A rickshaw by any other name...wouldn't be a rickshaw anymore, I guess. But Cascade Cycleboats certainly evoke those three-wheeled conveyances of years past, and carry more passengers while they're at it. Shaped roughly like a pontoon boat, the cycleboats are powered by a large paddle wheel at the stern that gets its horsepower (humanpower?) from the passengers themselves. Everyone chips in, though, so it's not all up to one person. Also located at the stern is the captain's chair where he/she can raise or lower the paddle wheel and change its resistance level for the pedalers. All in all, the cycleboat is great for team-building exercises as well as any other type of outing you'd want a bunch of people together for out on the water. Cascade has the boats available for one-of-a-kind boating tours in multiple U.S cities, including Seattle, Houston, San Diego, Portland and Minneapolis, and soon will have one in their home base of Bend, Oregon.
“This is a great venue for groups to experience fun on the water in a completely new and unique way,” says Jennifer Tweeton, owner of Dryft Cycleboats in Lake Conroe, Texas. “My customers proclaim the pedaling isn't too hard and being able to visit while cruising around the lake makes it a perfect outing for them. The Cycleboats are so well built; everyone that boards – even the most seaworthy – are impressed with the integrity of the boat.”
Owner Kyle Allen spent close to two years perfecting the design after lightning struck his brain in 2012. He even had to work with a naval architecture and engineering firm to get the boat to comply with the Coast Guard's Small Passenger Vessel rules. Allen says, “Because this is a unique product unlike anything they had ever seen, we didn’t fit neatly into the Coast Guard’s check boxes and we were faced with some challenges and many delays. We were able to actually begin production of our commercial tour boats in the summer of 2014 and are currently building our 6th Cycleboat.”
For more information, go to http://www.cycleboats.com
