I had the good fortune to be at Jeton for the trike shake down today.

Mark, Jim and the gang was already there when we arrived and Dave Kiley ( our test rider ) soon arrived.

Here are the photo's recapping his ride.

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Mark going over the trike with Dave

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Crossing the front wheels up had the same effect as when I do it on my bike.... Hello dirt  Dave was good to go and was right back at it.

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Dave said it was quite a work out and those of us that tried it just around the grass field will not argue that point.

Thanks Dave hope to see you out again.

Gramps

Awsome day in Cornelius. Really interesting to begin to see how these bikes perform and what it will take to become proficient with them.

After Dave's ride, Jim and Larry each did a lap. Combined with Mark's lap on Friday and some parking lot experience by several, we've got 'prolly 6 official miles on the trikes. (Not bad for less than a week old.)

Talk about a work out. These are an upper body bonanza. The challenging part everyone has experienced is steering with the chest/breast plate. Like anything new it will take some experimentation and adjustment. Dave finally found a "comfortable" position for the steering plate... after about 3/4 of a lap! I'm not sure if I ever did. 

Use of the plate wil be a challenge for women users. At least what we initially found is that there is not just one position for the plate to contact the upper torso. It seems you need some movement/contact of the plate from side to side across the chest. However, this is a first impression and the plate can be positioned widely to contact from up high on the chest down to the top of the abdominals. Also, with practice, the plate may be best used in a more stable spot on the torso than we found on our first tries; just not sure.  We do know that some women do use the trikes - really well.

Shifting with 8 gears on the rear AND with the 2 additional push-button "transducers/reducers" (?what are those called again Mark?) is  very cool; pretty intuitive (for a rider) and users will likely will become quickly proficient - just like our front/rear derailer reflexes.

Key to trail control (aside from steering and strength/stamina) is body position. I dumped like Dave did; different root but same result. If the trail is off camber and one wheel raises, you need to be shifted to the uphill side. If you hit a root with one wheel (just before or after the other wheel) on the uphill side, you need to have your weight shifted that way or else its "OK, unstrap and let's start this again" time.

Using one of these vehicles will give any rider a different view of the trail. The 50 feet or so of elevation of Jetton is a real challenge for a new user. All in all, I'd say that Jetton's features will be a geat introduction to new users of the trikes. Plenty of challenge, but yet with some experience, it will doubtless get easier. (Sounds just like my first experiences at Beatty!)

Bottom line: FUN. An into the woods experience with "Whooeee" downhills and plenty of new skills to learn and challenges to explore.

Wow 
What an experience, a lap is WORK but very FUN. I rolled around the field and thought I had the steering/shifting/"pedaling" down then I hit the trail, a whole new set of muscles getting to tote the load, add in the chest steering, different shifter position and a new riding position and the trail seemed narrower than I remembered.   
It was a lot of fun, thank you to everyone involved in putting this project together these trikes are going to put some big smiles on some faces. 
Not sure what is still needed to be donated but put me down for a helmet or a couple pairs of gloves, email or call me Mark and I will give you my card info. 
7046o82o69. 

Great pics!  Thanks for posting.  It does look pretty hard, but hopefully it'll be fun mastering those skills.