The Road Les Pedaled

October 11, 2009

Yesterday was the trike's maiden voyage.  I met my friend Arni at the West Orange Trail in Orlando to give the three wheels a spin.  I actually was a few minutes late and Arni got started before I did, but he caught me on the flip side and we finished up together.  It was a beautiful morning to ride!

The first challenge is getting used to loading and unloading the trike from the car.  It actually fits in my Prius with the seats folded down, but the seat has to be removed.  I can get it in and out, but it the crank ends up scraping against the ground both loading and unloading.  So today I'm going to head to Home Depot and see if I can get a 1x4 or something like that to create a ramp to wheel the trike into the back of the car so the crank won't be damaged.

I rode 27 miles on the trail.  I stopped at the Killarney Station trailhead to use the facilities.  As I pulled up I saw another trikie and we struck up a conversation.  His name is Allen and he was on his maiden voyage on his Catrike Road.  He took this picture of me:



I also ran into a woman I've seen at numerous rides.  Her name is Linda.  I first saw her at the Katie Ride for Life on Amelia Island earlier this year.  She's noticeable because she's also a trikie.  I also saw her on the West Orange Trail earlier in the year and we struck up a conversation and planned to ride together, but never ended up contacting each other.  I also saw her in passing at the Rails to Trails ride on the Withlacoochee last Sunday, but we were going opposite directions.  She rides a Catrike Expedition.  Maybe after talking yesterday we'll hook up for some rides.

After about 20 miles or so my back was really starting to bother me.  I realized that my positioning on the trike wasn't right and I needed to have a professional check my fitting and help me make adjustments so that I wouldn't hurt myself while riding.  But the trike performed wonderfully.  I got an upgrade on the shifters and that makes changing gears so sweet and easy.  I didn't have any storage on my bike yet, just the rear rack in place.  So for my ride yesterday I just took my little backpack purse and strapped it to the top of the rack to store my necessities for the ride.  Definitely needed to outfit this trike ASAP!

After the ride Arni and I headed out for a bite to eat at my favorite breakfast place,  Keke's (formerly Florida Waffle Shop), fueled up, and then hit the road to drive out to Power On Cycling to go visit Mark, with whom I'd spoken on the phone on the way to Keke's, so that he could hook me up with my on-trike storage and do a fitting for me.  Mark is the best recumbent resource in Central Florida.  He did everything for my trike.  He did a fitting for me, adjusted the brake and shifting cables, installed my computer and bracket/headlight, moved my taillight and rear reflector so they'd be visible, adjusted my cleats so I'd have an easier time unclipping on the right side, removed excess chain links, rigged a hydration pouch behind the seat so I can carry more than one bottle of water.  I bought a spiffy rainbow flag for on-road riding and an Arkel trunk bag to carry my stuff on day rides and give me extra storage for touring.

Here's my hero:



I was going to head out today for another spin, but still sore from yesterday so decided I'd take it easy and let my body rest.  Still have so much to do before the trip...two weeks from today!