Vista, California.
One of the things about Burning Man is that you can rationalize buying, building, scavenging, or “turning into art” nearly anything.
For years I’d had a picture in my mind of a four-wheeled pedal car — low, stable, good for the playa’s silty surfaces. Something you could sit in properly, without the tentative am-I-stopping-here-or-not that you get when you’re straddling a bicycle. I was going to build one. I have no welding experience, but I can turn a wrench.
Fortunately I found the Trailmate Xcelerator first.
I called the company to verify it would work for a six-foot, 250-pound desert freak. They said yes. I ordered it through my local bike shop with a custom paint color — green — and waited two months for it to arrive in a huge box.
I took off work early (if you know me, you’ll be amazed at this), drove the Pinzgauer to pick it up, fit myself into it in the parking lot, and spun out a few times getting used to the hand-steering.
Showed it off to my neighbors that evening — they were sitting out having their afternoon beers. Let them try it. Then I got in and raced down the street and back a few times, came back, spun out, and rolled it.
Damage to vehicle: a few plastic spokes broken, fixable with five-minute epoxy. Damage to me: road rash on the hands. Builds character.
I was planning to add PVC wings and EL wire so it’d look like a stingray on the playa at night. It remained a green Trailmate without wings. This is how projects go.