Spring has arrived in the Southwest! It is easy to tell when spring has arrived because of the sequence of events that occur each spring. The weather starts warming up. The afternoons are wonderful having a nice temperature, and no cold breeze to spoil the day. The daffodils bloom, and shortly thereafter the flowering shrubs and fruit trees bloom.
Once the fruit trees bloom the pollen attack sets in. If the ultra high pollen counts were not enough we experience some fairly high winds, and even higher wind gusts. There were gusts topping seventy mile per hour last week. If the pollen does not do you in the seventy mile an hour dust blowing into your sinus cavities and implanted into your eyeballs will.
I also know it is Spring because thoughts of fishing enter my mind. I know that Carp fishing is just around the corner. If you have not yet, and you are a fisherman, it is time to break out the tackle box, take an inventory, and replace lost or worn tackle.
If you put off tackle replacement, until you want to go fishing, everything you want to buy will be in someone else’s tackle box, and you will be staring at empty spaces where the hooks and lures you were planning to buy were going.
This spring, I want to start bicycling again. I want to save my back from the road jar sent up a diamond frame bicycle so I have started to look into alternatives. There is one bicycle type named a ‘Recumbent Bicycle’. If you have never seen a recumbent bicycle, they look kind of strange. Imagine lying on the couch as you are peddling down the road. Perhaps slumping in your favorite chair and peddling.
Recumbent Bicycles are fast. So fast they are banned from most major bicycle races including the ‘Tour de France‘. It seems a recumbent bicycle and rider won the Tour de France back in the 1930′s by such a margin that Recumbent Bicycles were outlawed for having an unfair advantage in the race.
I was skeptical of that fact until I read, only a few years ago a Tag Team of riders riding a Recumbent Bicycle crossed the east/west length of America in five days and one hour at an average speed of twenty-four miles per hour! Quite an impressive achievement that has stood for almost two decades now, and probably will not be broken except by another team riding a Recumbent Bicycle.
The drawback to a Recumbent Bicycle mentioned most often is low speed – under ten miles per hour – instability. Because the wheel base of recumbent or “Bents” as they are fondly called, is so long, and your feet are generally at or above your seat height, there is a greater probability of falling over sideways at slower speeds.
At higher speeds, you can be the undisputed King of the Road, and very relaxed while you ride. Many newer Recumbent riders stated they found they were riding at least one-third there normal riding distance longer, and still not feeling tired or sore as they did on their diamond framed bicycles.
Also in the realm of possibility is a ‘Recumbent Trike‘. A recumbent trike is a very high tech three wheeled bicycle. Think of a multi speed Hot-wheel with bicycle wheels and a steel or aluminum frame. The come in two distinct versions. The first version is called a delta trike and has one wheel in front and two in the back. The second version, called the tadpole has one wheel in the back and two in the front. For general riding the tadpole seems to have the greatest advantage.
There is only one dealer in town having Recumbent Bicycles, and Recumbent Trikes, so it really narrows my selection choices, unless I want to buy without trying online. I am leaning towards a Trike as sometimes I ride with people who like to ride slow; they feel it is safer. Personally, I prefer going as fast as possible!
Recumbent Trikes are perceived to be a little slower than their bicycle counterpart, but they make up for it in the relaxed ride they provide. Eat a sandwich, drink some water, and enjoy the scenery all around as you peddle down the road on your favorite chair on wheels is what I read. Popular informed opinion seems to think its more about the engine than the ride.
Between work, thinking about fishing, bicycles, and sinuses, I am staying busy. It is time now to stop thinking and start doing, as we get later into spring the winds show up later in the morning and next month, not until afternoon. I wonder if I could find some makeshift pontoons and a paddle wheel? I could be the first in the state to fish using the new Recumbent Trike trolling method?
