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Dang, this is opening up old wounds, but here goes. Back in the good ol' days before the Web gained popularity, the IHPVA was the only site that had any technical information on recumbents. In addition, it also had the only mailing list, sans AOL. Back in those days the audience was rather focused and we only had a single mailing list for recumbents. In late '94 or early '95 the IHPVA server was hosted by Sonoma State University, with Brian Wilson as the Sys Op (or System Admin.) when their hard drive finally gave up the ghost. Everything was dead in the water. I quickly went into action and donated two used CDC 500 Mbyte SCSI hard drives and a $50 donation, which were Fed Ex overnight. Brian was able to get the IHPVA website back online a few days later and everything was back to normal. With the added disk space, the IHPVA was now able to expand their mail list and even host web pages. It expanded the mail list to cover recumbent trikes, and it was initially called the GREENSPEED TRIKE MAIL LIST. If that wasn't bad enough, the IHPVA also sponsored a website (absolutely free of charge) for Greenspeed. Although I strongly protested to Brian Wilson, Greenspeed's web page remained on the IHPVA server, but the greenspeed trike mail list was changed. BTW- this web page was authored by 3rd party who had no business relationship with Greenspeed.

Let's fast-forward a few years; it was 1998 and my first company was two years behind me. I spent my spare time promoting the technology of recumbent trikes and helping home builders. Again, my main medium was the IHPVA trike mail list where I had built a good reputation as the main authority on recumbent trike design. However, with any mail list, there is always a troll. In this case it was this jerk, Gary Brown from the Chicago area who was harassing a former customer and myself. I rebuked him in a private email, which he embellished and posted publically on the IHPVA mail list. I was asked to leave the list, which didn't bother me. What really bothered me was the vitriol towards me from many of the members, some of which I had helped in the past.

The last straw was back in December 2001. A mail list member using the moniker "Moz" from New Zealand made an insensitive and sarcastic remark about the victims of 9/11, marginalizing their deaths by comparing them to national traffic statistics. None of the other American members had the guts to get up and protest, but I did and I castigated that piece of shit. I have absolutely no remorse for it. What I found completely vulgar was that the IHPVA and their members refused to rebuke this scum from the IHPVA mail list. So, there you have it.

From 1994 to 2001 I have made significant contributions to the IHPVA, but have received little gratitude. What really burns me up is that several of these idiots think that Ian Sims from Greenspeed has been a major contributor to the IHPVA, but what has he donated? I remember he published a BOGUS report on wheel rolling resistance attempting to promote the virtues of smaller wheels, but what else has he donated to the public? Don't get me wrong, Ian Sims is a terrific person and his two sons fall right behind him. Although the Greenspeed trike is one of the finest bents made, I don't give credit where credit isn't due. If there is any thanks to Greenspeed, they gave me the inspiration (reason) to sell my plans for $45, because after seeing their plans I couldn't see selling mine for $25 anymore. In fact, I think I'm going to raise them.

BTW- If you can get into the ihpva mail archives, everything I mentioned can be substantiated.