Not long ago, on a Recumbent forum (rbentonline.org), someone posted a Freedom Ryder Handcycle for sale for a friend. I asked if they could get me in touch with the owner, with the idea that if the price was reasonable, we could get the money together and bring the bike with us to San Antone next spring.
I got an email back from the owner of the handcycle, Doug Exum. He had discussed my proposal with his wife, and had a change that he wanted to make. He wanted to donate the bike!! As part of the donation, there are a few upgrades that Doug would like to make to the bike, and I agreed that we should cover the costs required. There are a few little things like cables and such that we'll have looked at, and the handcranks themselves will be upgraded. They are currently close together, and we'll be upgrading them to the ones that are shoulder width apart. Doug has done all the groundwork, and Mike Lofgren of Freedom Ryder has agreed to donate the cranks themselves. Bear in mind, this is TWO sets of cranks, one for Doug's bike and one for the one David got for us!! We'll just need to cover the cost of the chainrings. So the total cost for Freedom Ryder will be roughly $300. Pretty darn good for 2 sets of cranks and all chainrings. The smaller stuff will be taken care of by JD at Richardson Bike Mart. He has agreed to donate the required labor, we'll just have to buy the parts.
David and I have met with Doug to discuss the handcycles and generally shoot the breeze. He's an easy going guy, and is planning to ride with us in the spring on his new handcycle. So to Doug, thank you so much for your generosity. Let's all welcome Doug to the group and thank him for what his selflessness will do to help out our wounded vets.
Steve
