Vehicle offers high ride

By AMBER DILLEY
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW July 03, 2008 06:03 pm

— There is now a new way to experience Kentucky’s trails and hills.
Hydratrek tours, right next to T-Time Golf on Mammoth Cave Road, takes riders on a trek through the area’s hills and valleys.
Owner, Jack Rickett, said the vehicles are one-of-a-kind and aren’t available anywhere in the world yet.
“They’re innovative because they’re hydraulically driven,” he said. “And they’re eco-friendly; when they go in the water, they don’t suck in water and discharge harmful liquid. It’s totally self-contained, so you can take it into pristine water and drive it.”
The Hydratrek Web site lists the vehicles are made out of aluminum, use a hydrostatic all-wheel drive system and have no “hull penetrations,” which means that they are practically leak-proof.
Rickett said the main goal of the Hydratrek tours is that people have fun.
“It’s not about the dollar, we want to bring the community in,” he said. “We don’t want to be a tourist trap, we want to be tourist attraction and a local attraction, where people can feel comfortable to just come sit at our picnic table and talk to us. They don’t have to spend their money, just stop by and sit on our porch a while. That’s the kind of people we are and that’s the kind of people we want to see. Grumps, stay at home, we’re here to have a good time.”
The tours are driven by trained, certified staff and the company is highly insured. Hydratrek does tours from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. or later.
Carol DeGroft, of the Cave City Chamber of Commerce, said that the tours, especially at night, are fun and exciting.
“It is fun for all ages,” she said. “We did a night ride, we came out after the chamber meeting, and did a ride. I had my two-and-a-half-year-old grandson and he’s just like ‘whoa.’ He was afraid to move at first, but then he was fine. And it’s smooth, it’s smoother than being on a boat.”
Rickett said hopes the community finds the business as a way to have good, clean fun and that he likes to reach out to the community.
“We cater to groups, local folks, church groups,” he said. “We do fundraisers, any civic organization that wants to do a fundraiser, come see me. We want to try to invest back into the community. I believe that you have to invest in the community that you’re in, or you’re not going to survive.
“We also like to encourage young people to come out. Young people are very vulnerable right now, with drugs and alcohol, and we want to reach out to them to show them that you can have a lot of fun without those. It’s good, clean fun.”
Normally, the tours are $15 for adults and $7 for children, but Thursday it’ll be a reduced price.
“Jack is generously letting us use the grass plot for parking to watch the fireworks from Jellystone,” DeGroft said.
“There’ll be food and drinks here and we’ll do Hydratrek rides,” Jack said. “We’ll do reduced pricing (tonight), for adults, it’ll be $10, and children will be $5.”

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