A sportive on the trike

The Day

It's generally understood that the middle of June in Britain (Scotland included) is the summer. So, it was with some disappointment that I packed the trike into the boot of my car on the 14th of June with the drizzly rain coming down in a temperature of around 6 degrees Celsius. This was the morning of my first sportive with the trike and I had hoped for better weather.
Still, I told myself as I drove along, the forecast says it's going to get better. I still had my arm and leg warmers rolled up in my helmet in the back. I might be optimistic but I'm not stupid and I've lived in Scotland for a long time now. Right enough, the rain got worse as I drove to Dunfermline and the roads got wetter. However, when I arrived, it wasn't actually raining. And there were Vic and Carole in the car park already raring to go. Actually, that's not quite true of Vic. He was freezing having believed the weather forecast as he set out to cycle his 28 miles to the start. He was heading for an epic.
We went into the building at Fife College to sign in and Vic took shelter and got some coffee down his neck as I went out to get the trike ready for the day. I've got the fold/store in boot/unfold procedure down to quite a quick time now, but getting the seat back on is still a bit of a pain. But it went on and we were ready to depart. We were joined by Carol, work colleague of Carole for the departure. A slight issue of concern by the chap sending us off that I was too low for the timing sensors, but it proved not to be the case. I did sit upright just in case.
Carol is the local so we let her lead us out of Dunfermline towards Dalgety Bay. I'm glad we did because I would have got lost without her. Once out on the open road though Vic and I left the Carol(e)s to their speed and settled into our ride. I feel sorry for anyone on a DF trying to ride with a trike. It's not so much the average speed but the rhythm of the ride that's very different. The trike is very slow up hills, very quick down hills and somewhere in between on the rolling roads. However, Vic is a very strong rider and he manages just fine. Somehow I think it must be painfully slow for him but he does a great job at keeping pace and we manage to chat just fine.
We suffered the inevitable overtakes as I ground my way up the first real hill of the day. All very cheery though and a great atmosphere between all the participants. A real feature of the day. A lot of people cheerfully complaining about the weather which was still rather damp, if not actually raining. We did see some rain, and we suffered wet roads for the first half of the ride especially near Porters Brae. That was still to come though.
I had a slight fail at the first split in the sportive routes when I went the wrong way. I was just showing off the trike's turning circle, honest! Back on the right track another wee hill led to a fantastic descent into Kirkaldy. Chasing the roadie that had overtaken us near the summit was fun, avoiding the cat less so. Kirkaldy and Dysart provided an urban landscape and a couple of nasty little ramps for the trike. They also provided some passer-by fun. From the steadfastly not looking to the full 180 turn around there was no doubt that the trike was attracting some attention. There's no point being shy and retiring when riding a trike.
On the way to Weymss we were overtaken by some of Carole's friends while taking a comfort break. Carole at this point had turned off to make here way round the shorter 28 mile loop leaving us and Carol to the 60. Carol just kept spotting us in the distance. Now it was mostly downhill for a while and with the trike wanting to roll we made the most of it to re-pass. Not that we knew who it was at this point. The road trucked on to Buckhaven where the longer 92 mile route left the 60 mile route and we turned up to Windygates and Kennoway. It was here we had one of the two stretches of roads I'd rather not ride. Luckily it was mainly downhill so I was able to wind the trike up to reasonable speeds. Just to get it done, you understand.
Unfortunately, Windygates and Kennoway signalled a long stretch of mostly uphill work. And those we had passed earlier were able to get their revenge. Coming out of Kennoway took us on to the biggest hill to date. 1.1 miles of around 5%. Tough enough for me on the trike and fairly unpleasant in the dampest conditions of the day. We felt we were climbing to meet the clouds. Of course, getting to the top brought the inevitable descent and, although it was short and wet, the trike handled it very well. I was delighted to see later that this was my 2nd fastest time down this little hill. Well worth the effort. The road, wet and puddly and making me wish for my mudguards, took us to Cadger's Brae which should be a blast of a descent but I don't have the bottle for the steep reverse camber turns and a 90 degree left at the bottom with an ominous looking wall. Disc brakes or no disc brakes I took it relatively easily. At the junction a little further on, all this descending meant we caught up with some of those who had overtaken us. This was helped by a slight confusion over the route.
This junction led to the second bit of road I'd rather not ride. Very much back on routes I have ridden relatively often the choice of riding up to the New Inn roundabout and then down to Falkland surprised me. I had assumed we would cross the road duck under the railway and reach Falkland by way of Freuchie. We did discuss this with one of the organisers at the end and apparently there had been some debate about the correct way to route this section, with the busier roads being favoured over the potentially dangerous crossings of two bigger roads. I'm still not sure, especially after experiencing the driving on the road down to Falkland. I've never gone this way before on my own rides, and I'm not persuaded by this trip. Still, it increases the roads on my heatmap, and I'm still alive to tell the tale.
The feed stop for the 60 mile route was at Falkland's community hall and we arrived with the little posse of riders we'd been swapping positions with since Weymss. “Are you the Clockwork Hamster?” said one of the women who proceeded to introduce herself as, Julie, one of Carole's friends who I recognised from Strava. Both Strava and local sportives are an excellent way to meet new cycling acquaintances. Carol arrived closely behind and we all chatted away as we partook of the lovely snacks and topped up our bottles.
Leaving Falkland I suffered a little downturn in energy that really didn't re-emerge until after Wester Balgedie, 8.5 miles away. This, and the long drag from Strathmiglo allowed our new chums to overtake us and we never saw them again. Carol, who left Falkland slightly after us, was on that bit of elastic again and she nearly caught us a number of times before finally overtaking us at Cleish. We had, however, had a change for the better in the weather. I'd taken the leg warmers off and the roads had dried out. The sun was even threatening on occasion to break through.
Before that we met up with another two blokes who traded road position with us a couple of times before Cleish where the big climb of the day loomed before us. The trike did go up it but very slowly indeed. It doesn't help that the road surface at the bottom where it is very steep is also the worst. Steep and gravelly doesn't suit the trike well but I managed to keep it going and didn't appear to suffer any significant wheel slip. Our two blokes overtook us, as did Carol, as I suffered onwards and upwards. Vic showed his strength by accelerating away to get far enough up the road to take this picture.

On the Cleish hill - with permission

I was very relieved to get to the top of the second steep section and even happier to get to the actual top. It was here we made a great tactical error. The road is single track and we had a car behind us. Being nice, polite cyclists we slowed and let them through. Forgetting of course, just how fast the trike (and a bike) can go downhill. Unfortunately the car driver was not so fast and our descent was slightly hampered. I had hoped the car would be just far enough in front to punch a hole in any oncoming traffic. They parked up a little before the descent finished; here we met traffic coming the other way that was definitely going too fast but luckily the road was wide enough here.
Turning down to Kelty we could see our “companions”. And we started to reel them in. The road into the centre of Kelty is a very steep straight road which is ideal for letting the trike roll. As long as a 4x4 doesn't pull out in front of you that is. They got up to speed ok in the end though and by the time we were turning south in Kelty we had almost caught Carol and one of the blokes, who appeared to have lost his mate.
From here to Kingseat saw more swapping of position as the tarmac rolled along. Vic and I had the ascendancy as we topped out in Kingseat only for me to miss the turn to the finish. As I turned Carol and our cycling chap took full advantage to finish in front of us. This small diversion may also have cost me a sub 5 hour finish in the event, which is a shame. All that remained was to drop back into Dunfermline and Fife College for welcome hot food and drink.
Regardless of results (sportives are not races) and goals it was a great day out. I was superbly supported, as ever, by my wingman Vic and we met lots of good company along the way. My thanks have to go also to Dunfermline Cycle Club who ran the event. The organisation was superb, the feed stop excellent. I would query the exact choice of route but that's something up for debate. I'm not forced to ride in these events so I can decide next year if I want to take part or not. The question is, which device will it be next year, bike or trike? And which route?

The Ride

Postscipt

Our friend Carole had her own epic on the 28 mile route which turned in to a 33 mile route and more climbing than she'd bargained for. A great effort though and I believe she had as much fun as we did!

The trike's first 500

Unbelievably I have ridden my trike over 500 miles now. So it seems appropriate to write up my thoughts it, and riding in the laid back position generally.

Speed

I'd like to start with the obvious. The trike is slow or, at least, I am slow on the trike. Uphill I can understand; the trike is heavier and on a trike it's not clever to mash. To protect my knees I've been very careful to feel I've been spinning, especially on the uphill sections. It's not just on the slopes that the trike is slow. Three wheels increases the rolling resistance and, to date, I've struggled to get it up to speed on the flat. Downhill is a different matter. It's actually not as quick, or quicker, than the upright bike but it feels very fast at anything over about 25mph. And bends on descents can be 'interesting" when the inside wheel lightens up.
It is this one issue that is my biggest disappointment with the trike. But there's more to the trike than raw speed.

Comfort

The trike is insanely comfortable to ride. I have it fitted with a hard shell seat which I'm sure does transfer more of the road surface to me than a mesh seat would but it also supports me better than the mesh seat I tried. A neck rest provides even more comfort and I'm sure if I stopped up somewhere, tipped my head back and shut my eyes I could quite happily sleep right there. As long as I remembered to set the parking brake that is!
The reclined nature of the riding position allows me to look down the road much more easily than when riding my road bike. My shoulders and back appreciate that. And as a last trick the seat also has two water bottle holders on it, making drinking on the move easy and efficient.
My hands rest nicely on the controls, with the added benefit that I can ride the trike with just one hand steering. This has been crucial to my recovery. With the right hand steering, braking and changing gear at the back my left hand has been able spend time resting on my chest. It's only needed for the occasional braking duty and changing the chainring being used if required (a carefully picked route can result in this not being needed). And all of this mucking about with hands and never a worry about falling off.
All of this physical support and comfort results in getting home feeling quite fresh. Certainly there's none of the sense of relief that sometimes comes with dismounting from an upright bike. I should sound a note of pessimism here. These observations are based on shorter rides, my longest ride to date is just over 40 miles, the usual ones are between 15 and 20. And the longest time I've spent on (in, I'm not quite sure) the trike at one time is probably about 1 hour 45 minutes. Perhaps I will change my mind if I ever do a century on it.

Practicality

One area where I think I need to make improvements to the trike is the area of practicality. Because I can't carry stuff in my back pockets, like I can on a road bike, it makes carrying snacks, a phone, arm warmers and the like that little bit more difficult. And I haven't really found a solution yet. I want to find some storage that I can reach easily for snacks as I ride and somewhere to put the tools, inner tubes etc along with a little space for clothes etc. So far it isn't too much of an issue but it might become one as I venture further from home and as I need to deal with different temperatures during a ride. Currently the back of the seat looks like a good bet, I'll keep you posted.
If you look at this picture you can see where an old saddle bag is strapped to the frame of the trike, right on the fold. There's a little bag for gels and phone at the front and another tiny bag you can't see at between the wheels. And my waterproof jacket is attached to the head rest at the back of the seat.

A photo posted by Clockwork Hamster (@clockworkhamster) on Apr 18, 2015 at 4:08am PDT

I've mentioned the fold. It makes it very easy to transport the trike in the back of my car although there isn't much room for anything else. Certainly no people! I'd get some bags for clothes and food etc in but not much else. Still, it makes it easy to transport which makes going places that little easier. Maybe one day I'll work out how to transport it on the roof like my other bikes.

Verdict

I love my trike. Enough said. I just have to remember that it's a different ball game to ripping up the tarmac on a road bike (as if I ever did) but that's the point; it's different. And what a comfortable difference it is. I suspect my next bike might be two-wheeled but it might very well still have a laid back seat....

Confession

I have a small apology to make. It's taken me so long to write this that I've now done 720 miles on the trike. Riding not writing, maybe I shouldn't be sorry for that.

Surgery and recovery

My, I've been quiet! In the first of what should be two closely spaced posts I'd like to take the opportunity to talk about the operation and recovery.

The procedure

The surgical solution is frighteningly simple. The symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome are caused by the median nerve being squeezed for space in the carpal tunnel. This tunnel has a roof formed by a ligament attached to the bones on either side of the hand. To give the nerve some more space the surgeon opens up the hand, cuts the ligament in two and sews the hand back up. As I said, frighteningly simple. For more details, including videos(!), just search for carpal tunnel release surgery.

My experience

I was very apprehensive on the day of the operation but I have to say that the hospital staff made the whole thing a lot easier. I was most amused during the pre-op checks when I set off the alarm by having a pulse rate that was too low! The benefits of cycling....
As the procedure was done under local anaesthetic I was aware of all that was going on. It's a very strange feeling when you know that the surgeon is working away on your hand but there is no associated pain. The theatre nurses were amused at my calming method, I spent time on the table imaging I was climbing the Inn Pin on Skye!
When the surgeon was finished I declined his invitation to "have a look". No thank you.... And then, very quickly, they had my hand all wrapped up in an enormous bandage with my fingers sticking out.

Not the best photo - but you get the idea...

Then, once I'd had a little time recovering (with toast and coffee), it was time to go home.

Initial recovery

I was instructed to keep my fingers mobile and take painkillers as required. Apparently you don't want it all seizing up. I was allowed to reduce the dressing after 3-4 days and I did this. Mostly so my hand would pass through my coat sleeve, allowing me to go out for a more comfortable walk than when I tried to with my coat wrapped around the spare arm. Reducing the dressing ended up with me getting a glimpse of the wound. Not pretty, and I was glad to have it wrapped up again. Given the way my hand felt over the next few days I did wonder if I should have left the bandages alone. In the end I think it was ok.
After 10 days I had the stitches out. To be honest this was probably the worst bit. The picking and pulling around the cut was not pleasant.

Onward recovery

With my stitches out I was back to work. At this stage I was somewhat wary and slightly concerned that the wound would split open. It's very disconcerting. By now I also had my exercises to do. I will admit that work was being done with one hand mostly. But it was good to be back at the desk.
Improvement, since then (9 weeks ago), has been steady if not as fast as I would like. The interesting bit has been the regular step-wise improvements. I would be worrying that no progress had been made for a week or so and then, overnight or over the course of an evening, a rapid change would take place.
It's not perfect yet but I've only had a couple of re-occurrances of my symptoms and they've not hung about. The surgeon did say it might take up to a year, even 18 months, for it to settle down properly. It's nice to be sleeping with one splint only. I haven't tried riding a road bike yet; the small amount of residual swelling is still putting me off. I've not tried golf either. But a lot of "normal" activities are exactly that now, normal. Every now and again I do something that reminds me all is not as it once was and feeling the tendons floating about a bit is strange.
So, for now, it's onward with the exercises and the trike riding. I will wait and see how it goes  before committing the right hand to the same treatment. With it being in better shape than the left one was it might be a while before it is even necessary.

Carpal Tunnel and the Trike

The medical bits

It all started with being woken up in the middle of the night with a numb hand. Night after night. And not a usual numb hand either. Before this all started if I woke up with a hand that had also gone to sleep then I would just move and the feeling would go away while I dropped off again. However this was different. The feeling wouldn't leave the hand, usually requiring me to get up and walk about for a while before it would let me get back to the land of nod. Sometimes it would wake me more than once.

As it went on I did some www research. The symptoms seemed to point to carpal tunnel syndrome. But last time I'd thought I'd got something similar I didn't and some physio sorted something out in my back relieving the symptoms. So I went back to my physio. But, while the manipulations and stretches helped, the symptoms didn't recede. So, off to the docs I went.

And one appointment with a specialist later and I was diagnosed with suspected Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. And sleeping with a splint on my right hand. It certainly helped with the night time symptoms but the odd numb hand on the bike, when typing at work and random other times didn't go away. It's a very odd feeling when your hand just goes all pins and needles for no apparent reason. The really odd thing is the feeling of pins and needles on one side of a finger and not the other. CTS is caused by an impingement of the median nerve and, as I know now, this serves the thumb, forefinger, middle finger and one side of the ring finger. The un-affected ulnar nerve serves the little finger and the other side of the ring finger.

The really odd thing for me was that it had always been my left hand that had gone numb on the bike but that hand appeared to be ok. Well, it was. Until one day on Skye, after a long tandem ride. And then the same thing started with it. I couldn't find a splint on Skye but I did manage to fashion one with a Buff and a teaspoon.  This amused the specialist!

Ah, yes, him again. This time he was convinced enough to send me for nerve conduction tests. Another specialist, another hospital and a diagnosis. CTS for sure. The tests were interesting though. Essentially a series of electric shock used to measure the speed of the nerve signals in my hands. And because the speed is slower from the thumbs than the pinkie CTS is a good call. Moderate in the left, slight to moderate in the right.

And then another trip to the first specialist. And a decision to go for surgery, carpal tunnel release. I'm going to have it done in the left hand first. If that goes well then we will consider doing it to the other hand too.

Riding

For the most part bike riding has been ok. Rough surfaces, routes with heavy braking and the tandem in general have given me problems. One or other hand going to sleep. Changing gear is a bit of a lottery when you can't really feel your fingers. Braking isn't quite so bad, but I'm not sure I'm able to modulate it well with dodgy hands. The odd sharp stop has been entertaining! Getting a drink or food has been fun on occasion too.

I'm sure cycling has had some part in the development of the problem but I'm also sure that 27 years of typing, loads of goal keeping and golf have played their part.

General

One of the strangest things is the display of symptoms. At night I realise is because a lot of us sleep with our hands and wrists curled up. That puts pressure on the nerve and makes the hand go to sleep. Fair enough. But it's the other times that surprise me. Holding a coffee cup, hand goes numb. Typing, hand goes numb. Holding a mobile phone, hand goes numb. Doing nothing, hand goes numb. It's just odd.

Although may be not as odd as one of the specialist's tests. He took my arm and tapped down the inside of the arm from the elbow to the hand. Bingo, the hand goes numb!

Then I found clapping also set it off. Hard to enjoy a pantomime if you can't clap along... :-(

Looking forward

I can't say I'm looking forward to the surgery even if it is only a 20 minute procedure. I'm also not looking forward to the recovery either. No work until the stitches are out (minimal typing), no riding obviously. I'm just hoping TV will be good.

Then, once the stithes are away, I need to be careful. Cycling will need to be introduced very slowly to build it up again. And, of course, the right hand is still affected.

And, now, one reason for the trike will be much clearer.  I'm hoping it will allow me to keep my legs strong while I keep the weight off my wrists. And that might keep the Stoker happy. I can do upright riding on the tandem.

Well, that's the plan. Hopefully it will all work out just fine.

The new trike

Well, I did it. Bought a trike that is. Another small test ride with a hard shell seat convinced me it was ok and I went ahead. A couple of weeks later I took possession of an ICE Sprint 26x. Lovely. Since then I have ridden it around here a little and it's still fun but it's also very different. Here it is suspended on a couple of garden walls. It's easier to clean like that.

The new trike

With it being winter the weather is not exactly perfect for getting used to a new pedal driven machine (I can't really call it a bike...) but I have taken a few opportunities. I've been out twice in the dark allowing me to see where lights can be mounted. Rear lights are simple enough, mounted on the neck rest. Front lights are easy enough to mount on the accessory mount beside the chain rings but they aren't very high and getting enough illumination from them isn't easy. I think I blinded a couple of drivers when I was out the first time. The other problem is that I can't adjust them easily on the move because they are along way from my hands.

The other issue is one of storage. I need two sizes of spare inner tube and tools as well as drinks and snacks. With no access to back pockets this is a bigger headache than normal. I now have 3 water bottle cages and a couple of small bags. That was enough space for me to carry some food last time I was out and I even managed a snack on the move. Progress!

Not that I'm able to go very far yet. Last time out I did about 23 miles including the distance to the start and finish and that was tiring. The laid back pedalling action is different. I'm trying to keep the pressure off my knees, the cadence high, and pull the horizon towards the bike. I might feel like I'm getting there but I suspect it will be a long journey.

Now I have a new machine issue, a rubbing front derailleur but I'm not used to a friction shift so that might also take a little time and effort to sort. It needs sorted for sure, I don't need it to be any less efficient.  Which brings me to the question of speed. I feel it's slow at the moment. I'm hoping that with time I will pick up a little but I'm sure I will never challenge the road bike. The tandem, maybe; that's my target for the time being.

Looking at what I've written here it almost seems like I don't like the trike. That's not true, but it's not an unreserved love affair yet. There are other reasons for the trike. But that's a post for another day.

Ride

This latest ride made me feel like I am progressing. It followed a loop I've done often on the bike so I felt I wasn't compromising my distance because of the trike. It also allowed me to enjoy the different view available from the recumbent position.  I saw more buzzards than I have in a while and a kestrel. The wide views were also great despite not being able to see over the hedgerows. 

Trike Testing

After my very successful trip to Edinburgh and ride around on the Ice Trike I wanted to test it on my local roads. After all, urban riding on cycle tracks and in the hurly burly of town traffic is not what I do. I wanted to see if it (or rather I) could climb some of the local hills and if we could have fun coming down them again. Very kindly David from Laid Back Bikes agreed that I could "borrow" the trike and give it a test up here. Of course that also meant seeing how the trike folded up so I could fit it into the car. It's not exactly bijou when it's folded but it just about fits in the boot of my saloon. On the return journey I found I could keep one of the split seats up which held it nicely in position. The problem with something with wheels is that it has a tendency to roll! It is great to know that I can transport one relatively easily.
The fun part arrived when I got back home. Man handling a folded up trike is, without doubt, something that comes with practice. Which I don't have. Added to the mix the fact that it is not mine and you might see why this was a nervous operation. The darkness didn't help. I got it out and into the garage. I now know that an easier method would have been to unfold it and carry it in. Although the package would have been longer it would also have been more rigid. However, I did the unfolding in the garage and suddenly I had a more recognisable shape in front of me. Next the seat. It took me a little while to get this right but for a first effort it was ok. A trike in my garage ready to roll. How exciting was that?
Actually it wasn't quite ready to roll. I needed to put a bag on it and get the right tools in there, add a front light etc. But that's all quite mundane so we will skip that. Suffice to say the rack bag that fits the tandem slipped nicely onto the sightly narrower rack on the Sprint. David's worries that it might slip proved groundless the next day. Good old Carradice! David should get special thanks for fitting a rear light and providing an spare inner tube for the 20 inch front wheels. There's real service. And I'm only a potential customer!
I'd love to say that the next day dawned bright and sunny but it didn't. Grey and wet was what it was, much to my disgust. The forecast promised better, and soon, so I got ready. And right enough I didn't have to delay my intended departure long for the rain to stop. Up and down the street to see that I'd got the cranks at the right distance and to test that I remembered how and then I was off. Then it rained again. Thankfully not for long.

Ready to roll

My plan was to do a relatively hilly loop, nothing too extreme, just a good test. Actually the first little hill came before I even started the computer. My ride start point is just opposite the West Port in St. Andrews and there's a little ramp I need to go up to get there. I notice it on all my bikes, so it was no surprise I ended up plodding my way up it in the trike. Then a left, hit the start button on the computer and the test really had begun.

I got my first surprise of the day when I needed to turn right up the hill to Strathkinness. Obviously I needed to cross the lane coming the other way. So I indicated, pulled out and got in position to turn right. A car was coming the other way so I slowed down only to find them coming to a halt and signalling that I should proceed. Either the trike and I looked very scary or so different that something needed to be done. This has never happened to me on my upright bike and I don't think it has ever happened on the tandem. What makes trikes so different?
Thanks to the overnight rain the roads were soaking and there were puddles everywhere. I felt sorry for the trike. And even more sorry for me when I got a soaking despite the mudguards. The problem with the recumbent position is there really is nowhere to go. The downhill section after Strathkinness was fun. I was mindful not to roll the trike so took it a little bit more easily down the hill than I might on a two-wheeler but it was still fun. Over 30 mph that close to the road feels really fast.
The climb to Dairsie was ok apart from another soaking and I headed out to Thai Teak. This is a road well known to me but, along with all the others I did, it really was a new perspective. Although much lower down and, therefore, unable to see over walls etc the overwhelming sense is one of being able to look around and enjoy the view. My serenity got a rude awakening as I made my way along to Thai Teak though. I realised (my hearing is not too bad) that the front left mudguard had come loose and was a) rattling something awful and b) interfering with the wheel. Now here's something you can't do on a regular bike. I slowed a little, took the mudguard in my left hand and held it away from the wheel until I could make the turn into the bottom of the hill and its much quieter road. There I fished out the multi-tool and tightened up the fittings. I checked the front right and the rear as well for good measure. Fife roads must be rougher than Edinburgh ones!

Up that?

That left me at the bottom of the Thai Teak climb. An ever steepening ramp of about 0.7 miles. It's good hill climbing training. Once I had the correct chainring selected it went relatively smoothly. Not quickly but ok, and my heart rate was lower than normal. So there's definite room for improvement. As I was to find for most of the ride my cardio vascular system was not the limiting factor. For better times I need to build some "recumbent legs".

The ride into Cupar was ok. It rolls a little and then you get a good run into Cupar itself. I was still a little apprehensive about letting trike roll so didn't achieve personal best territory here. It's also urban so not the best place to be trying to see just how fast the trike will go downhill. I was pointed out by a father to his child as I swept through the corner at the bottom. A rare sight indeed, then!
Through Cupar and on to a fairer test of my recumbent climbing ability. Garlie Bank is a 1.4 mile climb of around 3-5%. One I tend just to pick a gear and spin on. And that's what I did. To my surprise I was faster than I've been up it on the tandem but of course much slower than my single bike. That didn't detract from the fact that I climbed it without much fuss and with a reasonable heart rate and cadence. The irritating moment came near the top when I managed to drop my water bottle as I was attempting to put it into the cage. With the trike it's a bit harder just to stop because you need to find a safe place for the machine. I did, parked up, and then strolled back for the offending bottle. That did give me the excuse for some photos.

Water bottle replaced...

The little climb in Craigrothie went ok (I didn't beat the tandem here) and then it was time for some fun, or so I thought. The ride home. From Craigrothie it should be relatively quick to Ceres, and then the same from there to Pitscottie after which there's a bit of climbing before the blast down from Blebo to St. Andrews. But this is where my major problem with the trike reared it's head. It's called pedal steer. And from what I read, Ice Trikes are supposed to have only a little (or none). What happens is this. As you pedal the bike steers towards the active leg. So on what I hoped might be good fast bits I found myself being very alarmed as the bike went left, right, left, right etc. To be fair it happened all the way round on my ride but it was worse at speed and high cadences. Which was annoying, as that's how I like ride fast; lower gear with a high cadence. It was pronounced enough to cause me to back off. And that's not good for my long term relationship with trikes.

Still, I made it back to St. Andrews and for the most part it was great fun. My route home from the edge of town was slightly longer than usual as I had promised The Groover a look. Most of the office disgorged to have a look at the odd contraption. Some even got in (on?) to see if they liked it. Slippers and pipes came up in the conversation.
On my way home I passed the nearby primary school. Again the trike proved popular with kids running up to the wall to look at, and pass comment on, the strange human powered vehicle. It's very odd getting even more attention than we receive on the tandem.
Once home I had to give the poor trike a clean. It looked like it had been in a war with mud and had lost. I got most of the obvious muck off and, to my shame, left David to clean the insides of the mudguards etc. Then, fold and pack into the car for transportation to Edinburgh. This whole operation and the reverse, once in Edinburgh, was so much easier and this was only my second attempt so I can confidently say that this part of the package Ice have got very much correct.

The Ride

The Verdict

Will I be riding a trike soon? It's a fair question and one I can't answer yet. And there in lies my disappointment. Without the pedal steer issue I'm 99% certain the answer would be yes. And then my further decisions would be what kind of seat (I want to try the hardshell one rather than the mesh one in the pictures) and what gearing. I also don't know if it is a non-issue, something that might go away if I rode the trike more regularly. All new skills take time to master. With it I might be re-looking at the weird world of two wheeled recumbents.
As a message to David, at Laid Back, you've certainly not seen the last of me, sorry!

Cycling the laid back way

This post will put the blog a little out of date order but I wanted to get it down quickly before I forget. So here it is. The photos in this are by kind permission of David Gardiner.

Yesterday I spent a very entertaining and instructive half day in the company of David Gardiner, of Laid Back Bikes in Edinburgh who specialise in recumbent cycling. I had a few reasons for doing this. There's the interest angle. Cycling lying down is somewhat efficient as you reduce your frontal area. It's also more comfortable as you spread your weight over more surface area, you can take the weight of your hands and you don't have to pull your head up as much. The last two points are of great interest for me. This year I've been suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (almost certainly but not entirely diagnosed)  in both wrists and from back and neck problems. Both of these could be caused in part, or all, by my day job; sitting with computers. But neither are helped by the cycling and that's a fact. So the comfort thing appeals.

As luck would have it I needed to be in Edinburgh to do some other stuff (luckily after the sun had gone down) and that meant the opportunity to go and have a look. If you look at the Laid Back website you'll see some odd opening hours but David agreed to open up and let me see what I thought. And, then, perhaps a ride to see how I felt about the machine. I arrived at the appointed time and there was no mistaking my host for the day. His lovely looking recumbent was outside the shop and he was opening up. I suspect I wasn't too difficult to spot either. A man dressed in cycling gear but walking along is probably the potential customer. So in, a wee chat and then "how about you try the recumbent?".

So I did and it wasn't an entire failure but on the day it wasn't for me. Just too odd and too much like I was 8 years old again and learning to ride. The experience for me wasn't helped as I found David's seat uncomfortable to sit in, yet alone try to cycle. I was very wobbly. David said I was doing all right but I think he was probably holding on. It was a very strange experience. But one that hasn't left me going "Oh, no". I think I would like to try it again.

One of objectives of my visit was to see if I even liked lying down whilst cycling. I've never really got on with recumbent exercise bikes, I've always found them uncomfortable too. I've always put that down to bad design, hence the visit.

Back in the shop I could see the other option; a recumbent trike. Far less chance of falling over but with all the benefits of testing the "feet first, head last" position. Davis suggested a trip out to Silverknowes and back to see how it went. A little bit of fettling to get the cranks in the right place for me, a shuffle through the door and we were off. City cycling is not something I do so as well as an unfamiliar vehicle, I was also dealing with unfamiliar roads and shared paths. Luckily David is used to giving guided tours and his instructions floating back to me and his ever present hand signals were great all day. We got through the Meadows, out past the Kings Theatre and onto a nice quiet cycle path. I would not have wanted to ride a two-wheeler though that so the the stability of the trike was ideal. To stop all I needed to do was put the brake on. No worries about falling over which left me to concentrate on the traffic, David, my gears and steering.

Starting out - in the Meadows

Survived to the next cycle path

I was riding an ICE Trike which meant I had under seat steering. It's very intuitive. If you've ever ridden a sledge, or indeed built an old fashioned go kart with string and a crossbar, you know how to steer one of these. The gears were relatively easy too, once I worked out which way the to move shift levers. I did however drop the chain off the front derailleur (it really is at the front - you look straight at it) at one point. But this showed the brilliance of a trike design. Stopping required no panic. Stop, apply parking brake and then unclip. Fantastic. A quick apology to David, who was waiting patiently at the top of a slope, and after fixing the problem I was off again.

All this ease of riding left me able to enjoy the experience. Which was great actually. I grew up in Edinburgh but the never cycled there so all the cycle paths were new to me. Every now and again we would pop up (or down) to join the normal roads and I would know where I was. And then get confused at David's next hand signal indicating another path. We soon reached Silverknowes and a basic but excellent cafe. As any long term readers of this blog will know I do it for the coffee and cake so this was an added bonus. I particularly liked the question we got from one of the other customers "When you grow up, do you get bigger bikes?" I'm sure David's heard them all.

After some refreshments and general bike chat we decided to head off. David suggested extending the run a little (it must have been my talk about riding up to Glenshee and other idiocies) which meant we were going to make our way to Holyrood Park, underneath Edinburgh's iconic Arthur's Seat.

Crammond beach

More cycle paths ensued with me watching David cycle effortlessly on his two wheels while I tried to make it look like my three wheeled machine was the most natural thing in the world. We got an interesting array of glances, stares and other looks. David would announce his presence with a polite bell and I would follow it up with a "slightly wider, coming through". Occasionally we managed two abreast and some conversation. Apart from the odd sight of my feet whirling round and round in front of me, it felt just like any other meet up on the road. 

Eventually we popped out on to the roads. As I said before I don't really do city cycling so the amount of traffic was a slightly unusual experience. And then we needed to go along a little bit of London Road. My mirror became much more useful here although I had been checking it regularly as we went along. This one item highlights a big difference between my upright bikes and this trike.
Riding the trike I had much more of a feeling of being in the machine rather than on it. And in the town my riding was much more like driving a car. Indicators would have been great. David decided we should cut down a little lane which meant we had to cross the traffic. This was probably the only time I was a little concerned about my height; the trike is low. Over speed bumps I did occasionally catch my lower heel; I'm sure that's one of these things you just get used to. It was here we were treated to a lovely piece of driving. A big 4x4 slowed and let us cross the other lane. Cooperative driving is always great to see but this really brought a smile to my face.

We'd been working hard enough to get up a sweat (well, I had) and after a trip down the lane and through a narrow gate I had to dispense with my waterproof. Luckily David had room in his rack bag otherwise I might have melted. The problem with the seat is that you can't just stick something like a waterproof up your jersey. I'm not too sure how flapjacks, gels and all the other paraphernalia work on a recumbent. Although the trike was easy to ride no hands, or just with the lightest touch with one. Feeding youself shouldn't be onerous.

Arthur's Seat and our wheels

Getting rid of the waterproof was part of my plan to take David up on a throw away offer of a ride up the hill road on Arthur's Seat. So far we hadn't really done anything remotely serious in the hill category and I wanted to see what it was like. David agreed with the warning that the traffic might be "interesting". But in the end when we made our way across to the hill road we found it closed to cars so it was a non-problem. At the bottom David signalled that I could try riding under the barrier but I didn't understand so I missed my chance of a trike limbo moment. The hill wasn't too bad at all. I know it wasn't long or overly steep but it was a good try out on a first day out. Of course it also gave me the chance to try out a steeper descent. Another warning from came David about carrying too much speed into the roundabout, and it was probably quite wise. It may have been that he wanted to get ahead though!

Heading to the hill

Proper climbing

Still going up

Admiring the view from my armchair

What a great day to be out - Dunsapie Loch

I got a bit confused here when David seemed to turn away from where I thought we were going but he wanted to show me the Innocent Railway Tunnel. I actually found this the toughest ramp of the day. Perhaps I was just getting a little tired. It is one of those very slight inclined drags. Your eyes just tell you that you should be blasting along but somehow gravity grabs at your wheels. Up and out of there and back to the roads. Here we had a definite indication I was getting tired when I mis-judged a traffic light and went flying through as it changed to amber. Quite rightly it earned me a "horn of rebuke" from a driver. My apologies. David, the gent he is, had stopped properly so my punishment was to sit by the side of the road waiting for him. Then it was a short trip back to the shop. And bacon rolls from the cafe next door, nice!

I can't thank David enough for an excellent introduction to the mad world of lying down while cycling.

The ride

I'm really disappointed I didn't take my Garmin and gubbins because I'd love to have the metrics from this ride. But I don't. I think all told we were out for about 2.5 hours and we went about 18 miles. However we weren't riding all the time, and it's not the kind of riding where you get to blast along for hours at a time. So I have nothing to judge it against. But I do know it was fun. This is the route as far as I remember.

What's next

I've done one of David's excellent tours and I would advise anyone with even a passing interest in self propulsion to go and try the trike experience. It's like grown up go-karting; that's the only thing I can compare it to.
However a good part of the day for me was to see how I like the idea of going recumbent on a more permanent basis. Or at least on a more than occasional basis. And right now that's where I'm stuck. I think I need to answer some questions before I can think about going forward:

• Can I ride a two wheeled recumbent? That's still an largely unscratched itch. I need to find a recumbent where the seat isn't instantly uncomfortable. Maybe just a different size.
• Is the trike good enough for longer solo days on the road? It was great around town but that's not my style.
• Can I be fast enough on the trike?
• Or on a two wheeled recumbent?

What I can say is that distance on the trike gave me no back or neck issues and my hands loved me. No weight on them at all. And the brakes were much less painful to apply. But if I have wrist surgery that might not be a problem at all.

And the other thing I can most definitely say is that riding the trike didn't put me off the whole laid back approach at all. And that just doesn't help one little bit. Watch this space as they say.