My Recumbent Days

T oday was my second day without my constant companion, and thanks to my son it wasn't too bad. The hardest part was in the morning when Grace didn't come and try to bite my ankles, something she does every morning like a ritual. A little later I really felt how much she is missed when I went over to my sons home to pick him up for a CT scan in the city, and his two cats met me at the door. I was hit me like a tun of bricks, and the reality of Grace being gone, really sunk in. My son and daughter think that in time we should get another cat, even knowing nothing can replace her. M y sons appointment was for 1:00PM and we arrived at 20 minutes to 1:00. As soon as we got there they told him he had to drink 5 glasses of barium which tastes like Sh*t, then wait 20 minutes until it moves through his system. They finally called 45 minutes late, but only a few minutes later he came out and told me that he had to drink 3 more glasses of the stuff and wait an hour for it to be where it

T his morning our beloved pet cat Grace had to be put asleep at age 11. She was never sick a day in her life, but her life ended with pulmonary edema. She also threw a clot that paralyzed her front left leg. I will be very lonely here while my wife is at work, but I will have to adapt. I miss here badly and I always will.

T he other day I ordered a pair of DNR100 DayNite Reflective Gloves from OBM Express Police Supplies, and will receive them on February 27th. These gloves have reflective patches on both the back of hand and the palm. I will remove the patches from the palm. These gloves will allow me to use hand signals and the drivers can see me clearly. Between my Be Seen Wear flag whip and the rear strobe light, there is no way a driver could not see me. T he flag mount I ordered from ICE was shipped on the afternoon of the 22nd and it can take a week or longer for it to arrive. John from ICE did me a big favor by drilling out the holder to 6.6mm to accept my 1/4" whip. He was able to do it because they had to make a bunch of the mounts and then send them to be painted. A s far as the helmet camera setup, I still can't decide on which to get, but it all stems down to how much money I will have for it. I won't know that for about a week or more. I am really steering myself toward the Ar

I received an email from John at ICE informing me that the mount for my new Be Seen Wear Whip should be in by lunch time in the United Kingdom. He said he will post it today if it is in on time. He also informed me that he drilled out the holder to 6.6mm to accept my 1/4" whip. I thought that was very nice of him and I appreciate that very much. A package came yesterday from True Goo containing my 32oz bottle of tire sealant. When I take Black Widow to the bike shop I will have them replace the tube on the rear 559 tire and install the True Goo. I have still not decided on which helmet camera system to purchase, a lot will depend on how much money I have available after my 60th birthday. I would love to get the Archos 404 which has a 30Gb hard-drive and a high resolution video helmet camera. That system is the most expensive of the units I have been looking at. I really like this because the camera has a remote control in line with the camera. So there is no fumbling for the

Y esterday afternoon I received a package from Be Seen Wear which contained my new Fiberglass whip. The whip is made of a fluorescent fiberglass material. Y esterday I also ordered a pair of traffic control gloves, that have reflective triangular patches so that they can be use to give hand signals while riding. These gloves are made by Hatch Corp. I purchased them from OMB's Express police Supply who has excellent prices on these gloves. I am hopping they ship this week and it should take a few days to receive. S ometime today a package containing the 32oz bottle of True Goo should arrive, and when I am at the bike shop next I will purchase a new tube for the 559 rear tire and insert the True Goo. The tube in there now contains Slime, which has clogged the valve and making it very hard to inflate.

T his morning the temperature was hovering about freezing, but I wanted to take a real short test ride so that I might check the new steering cones. To my delight I did not notice the oscillation in the front two wheels. I am hopping this problem does show up at higher speeds, but preliminary results are on the positive side. My tires are inflated to around 80 Lbs which is 20 Lbs lower than I was keeping them. The ride was smooth and very comfy so I think that I will inflate the Scorcher TRs to 90 Lbs to get the benefit of speed and comfort. I can't help wondering how fast these tires would be in a narrower width. W hile on this very short test ride I noticed my new Ultegra Crankset was so smooth and the bottom bracket seemed to even out the ride. I noticed that I was able to get up to speed much faster than before, and with less effort. I also found that I had NO pain in my left knee which I attribute to the 165mm cranks and the faster cadence. M y wife has come to the conclusion

A s of today the 32oz container containing my True Goo is on its way and should be here on the 21st. The ICE mount should be shipped on the 22nd or 23rd. The flag whip has been shipped and should be here by Tuesday of this week. W hile adjusting the alignment of the Black Widow I noticed that the bronze bushings that are on the tie-rod were cracked and deformed. I tend to believe that the induced oscillation might be caused by these loose and deformed fittings. One of the members on www.bentrideronline.com forum suggested that I use axle cones instead of the bronze bushings. So I went to two bike stores to try and locate some, but I had no luck. When I got home I was in the garage, and sitting in the corner was a damaged wheel from one of my sons old bikes. I removed the two cones and installed them on the trike linkage. The fit was fantastic and a great improvement over the bushings. I am hoping that the weather remains clear and gets a little warmer so that I can take the trike

I was contacted by ICE on the 13th informing me that the bracket I ordered for the flag is not in stock. They also informed me that they were making them that day, and then they would be sent to the powder coat contractor. They said that if they get it back from the painter it would go out on the 22nd of this month. I contacted Be Seen Wear and ordered a new bright colored whip for my flag. I am not sure if it is yellow or a lime green, either is fine. I realized that the black whip I have now does nothing to make my trike visible. The big problem with trikes is that you are sitting low to the ground and people that are not paying attention do not see you. Also at a light, if an SUV is along side the flag will be near eye level, and if not the bright colored whip will gain his attention. A s I had mentioned in a prior post, the trike has an induced vibration or Oscillation when I take both hands off the steering. I have checked the wheels, the headsets have been changed, so the on

A fter hours of posts on the forum and an offer for a member to machine a bracket for me, I decided to get the mount from ICE. (Inspired Cycle Engineering) There mount as shown in the previous post has some very beautiful lines, and you know I love BLING. The ICE mount will require some very careful drilling to enlarge the opening from 6.2mm to 6.5 or 6.6mm, to accept the 1/4" US flag shaft. I have sent my order to ICE and I am awaiting acknowledgment of the order. I guess it will take about 10 days to get here from the UK. The ICE design has a lattice work on it that can be used for additional support is needed by using zip ties on the fender support. As usual I will not know if I wasted the money until the item arrives and I am able to drill it out. I have done a mock up of what it will look like, but it is a little out of scale.

O ver the past few weeks I have been toying with the idea of changing my flag mount setup to the type that Trice (ICE) uses on there trikes. It is a nice looking mount and looks like it would work very well. It mounts with one screw on the chain stay, and uses the fender bracket hole. I am not sure if it will wo rk because I have the panniers, but I think it is worth the try. I will order them as soon as I am sure I want to go ahead with the idea. At this time I am putting money aside for the Q-Ring project, and I am not sure how much I will have to add to purchase them. This all depends on how well I do gift wise for my 60th birthday. T he weather here in New Jersey is far from good riding weather, so I am stuck in the house. I am ready to pull the hair out of my head, I am so very bored. I have to admit that i spend a lot of time researching my projects on the Internet, and posting on the different recumbent forums. I post mostly on BROL If the weather was around 40 degrees I wou

Y esterday I received an answer from Minoura regarding the replacing of the Minoura Besso LH-50 mount. After all the emails back and forth between Minoura and myself, they decided that yes they will replace the damaged and lost bracket. I was told to expect it within ten days, I will be looking for it in the mail. I am still toying with the idea of moving my dual idlers farther back on the main frame. The reason is to raise the height of the power side of the chain to allow it to pass over the two bolts that hold the cross "T". This move will allow a straighter chain line. But it means removing the cable form the rear dérailleur, and drilling a hole for the cable to pass through the idler bracket. Before I do such a drastic thing I will remove the idler wheels from the bracket and move it back and see if it will give me what I want. I will also mean a reworking of the Teflon tube mounts, but that is a minor thing, and the least of the problems. My main concerns are th

For the past week I have been in email contact with Minoura regarding a broken accessory mount called the Minoura Besso LH-50. I had this mount on my trike and it broke during a ride. The mount came off the trike taking my light with it. I was unable to find the light or the broken mount. My email correspondence included how it was broken, where I was riding and how I felt that the mount broke. The response from Minoura has been question after question about how it broke, did it hit the ground etc. I explained in the first email to them that it fell off the trike and was lost. Now they ask for photos of the broken mount, all I have is the clamp since the rest was lost. I was asked by Minoura to be patient and they will let me know if they will replace it. From the gist of these emails I will be very surprised if they replace the faulty mount. In the meantime I had figured that I would have to do something to replace the mount if Minoura doesn't come through with the replacement. I

T oday was another hard day for both my son and I. I brought him to his GP today and he had a full medical workup. He left his office with a pain killer that should work, and make his life a bit better. Monday he is going to see a specialist so there is hope there for better treatment to help his condition. On the 14th he goes to a well known specialist in NYC who runs drug trials, which maybe there is something new to help him. I could only pray that something good will come from all his visits to doctors. In this past year, I am quickly loosing faith in the doctors I have met, but hopefully these new ones are better. I hope to have some better news soon, and maybe I can get back to recumbent trike issues.

I have been pretty much tied up with family things, so not much has been done in regard to riding and trike upgrades. My son has been very sick with his Crohns disease and we have been running from the hospital to his doctors. The kid can't get a break, it is a good thing that he has a patient wife. Tomorrow I will take him to his doctor again and hopefully he will get something to manage his pain. On the 14th he is going to see a specialist in NYC, I hope he can help. the weather has not been to good and we are getting more snow tonight and tomorrow. I have added a bright Strobe to the rear of the trike for daylight use, as well as night. It is a small bright unit that runs on 4 AAA batteries and it is made by Coghlan's. This unit comes with three tops, a clear, red, and orange. To the left is a photo of the unit on the trike and in the ON position. It is impossible to catch the strobe with the light on as it flashes at 60 per minute. All the light in the garage is from