Origin of the Simple Cycle Project TRAG

Earl Miner built his first motorcycles (from salvaged parts) as a teenager on the farm in Kansas. Once graduated from high school, he took his design talents to the Air Force. Before long he was building rockets. Occasionally his team would explosively disassemble them.  This display of talent and noise, along with the sharp appearance of Earl's Class-A uniform, greatly intrigued my mom-to-be. Lucky for me, she signed him up. Upon transitioning to the private sector, Earl found a way to use his talents designing products and production systems for industry. By the time we little replicants were scurrying around, we knew to find him most evenings and weekends in the shop, designing and building vehicles of unusual sorts. His machines climbed and crawled, putt-putted, pushed and pulled. Some transformed. Some swam. Some flew. Being his son, I had a front row seat to the show. 

The first wide-scale need Earl was asked to design for was a simple, rugged engine-powered cycle which could carry people, containers of cargo/water/fuel, agricultural products, and sometimes ambulance patients, across fields and along rural foot paths. This concept would evolve over a number of generations into a multifunctional vehicle called the TRAG.

With a pull of its pivot pin, the TRAG’s self-contained traction front end could be swapped between a single-wheel rear end (configuring the vehicle as a two-wheel cargo motorcycle) or a two-wheel rear end (configuring it as a tricycle cargo-truck). The weight of the engine over the front drive wheel provided good traction, and the engine's elevated position kept the mechanical systems and air intake out of the dirt and mud, and above the water when fording streams.

The tractor-unit’s drive wheel could be dismounted and replaced with a set of tiller tines. The road tire could be replaced with an aggressive traction wheel and given compound-low gearing for pulling cultivators and doing field work. The engine drove an optional bolt-on pump, which both filled and emptied drums of water transported in the rear cargo bed.

Before changing political winds blew critical support away from the program, TRAGs had been put to work in more than 20 countries, and satellite fabrication facilities had been started in Africa (Earl) and South America (Rod). 

In the mid 90’s Earl conceived, and Rod prototyped, the PET handcycle—a simple, sturdy, inexpensive, walking-speed handcycle meant for use in war-torn rural areas of the developing world. Millions of people there had lost the ability to walk because of landmines, war wounds, disease and birth defects, and were not able to effectively address their challenges because of a lack of accessible and affordable medical resources. Double bad luck had made our intended clientele the poorest of the poor.

Rod's prototypes were tested in real world conditions by people who needed them most. Soon, people who had been dragging themselves through the dirt were riding with heads held high. Dr. Melvin West then took Rod's sample metal pieces and farmed them out to retired mechanics and welders who replicated them, welcoming the opportunity to contribute their skills to a worthy cause. A growing volunteer network was soon shipping boxes of parts to the project warehouse, where other volunteers assembled and crated completed handcycles. As of 2026, over 100,000 of these—now called the Mobility Cart—have been gifted to those in need. The volunteer-staffed Mobility Worldwide® is still going strong. 

In the late 90’s, Lightfoot Cycles was born in a barn in Montana. Our mission was to create a line of comfortable, safe and adaptable cycles for those North Americans not well served by ordinary bicycles. 

Most Lightfoot models were designed to accommodate common sorts of moderate special needs. 

All Lightfoot models could be applied to creating a healthy active lifestyle. This was accomplished by creating designs which lent themselves to everyday activities such as pedaling to the store, school and work. Because we insisted on an optimal balance of performance and utility, these same moderate-weight, energetically efficient, ergonomically comfortable models gave their users the ability to ride recreationally, to tour, to cross the continent and even circumnavigate the country. Which they did.

Despite the unfortunate dissolution of the S-Corporation, and the cessation of manufacturing, the Lightfoot paradigm remains valuable and viable, and Lightfoot designs continue to evolve.

Over the years of learning, experiment and development, a village of family, associates, co-workers, critics and boosters have made the enterprise grow. Leona Miner provided a steadying presence for the early years of TRAG growth. Zenon Colque Rojas guided the Peruvian TRAG program. Dr. Melvin West’s work made the PET project thrive, attracting a corps of volunteers, financial supporters and international clients, and establishing connections with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project International and the Carter Center. Kathleen Miner provided a deeply informed international-development perspective, while bringing vital support and encouragement to all of these projects. Dave Norton and Martha Stomberg worked hard to bring Lightfoot to a high level of professionalism, as did the production crew – Ben, Jake, Wayne, Lisa, Derek, Jason, Tim, Nancy, Dave, Joe – craft persons all – and office staff, Sue, Sarah and Toni. Rob and Barb Dickman, along with Pat Leonard and Toddy Perryman, provided timely financial support as Lightfoot grew. Bradley Schroeder of the Asian Development Bank engaged us as international project partners. David Bixby was an insightful product tester, encouraging us ever toward improvement. Christopher and Amelia Cottle provided timely assistance that helped the Simple Cycle Project come into being. John and Barbara Foster, John and Nancy Cook, Garland and Kathleen Owens, Kifrinia Aria, Shirley Dinkins and Judy Richardson provided encouragement and assistance when the new venture seemed just too overwhelming. 

Some of the people who helped build the Simple Cycle Project are no longer with us. Their contribution carries on.

Marveling at all these wonderful people, I am reminded once again that it is in the shelter of one another that we live.

    • Rod Miner, founder, Simple Cycle Project