trike Shoppe all the best.
--Linda J.
Boca Raton, Florida
March 27, 2010
P.S. I just went on-line to Amazon.com and bought Cynthia's book. Can't wait to read it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Wishing you the best...
Hi,
My name is Mark M, and I live in NY state. I am legally blind, and I am a retired law enforcement officer from NYC. Having just read your posting on the Greenspeed Owners group message board I felt compelled to write.
I am truly thrilled to read about your new shop, and I am looking forward to visiting you in the near future on my next trip to Florida. I generally visit the Boynton Beach & West Palm Beach areas, where I have family. We will be just a "stone's throw", which is quite exciting now.
I agree with all the things you have stated in your little "About Us" description, and truly believe that this is the right time for a shop such as yours. Though Florida (and that corner of the country) may have recumbent bicycle dealers it is sadly lacking a shop that specializes in recumbent trikes. What better place for it?!!! You are also correct that the needs of our disabled riding brethren also need to be addressed.
I wish you the very best of luck in all your endeavors. It will be my pleasure to do business with you once you are officially opened in October of this year, 2009.
Thank you for realizing the great need for this service and for going forward to fill this void.
Hope to see you soon.
--Mark M ("blindtriker") ______________________________________________________________________________________ I am answering your introduction 'off web' not because I don't want all to hear but because I have mentioned it several times before. I, too, am legally blind, with SRNV AMD (wet type Macular Degeneration) of both eyes plus severe Myopia My experience of trying to go through the local newspapers has been dismal. I think they consider both hearing loss and especially vision loss as worse than death. I have managed to get one front page article into the Sedro Woolay weekly when I first acquired my electrified trike but a misquote had me "slandering" the medical profession. Being almost 75 and without a companion/spouse, I have not yet tried your "going public" method but have considered it several times. In fact, I am still considering purchasing a Greenspeed Glyde to expand my stable. I have offered time sharing for local touring on my trikes and am a member of the "Warm Shower.org" bicycle tourist host group. I wish you the best of experiences plus my e-mail address to share with any one interested in local commuting on a tricycle with vision disabilities. I realize that some cities may be worse than mine, but I do travel regularly in the most populous and 3rd and 4th most populous cities in our county, which is halfway between Seattle and Vancouver BC.
From: J Brown
Subject: Handicap Trikers
(-14D) and mild cataracts. Also deaf without my cochlear Implant processor. I no longer drive and depend upon my Greenspeed trikes (GTR & e-GTO) for my independent transportation in a semi rural community. I started a HoH support group 16 years ago when I could still drive safely. I would like to mentor LoV & HoH Seniors to extend their capabilities by using coping skills and equipment.
Sincerely, D. J. Brown, DBOG (DBOG = deaf blind old goat)
Sedro Woolley, WA USA
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Fabulous Idea!!
Congratulations on the new business and I wish you great success. I live in Upstate New York and am legally blind as a result of an auto accident in 1971. My HPV's are my only source on independent transportation. Thanks for seeing a need and rising to meet it.
_______________
John R.
Rochester, NY
______________________________________________________________________________________
Cynthia,
I will try to keep this real short and two the point. In late 98 I was diagnosed with a progressive and rare disease - Ataxia. Exercise became my way of 'dealing' with the lost of balance & coordination - it just so happened to slow the progression of my Ataxia down. But late 05 I was given a Comfort Cycle (older delta style trike) - WOW, now I could get the exercise that I so much needed (God new this, but not me - it was just my way of dealing with it). However, the older deltas were not stable and I was getting more & more road rash to prove it. Then my parent got me a GreenSpeed GT5 - over 17,000 miles and three years later, NO road rash and the FUN and FREEDOM I have on my GS - I should be locked up in jail for having THIS much FUN. And the Freedom, I don't drive any longer (personal reason), but I don't even miss it. I have a Burly flat bed trailer that I pull if I need/want to haul anything!
Steve---I never cease to marvel at the way you and your lovely wife run your business. I was in a "retail business" for many years. I did so honestly and helpfully. It is almost impossible to find people in business today who really "give a s___". So my thanks go out to you and your wife! Cynthia, When I read, I have a tendency to underline passages that "leap out and speak to me." I only got to your Preface on page xxii before I first grabbed my pen for lines 11-12 and 17-20. Your gift to me of your book now has a destiny of it's own. When next I encounter someone that is seriously in need of a motivational shot-in-the-arm to enable them to continue the struggle...I'll pass it along...and ask them to do likewise. Many thanks for sharing...and, by the way, I love my Trident Stowaway II as does my Shiba Inu, Rocky
Earle B. Hello Cynthia - Cynthia and Steve, Just a note to tell you how much I enjoyed my experience of purchasing my Trident Trike from you. Although I haven’t met Steve yet, we’ve spoken on the phone a number of times and it always feels like I’m talking to an old friend. Let me tell you that the almost 3 hour trip from Punta Gorda to Lauderdale by the Sea was well worth the time. Mike your mechanic had my bike just about finished when I got there and we had some time to talk and adjust the trike properly before I left. I was really impressed at the quality of the Trident Stowaway II, and was even more impressed when I folded it up and it fit in the back of my Hyundai Sante Fe. SIDEWAYS !!!! I had expected to have to drop the rear seats to fit the bike in but wow, no dropping of any seats, and I still have room to put other stuff in there. What a great idea to have the bike fold in half. Now I don’t have to spend $300 plus on a hitch rack!! My first honest outing was two days ago, and I decided to run my local streets. What a mistake! Three houses away and a little girl shoots out in front of me on her electric scooter and it was either hit the kid or crash. I crashed!. No injuries but I broke the support for the right front fender. I called Tom at the factory and he told me “ No worries, another will be on the way today”! Now that’s what I call service. By the way, thinking back on that crash, had I not been on a recumbent trike, and had that trike not been a Trident with it’s 9 foot turning radius, things might have been very different. The amazingly responsive steering and those Avid B77 brakes kept that little girl from becoming a statistic. In closing I would again like to thank you for my introduction to the Trident Stowaway II, and hope you sell a million of them. John W. Punta Gorda, Fl Bruce and Barbie W. Thanks again for all your help with selecting my Greenspeed trike. I am very happy with the trike and the accessories. It's a lot of fun to ride and it doesn't hurt my back at all (which was the main point in getting it). I've been riding it on the 3-mile-long Struble Trail which is right here in Downingtown (a beautiful shady ride on a paved trail along the Brandywine Creek). I also wanted to let you know I appreciate having the rear view mirrors. I don't really use them as handles, but they are very useful on keeping tabs on cyclists and cars coming up behind me. One very satisfied customer, ______________________________________________________________________________________ Trike Shoppe's mechanic, Mike, was fantastic with my adjustments. The service was exceptional. Cynthia & Steve bent over backwards to accommodate my every request. Thank you Cynthia, Steve & Mike. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Hello there Steve, Cynthia and Mike, I just wanted to tell you what a great group of people you were to do business with when I was shopping for a recumbent trike. The 3 & ½ hour drive from my home in Venice was definitely worth the trip. You took the time to let me test ride two different Greenspeed models making sure the were properly adjusted for my size and gave me a nice little demonstration on the folding of the trike. I honestly thought I was going to be buying a GT3 after riding that one first, but then after riding the X5 sport, I knew that was the one that I wanted, but I thought it was going to be outside of my price range with the accessories and all, but your creative pricing allowed me to get the trike I really wanted. If I ever run into someone looking for a trike I will certainly recommend that they call and talk to you before they visit another trike shop. Just a post note, I FINALLY got to take the trike out for it’s maiden voyage after 2 more days of rain since I was at your shop. It’s great all the adjustments are perfect. I rode 34 miles here in Venice on the Legacy Trail. Ken M. 
David/a.k.a. Spinner
_______________________________________________________________________________________
I won't go into detail, but I took a pretty good setback recently. That aside, I really like the looks of that "bike" just as it sets. My currie is not going to give me much more service. I think i am going to be forced to go ahead with this transaction if I am going to have "wheels". I cannot walk to the bus stop comfortably, and I sure do not want to call a cab.
Please give me a price shipped to my doorstep, and I will try to "work it in". Thanks again!
Chris W.
Santa Barbara, California
_______________________________________________________________________________________
On January 19th you gave me a copy of your book, Searching for the Open Door: A Woman's Struggle for Survival from a Traumatic Brain Injury, with the admonition that "once you start it you won't put it down until finished." You certainly called it right and I've just finished it in one sitting as you forecasted.
None of us will ever know how far it may go...
Miami, Florida
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Carol and I have each read your book "Searching for the Open Door." Certainly an unexpected and very trying time in your life. Your recovery todate seems pretty complete to us. We would not have known of your handicap if you had not mentioned it or asked the question. I hope the disapointments of the early ninties and the realization that they have led you to a full life in Florida are a compensation. We understand and appreciate the life you live today as a bicycle entrepreneur as opposed to the world of international political intrique which we think would provide few success stories.
We have not used the new trikes as much as we wanted becasue of the cold weather in Florida. I think Spring has finally arrived on the west coast and we have several outings planned. We have been around the neighborhood on short rides many times and we enjoy the trikes.
Good luck.
Carol and Chris W.
Englewood, Florida
_______________________________________________________________________________________
All the best to you both,
Sincerely,
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Steve and Cynthia,
To say today was fun was an understatement. It was great to meet you, Cynthia, Mike and Sergio, your mechanics. What a great team you have! IT WAS A BUSY DAY, but we were only 5 minutes late for our 5 pm dinner so all's well that ends well.
I've put about 15 miles on the bike since getting back from dinner and it was great. My biggest problem is the bike is so effortless to ride I found myself riding to hard and too fast. I'm sure I'll adapt though.
Thanks again for all you all did today.
Wellington, Florida
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Cynthia and Steve,
It sure has been a great pleasure working with you. I wish all the people I have dealt with over the years had the same enthusiasm and sincere thoughtfulness in business transactions as have been exemplified by the two of you. It's just a pleasure to talk with both of you.
Respectfully,
John S.
Chocowinity, North Carolina
______________________________________________________________________________________
Steve,
John G.
Downingtown, PA
To all who read this,
I carefully researched my new bike & decided on the Ice 26" Recumbent. Trike Shoppe had 1 in stock & I took it out for a spin. I really loved it, & by the spring, I rode away with the new Ice 26" Recumbent.
I have been riding the recumbent for 2 months now & I am doubly pleased with it's performance.
Dennis B.
Canada and Boca Raton, Florida
Venice, FL
The “Legacy Trail” rider