My Recumbent Days

S tarted out after lunch for my daily ride and rode 13.58 miles at an average speed of 13.43 mph. My max speed was 21.2 and my calories burnt was 641. The weather was a nice 78 degrees with horrible winds from the SW at 21 mph. My face has embedded dirt from the wind. My GPS is on the fritz, so it will have to be replaced. Today's ride was on average was .19 faster than yesterday with a slower max speed. I guess my calculations were correct that these tires are faster than my previous tires. Above is a photo of the new FastBack NorBack bag and the RavX bag, the RavX is coming in very handy.

E arly this afternoon I went over to my LBS and had my new Marathon HS-368 tires installed on the front of my trike. I had thought that adding tires with an aggressive tread would reduce my average speed by 1 to 1.5 mph, but I seem to be wrong. Instead of a reduction in speed I seem to have gained from 3/4 to 1 mph average. I will know for sure after I ride a few more times. I re-calibrated the computer using the roll out method and also used my Adeo GPS Trainer as my second speed monitor. I rode 13.47 miles at an average speed of 13.24 mph and a top speed of 22.40 mph. I burnt 636 calories in that hour. The wind was gusting to 15 mph from the west and the lowest wind speed was 8 mph. The temperature was a nice 68 degrees. My Adeo is acting up, so my next major purchase will be the Garmin Edge 305. I also purchased a small bag that fits the cross T of the trike and straps to the large tube and the headset. I will use it to hold my wallet and cellphone.

T his morning I had the pleasure to do a group ride, which turned out to be great. There were three Wizwheelz trikes, one ICE and one ABTT which was mine. There was also an EZ-Racer and two DF bikes. It was really a pleasure as everyone was courteous and waited for others that were slower to show up. We rode 23.37 miles at an average speed of 11.08 and I had a top speed of 22.7 mph. The weather was near perfect, with a temperature of 76 degrees and a gusting wind from the South at 12-19 mph. I would love to do more of these trike rides, or trike and other bent rides. The two fellows with the DF bikes were really helpful and were great to ride with. I have had some bad times with DF bikers, but if they all were like these guys it would be great.

T his morning I went out early for my daily ride as it is holiday and I want to speed time with my wife. I rode 12.61 miles and burnt 1183 calories. My average speed was 13.00 mph and my max speed was 24.80 mph. I am very much thinking about getting a Garmin Edge GPS to replace the Adeo, but I am sure this will pass also. Well tomorrow I am going on a club ride where there will be two other trikes an a few DF bikes. The ride is leaving at 9:00 AM from Cranbury, I am looking forward to this ride as it will give me a chance to meet new club members.

I had a lite lunch and headed out for a leisurely ride, but was I in for a surprise. When I left I headed down my street at 17+ mph but as I turned to leave the development I got hit in the face with some extremely strong winds, it felt like I ran into a wall. I struggled to maintain speed and at some up hill runs against the wind I hit a max 8 mph. Even with these strong winds I was able to ride 16.29 miles at an average speed of 12.86 mph and a max speed of 21.9 mph. The weather conditions were temperature 65 degrees and the wind was out of the N at 9 to 21 mph, but I could swear it was 30 mph winds. I burnt 769 calories according to the Adeo GPS Trainer. A s of now I haven't heard from Halters regarding the tires so I guess I won't have them for the ride on Monday. I sure would have loved having them.

A fter my last report, I had been doing some basic maintenance on the trike when I noticed that my front left tire had an area where the threads were starting to show. I am not all all pleased with the wear I am getting using the Greenspeed Scorcher TR tires. This is my second set and I have no choice but to change tires. I have decided to go with the Marathon HS368 which have a very good reputation for durability anf flat prevention. As far as how much of a hit I will be taking regarding speed, I will not know until I take my first ride. I asked my local bike shop to get them for me, and I am hoping they are here by tomorrow so I have them for my group ride on Monday. M y replacement rear fender should be here on Tuesday as it is coming from California. It was strange how it cracked, I will have to modify the mounts to prevent this from happening again. I ordered the Planet Bike Freddy Recumbent fender which looks like it is the same type I have on the rear of the trike now. I g

I started out this morning for a quick ride in order to avoid the rain. I rode 10.24 miles at an average speed of 12.16 and a max speed of 21.9 mph. I burnt 483 calories, not enough to burn off the massive amount of steak I ate last night for dinner. Oh well, I will just have to work at it a little harder. During the ride I kept on hearing a strange noise from the rear of the trike, so I stopped and tried to duplicate the noise, but couldn't. I rode home and took a much closer look and found the rear fender had cracked near the front most attachment point. I will try to perform a repair, but I highly doubt it will work. I will look at it tomorrow when I have a chance.

I left for my ride a little early as the afternoon forecast calls for possible showers. I rode 16.11 miles at an average speed of 12.46 mph and a max speed of 20.8 mph. I burnt 760 calories in one hour 17 minutes which counts the hydration breaks. The temperature for todays ride was 71.6 degrees and the wind was out of the NW at 6 mph. I started out really pushing it, but I slowly started to get back to my normal average. The roads are in horrible condition after this past winter, and as I understand there is no money for repairs. A s far as the test of the FastBack NorBack frame pack goes I am pleased. I did have to stop midway to adjust how I had my front dérailleur cable running under the pack as it pushed the dérailleur out of wack. The adjustment worked fine

T oday I choose a new and challenging route which took me on a stretch of road that was a constant up and down ride. The temperature was 78 degrees with a wind out of the SSW at 12 mph. I rode 16.24 miles with an average speed of 12.81 and a max speed of 23.4 mph. I burnt 767 calories in the one hour and 14 minutes I rode. The stretch of road that had the ups and downs was also had a very high crown and the surface was chipseal which makes for a very hard ride. H ere are the pictures of both my new FastBack NorBack Frame Pack and my new Avid BB-7 Brakes. The frame Pack allows me to carry just the bare necessities. I have one 406 tube and one 559 tube plus the following. One Multi-tool One Mountain Morph Pump, two sets of tire irons, one chain link, one patch kit, and a CO-2 inflater and three extra cylinders. If the weather holds out tomorrow I will test the pack to make sure there is enough chain clearance. FastBack NorBack Frame Pack Avid BB-7 Disc Brakes

T his afternoon I left after a lite lunch to ride and test my new Avid BB-7 Disc Brakes. The winds were very strong at 25 mph from the North making riding a nightmare. At about 7 miles into my ride the front right brake started to rub, so I decided to go off course and head to the bike shop. As soon as I got there Chris went to work adjusting the brakes and in a few minutes I was back on the road heading home. Under normal circumstances I would have loaded the trike into the SUV and drove over, but at the cost of gas I decided to pedal over. I am using my trike more and more for local shopping hoping to save a little. Riding to the bike shop I have to travel on US 1 which is highly dangerous, but it was for about 1/2 mile each way so I chanced it. T o the left is a photo of the Delta Mega Rack that I installed last week. Tomorrow if all goes well I will post a photo of the brakes on the trike. The 2008 BB-7 brakes are now black. As you can see the tubes on the Delta are very robust co

T he weather here is a far cry from riding weather, as it has been raining real hard. Today I will not be riding as it is Mother's day and we are planning to spend time with family. Friday I ordered a Fastback NorBack frame pack to replace my Monsoon Panniers for local rides and reserve the panniers for longer extended rides. The goal is to lighten up my load and get the most performance out of the trike and the engine. Tomorrow I will be contacting the bike store about replacing my Avid Bb-5 disc brakes with Avid BB-7 160 mm disc brakes. These brakes are much easier to adjust and have much better stopping power. I am hoping by Wednesday the weather will improve and I will be able to ride.

T oday was the first ride where I broke the 12+ mph barrier. I had an average speed of 13.28 and had a max speed of 23.90 mph. I rode 15.61 miles and burnt 737 calories. The weather was a warm but comfortable 74 degrees with the wind from the SW at 6-20 mph. I am real tired with these constant winds. I don't remember when the wind was so constant, I remember hot stagnant days. M y rack made it to NJ yesterday so I should have it today or tomorrow, I am hoping for today. I love doing projects on the trike, it keeps my mind sharp. The Epidural shot seems to be taking hold which makes me very happy. UPDATE: My rack showed up at 2:30 and I had the old one removed and the new one installed within one hour. I had to modify the brackets and lower its height a slight bit to conform with my 26" 559 rear wheel. I had to tighten the shock chords on the panniers as the support hooks on the rack were a little shorter than on the old rack. I also had to remount the speakers and throw

I started my ride at 11:30 after doing a few minor repairs on the electronics. The cable that runs from the Adeo to the rear speakers failed and had to be replaced. It is not an easy job as the cable runs under the seat and under the foam handlebar covering. It took about 45 minutes to run a new cable. I also found a problem with the I-ride speakers, they become very prone to static when going over rough roads. I had a spare so I replaced them also. I also lowered the seat back to a more reclined position. O n todays ride I averaged 12.59 mph over the 15.59 miles I rode. my max speed was 26.1 mph on the flat, but was very much hindered by the very strong winds. I burnt 736 calories, which I felt should have been more because I worked very hard. The temperature was 80 degrees with a wind from the WNW at 12 to 18mph.

A t 12:00 PM I left the comfort of my house to get in a daily ride, and I must say it was a "fabulous day for just that". The temperature at the start of my ride was 55 degrees with a slight cool breeze, at the end of the ride the temperature was 66 degrees with a steady wind from the WSW at 10 mph. I used my South Middlebush Road loop plus I added local roads to extend the ride to 15.56 miles. My average speed was 12.63 with a top speed of 24.1 mph. I burnt 734 calories in one hour and 14 minutes. The trike handled well, but I can see I need to add some inflation to my front tires as they seem unevenly inflated. That will wait until tomorrow, as I will also wipe the chain down at that time. Y esterday I ordered a Delta Universal rack as the one I have is odd shaped and heavier. It was shipped today from Ohio, so I have no idea how long until I receive it. Last week I ordered four low discharge AAA batteries for my on board speaker system which I use for my Adeo GPS Tra

A fter a light lunch I headed out the door for my ride. The weather at the time was partly cloudy. I rode about 3.5 miles and all of a sudden the sky turned dark gray and the rain started to fall. As I headed home the winds started to pick up and become very gusty. By the time I reached home I had 4.0 miles rode at an average speed of 11.39 mph, and a max speed of 17.4 mph. The temperature dropped at least 5 degrees and the wind was now a constant 11 mph with much stronger gusts. I am lucky I got a few miles in today as the next 5 days call for rain. I spent part of the morning polishing the trike and getting to the hard spots I missed the other day. I haven't decided on my next project, but I am sure something will come to mind.