#9 - The first month was epic
Today marks the day I’m riding my trike for a whole month. And what a ride it’s been. The trike has fulfilled every expectation I had before I bought it, and then some. Every doubt I had, how little they were, has been wiped of the table in one proverbial but none the less elegant swoop.
By now, I feel it has proven to be a tough beast. I’ve thrown some serious corrugated roads under its wheels. Rode it through some serious holes. I’d actually call a one meter deep hole in a dirt road a small valley, but anyways. The trike took it like a champ. It’s been stable on its wheels all the time. Today, I even took it over a local bmx track. Again, no issues at all. The short crests didn’t even make it bottom out. Not even the sidebags, hanging from my seat.
The only minor issue I still have, is my seating position. I keep fiddling with the seat and the boom, adapting to what I feel. How my legs react, if my hips start acting up or not. I know it will take some time to adapt to this completely new position. After being used to an upright bike for over 46 years, it’s quite the change. The closest thing to a recumbent trike I had, is the go cart I had as a child. And I still have it to this day. But it wasn’t really a recumbent position. I was sitting mostly upright, but with my legs kicking around in front of me.
By the way… Yes, I was actually pulling around the neighborhood kids in my dad’s trailer with the go kart. And that steering wheel? That’s actually from a car. It started life giving direction to a DAF car.
But let’s go back to the present. Besides the position, I’m well aware that riding a recumbent trike demands a specific technique, It’s been described t ome in many ways already, but I feel that “dancing from the hips” may be the most accurate. It seems to be less about the muscle power, and more about the movement. Today, for the first time, I felt like I could do it. As a result of that, I seem to have put less pressure on my joints. They still had their job cut out for them, but it feels like I’m on the right path. It will take a little more time until it comes naturally to me, but I’m sure time is all it will take.
On to the next ride.
