Whirlwind Founder and Chief Engineer Ralf Hotchkiss spent most of the summer in Chinandega, Nicaragua working on, among other things, the “thorny” issue of flat-free tires. Above is a photo of Ralf at work. When traveling, Ralf rides a standard RoughRider off the assembly line and interacts with a diverse group of people with disabilities who trust him well enough to give brutally honest product feedback they might hesitate to share with a foreign donor. By spending at least a quarter of each year in the developing world, Ralf helps ensure that Whirlwind’s designs always meet the real needs of developing world riders.