Durangoans are used to seeing some odd contraptions with wheels, but Nate Curmano’s side-by-side, four-wheel recumbent bicycle has attracted considerable attention from passersby.
From the impressively sized baskets on the back to the four different types of wheels, Curmano said the bike is a “charming little contraption.”
“It definitely doesn’t take you very far very fast, but it definitely takes you there in style,” he said in a phone interview.
The classic clown car sound coming from the horn “definitely sets the tone,” Curmano said. “If people don’t see us coming, they hear us coming.”
Curmano has always collected unique rides and was actually considering clearing some of them out when he came across the side-by-side four-wheeler for sale on the side of Florida Road.
“We said we have to have that,” he recalled.
The distinctive bicycle was originally created for physical therapy, with a frontal design that makes it easier for riders to transfer out of a wheelchair into the seat. The two rear wheels operate independently from each other, making it possible for one rider to pedal a little bit or not at all.
Former owner and Durango resident Ted Keller said he purchased the bicycle 25 years ago at a nursing home in Southern California. An older couple bought the model thinking it would be easier to pedal, but it was more difficult than they thought, Keller said.
Yet the format worked well for Keller and his father, Harry, who was then using a wheelchair. Instead of pushing his father around in a wheelchair, Keller could cycle along wide, smooth Southern California bike trails along the water sitting next to his father.
“He never did pedal,” Keller said. “I just wanted to cover more ground than he was capable of.”
After his father died, Keller continued to use the bike with his mother-in-law.
“We would go down the river trail and she would yell ‘wee!’” Keller said.
Physical therapists use many side-by-side bikes, but the one Keller found is by far one of the lightest, he said.
Keller also rode around town in the bicycle with his bichon frise, Flaky, in the passenger seat. After his father died, Flaky “quickly recognized the upgrade,” Keller laughed.
Now, Keller has a humble two-wheel bicycle, where his current bichon frise, Little Dickens, rides in a basket.
Curmano and his housemates gave the bicycle some care since purchasing it: getting the drivetrains running again, fixing up the independent axles on each wheel.
“But Ted has done a lot of modifications,” Curmano said. Keller added a seven-speed bicycle cassette to one of the drivetrains, giving him a bigger range of gears to go farther and faster with one person peddling.
But “going uphill, even with the gears … it’s a workout,” Curmano said.
Curmano and his housemates use it only to get to the liquor store and back, though they look forward to parking it outside of El Rancho Tavern on Main Avenue when it reopens.
People around town have already made offers to purchase the bike from Curmano, but he has made it clear it won’t be for sale any time soon.
ehayes@durangoherald.com