Disaster strikes!

Well, not so drastically, but bad enough in one way. To explain: in the spring my employer was looking for smaller premises. After shortlisting three, one was chosen, and we were due to move there in early August. I was on holiday in July, so my first day back at work happened to be the same day we moved into the new premises.

It turned out that the new place is only 5 minutes' walk from my home - saves me a lot of travelling time, but now I can't trike to work! I no longer have a reason to get Beaatrice out daily! There's certainly no point getting her out, just to go 300 metres to the office!

Trike descent on film!

Wednesday afternoon after work I went to the park, and despite the heat wave we're having, I triked up the hill to prepare for the exciting downhill ride that I've been planning to video. At last I've done it - did it twice in fact: after doing the ride and filming it, I went back up and did it again!

Here's the result.



Pity the camera can't handle the change of light, from the darker part under the trees to the bright sun by the road. The bend before leaving the park was tricky, one-handed and at speed!

Longest trip so far!

I'd planned to take the day off today, but the forecast was bad for the whole day, and it was raining in the morning. The schizophrenic that I am (not really!) I was in two minds whether to stay home or go to work. After the others had left for work and school, I decided to stay and see if there would be a big enough gap in the showers for me to do a ride.

In less than an hour the rain stopped, and the sun started to show itself. I began checking the route to some friends' house (K&K), about 19 kms away. Then I rang them, and though they were home, K said they were busy cleaning their windows. So then I considered plan B.

Plan B was to head west and see how far the weather and my legs would allow me to go, bearing in mind that I had to get back too. Eventually I got out into the countryside, which was nice at first, but the traffic was just roaring by, in both directions. So I turned off up a gravel road, and found a nice quiet spot, and there on the hill was this semi-detached house, looking all peaceful.



I went a bit further, but the road turned into a mere forest track, so I thought I'd head back, I'd come far enough.

The ride back was uneventful - except for one event: a thunderstorm up ahead produced a nice rainbow! I felt no more than a few spots, but I could see how much rain I'd missed as I progressed towards the centre. There were large pools at road junctions, which I had to drive through, or in fact I was able to go round the edge and avoid the deepest parts.

On this trip I made several firsts: it was the first time it was warm enough to wear shorts, and thus the first time my knees got a bit sunburnt; I broke my speed record: 55.5 kph (34.5 mph)! I did my longest trip so far: 61 kms (38 miles).

The weakest link?

I went for a ride this afternoon. I was taking a bend to join another path in the park, when the cogs jammed, and I couldn't turn the pedals. At first I didn't know what had happened. Then I noticed the black upper chain tube jammed up on the front chain ring. I could pull it back a bit, but it took a while before I noticed what was stopping it: one of the chain link plates had come off at one end, and it was sticking through the tube!

I immediately had visions of me pushing it all the way home, but I got out my toolkit, tipped her on her side and managed to get the chain free from the tube. I was wishing I'd taken the chain link tool with me! Luckily I had a pair of pliers, and with some effort I managed to get the plate back in place sufficiently to enable me to ride. I decided it'd be safer to head for home than continue to where I'd planned to ride, in case it happened again with worse consequences.

When I got back I found the same link, and put the link tool on it and tightened it up, or made sure it was securely in place. Now I think I'm ready for a longer ride tomorrow (taking a winter holiday day off, if the weather is favourable), but I'll certainly be taking the link tool with me!

Advantages in being close to the ground

I was coming up the hill on my way home the other day, in my right place, the cycle part of the pavement, next to a row of bushes. At that slow speed and being close to the ground (compared to an upright bike) you're able to see all sorts, but I didn't expect to see a little Finnkino cinema ticket holder lying in the undergrowth. I pulled it out, and sure enough, there were two so-called company tickets inside, valid until the end of May! These can be traded in for real tickets for any Finnkino film. So last night my dear lady and I had an evening out at the movies. Nice!

Hola hombre!

I think it was Tuesday afternoon, I'd just started down the street from work when I passed a somewhat familiar-looking pedestrian heading for the train. He thought I looked familiar too, as he stopped and turned, just as I had. (I don't know how he recognised me in my disguise, goggles and all!) Sure enough it was J, whom I hadn't seen for going on for 3 years! We had a brief chat, and I invited him to try the trike, which he found fun, and he took my picture with his mobile (must have been a good one, as the picture turned out quite good).

As you can see, we still have some snow about, but it's unlikely to stay for much longer. I'm just looking forward to when the temperature no longer drops below freezing, so I can switch back to 'summer tyres', and hopefully by then all the grit will have been swept up off the pavements. (Yes, that's an old dish-washing brush on the back, handy for removing excess snow in rougher weather!)

Cobbles!

The snowfall we had earlier in the week didn't amount to much, but it was enough to create the effect of cobblestones on the pavements where hundreds of pedestrians had walked, so riding the trike over that was a bit rough, to say the least. Where suitable, I switched to the road/street, and let the traffic sort itself out around me.

The zero Celsius temperatures we had later in the week meant that the going was rather wet, and I had to make detours of large puddles, or slow down enough not to splash when going through them if I couldn't go round them.

The great thing is that at last when I leave home in the mornings it's daylight, and it's still daylight when I leave work! Great that the days are getting longer!

At one point on my way home there's a busy intersection, and after crossing it there's a gentle uphill. As I make my way up it, there's often a queue of traffic waiting at those lights, and I get curious looks and smiles from drivers and passengers, and even bus drivers wave to me! Trikes are still such a rare sight here. It's amazing how traffic will stop for me at pedestrian crossings, most likely because of their curiosity (if I were on a DF bike they wouldn't, they'd make me wait!).

Extreme cold (and flu!) stopped Triker (but only temporarily!)

A couple of weeks ago the temperature here dropped below minus 20 Celsius, too cold for any sane cyclist (or trike cyclist) to get on the pedals and out into the (very) fresh air! A bout of flu also knocked Triker out of his recumbent seat and into bed for a few days. But today dawned milder than for a long time, and with the flu shaken off, he got back in the driving seat and made it to work like he'd never missed a day!

I'm still catching up with past events (as it's still a bit cold for pleasure rides), but I'm hoping to add more stories here soon!

More background - first impressions

When I ordered my trike, I thought at first it’s a lot of money to spend on a bike/trike. After putting it together I soon realised it’s not just a tricycle! It’s a much nicer ride than a diamond frame (DF) or upright bike, and much better for many reasons. Although the type of bike one rides is always the individual's choice, unless you've tried a recumbent, you can't know what you are missing!

As I mentioned earlier, I first tried a short ride on a 2-wheeler recumbent over two years ago. I was on my way home on my DF, and caught up with a guy on a recumbent on his way to work, got talking to him about his bent, when he said 'Wanna try it?' So I did, for about 300 yards of pavement to his works entrance. I was hooked from that first moment! Since then the idea of one day owning one myself had remained dormant, until the summer of 2006. I don't remember what caused it to resurface. I somehow found my way to lots of websites of manufacturers, riders' archives and blogs, and eventually decided I'd get a recumbent trike. I remember deciding on three wheels, because of the icy conditions here in autumn and spring (not to mention winter, because I hadn't seriously considered riding in winter before - now I know that I'm much safer on 3 wheels than on 2). Another criterion was that it had to be foldable, so that I could get it in the car and take with me.

That's what I did a couple of weeks after building it. I took the trike to my brother-in-law's, where they all tried it and liked it. The three daughters enjoyed riding it too - almost couldn't stop the youngest! My mother-in-law even tried it, and she's in her 80s!

I’ve been riding my trike to work since it was ready to ride (early October). The only time I've used my old bike was when I went on a ride with my son, so that we could swap machines for him to enjoy the recumbent ride too!

Lunch used to be the highlight of the day (at work). Not any more! My two daily rides put lunch in third place!

Three wheels on my wagon

Yes, that's right, I've got three wheels under me, and it doesn't matter how slippery it is here in winter, on a three-wheeled recumbent tricycle you can't fall off (or over) unless you take a bend too fast (which I haven't yet)! It's what they call an HPV (human-powered vehicle).

Drop by here any time, to see how I'm getting on with Beaatrice, as I christened my new Trice QNT, shortly after she was delivered. I intend this blog to reflect the fun and adventures that my new hobby rewards me with. Cycling had never been as much fun before! (I may from time to time describe other events, or discuss other topics I feel strongly about, anything I feel I'd like to share with others.)

To put things into perspective:
It was maybe a little over 2 years ago that I tried a recumbent (bent) bike when I met a guy on his way to work in our neighbourhood. I was surprised how easy it was to ride (e.g. balance was no problem) and I found it to be a most enjoyable and satisfying way to ride a bike. One feels very 'laid back' in the seat of a bent!

Beaatrice was given production number 6344. She was the 344th trike to be manufactured in 2006. She gets her name from those numbers, which look like letters in certain fonts (similar to car registration numbers), with the word 'TRICE' added on, appropriately, that being the name of this model.

She arrived at the beginning of October, 2006, and after a couple of evenings putting her together, I've ridden her to work almost daily ever since.