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July 3, 2009

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SCOTT ROCHAT

Inventor Gildo Beleski shows off his creation, the human-powered vehicle known as the Trikke, at Emporia State University. The Trikke, which was acclaimed by Time magazine as one of the top 10 inventions of 2002, is now being researched by ESU’s physical education department to see what muscles can benefit from exercise with the device and how.

It’s got three wheels and a lot of popularity. But can you get the exercise you need from a Trikke?

Emporia State University wants to find out.

ESU’s physical education department recently received 30 of the human-powered vehicles, along with a research project: find out what muscle groups a Trikke works and how. So on Thursday and Friday, the professors began working with the bike’s producers to hook up riders with electrodes and watch the results.

“They seem to feel it’s very therapeutic,” ESU associate professor Mike Butler said Friday, as he looked over the zigs and zags dancing across his computer screen from the previous day’s ride. “For an Olympic gymnast, this might not do much. But for someone rehabilitating from a back injury or a knee injury, it could be ideal.”

For those unfamiliar with the device, a Trikke (pronounced like “mike”) bears little resemblance to your childhood tricycle. To start with, there are no pedals — just a three-wheeled scooter with a V-shaped base. The rider stands on the V and holds on to a set of bicycle handlebars. To get moving, you either kick off from the pavement as though riding a skateboard or simply rotate your body until the motion starts the Trikke going.

SCOTT ROCHAT

ESU physical education assistant professor Paul Luebbers wires up John Simpson for a ride on the Trikke on Friday. The electrodes help record which muscle groups are being used and how intensely, so that ESU can judge the exercise benefits of the human-powered vehicle. Simpson is the business partner of the Trikke’s inventor, Gildo Beleski.

It’s not a straight ride. The Trikke weaves in and out, curving back and forth constantly. As it carves its path, riders are also in motion, leaning back and forth, straightening and extending muscles to keep their balance and the vehicle’s momentum.

Riders tend to develop their own styles as they get used to the vehicle. That, in turn, may affect which muscles get used the most.

“Where are you feeling it?” Butler asked instructor Damon Leiss while getting ready for another set of tests.

“More on the waist and the hip,” Leiss answered.

“After 15 or so rides, you know where I felt it? Right here,” Butler said, running a finger along his forearm. “And one of the others felt it in the glutes.”

The Trikke was named one of the top 10 inventions of 2002 by Time magazine. Its inventor, Gildo Beleski of Brazil, said he took the first steps toward it in 1989.

“I was trying to learn skateboarding or roller skating and having a hard time with balance, falling — I had no control,” said Beleski, who visited ESU for last week’s tests. “But the idea of ‘carving’ was a great sensation. So I thought of something where you can have balance and brakes.”

He gave up the effort in 1992. But when he came to the U.S. in 1999, he realized there might be a market for the vehicle and more places to ride it than in Brazil. He resumed work and applied for a patent in 2000, getting it in 2001. By then, he had a new business partner, John Simpson.

“In 2000, I was going out for sushi in Santa Monica and Gildo was on the sidewalk on his Trikke,” said Simpson, who took part in the ESU tests. “I thought, ‘He’s on a three-wheel scooter — he must have some balance problems.’ And then he just took off.”

At the time, Simpson distributed Razor scooters. His professional interest was piqued.

“I took off after him and said ‘What is that thing?’” he said, laughing.

The vehicles were first mass-produced in 2002. Sales were helped by a photo of Jennifer Aniston riding one in People magazine, then helped again by the Time magazine honor. Somewhere along the line, a teacher in Hawaii suggested pitching the vehicle to schools.

That’s how the vehicles ended up at a Baltimore educators’ conference earlier this year. Just in time to cross the path of Kathy Ermler, the chair of ESU’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation department. She was fascinated.

“It’s the sensation of it,” Ermler said. “It mimics skiing in a lot of ways. And in Kansas, how often can you ski?”

Soon, the school and the company had agreed to partner on a research project. Video would be shot as well, both for use in advertising and to synchronize with the muscle readings being taken.

Several of Thursday’s rides were done at a hill by the student recreation center. By Friday afternoon, the riding had moved to the level floor of one of the gyms.

“I’m struggling a little more than normal because the floor is slippery, so it may not look as easy” Simpson said after one ride, electrodes dotting his body,

“You have to replace your shocks, John, it looks like,” Beleski teased as he looked at the graphs. The others looked at him a moment.

“I used to replace shock absorbers,” Beleski explained.

It’ll be some time before all the data is analyzed. In the meantime, the 30 Trikkes will be made available to ESU’s physical education classes.

“This could be a dozen research studies,” Butler said.

“And don’t forget the important thing,” Leiss added, grinning. “This thing is fun.”

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