MILWAUKIE, OR - A newly developed single-wheeled wheelchair for the disabled outdoorsman is being unveiled. The Press Conference and celebration is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., July 11, 2005 at Terra Cycle, 3450 SE Alder St., Portland, OR.

 

The ez hiker will be available for demonstration at this event. This new chair makes hiking and outdoor hiking fun and accessible for many people with disabilities or mobility issues.

 

Through personal experience with the problems and concerns; Tom Ruedy of Milwaukie, OR discovered and invented a new way for disabled people to enjoy the outdoors. He believes that access to the outdoors should be available to everyone with the only barrier being desire.

 

The chair, weighing 43 pounds, is made of lightweight, chrome-moly steel tubing and is collapsible for transporting. “It rolls and handles with ease,” says Patrick Franz, who built the prototype of the hiking chair. Franz, who owns Terra Cycle in Portland, OR, has worked with Ruedy since 1998 to develop Ruedy's final hiking chair design. With this equipment, uneven trails are easily negotiated. Ordinary terrain with roots, ruts and rocks pose no obstacle for the ez hiker. A shock attached from the back of the frame to the wheel provides for the soft, spongy ride.

 

For the adventure seeker of any age or mobility, everywhere is now accessible. With the ez hiker and a couple of willing “mushers,” the severely disabled, seniors, or accident victims can negotiate formidable barriers to or from remote destinations.

 

Ruedy, 49, is originally from Lake Oswego, OR. He became an Eagle Scout in 1972 while a member of the Boy Scouts of America. Ruedy hiked many trails throughout the Oregon Cascade Mountains as part of his Scouting Experience. He was also a member of the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol until 1984 when he fractured his neck in a diving accident in the Columbia River. “There are a lot of places that I’ve been where I couldn’t revisit.  Now, I can go wherever I want again. I feel so released.”   When asked where his first hiking destination is, Ruedy quickly replied, “Punchbowl Falls on Eagle Creek near Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.  I have a huge photograph of Punchbowl Falls hanging in my home’s dining room to remind me.”