John Earle loves the Trikke Skki most winters and this year was no exception. Here’s what he shared with us about his most recent adventure on the slopes of Winter Park, Colorado:

I skkied four consecutive days and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. For me, the trip’s highlight was the fulfillment of a goal to Skki in one run, all the way from the very top of the resort to the resort base. On Tuesday, February 16, I was able to do this.

To get to the top required riding up four different lifts, plus traversing other slopes and runs between them. The whole process, including riding the lifts, skkiing to the next lift, etc., and then skkiing all the way down, took nearly 1.5 hours. The downward run itself was much quicker.

According to a sports tracker app on my phone, the run itself covered over seven miles of terrain, a vertical drop from 12,000 to 9,000 feet, and had a momentary top speed of 34MPH.

I am 75 years old. It was a blast!

In the picture, I’m in the red jacket. The person with me in the white jacket is my younger daughter Amy, age 45. We went together on my long run. The first two pictures were taken at the very top, just above 12,000 feet. The third one, as titled, is about 70% of the way down where we stopped for a quick breather.

 

For more about the Trikke Skki, go here  Skki – Trikke™ Official Site 

Trikke Skki is made in Poland and available in Europe. For more info, go here  SKKI – Zimowy Trikke – Bezpieczne Narty – Szybka Nauka

Also, check out the Trikke Skki scene in Europe is this cool video:

Living his best life on three wheels

There’s no shortage of inspirational stories of how Trikke carving vehicles have transformed the lives of some very inspired and inspiring people. After all, one need look no further than the Trikke Tales of the rider who went from super disabled to Supergirl, thanks to her Trikke, or the rider who went from tragedy to triumph on a Trikke, to bear witness to the endurance of the human spirit, as expressed through one’s love and appreciation of the Trikke.

Alexandre de Carvalho Lage is one such person we’re happy to introduce to you. Not only is his life story phenomenal, so, too, is his unique perspective on the Trikke, both as an exercise machine and a modern-day tool for urban transportation and mobility. In this two-part, special feature, we’ll get to know the man, his back story and his views of the curious topic of Trikke vs. the Scooter Craze, i.e., Lime, Bird and the plethora of electric scooters invading cities worldwide.

“The Trikke … works more muscles in a healthier way than any other exercise.”

A native of Brazil, Alex had an active childhood. As a teen, he used to surf world-famous Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Then at age 23, he had an uncommon accident while driving a 9-ton tractor during a vacation on a farm. Due to brake failure, the tractor ran over him, breaking his pelvis into four pieces and affecting his urethra and bladder.

Suddenly, his life dream became “taking a shower while standing on my own two feet.”
Barely able to move, Alex’s recovery process was long and stressful. He endured twenty-two surgeries, months-at-a-time in hospitals, and countless doctor appointments, medicines and physical therapy hours. Amazingly, after four years, he was able to resume a normal life.

It’s no wonder a person with that kind of spirit and determination was drawn to the Trikke, which Alex first saw at age 49:

“I was living in Curitiba (the birth city of Trikke inventor Gildo Beleski), working as a consultant, when I saw the Trikke in a shopping mall demonstration. It was love at first sight! I had to find out what it was all about it, and in two days, I was riding my first new toy.”

Since then, Alex says the Trikke has become part of his ecosystem.

“I felt how important it was, not only for my recovery but also to push my own limits. I rediscovered the radical surfer in me. Then I developed my own riding style. It felt like surfing the waves.”

Some fourteen years later, Alex still has what he calls a great passion for Trikke:

“For me, riding a Trikke is more than just getting exercise or using a fitness machine. Riding is part of my health regimen, just like eating, drinking, sleeping, or even stretching. It’s been part of my daily routine every week, at least three times a week.”

The biggest benefit, he says, is the fact that a full-body workout on a three-wheel Trikke is a powerful form of exercise:

“The Trikke carving motion gives you a better stretch over skating and is more intense than surfing. It works more muscles in a healthier way than any other exercise. I can easily burn 1,000 calories in one hour-long ride.”

Because Alex monitors his rides with his Apple Watch, his doctors and fitness trainers are able to observe the data generated by each ride. The result: they’re amazed by his results.

 

“I just turned 61 and I feel like I have the body of a 42-year-old man. Plus, I can really say (and prove) that Trikke is the most important reason I feel this way.”

All of this may make Alex seem like a salesman for Trikke carving vehicles, but the resident of Rio de Janeiro has no official job with Trikke, Inc.

“I’d say I’m an informal ‘take it to the limit pilot.’ I have an aggressive riding style and I’m always testing different models to the limit.”

Additionally, Alex has decades of experience as a consultant and developer for new business models and that’s where his unique perspective comes into play when it comes to Trikkes vs Scooters, a topic we’ll explore with this inspirational individual in part two of this special feature.