Three's company

W14’s Clare Kemp-Welch has the ultimate solution to the school run dilemma. Pendle Harte meets her to test-drive the new Trikidoo

As soon as the school term ends it becomes very obvious how much of west London’s morning traffic is school-related. Streets are immediately emptier of the widely-hated but ubiquitous 4x4s and traffic moves faster, revealing that driving the children to school is a very common phenomenon. And with people less and less likely simply to send their offspring to the nearest school, school traffic is a problem that’s set to increase.
But there’s an easy alternative. When Brook Green-based Clare Kemp-Welch was pregnant with her third child, she set about looking for a bicycle that would transport her and the children, and her search took her into the business and now she is selling a special tricycle, self-conceived, designed and produced in response to the lack of available options. Her Trikidoo is a stylish and practical three-wheeler with a comfortable, raised rear seat for two children and lots of storage space underneath. It’s just the thing for Clare’s Brook Green-to-Holland Park school run (not least because the journey crosses the congestion charge boundary), and just the thing for countless people with similar journeys.
It’s an incredibly simple idea that, amazingly, hasn’t really been done before. Clare explains: “I wanted a back carrier for the children because I didn’t like the idea of carrying all the weight at the front, and instinctively I didn’t like the trailers that carry the kids near the ground.” Talking to people in bike shops introduced her to the world of bikes (“the bike community are all incredibly nice”) but everything she tried didn’t quite suit, so she set about designing something herself to fit her requirements. “Also, I wanted to create something a bit pretty,” she says.
So, 18 months, one baby and an enormous amount of work later, the Trikidoo emerges. With components made in Taiwan and the UK, and assembled here, the trike comes in pink or navy blue, and costs £750 direct from Clare. You can attach a child’s seat to the front to carry a third child and now Clare is stopped frequently on her daily ride by people wanting to buy one. And what’s the ride like? For me, not at all what I expected. With two toddlers happily in place on the back, I climbed onto the outsize and super comfortable padded seat, expecting, as a fairly competent cyclist, to find three-wheeling a breeze. “Before you start, let me warn you that it will feel weird,” says Clare, and she’s right: somehow I feel like I’m losing my balance and keep wanting to put my foot down needlessly. “It takes a bit of getting used to,” she warns. The pavement seems to be sloping and I can’t work out how much space I need to turn, but Clare proves that the Trikidoo can turn surprisingly tightly and is a nimble mover once you get used to it. At just 75cm wide, it won’t block traffic and will fit through the average front door, because Clare has thought of everything.
So, if you’re already fearing the school run, contact Clare and get on her trike. l
www.trikidoo.co.uk; 07795 436 674