It’s still rainy, but colors are beginning to appear.  And the timing’s perfect because the gray is beginning to wear on me.

Along with the crocuses, daffodils, buds on the trees and bushes, and the crescendo of a million little frogs out in the pond in the evenings, there are some other bits of good news. 

CURVE kits are now available for all Trident trikes – Stowaways, Spikes and Chameleons.

Kits are also available for ICE trikes with mesh seats. 
 
And we’ve just finished a prototype kit bracket for Terratrikes so CURVE kits can be fitted to all TT’s including the Rover.  Terratrike kits should be available shortly.  

The custom kit for the Actionbent T1X was finally finished and shipped to Michael Clark recently.   Making a bracket without having the trike and just relying on photographs and emails was a challenge, but Michael was great to work with.  Here’s some of what he had to say after he installed the kit with the new adaptor bracket. 

“The curved neckrest that Steve fabricated for my 2010 AB T1X arrived today in the mail. The excellent news is that it fit like a leather glove and is PERFECT in every way how it works with my mesh seat. I am so excited and now I'm praying for a little better weather so I can make some miles since my melon sized head/neck is supported.  The way this looks on my T1X is like 6 million dollars. His neck rest is like the fancy icing on a wedding cake. My trike is red and the neck rest cover has large red block embroidered lettering that says "HOTROD" on the black cover.  ...All good things come to those who wait!!!!!”

I don’t generally do this, but I’m feeling proud and want to share some of what customers have been saying.  Here’s some recent comments.  Thanks to you all.

“Looks great, fits perfectly.  …Enhancement idea: add a small waterproof cloth roll up pouch and end caps for the top tube, so people can use it to stash a spare $20. That's what I'll be doing.  Just a thought. It's already a very nice product. Thank you, Steve.”  - Avery Jenkins.  

Thanks Avery.  All kit tubes now come with end caps like Hotrod's.  You have to supply the $20!

“Thanks so much.  The neck rest is great!”  - Walt Ebbert

“Thank you for the beautiful new headrest.  I think it will be a great addition to my Road.  The quality and workmanship are excellent.”  - Patti Erickson

“Thank you so much for a great job!  I love it!  - Dean Vesey

“Awesome job on the neck rest.  Looks really great on my “Hot Rod.”  I’m sure it will make me go faster.”  - Bill Lewis

And here's the cover for Cornell's new neck rest that will go on his beautiful blue Catrike Expedition...the Blue Coyote.

When you order your new neck rest ask about embroidery.  The possibilities are nearly endless, and in a rainbow of colors.




It seems surreal to be writing about neck rests while a madman and his army are slaughtering his own citizens and an island nation already reeling from devastating natural forces is trying to cope with the unimaginable horror of a nuclear catastrophe.  The neck rests are something small I can control, a center that helps me anchor when so much that's indescribably powerful is totally out of my control...or even influence.  Be wary of business interest and their minions who tell you that blue is green, that nuclear energy is safe and what's happening in Japan could never happen here.  

And while I'm clearly off the neck rest subject, question leaders who tell you that basic quality health care for all Americans is socialism and un-American because it requires that all people have health insurance.  T.R. Reid wrote a really fine book entitled, "The Healing of America.  A Global Quest For Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care."  Here's an interesting quote.  "Perhaps the most tragic indicator of America's troubled health care system is the number of newborns who die each year.  ...Surely any decent health care system would develop effective mechanisms to avoid neonatal death.  But out of twenty-three wealthy countries, the American health care system ranks dead last when it comes to keeping newborns alive.  Our rate of infant mortality is more than twice as high as the rate in the top-ranked countries, Sweden and Japan."  Maybe if more families could afford prenatal care this wouldn't be true.  Here's another interesting quote.  "When I was traveling the world on my quest, I asked the health ministry of each country how many citizens had declared bankruptcy in the past year because of medical bills.  Generally, the officials responded to this question with a look of astonishment, as if I had asked how many flying saucers from Mars landed in the ministry's parking lot last week.  How many people go bankrupt because of medical bills?  In Britain, zero.  In France, zero, In Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland: zero.  In the United States, according to a joint study by Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School, the figure is around 700,000."

Resist sound byte truths, question authority, be wary of anyone selling "THE truth," and then go take a nice bike ride.  Spring's nearly here...and for the moment, the sun's out.