FreeWheelin' Nica Style

FreeWheel Freedom
Posted on November 19, 2017 by gimpngal

I brought down my “FreeWheel” to Nicaragua this time. It is proving to be one of the smartest things I brought down with me. Last year I came with just my wheelchair left my FreeWheel at home. Will never do that again.

Here in Nicaragua all the roads are made from paving stones. The exceptions being the major arteries such as the Pan-American Highway and roads to major centres. Sometime you will be surprised by a secondary road that is asphalt but they are few and far between. And then a bunch of roads are without paving stones, they dirt, not gravel but dirt. A few are gravelish. So having a wheelchair with just the soft roll caster wheels it can be very jarring on you and your equipment. It is not too bad if you are only here for a couple of weeks, but I winter here and it can and does wreak havoc on a wheelchair. Especially if you want to travel at speed in your chair.

Obviously if you are out walking with some one its no big deal as you end up going slow enough your casters are not pounding over the gaps, cracks, dips and bumps. They use speed dips and speed bumps down here to control traffic, especially in urban areas. These are also employed at intersections to ensure that drivers slow to a safe speed to negotiate the courtesy corner style crossings.

A lot of times when a new property is developed a water line will be placed across the roadway by lifting out the pavers, placing the line and putting the pavers back. Well, in most cases, they do not settle back into the original elevation of the pavers around them creating potential for a wheel stopping jarring ride. It is worse if a person is wheeling at speed and not paying attention; sometimes taking in the local beauty can take you out!

Having the FreeWheel lift your casters off the ground is like night and day down here for getting around. As you can see from the pictures, I have also brought down and old set of tires and rims from an old Kuchal I had kicking around. The combination of these mountain bike tires and the FreeWheel will allow easier pushing at beaches and on dirt or sandy roads. Yes I do venture onto the dirt roads in this country. I enjoy going for exercise pushes where I map out a route on Google earth and then go do it. Last year it was pretty tough on me and my wheelchair on these dirt roads. Soft spots that are mostly sand and then the cascajo (smashed rocks not necessarily to gravel size) that they use to shore up sinking muddy roads in the wet season can become a large section of jagged rocks. Not much different than negotiating wash boarding on a gravel road back in Canada.

I now have several options this year with my regular tires and casters. I have a nice everyday chair ride and feel indoor . I can put on my FreeWheel and have decent road chair. Finally if I put on my mountain bike tires and the FreeWheel together my chair is virtually unstoppable.

So, yes, if you have a FreeWheel I would highly recommend bringing it with you when you travel.

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El Gimpo