PEDAL STEER



As the internet has flourished,
It's the place where brains are nourished –
          Questions answered, good advice, and all for free.
But at times we find confusion,
Petty spats with no conclusion;
          On some issues, people simply disagree.

Pedal steer's one red hot topic,
Where the biased and myopic
          State their strong opinions – kooky to sublime.
Teams of tadpole testers wrote us,
"It's a problem you will notice.."
          Others tell us, "You'll forget it; give it time."

Some folks try to understand it,
And why builders haven't banned it,
          Simply making good decisions in design.
Are some tadpoles worse than others?
Men might ostracize their brothers,
          Disagreeing... So what is the bottom line?

One authority is certain:
"CASTER! That's the culprit." (Flirtin'
          With a partial loss of credibility)
Other pundits shun that war word;
Sure the rider's too far forward,
          They insist the key is fore-to-aft CG.

One guy says, "That boom's too flexy.
Sure, light weight is super sexy;
          Still a tadpole works much better if it's stiff.
Folding frame or soft composite –
That's the sort of stuff to cause it.
          Solid alloy steel would fix that in a jif!"

Some posts tell us, "Make tracks wider."
Others claim that all a rider
          Needs to do is just relax his stonelike grip.
Scores of would-be trike designers,
Second guessers, geeks and whiners
          Offer their beliefs or freely share a tip.

Though I rarely speak in bellows,
I – like all these other fellows –
          Can't (or should I say I won't?) resist the urge
To assist in education
Of the unwashed population,
          Helping logic, truth and reason to emerge.

No, you know of course I'm poking
Fun at technogeeks; I'm joking.
          Still there is some truth in what I have to say.
I've spent years in engineering,
Analyzing, probing, peering
          Into why contraptions act some quirky way.

When I started out three-wheeling,
I encountered that odd feeling
          As the trike began to waggle – gee then haw.
But did I, appalled or frightened,
Shout, "This wrongness must be rightened!"
          In a single word, the simple answer's 'NAW'.

I feel sure – at least I'm hopin' –
That if you'll keep your mind open,
          Though you doubt at first, you'll have a change of heart.
Gather 'round, all those who'll listen;
I'll share points some may be missin',
          Going back to basic biking as a start.

Hey... remember starting biking?
It was not much to your liking
          When the danged thing rocked from side to side – then CRASH!
Still all cyclists gained reflexes –
Smart and dumb folks, both the sexes –
          So that they weren't dumped each day they dared to dash.

You have seen one-wheeled abortions,
Watched their riders do contortions,
          Smiling, though they jerked around to stay upright.
Unicyclists, pedals pumping,
Pirouetting, even jumping,
          Balance as they ride, aloft, eight feet in height.

BOTTOM LINE (IMHO time):
Folks, it's not exactly SHOWTIME
          When someone can ride a tadpole straight and true.
Even if, when you first try it,
You may think, "Bull. I don't buy it,"
          Settle down and give it one more chance (or two).

Tadpoles yaw when someone meddles,
Blithely stomping on their pedals,
          But it's not at all essential (as on bikes)
That new riders learn rare talents,
Skills or even basic balance
          To prevent unplanned rollovers on their trikes.

With their stable three-point footing,
Tadpoles yaw, but they're not putting
          Even handicapped (or clumsy) folks at risk.
Riding tadpoles is so easy,
Thoughts of skill can be... well, breezy –
          Or at least until one's cornering gets brisk.

Some folks find some trikes instinctive;
Others get a strong (distinctive)
          Feeling when they pedal other trikes, they swerve –
Back and forth, like some cheap floozy,
Strutting through some joint, so boozy
          As she waddles by, her path's an ess-shaped curve.

But so what? Folks, pedal steering
Isn't something to be fearing.
          In most cases the sensation's pretty small.
Subtle shifts you make in spinning,
From the first as you're beginning,
          Well may mean that you won't notice it at all.

At its worst, it's one reminder
Trikes – compared to bikes – are kinder.
          Hey, at least you won't keep falling while you learn
How to make those small corrections
That will counter odd deflections
          As your pedals, cranks and wheels begin to turn.

Pedal steering is SUBJECTIVE.
Any rational detective
          Should catch on and tell the victim he's to blame...
Well, at least in part, I'm thinking,
Though I'm grinning now and winking,
          And although of course all tadpoles aren't the same.

I believe most tadpole riders,
Once they've stroked their three-wheeled gliders
          Long enough and far enough to earn their stripes,
Learn the simple compensations
For whatever deviations
          Pedal steering makes in tadpoles of all types.

Tadpoles don't demand much training.
Just go riding; stop complaining.
          Very soon you'll note your style has reached its peak.
Is it automatic? Brainless?
If it's mental, folks, it's painless
          To develop what's required for good technique.

So... I've stated MY opinion,
Which some TROLL (and faithful minion)
          Will insist and swear is wrong as wrong can be.
Hey, if TROLLS begin agreeing,
I'll be very swiftly fleeing
          To another point of view... Is that just me?

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Last updated Sep 10 2007