Last night I met up with Vik at IKEA (that miserable place) and bought his Volae! Good deal on a great bike. You can tell that Vik has looked after this bike, and that he knows what he's doing in the way that it's been maintained and set up. Here is the deal going down.
Today, I rode it to work. I was going to drive my truck to drop of a roto-tiller that I borrowed from my Dad, but who can do that when there's a brand new (to me) bike waiting to be ridden. Not even the heavy fog would keep me from ridding. I was pleased when it started clearing up as I rode.
This is what I bought this Volae Expedition for, commuting. Right now I'm pretty busy with my house project, so there's not a huge amount of free time for recreational rides. If I were doing a bunch of those right now, I'd be sacrificing time with my family, and that's not something I'm willing to do. So, I ride to work as much as I can.Today I got up at 4 am to install some pedals and figure out how I was going to carry my stuff in to work. I still need to come up with a bit of a system, but for today, a grocery bag with my clothes in it velcro'd behind the seat did the job. No water bottle mounts yet, so I chugged 2 liters right before I left, to make sure that I'd have enough for the 26 miles.
After riding without a computer on my bike, it's kind of fun to have one again. I stopped 4 times en route to make little changes here and there to get the seating dialed in. It's not quite there yet, but getting very close.
At work, this thing was a magnet and I think that about 12 people have sat on it already. Everyone thinks it's cool and ask what it's like. I'd never ridden one until last Wednesday, and riding a bent, is so much different than I'd imagined it. Very comfortable. You do notice that you are exercising different muscle than you do on an upright. I've heard it mentioned before that you need to get you 'bent legs' and I suppose that's true.
All in all, a huge thanks to Vik for selling me the bike, and I'm so looking forward to getting some miles on this baby. It's always fun dialing a bike in and figuring out your setup. So stoked!!
6 comments:
I hate IKEA, but I like your bike.
So what did you think?!? Was it a better commuter than a standard bike, or are you still dialing it in?
Congrats on your first bent Jeremy. You can mine my blog for ideas on how to carry clothes and water. The Hostel Shoppe large Euro bags work well on the seat and the Fastback Systems double century is a nice set of bags to carry a hydration bladder and small items.
Have fun!
Smudge, I hate IKEA too. We were checking into kitchen cabinets, and as every other time I've been there, left frustrated.
Jeff, So far so good. Right now I'm a little too giddy about the bike to accurately compare it with my others, but the fact of the matter is this thing is comfortable.
Again, thanks a ton Vik. I've got a notion that this is going to serve me well and make as a great longer distance steed.
Cheers.
Nice recumbent bicycle Jerome, there are many ways to commute requiring clothing at the end. In the old days before everyone and his uncle were making panniers, people carried their week's worth of clothes. Some people would figure out that they would get to work on rainy days via a different means. And they would carry in the clothes required. When I worked in an office, I kepta few pair of pants, a brand new shirt and matching tie in a drawer, a dress jacket hanging behind my door, I also kept a spare pair of dress socks in that drawer. I would leave my dress shoes at work, and carry in underclothes,socks, shirt and tie. After riding longer in the year I would carry more weather particular winter clothing and lights, so panniers would be full but not always with work clothes. :-).
Enjoy your Volae, it is always hard to give up your first bent.
B
PS do not forget about bentrider when Vik is not available for help.
http:\\www.bentrideronline.com
Hey thanks for the tips anonymous. I've often thought I would do that, and I do work in an office, but don't meet with clients or anything except when I travel, so I can where jeans and such. When my commute was only 3 miles, I just rode in my work clothes and would take it easy. Now, with an hour and a half on the bike, that's not an option. I suppose I just need to get orgonized. I'm near my work often enough with a car, that stocking clothes wouldn't be a big deal. Cheers.
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