Made me Laugh

“Cyclists are open-minded. Cyclists are egalitarian. Cyclists share a fellowship of the wheel that can overcome all political, social, racial and economic barriers. Except for recumbents.”
--Ted Constantino

Pretty bad posting this on a blog that often raised the praises of the recumbent. Yay though I no longer own a bent, I still think highly of them and think they are a very viable style of bicycle. I just saw this quote and it made me laugh. Don't take it too seriously.

LHT Killer????

Well maybe not, but man am I ever glad to see this bike coming out from MASI. Should hit stores in the US beginning to mid November. I was previously eyeing up a MASI Cyclocross bike to set up for long distance commuting, but I think this Randonneur would fit the bill even better.

The Speciale CX from MASI would be a great candidate for long distance commuting but the first thing I would be doing would be changing out the STIs for bar-ends. No need with the Randonneur, it comes with bar ends! Top all that with a MASI leather saddle (looks great anyway, but a Brooks would still probably beat it) and the gorgeous paint, and this is a bike I want.

With a MSRP of only $1,145.00 and they have the LHT close to beat in my mind. I guess the LHT is still probably a better rig for major long haul touring, but I do like to see more bikes like this enter the market at an affordable price. Other than custom or semi-custom, it's hard to find bikes like this. The more that come out, the better for us, the cycling consumers.

Boy, that Volae is living in dangerous times…..

Comfort/Speed: Pick One

No thanks. I'll actually have my cake and eat it too thanks.

My ride home is consistently faster than the ride to work. Constantly 20 minutes to ½ hour. It’ kind of nice just because at the end of the work day is when my time is the most limited. I can get up as early as I want to and lallygag on the way to work if I wanted. I don’t’ but I could. After work though, time ticks away. The boys have their bed time, my wife and daughter like to get to sleep at the same time every evening, so I want to make sure I don’t waste those precious evening hours to spend with my family. It works out great that I get home in less time than it takes to get to work. It seems to make bike commuting fit into my life easier. Add to that the fact that it’s generally much much hotter during the late afternoon hours when I ride home, it’s nice to have the lay of the land working in your favor. Love bike commuting. Cheers.

Lose the shirt, get some tan, add it on top of the seat cushion

This set up is working quite nice for comuting while packing light

More Glamor Shots

Well, actually she's a bit dirty right now and needs a little cleaning. But, she still looks great int he pics.

eeny, meeny, miny, mo

In my deliberations of whether or not to keep my volae or sell it, I’ve been wondering ultimately if the bike would suite my needs for a long distance commuter. Being that my ride to and from work is 26 miles each way; I do care about having something fast. I’m not a speed freak and don’t get all anal regard the grams of one component to another, but I do want something that is going to be not slow.

I’ve been recording very closely my times, weather, efforts of my commutes on both my Volae and my Sequoia. They are both very different bikes obviously, but they could both be very well suited to a long distance commute. The only one really up on the chopping block though was the Volae. If the Sequoia didn’t come out number 1, it’d still be kept as a touring bike, or to change it up with the Volae for commuting. It also makes for a great bike to head out on a Sunday afternoon with a camera.

If the Volae didn’t come out on top, I was going to sell it and use those funds to buy a Bike Friday tikit folding bicycle. My theory was that I could use the tikit for days when I can’t commit 1.5+ hours to getting to work and 1.5+ hours to getting home from work. My in-laws live about 7 miles from my work, and I could just drive to their house, leave my car and ride my tikit the rest of the way.

So, who won you ask? Well, in a way neither. But the Volae did come out as the fastest most comfortable way for me to get to work under my own power. I am consistently 10 minutes faster on the Volae, and on all except the steepest hill on the way to work, the volae was actually faster! Maybe I’ve just really developed a good set of ‘bent legs’. I’m not sure. I was quite surprised when I was motoring up the hills faster than on the Sequoia and with what definitely felt like less effort. The sequoia certainly does the job very well also. Just a wee bit slower and a wee bit less comfortable. If I had never ridden a recumbent though, I don’t think I would ever know this.

There is one monster hill for about 1km that the sequoia does out-perform the Volae on. I’m sure that has something to do with the fact that the Volae is about 8lbs heavier than the Sequoia, and I can and do get out of the saddle and hammer the hill when I’m on a DF bike. I do now and then hammer it on the Volae, but it’s a bit different than on a DF bike.

Comfort; this was a hard one too. I’ve said before that the Sequoia rides like butter and I’ve set it up with very relaxed geometry. That being said, there is still less area of contact with the bike as there is on the Volae. Less contact area means higher contact pressure. I don’t think you could ever get a DF bike to be as comfortable as you could get a recumbent. Obviously proper fit has a huge role to play, but that goes for both DF bikes and recumbents. The Volae fits me very well, so does the Sequoia.

So, I’ve decided to keep the Volae. I’d still like to make a few changes to the way that I carry gear on the bike, but that’s about all I want to change. The bike feels so good when I ride it. I’m also quite interested in putting on a dinohub, but that’s down the road.

As for the tikit, I’ll have to wait for a while until I save the pennies. On the other hand, I found a car mount bicycle rack at the recycling yard and it fits and works well on my car. So, I don’t have the excuse that I would have to take my truck to my in-laws if I wanted to ride just the 7 miles on a DF. Hey, I’m thinking this might just be the perfect task for my lately all too neglected fixie.

Nice bike. Hey, thanks.

Speed

Well the Volae is getting faster and faster all the time. Last night I rode home with a nice tail wind. I did the 26 mile commute in 1hr 6minutes and 34 seconds! That's an average speed of 23.6mph or 38kph. Wound up to 46mph (73kph) on one downhill. Fast fast fast. Got a little scared as I was riding without a shirt to soak up the sun. Feeling naked on a fast moving bike is great. The wind certainly helped. Add to that the fact that my home is 500ft lower than my work making it a mostly down hill ride. My previous fastest time was earlier this year on my Allez, which was 1hr and 15 min. The Volae is certainly holding it's own to the diamond frames in my stable. I'm really enjoying that bike again.

Volae at Canal this morning

Rode in to work today at 1hr, 36minutes. Still not too bad for 26 miles. My legs are feeling pretty shot right now though. I've got my car at work and I think I'll drive home tonight, to work tomorrow morning and then ride home tomorrow afternoon.

I've been jonesing to ride the fixie lately so maybe that'll take me home tomorrow.

Cheers.

New PR

Made it to work today in 1hr 32 minutes. On the 'slow' Volae Expedition of all bikes! I think I am getting some bents legs back again and feeling strong! Feels good. Average speed was 28.7kpm and I didn't even stop for pics. I had a breakfast meeting at 7 this morning and was able to get to work and shower and be at the restaurant with 5 minutes to spare! Go Volae Go!

What I think of when it's rainy

He didn't buy it!!!!

It's totally weird, but I'm so glad the guy who came out to test ride the Volae didn't buy it! I really need to rethink my decision to sell this bike! He's looking at a few Bachetta's and was wanting me to drop my price by a bit. I said I was firm and I wouldn't go any lower. For what I'm asking ($1500), I think this bike is a really good deal.

I've pulled the Ad's I've had and am glad I still have a Volae! I feel like a teenage girl with the way I'm so freaking wishy-washy lately. Bicycle emotions run deep and are strong!

Volae Commute

So I'm in a pickle. I put the Volae up for sale and today rode it to work. The pickle comes in when I found the ride was nice and quick, relaxing and I made decent time and found myself really enjoying the bike. I had a post a while back about my lack of enthusiasm for the recument, but I thought I should give it a bit more of a chance. I want to get back to where I was last summer, and I think I might be on the way. The scary part is now I've got a guy who wants to come out and look at it. Geeze, that's just one step away from not having it anymore. Scars me. Maybe I just need to built up the bent legs. If I do sell it, I'll more than likely buy a LHT with the money. Any imput?

Glamour Shots

Wishy-Washy

That's how I am lately. About what? My Volae. About Recuments in general. I have an incredible recumbent bicycle. The Volae Expedition. It's a hand made work of art. Made by Waterford Cycles Works in Wisconsin. Those same guys have made the Rivendell line of bikes. Very respectable indeed.

I've been oohhing and awing LHT's lately and thinking that that's the way I need to go. Is it? I'm not sure. But, last winter, before I parked the Volae, it was my favorite bike, after my fixie. The fixie holds a special place and will never be replaced as favorite.

This year, I haven't been so excited about the Volae. I don't know why. I've only ridden it once for about 26 miles this year. After that ride, I put it up for sale. Am I being too hard on this stead? Maybe. The fact is, I really like it one day, then want to sell it the next. The whole recumbents stigma doesn't bother me. I ride what I like because I like it. What other people think about what I ride means nothing to me.

I think that I just need to put in some miles on this bike. I know that when I commuted on it last year, I was blown away (no pun intended) by it's performance into a headwind. There isn't a DF bike I own that can touch it when riding into a strong headwind. When you're commuting, that makes a big difference. Especially when you've got 26 miles to go. If I get a headwind on the way home, it could put me back 1/2 hour or more. That's valuable time that I could be spending with my family. Very worth contemplating.

So, I think I'm going to give this bike another, longer chance. I need to ride it to and from work day after day for a while. Then, after I've got some decent miles on it, I shall make my decision. I'm really hoping I end up feeling the same way about it that I felt before I parked it for the winter.

Ride on.

Volae, out and about

Well, today I rode the Volae to work. Man is it ever so much more uphill on the way to work! Took 1hrs 45 minutes! Hard to take after covering the same distance 12 hours before in 1/2 hour less time. Oh well.

I'm having some different thoughts regarding riding a recumbent. I'm not sure why, but I'm not as stoked about it as I was last year. I find that when I'm on the bike, I'm extremely comfortable. So much so that I forget that I'm actually trying to get somewhere in a reasonable time period. When I'm on a DF bike, I don't have to work at keeping up a decent speed. I'll ride along on the Volae and find myself spinning very slowly, relaxed and enjoying more the ride than even thinking about my speed. That's a good thing for sure, but right now, I'm in a different place than my Volae puts me. I want to get into great shape, I want to get fast on a bike and I want to be able to commute daily by bike, while taking as little time as possible to do it. 1/2 an hour makes a huge difference when work is very, very busy, home renovation is going on and baby #3 is on the way. I need every minute I can get. The Volae is stealing them from me. I need some time to re-think this bike, and even the whole recumbent thing altogether.

On the way to work I was bombing down a hill, rumbled over some railroad tracks and the rear fender mount popped loose. I need to add a fender washer here. One interesting thing (not really) was when I removed the bolt from the frame, there was a significant amount of air pressure built up in the frame. Obviously just a different temperature or outside air pressure since I put the bolt in last year while re-installing the fenders. I'm glad I now know that the frame is literally air-tight.

While reflecting on the whole bent bike thing, I realize it is nice for carrying gear for work and being very comfortable at the same time. Me arse gets very sore when I've got a loaded backpack on and riding my Allez. My mind has recklessly wondered and I'm thinking about a LHT....... Dang it!

Volae on RB

Makes me glad to own a Volea.

Riding the Prairies

Rec. Ride

This past long weekend was the Canadian Thanksgiving. Why is ours on a different date than our southern friends is? I have no idea. But, I do know that it's great to celebrate both of them! I always try to get in on both of them. Much of the time I've been State side for their celebration.


Anyway, I had planned on a big weekend on the house, but sometimes being good to oneself prevails. That was the case this weekend. I did get a few little things done on the house, but I spent most of the time just hanging with family and friends. Made extra time for the park and even got a ride in that had no other purpose other than the sake of riding. While it wasn't a long ride, it was a gooder.


As of lately I've very rarely riding a bike that wasn't for running errands or commuting. I took the Volae out for my first recreational ride on it, other than the test ride with Vik. There is a monster hill about 5 miles from my house that I've been dying to try on the Volae. Heading out was a fairly strong head wind and my average speed for the first 5 miles was only about 23 kph. Heading East on the 564 was steady at 30 kph. Up the hill, I was struggling for 10 kpm and down to 8 for moments. But the other side was a reward. 68kph was the fastest I could manage on the downhill. I was hoping for more but it did feel pretty good.

LDR

Vik has started up a new blog, highlighting bent riders, and the bikes they use for longer distance rides. Long Distance Recumbents. I've checked it out and will be spending quite a bit of time going over the information there in the future. As Vik says, it's a great place for those who might want to get into bent riding. Myself being a newbie, this site will be a good knowledge base. Thanks for your work Vik.

MOJO

Woot. My MOJO bag finally arrived from Jeff! Thanks a bunch Jeff! Most appreciated. I think I can safely say this is probably the only mojo bag that gets mounted on a bent! There is a cross bar under seat that is the perfect location to hang so mojo, so there it is. (Just above the super-flash blikie)
I finally mustered the courage (and the fact that I don't have anything to pick up in my pick up after work) to ride my bike to work this morning. I've be riding every day, but only like 3 or 4 miles tops. It was 2C when I left this morning and didn't warm up at all the whole way to work. The first 1hr 20 min was in darkness. After that, the sun started to show it's evidence. I must say that riding in the light is far better than in darkness. It's amazing how having your focus concentrated within about 40 meters of yourself changes things. I kept finding myself straining to find what what lurking (in my imagination) in the field beside me.

It felt incredibly good to get back to bike commuting again. The inside of my truck was seeming like an insane asylum that I just couldn't escape. While I was much slower today (23 minutes!!!) than before, I think that within a week or two I'll be right back to where I was. There was also a fairly strong headwind, so I was expecting to be slower as soon as I left.
I solicited Vik for some advice on riding the highways at night and one of the points he gave was reflective tape. Great common sense. I put a couple of square pieces on my fenders and just didn't like the look. "I can do better than that" I told myself and came up with these. Draw skull and flames on the tape, cut out with hobbie knife, and there you have it. People see me coming with think, hey, there's an old geezer on a recumbent..... until they see my reflectors! Who's bad? I also got a new GPS unit via Ebay. My last one crapped out on me and I was doing a little shopping to see what else is out there. I ended up with an updated version of what I was previously using. I do run, so a bike specific wasn't really an option and the this new forerunner 205 has cycling modes that should work well enough. Besides, I haven't been able to bring myself to mount a computer on either my fixie or my Allez for some reason. Sure they are very common, but for some reason I just like the look of having nothing on the bars. I like the Protege 8 that's came with the Volae (thanks Vik) and if I had another one of those, I might just put it on the Allez. Having a wrist mounted GPS allows me to have all the stats regardless of what bike I'm riding.