A most unusual tricycle
By Mike Eliasohn

Lance LaVanway's tricycle admittedly looks strange -- it is, after all, a pedal-powered school desk -- but beyond the unusual appearance are some interesting details and a lot of machine work and welding, all done by Lance. The 17-year-old senior at Coloma High School in Southwest Michigan built the trike as a junior class project, the classes being machine shop and welding.

"I wanted to make a bike and Mr. Kritner (machine shop instructor Kevin Kritner) said, 'Make it original." The teacher also suggesting including the old desk into the design. Lance started by making drawings. "Every individual piece I had to come up with a blueprint."

The only frame parts cut from a bicycle frame are the head tube and rear dropouts.

The 20-inch rear wheels are both off the same bike. Lance had to machine the internals. The right wheel is the drive wheel. Since there's no differential, the axle rotates inside the left wheel, that is, it isn't driven.

A six-sprocket freewheel is mounted on the axle, along with a heavy disk Lance machined. A conventional sidepull stops the disk, and thus the axle. There's also a brake in front. The front wheel is 26 inches. For his senior year project, Lance said, "I'm going to come up with something completely different."

Lance started studying machine tool technology in the ninth grade. Being practical, he isn't planning a career constructing pedal-powered vehicles.

But, he is interested in building custom motorcycles, in part because he said he likes making "one of a kind things."

LANCE LaVANWAY cruises down the road on his pedal-powered desk. His right hand is on the custom-made shift lever. His knees were hitting the underside of the desktop, so he had to add spacers. Yes, that is an ostrich in the background. (Or is it an emu?)