That's The Way I like It Uh Huh Uh Huh







Someone showed me a picture on Facebook of a combination of a bicycle and a lawnmower. When I showed it to my daughter she became quite excited by the idea of being able to cycle and do an onerous chore at the same time.  And she does have a reason to be excited when you consider that the leg muscles are so much stronger than arm muscles which seems to be mostly what I use when I shove our electric lawnmower around the property.

I'm no engineer (much to my father's disappointment) but I can't help but think that those little wheels on the mower would present a challenge when trying to overcome inertia.  Perhaps using a studded tire on the back would help give the propulsion necessary and have the added benefit of aerating the lawn when the studs poke their numerous holes into the turf.

The Lazy-Boy model

My friend Tim would appreciate the recumbent version since they are the only type of bikes he seems to ride.  I think I might prefer reclining while working too - although negotiating my way around the fire pit and the patio would be tricky.  My wife's many gardens that border the whole property would take a terrific beating when doing the edges of the lawn.  You can see from the above picture that one of the front wheels would have to go in the flower beds to allow the reel blades to trim the very edges of the lawn.

Now we're talking

When I was a kid, my brother and I had to cut the grass as one of our chores (mind you I don't remember him actually doing it) and our father had purchased a TECUMSEH motorized reel mower to aid us in our endeavors.  Dad spent a lot of time training us on the use of such a powerful machine and seemed very concerned  that we would cut off our toes if we weren't careful.  My toes were never the problem.  The real difficulty began when I would run over one of my mother's wooden clothes pegs and their tough wooden fingers would put an immediate halt to grass cutting.  Then I would have to shut off the mower, try to extract the peg and then my reel (sic) difficulties would begin when I tried to rope start the engine.  My skinny, under developed arms could never seem to create the velocity necessary to spin the whatchamdingy fast enough to start the machine.  Then I'd have to go get my father who cursed softly under his breath on the way to the yard to help me (probably wondering why he didn't just do the grass cutting himself!).

Maybe leg muscles aren't as important as my daughter thinks - perhaps it is arm muscles you need when the blades on your mower come to a complete stop because they are jammed with the cap from a beer bottle which your son so carelessly tossed over his shoulder last summer. Then you have to stop pedalling, turn off the mower engine and after pulling the cap from the blades, begin pulling the rope start...