After putting 11 miles on it, I feel like I know the vehicle much better.  It’s got some quirks that are no problem to deal with, and I found several advantages to trike riding as opposed to bike riding.  First, the quirks.

Quirk 1) Pedal steering – when in a high (tough) gear, pushing hard tends to move the trike to the side that’s doing the pushing, but it’s not like it swerves the bike all over the road … it’s just a gentle movement.  I found that my body was automatically compensating somehow in the steering mechanism after a short while, and the slight veering ceased.

Quirk 2) Less suspension / shock absorption than a bike.  Even when you have no shocks on a bike, I think your torso and arms do a lot to buffer shock from getting to where you feel it most, your head.  On the trike, you’re lower, you have more wheels to hit things with, and shocks that aren’t absorbed by the give of the seat easily travel up from the tail bone to the head.  Personally, this sort of thing is really cool to me.  It feels more adventurous and daring.  Also, I did NOT stay on paved road.  I went over planked bridges, gravel road, and even over roots, rocks, and grooved pavement.  So I’m not complaining, just pointing this out.

Quirk 3) Extremely responsive steering!  When going fast, the slightest twitch of the steering bar caused the whole machine to wiggle.  I quickly got used to this and was careful not to twitch when moving along.

And now, the good stuff:

1) Excellent power transfer!  Having your back against something and being able to push against the pedals allowed me to move super fast!  I felt that my legs were getting a more complete workout, while my torso and arms got a chance to relax, which was really nice.  Plus, even though I was moving well, I felt like I was kicking back and relaxing.

2) It makes it through those cement trail blockers … you know – those things that they put up to prevent motorized vehicles from getting on the trails?  I was a little nervous that I would have to pick it up and walk it through, but it squeezed through with about 5 inches on each side.

3) Roots, rocks? No problem.  Last week, I took a spin through the neighborhood and ran over a few roots in some yards to see what i could get away with.  Today, in the woods, I got to a spot where there are a bunch of boulders with just enough space for me to squeeze through, but between them, there is a slight incline that’s full of rocks and roots.  My first attempt failed because I was in too high a gear and did not have enough momentum.  My second try in a low gear was a huge success!  I couldn’t believe I got over that!  a slightly knobby tire for the back may be a good idea at some point in the future.

4) Regular shorts and flip flops are OK!  I like looking casual when I ride.  No offense to those who wear the tight spandex stuff, but it’s just not for me.  I was able to pedal in wearing baggy shorts and my flip flops!  I know I need to be careful with the flip flop thing since there’s the threat of foot suck, but I didn’t even feel close to any danger at any point.

It was a very pleasurable ride, especially considering that today is one of those days when the weather people advise everyone to stay inside so as not to get a heat stroke.  BAHHHHHH.  Mind over matter, that’s my motto.

Incidentally, I just looked at my mileage on bikejournal.com and I’m going to be passing the 1000 mile mark for 2010 tonight on my ride home.

Fortunately, I had the Winding Trails Triathlon later that day, and I did alright!  The tri included a 4.99 mile off-road bike trail.  Fun!  My road biking paid off in a 3.75 minute gain in mountain biking time, which accounted for most of my performance increase from last year.  I swam a little slower, but I ran faster, beating last year’s time by a minute.

Well, yesterday was the last day of the Terratrike 2010 Car-Free Challenge.  I’ve got my fingers crossed.  I don’t know if they have a winner yet.  I’ll post later if I won.

I don’t plan to continue blogging about my rides unless something significant happens, but I shall continue to log my rides on bikejournal.com.

I’m too lazy to copy and paste the stats today.  My ride to work was 9.6 miles (I think), and it was easy and fast!  Nothing much to talk about there.  I’m continuing to work on spinning more and transferring more energy into a full turn of the crank and I’m seeing the benefits in time and speed and reduced fatigue.

Ride 2

I had to go to an off-campus meeting only 4.1 miles away.  Getting there was a little tricky due to construction and it just being a non-bike-friendly road, I I beat the traffic.  I used a truck as my marker and I got there before the truck.  I cheated a little and treated myself like a pedestrian a few times.

Ride 3

Coming back from my meeting was not as easy as getting there.  Rt. 6 in Bristol really sucks.  I got hit by my first car, in fact!  But don’t worry, it was more like a rub than a hit.  I didn’t even fall over or anything.  Someone didn’t see me and took a right into a business, forcing me to kind of bounce off their car.  I thought I executed the move pretty slickly.  They didn’t even realize that it had happened.  I pulled up to them to see if they wanted to exchange info or anything, but the girl said if I was OK, then no need to exchange info.  So we went on our way.

Exciting!  It was a nice beamer too.

Distance: 22.90 miles
Time: 01:09:00
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 61F, cool, overcast. Chipmunk index of 3.

Morning Ride

The first chipmunk I saw was running about 20mph across rt 179, just after the Ocean State Job Lot in Canton.  He avoided a truck going one way, a car going the other, and me.  I cheered him on.  I found out from my pals at bikejournal.com that I’m not the only one who talks to the animals a lot when they’re riding.

I told myself as I was leaving the house that I was going to try to keep a mild pace.  It was almost a 23 mile run, and I didn’t want to overdo it.  Well, I overdid it.  My average speed was 19.91 mph.  I hope I’m not stupid on my ride home.  I really should chill out and have a nice long recovery ride.

I’m starting to look at cross bikes … maybe I shouldn’t be.  The one I want is made by Pinarello.  The dude at Benidorm Bikes in Canton says I just asked him for an Aston Martin.  It turns out that maybe I should be looking for a new mountain bike for the type of riding I want to do.  Damn.  I really had my sights set.  Wouldn’t you?

Evening Stats

Distance: 22.90 miles
Time: 01:30:00
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 66F, partly sunny, nice sunset. Chipmunk index of 0.

Evening Ride

Tonight’s ride was long and beautiful.  I took my own advices and kept the pace comfortable.  I even took a minute to stop at the Canton Creamery and have some delicious, home-made ice cream – tahitian coconut with chocolate chips and cinnamon – and I ate it while I was riding.  I marveled at the irony of burning calories and eating a bunch more.

I have to go feed the cats.  They’re bugging my wife.

Distance: 11.60 miles
Time: 00:41:13
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 57F, light mist, overcast. Chipmunk index of 7.

Morning Ride

I tried to break my record from yesterday … 11.6 miles in 39:55, but I missed it by a half minute.  Actually, that’s pretty good considering that I’m wearing heavy clothes today and crappy converse sneakers because my regular sneakers did not fully dry out.  Yesterday’s ride was wet and messy.  Also, my extra pair of sneaks in in my sister’s car, so all I had were my converses.  It really made em appreciate having good shoes normally.

The chipmunks were really busy today.  They were zooming across the pavement, rather than their usual run stop chew something run stop scratch run stop look scared.

I also thought about slowing down a little bit today, because I realized that I was zooming past things breathing hard the whole way.  There seems to be an opposite correlation between pushing hard and seeing interesting wildlife.

Note to self: slow down and enjoy!

Can’t believe there are only 3 days left in the challenge.

Day 25 I felt like crap so I didn’t ride.  Not riding made me feel worse, but I was anxiously awaiting a ride for day 26.

Day 26 Morning Stats

Distance: 11.60 miles
Time: 00:45:00
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 58F, cool, overcast, no humidity. Chipmunk index of 3.

Day 26 Morning Ride

Back in the saddle!  Felt wonderful.  That’s all I have to report.

Day 26 Evening Stats

Distance: 11.60 miles
Time: 00:39:55
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: RAINING! Chipmunk index of 0

Day 26 Evening Ride

SETTE Vexx Fuse Riding Glasses

It was a very wet ride, but it really put my new riding glasses to the test and proved their usefulness big time.  My feet were totally soaked – felt like there was water sloshing around in them.  Nasty.

KEEN Commuter Sandals

I can’t wait to purchase some riding sandals from REI.

One nice thing I did during the ride home was to stop and grab a HUGE bundle of clover for the bunnies and strap it onto my lunch bag with bungee cords.  It must have looked funny seeing some dude flying down Rt. 179 with a 8 inch pile of greens and flowers strapped to him.

Distance: 13.40 miles
Time: 00:40:20
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road

Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 7:30a – 75F, partly cloudy, nice air.

Morning Ride

I was making excellent time.  I had already made it 13.4 miles and I was only 40 minutes into my ride, so yeah, I was haulin’ ass.  In Collinsville, I had to make the decision to take the old bridge and the trail, but that was a lot of up and down and bumpy stuff, so I decided to stay on the road and continue kicking ass … much to my dismay.  About 100 feet past the old bridge on 179 I heard a sharp popping sound.  By the time I was approaching the church acorss from Bridge St., I started feeling resistance from the bike … by the church door I felt the dreaded gachunk gachunk of a flat.

ANGER!

But lesson learned; just yesterday, another competitor in the challenge, River_rider, mentioned getting a flat, and I responded that I’d be sure to get a spare tube and pump and carry it.  Of course, I didn’t, and this is where it got me.

Tonight, I hope to get to the bike shop before 7 so I can grab a new tube and get the bike back on the road tonight or tomorrow morning.  I’m thinking about installing the Slime tyre liners again too, which is contra to the wisdom of the guy who sold me the bike at Bikers Edge 2 in Torrington.  Let’s see who’s right.

Distance: 5.90 miles
Time: 00:25:00
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 73F, sunny, slightly moist. Chipmunk index of 1.

Morning Ride

I made kind of crap time getting in, but I was riding right after eating a big breakfast of a veggie omelet with feta, 2 pieces of toast and 2 cups of orange juice.  Not exactly your typical pre-performce power-up.  But it was prepared by the lovely Sharry Revillini, a chef of limitless talent and lucky for me, my wife.  I also got up late so I had to keep the ride short. Bummer – I felt like doing the 16 mile ride.

Incidentally, I’m still on the same tank of gas that I had on May 15, and that’s not even the day I filled up … I think I’d filled up like 5 days prior.

WOW!  DAY 20 in the contest!

Evening Stats

Distance: 5.90 miles
Time: 00:35:00
Terrain: Road: Flat
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 5:30p – 75F, sunny, humid. Squipmunk index of 1.

Evening Ride

This evening I didn’t push hard, I just tried to work on technique and let the crank spin freely.  My feet want to point at 45 degrees toward the ground all the time.  This works certain muscles and doesn’t make the most efficient use of each turn, because it puts the most pressure on the downstroke.  Ideally, I should make 75 – 85% of each turn on each side a working motion.  The only time when it’s acceptable to have very little energy is transfered into moving the bike forward is just before it begins the next cycle from the top.  By the way, don’t take my word for science.  I’m just putting into my own words what I think I’ve heard from other cyclists.

Day 20 is done, man.  I hope I can wake early enough tomorrow to ride the whole way to work.  It’s the BAYYYST!

Distance: 11.60 miles
Time: 00:35:00
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 8:30a – sometimes sunny, sometimes foggy and cool.
Chipmunk index of 7.

Morning Ride

Took a nice easy 11 mile ride to work.  The road seemed to fly under me.  I made really good time getting to work.  I was dripping with sweat when I arrived, but I did not feel very tired.

Evening Stats

Distance: 11.60 miles
Time: 00:40:00
Terrain: Road: Rolling
Bike: Specialized Allez Road
Club: 2010 TerraTrike Car-Free Challenge
Weather Conditions: 8:15p – 68F, dark. Chipmunk index of 0.

Evening Ride

This was my first ride at dusk in a long time.  The sky was beautiful, but the bugs were out in full force.  I ordered some eye-wear that should be arriving in a few days.  It has replaceable lenses that sort of wrap around the eyes, so I hope to avoid getting pelted in the eyes with bugs.