I'm back on the hiking trails I rode before my injury.

Mike Harrison describes himself as the luckiest unlucky guy he knows.

He has spent years rebuilding access to a life that used to happen outdoors. Trails. Rivers. The forest behind his own property. After his injury, most of it moved out of reach. Not because he stopped wanting it, but because the ground stopped cooperating.

Then the Exotek AS arrived.

“The Exotek AS takes me places I never thought I'd go again. Down to the river, to the ocean, back into the woods.”

Ground that used to be off limits

The first thing Mike noticed was range. Not battery range. The range of terrain he could take seriously again.

He started on his own property. Then the hiking trails he used to ride. Then further.

“The more I ride it, the more amazed I am by its capabilities. I've been able to explore my property and get back onto the hiking trails I was on pre injury.”

The dog comes along now. That detail says more about what changed than any spec sheet does. A machine that only handles a gravel road leaves you on the gravel road. A machine that handles roots, mud and side slope lets you go where the dog wants to go.

“I can take the dog exploring the trails and the forest. How cool is that.”

Capable is not the same as fun

Plenty of adaptive equipment is competent. Competent gets you from A to B and leaves you flat.

Mike keeps coming back to a second thing.

“Not only is it extremely capable, it's insanely fun to ride.”

That distinction matters more than it sounds. Equipment you tolerate gets used when you have to. Equipment you enjoy gets used on a Tuesday evening for no particular reason. The second kind changes how much of your life happens outside.

Two machines, two jobs

Mike is clear that the Exotek AS did not replace anything. He still rides his handcycle on backroads, and rides it often. It is fast, it eats distance, and it is good training.

The Exotek AS does the job the handcycle cannot. It goes where the trail stops being a trail.

“I'm so lucky to have both.”

Passing it on

The part Mike keeps raising on his own is not the machine. It is access.

He knows what it cost to get here, and he knows how many people are still parked at the edge of the woods looking in. So he has offered to demo his own machine to anyone who wants to understand what it actually does.

“If I can help others get their own, through demoing mine, I'd be stoked.”

That is the honest version of a testimonial. Not a slogan. A guy with a dog, a forest, and a machine that finally gets him into it.

Ready to see what the terrain looks like from here?