Treadmobile

As the dust cloud cleared, I saw him. He was skimming up the face of the dune that had cut the road, just a few kilometres short of the CBD. A man in light robes, with a long scarf streaming behind him, like a fighter pilot from the early twentieth century.

He was riding what looked to be a treadmill, mounted between two small caterpillar tracks. It appeared to be using some sort of lightweight batteries, driving a dozen little electric motors, to drive the sprocketed drivewheels to drive the treads.

He swayed to the right, as the... transporter?... slipped a little across the dune face, and began running in place, sprinting on the treadmill. Suddenly, he crested the dune and disappeared into the dust again. I was thrilled, and determined to find out more about this strange craft.

After the maintenance crew had cleared the dune from the road, I finally got into town. That sort of thing happened more and more these days. It had been 14 years since it last rained here, and that wasn't much more than a shower. My sailcar was just about worn out, with threadbare mainsail, and ricketty axles.

There, in the showroom, were a dozen gleaming Treadmobiles, waiting for owners. They looked puny against the vintage Ford Explorer the dealer had somehow procured and restored.

"Recharge the batteries with a wind generator in just 4 hours", said the salesman. "For shorts trips the treadmill can be switched off, though on longer trips it is wise to use it, to push a little extra charge into the batteries. Downhills can also be used to build up charge." He paused, as he could see me about to ask the obvious question. "Hydrogen cell backup available, as an option, as is the all-weather cover shell, though I don't recall one ever getting wet", he quipped.

I was hooked. This thing could handle the softest sand conditions, even that fluffy loess dust that blew in occasionally.

Steering was by pressure sensitive rods, sewn into the palms of the steering gloves, to speed or slow one track or the other, by wireless control. The harder you squeeze, the faster it goes.

No Segway patents were infringed upon, in the making of this idea.