Ever since I was a kid, I've enjoyed all sorts of physical activity. It didn't really matter what it was, I was out there instead of sitting at home like a lump. What a shame the kids nowadays have so many other distractions. I know that they have some pretty decent thumb muscles, but that is where it ends.

My favorite team sport has always been and always will be Baseball. I even like to watch it, not just play it. I don't participate in it as much as I used to, but when I get the opportunity to, I take it. I like most other sports, to play and watch, just not as much as baseball.

I've run a good portion of my adult life. I liked being by myself and letting my mind work on problems that I have or just to let go of the day to day BS that we all go through. I've always liked the feeling you get at the end of physical exertion, when you are tired, but feel good that you went out and did it.

I tried Racquetball, liked it, but you have to have a nice court to get a good workout in. I used to play with this one guy at work before we went on duty. I really had no experience with Racquetball, but was up for a challenge, so I told him I'd let him teach me. He basically wanted a whipping boy that he could beat on a regular basis. Luckily, I'm pretty coordinated and pick things up pretty quick. As soon as I got to the point that I was beating him regularly, he all of a sudden found lots of excuses why he couldn't play me any more. I still play when I get the chance, but it's not my favorite workout.

My wife and I got into Road Bikes about 20 years ago. We had a decent sized group of friends that were all doing it. It was a lot of fun. I was averaging about 100 miles a week on my bike, not a whole lot, but enough to get a decent workout in. The problem with bikes is the time commitment. If you are seriously looking for benefit, you have to spend at least 90 minutes riding. Well, at least that was what I had to do. So after a few years of bikes, I went back to running.

When I was really into running, I'd average about 30 miles a week. I was running about a 6 ½ to 7 minute miles. Ran about 6 miles a day (I even ran a half marathon and several 5 and 10k's). In 45 minutes you could get a really good workout. But even these things don't last. As I've grown older, my times started slipping and I started having leg problems.

I always thought that my knees would go first. When I was in Pony league through Colt league and School baseball, I was a Catcher. I have a pop/click in my knees every time I squat down now, and it's been going on since I was about 16. In my later years of baseball/softball, I was an outfielder, so I think that the four years of Catching messed me up.

Luckily, my knees have held up pretty well, except for the popping. What started bugging me when running was my lower legs, just above my ankles. I started noticing the pain about two years ago. It didn't stop me at first, I ran through the pain. It got to the point where I thought that I was overdoing it. I took off a couple of weeks and started again. In a couple of days it was hurting again. I cut back to just 4 days a week, no relief. Three days, two days, no relief. I was sick about it. I started doing the elliptical trainer at work, no pain, but man is that boring.

Not too long after I started having the leg pain, my wife saw an infomercial about a new type of workout machine called a “Trikke”. She said it looked like a lot of fun. Being so Internet Savvy, I got on and searched for the “Trikke”. I found the website of the Company and watched the videos online. It did look like fun. We decided to order some and found this Internet dealer that had them for a good price. We ordered two, and waited... and waited... and waited. After about three weeks of waiting I got in contact with the guy and he said that they were back ordered. He refunded us the money right away. Then we sort of forgot about them for over six months. My wife saw the infomercial again and we ordered. This time we got them. There are several different sizes to the Trikkes, we ordered the largest, the T12's.

Just a short explanation of what they are... Trikkes are three wheeled cambering vehicles, or 3CV's for short. They look a bit like a scooter with two rear wheels. There is a main axle on the front steering column that allows the Trikke to tilt side to side. That is where it gets the ability to propel itself forward with your help.

If you're wondering, No, I don't sell them, I just am really enthusiastic about them.

So, we get them about 18 months ago. I'm at work, force hired, when they show up. My family really wants to try them out, so they put one together. They did a good job. They start riding it, but can't make it go very good. After about 48 more hours, I get to go home. I'm really wanting to try them out too. I get on it and can barely make it move. I do some checking and find that you need at least 80psi in the tires, I check and ours only has 30psi. That must be the problem, NOT. I'm pretty coordinated. Getting on this thing I felt about as uncoordinated as I've ever felt before. I'm not one to give up easily, so I try and try and try. I'm getting an incredible workout. Half an hour on this thing is about as much as I can take. One more thing, the Trikke is an unbelievable slope detector. I always thought that the road in front of my house was flat. It isn't. As soon as I tried climbing the imperceivable little hill, I would stop dead in my tracks.

So, after several days of practice, I start making it go pretty good, even up little hills. I can't believe how much fun and how low of an impact workout it is. I've got muscles that are sore that I didn't know existed, but it is a good sore. I keep riding and improving. Hills are a challenge, but I persist. Now after 18 months of riding, I'm pretty good at it. I can climb every hill around me. I have a bit of a problem with a couple still, but I can make it up them. I usually do about 6-7 miles a day. It takes me about 35 to 40 minutes. The best thing is that once you get your Trikking muscles in shape, there is no pain. My legs don't hurt anymore and I'm getting an incredible workout. My upper body has been toned up quite a bit (I don't lift weight any longer due to messed up shoulders). My biceps and triceps are much bigger than when I started Trikking, my legs have really toned up too. I know of several people who have lost a good amount of weight by Trikking.

I have to say that I am very happy to have found the Trikke. I look forward to riding it. As a matter of fact, I'm going out in about 30 minutes. The only draw back to them are that you can't ride off road with them. On asphalt or concrete only. It's mainly because of how you propel yourself, you need solid surfaces to get the traction.

If you're interested in seeing what they look like, the Company's website is www.trikke.com. There is also a message board devoted to Trikke, www.trikketalk.com, there are a lot of friendly people there who are more than willing to help anyone who has questions, or leave a comment for me and I'll try to answer your questions.

Thanks for reading and get in shape! AG