There is a four-wheeled, bicycle-like vehicle with a blue frame, yellow flag, four cushioned seats and a gray canopy roof parked outside the east side of Old Main.

The vehicle’s owner, Harold Ornes, the dean of the College of Sciences, said it is called a quadricycle, but it is officially called a Rhoades Car.

“Most of what comes up when you do a Google search says it is called a quadricycle, but I have also seen it called a four-wheeled bicycle,” Ornes said. “Legally it is classified as a bicycle.”

Ornes said he bought the vehicle about 15 years ago when he was living in Utah and working as the dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Southern Utah University.

“I’ve ridden bicycles and motorcycles most of my life, but as I got older I thought a soft seat with armrests would be nice, and we had to two kids so I thought it would be nice if it had four seats,” Ornes said. “I found it online and they shipped to from Tennessee to Utah in a big giant box.”

Ornes said he received the vehicle pre-assembled, but he has had to make a few repairs to keep it moving over the years.

“This particular type takes parts that are usually available in most common bicycle shops,” he said.

The vehicle is made by Rhoades Car International and has multiple speeds that can be changed by a lever on the handlebars. It has two sets of pedals in the front and brakes that are also controlled by a lever on handle bars, which steer the vehicle.

“The people in the front pedal and the people in the back get a free ride,” Ornes said.

The vehicle can reach speeds of about 25 mph. It can also been driven in the snow, although Ornes said he often does not drive it in the winter.

“It doesn’t need a driver’s license to be driven, but I mostly drive it in large bike lanes or streets that are not too busy because it takes up so much room,” Ornes said.

Ornes, a Charleston resident, said he uses the vehicle primarily for commuting to campus and around town and that driving it is good exercise.

“It is about a mile to and from campus and takes about 10 minutes every day,” Ornes said. “It weighs about 150 pounds so even with multiple speeds it is still a pretty good workout.”

Ornes said when people see him driving his vehicle around campus they often smile, but every once in a while he will get a frown because he is taking up too much room on the street.

“I get a lot of big smiles and I think that is part of the appeal of the whole thing,” Ornes said.

Although Ornes’s quadricycle is often his primary way to get to campus, it is not the only mode of transportation he enjoys.

Ornes has owned a Volkswagen Thing and currently owns and flies a small airplane. He has had pilot’s license since 1979.

“I don’t know what the attraction is,” Ornes said. “You have to tinker with them a lot, but I don’t know what psychological ‘flaw’ that manifests itself in odd vehicles.”

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu.