So, the day has finally come. After 1,100 miles I was in need of an upgrade. Let us start at the beginning. I, with the help of some others, built the Rick that you have all come to know and love! It was a tank with Coop, myself, and all the gear weighing in at some 700 lbs. It only had three gears which meant at every uphill battle I would have to hop off to either push it up while walking along side it, or harness myself to the front so that I could pull it behind me. True to the definition of a Rickshaw; something pulled or pedaled! Before I peaced out of the NYC I was trying to line up some sponsorships that would aid in our completion of this monolithic journey. Surprisingly none were interested, so we've been doing it by ourselves. Just like every on of those uphill battles that are now behind us. Upon our arrival in Annapolis a friend of mine, Katzander, gave the heads up to a company in Colorado known as Main Street Pedicab. http://www.pedicab.com/ Getting to the phone I was able to reach them through a representative named Dan. He gave ear as I got him up to snuff about all that Cooper and I are setting out to do. I asked if he could help me out in any way. Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm happy with what I built. I'm proud of what I built. It's just that it weighs in at an amazing 700 lbs.! I'm not training for the worlds strongest man competition. I'm just trying to make it around the United States. So after giving ear, Dan told me that he would look into it and run it by the owner of the company. It didn't take long to hear from Main Street Pedicab. They offered up a used floor demo peditruck for a deposit and all I would have to cover is the shipping. They told me that once I was done with peditruck, upon returning, they would give me back my deposit. While talking to them over the phone I noticed that my head was nodding that it was good deal. The only thing was that the deposit was over a grand and the shipping cost to the east would be five hundred dollars... At that time my head was doing the numbers. I only had three hundred dollars to this name of mine. That's where the photo contest came into play. With that first place prize money and some big loving help from my parents- I was able to bring all of it together. I had the replacement in route being shipped to Wilington, NC. As I was heading to Wilington I posted an add on Craigslist to see if anyone was interested in my original Rickshaw. As it turns out one person was interested. His is name was Seth. He was looking forward to starting a new business in the downtown area, a delivery slash courier service. How surprised was he to see that his ideas were going to come to fruition. Now my Rickshaw, or rather his Rickshaw will be his main star vehicle. For over eight months I labored on that three wheeled notion sinking over a grand into its creation. Seth as a young business man was only able to afford a couple hundred, some dinner, crunchy dog food, and a comfortable spot to pitch my tent in his back yard. It was all good enough for me. The following morning I loaded all of my gear and my good buddy Coop into his truck so that we could head on over to the Two Wheeler Dealer where my enormous package would be awaiting us. Like most things there was a bit of a wait. I sat outside for a couple of hours with all my belongings and the memory of my original Rickshaw who helped me get this far. At ten, the doors opened up and an army of employees came outside one at a time to put out all the bikes for sale today. Coop went to each one of the employees to say his hellos. I was looking for Camron the receiving guy, but he wasn't in yet. Waiting for his arrival, I started fielding every ones questions about what it is that Cooper and I are doing. For the rest of the morning and early afternoon I chatted with employees and customers about our adventures and where it was that we were intending to head towards. Get this, a woman named Kim was so smitten over Cooper that she kept asking me if she could have him! At around two o'clock it arrived. One of those familiar looking delivery trucks pulled up to reveal an enormous wooden crate. I jumped up runningly to get to the busting of it open. The time had arrived! Busting it open I was amazed to see that it was fully assembled and ready to roll. After we got it down I gave it a good once over with the staff in tow. I loaded up my gear and got Coop situated as I said my goodbyes, hitting the pedals, and getting to what I have set out to accomplish- 10,000 miles, excuse me, now only a mere eight thousand nine hundred!
So, a little about the new one. It is bigger, but it is so much lighter. It isn't waterproof, but it can hold so much more. It's even aerodynamic. Coop is now fully contained which relieves a lot of unnecessary stress for me. The frame is less than 200lbs which makes it about 200 or more pounds lighter than the original. This new one has 21 gears! The old only had three. I'm over the pedals more versus the being behind them like the old one. It truly does give more leverage by being over them. All in all, it's an important upgrade. I only have two more days to go until Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! I'll be staying with an Army buddy for the whole Turkeyday Weekend. While there I plan on putting my own personal touch and style to the new ride. Till next time,
Love and Licks,
Sean and Coop!
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