Two-person bench bike in Stout

If cavemen had invented pedals, Fred and Wilma Flintstone might have traded in their car for something like Josh Hall and Nate Boots’ buggy. Their Rhoades Car, as it’s called, is essentially a two-person bench rigged up to two sets of pedals. Here it is, with Boots on the left, Hall on the right:

Hall, 25, of Swisher and Boots, 26, of Ely are pedaling – and peddling – along the route, since Hall works as a distributor for the Tennessee-based company that makes the steel-framed buggies. He said they range in cost from about $2,000 up to $9,000 for models that can convert to motor power. (Interested? E-mail joshandrewhall@gmail.com.)

The model they’re riding has a shade canopy, a bin for supplies, and 42 speeds, with one set of gears for the driver and another for the rider in the passenger seat. Since the driver controls both sets, he or she can make things difficult for the partner with just stealthy shift in gears.

“And you don’t have to say nothing about it,” Boots said with a sly smile during a pit stop in Stout.

The two friends had intended to start Sunday in Sioux City, with everyone else, but they ended up joining the ride Thursday in Charles City due to mechanical errors. Ironically, it wasn’t the Rhoades Car that broke down but the gas-powered truck they used to haul it.

— Michael Morain

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