#33 - It’s been a while
Hey all, it’s been a while since my last post. And I could see in my inbox that some of you were really getting curious about how I was doing. Let me tell you early on, that I’m doing great. I had a great time going on holiday with my wife, and I even did my first real tour right after that. This all sums up to over 700 km since my last post. Not bad if you ask me, especially since the weather hasn’t been great. I navigated rain showers and thunderstorms on more than half of the rides I did. Welcome to the fabulous summers in the lowlands. There’s even more news, but I’ll come back to that.
The biggest achievement I made during my time offline, is a new personal best. I managed to ride 174,4 km in one single day. That’s one hundred and seventy four. I still can’t believe it. It’s a pretty big leap from the 134 km I did just a couple of weeks before. Not even that, but I set my most recent record while carrying all my camping gear, liquids, food, clothes and a whole list of completely unnessecairy stuff I packed as an inexperienced bikepacker. An estimated guess would be that I put close to 150 kg on the ground in total. I know… I was really overpacked. I mean, setting of every morning with 3
liters of tap water on the back of the trike, just in case the 2,5 liters of water and isotonic drinks wouldn’t do? I mean, it’s not the Sahara dessert or the rainforest where it may be hard to find drinking water. And that’s just one thing on the “never again” list.
That whole being overloaded thing also set things in motion for something else. I realized a while ago, that I’m actually doing two completely different things on the trike. I’m touring, for which it was setup from the beginning, and I’m riding day trips that get longer and longer, but don’t require me to bring
loads of gear. So for that last thing the trike is actually rather heavy. Maintaining an average of 16 kph on a long day, is quite the challenge for me right now. Especially fully loaded. So what if I could make the trike lighter? But then I would still be riding three wheels on the ground. That’s a factor to. Don’t get me wrong, I love the trike. And I couldn’t soon be convinced to separate with it. It’s become too much a part of my life already. Maybe even part of my identity. But if I want to go further and faster, I would need something else. Recumbent, of course. A diamond frame will probably be out of the question for a long time to come. Maybe even forever. But what about a two-wheeler? Those can’t be so heavy.
And so I started looking for a nice pre-owned one a couple of weeks ago. Since AZUB have started out by building recumbent bikes, and I've really become a fan of the brand in a very short time, I started looking for an older model of the brand. I didn’t really care for the looks or the shape it was in, although a solid base to start rebuilding would be much appreciated. Not too beaten up, and at least with a solid frame. Buying second hand is always a bit of a guess, but if you start the journey by expecting some costs to upgrade, I don’t feel you should have to many issues.
And so after a while, I found one. it’s an AZUB 4, probably built between 2005 and 2012. Its paint is all discolored and the drivetrain needs some attention. But besides some smaller issues, I feel she’s a winner. There’s no bikestand, one of the gear
changers needs some love, the lights need batteries or maybe even replacement, and it will need some love and care. But it can be done. I agreed on the price with the owner, and loaded her in the van. She looked so tiny in the spot of the trike. But I knew from the test ride she was a fighter. She nearly managed to throw me of her back, only two minutes after I sat down. It’s very clear I’ll need to learn to ride again. I need to keep my balance on this one. I’ll need to learn how to give correct steering inputs. I’ll need to learn how to change gears best. I’ll need time…
But from the second I sat down, I also knew it felt right. I felt how the ventisit on her seat hugged my back as if it was telling me: “sit down buddy, I’ve got you”.
