Trike racers vie for pint-size glory
With its adjustable seat and metallic plum sheen, the wacky contraption known as Killer couldn’t help but arouse a little trike envy.
Glinting in the afternoon sunshine, the custom-built three-wheeler was Frank Spearman’s secret weapon – a racing machine made from parts of a tricycle, three bicycles and a garden cart, and the key, perhaps, to another victory at the Skytona Mini 500.
Killer was a labor of love for Spearman, last year’s “over-the-hill” champion at the annual tricycle race in Hillyard. The 61-year-old spent more than 150 hours designing and crafting the vehicle for what has become one of the neighborhood’s premier events.
On Saturday afternoon, the tough-looking purple machine was among 30 trikes that zipped around the 24-by-48-foot oval course in the parking lot of Big Sky Tavern. In between chugs of Budweiser and Miller High Life, 50 contestants from throughout Spokane pedaled counter-clockwise three times around the track, trying not to tip over as they all vied for the inside lane.
“I’ve been training for this for months,” joked rider Johnny Woo, dressed in racing clothes fit for Daytona. “I’ve been overdrinking, overeating and being as lazy as a guy can be. As you can see, this really takes a lot of practice.”
Woo was the driver of the other eye-catching three-wheeler on the course, a vehicle known as the Green Machine.
While many of the tricycles at Saturday’s race were rusty, rickety and built for toddlers, the Green Machine – owned and designed by Bob “K-Bob” Minton of Spokane – featured rear-wheel steering and a smaller inside tire to accommodate the quick turns on the tiny course. Minton, who assembled three different trikes for the race, declined to divulge the tricycle’s other secrets for fear of alerting the competition.
“It’s called racing,” he explained. “It may be adults on trikes, but racing is racing, and we still like to win.”
When Skytona Mini 500 began five years ago, only nine contestants signed up, recalled Nancy Hefling, the event’s organizer and manager of Big Sky Tavern, an old brick building on North Market Street. Now the event draws dozens of people, many of whom spend months assembling tricycles that they hide from each other until the actual day of the race. “You have to see it to believe it,” Hefling said, describing some of the contraptions that riders have designed over the years. “It’s really crazy.”
Because of its growing popularity, the race featured five classes this year: Stock, modified, powder puff, over-the-hill (50+) and the pit crew race. First-place trophies and second- and third-place ribbons were awarded to the winners.
The event, which raises money by charging a $10 entry fee and selling raffle tickets, is a fundraiser for Cancer Patient Care. “We wanted the money to help local people in need,” said Hefling, whose sister, Donna Holland, died of cancer three years ago at the age of 53.
Hefling, along with her dad, Howard Carman, and other relatives, participates in the race every year.
“You’re never too old to have fun,” said 76-year-old Carman, who donned a blue bicycle helmet and a red long-sleeved shirt that said “Powered by Viagra.”
“It’s a lot better than sitting on the couch and watching TV.”