So this blog is here to document the creation of a three person recumbent trike. We're so far a group of three (four?) but will expanding/contracting as the temperature changes. Design goals for this monster include; a limited amount of collapsibility, 3 peddlers seated in recumbent positions, a largish cargo/puppet-theater space, and a decent sound system. It would be nice to do all this on the cheap and weighing very little, recycling will be key here.
Why is this being built? A few people thought it would be nice to bike across Canada, surviving on their bardish talents alone. Needless to say, a suitibly mad vehicle would be needed and so the idea of a portable theater / musician transporter was born. Your humble blogger has about as much musical talent as a whistling goat and would like to find real work once out of school so he will not be partaking upon this voyage.
Preparation is well underway for the fabrication stage; a build space, homebrew welder, and some power tools have been secured. Plans are being drafted up as I write this and our design concept is solidifying. Concept sketches are great but our collaboration should benifit from finalizing things in Sketchup, stay tuned for a post when it looks decent. As the cash situation is somewhat limited, we'll be using as much recycled steel as possible (old bikes). This has the added benifit of cutting down on the number of welds required and eliminating the need to thread the inside tubing (nessesary for bearings etc). A frankenstein to be sure...
Thanks to some late night computer work, a model is finally in existence. This should allow us to begin deciding which bike frames can be cut up into what parts and what parts are going to have to be purchased outright. On that note, some proper welding apparatus might be in order as our homebrew job isn't entirely reliable. 
