Liz was pedaling Reuben Chapman’s old Japanese three-wheeler up Liberty; RC used to run a delivery service back in the 70’s with it
Section: Stopped. Watched.
Looking ahead to next week, on Monday the Clean Energy Coalition is hosting a free Clean Energy Game Night from 7-9 p.m. at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti. The object of this game, according to the Rio Grande Games Web site, is “to supply the most cities with power when someone’s network gains a predetermined size.” (We don’t know what that means either.) Can’t stand to wait until Monday to play? Then plunk down about $45 for your own game of Power Grid at one of two Ann Arbor game stores: Vault of Midnight, 219 S. Main St.; and Get Your Game On, 709 Packard.
I operate a modest bicycle-based cargo hauling and delivery business here in Ann Arbor. Although I use a trailer hitched to a ordinary two-wheeled bicycle to deliver my loads, I’m also intrigued by pedal-powered vehicles that are designed from the ground up for carrying cargo. So when I spotted a three-wheeler in the wild, I pedaled up to the operator for a chat.
With the three-wheeler she bought from Reuben Chapman at his garage sale, Liz Brauer used to haul her son Nico up and down Liberty Street. He was younger (and smaller) then.
It turns out that Liz Brauer is not the original owner of this three-wheeler. She described how she bought it from Reuben Chapman, who previously operated a delivery business in Ann Arbor with this vehicle, which is of Japanese manufacture. Following up with Liz later for a photo op, I met her son Nico, who was born at home in the Old West Side house visible in the background.
On the follow-up visit I was also able to inspect more closely the joint connecting the frame to the rear axel. It allows several degrees of lean, so that neither the natural pedaling motion of the rider, nor turns taken at speed under load, are likely to lift either of the rear wheels from the ground. At this point, Nico likely exceeds the recommended load capacity of the vehicle, but in his youth Liz toted him around in the basket.
Although Liz uses the three-wheeler on a regular basis to get to downtown, and enjoys walking to downtown, she’s not hostile towards vehicles with four wheels–cars.
In fact, she argued in an op-ed piece [AADL archive registration required, but free, and easy] published in the Ann Arbor News, that “You can’t just announce that downtown living without a car is special and have people buy into it. You have to have public transportation that supports it. We don’t.”
This joint allows the rider to lean the vehicle, without lifting either of the rear wheels.
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