I've ridden centuries on DF bikes before, but today the club ride turned out slightly longer than
advertised and I accidentally rode my first recumbent century! 100.3 miles at a stately average
of 13.3mph.
I feel slightly less physically tired than I normally would after a long ride, although my knees are
slightly sore. I had no trouble keeping up with the DFs uphill (especially given the relaxed pace)
and had to hang on the brakes going down or wait for them at the bottom. Or overshoot the junction
and ride back... :-)
I was granted Bragging Rights on the way back into wind, obviously, but one rider challenged me to a
race to the top of the next rise. He claims he missed a gear, all I know is I was still doing 28mph
as I crested said rise and he was a dot in the rear-view mirror when I got there ;-)
The bike held up well on poor surfaces, give or take a lot of clatter from the bag on the back (it
has a hard liner so tends to rattle). The wide-range cassette worked Much Better with the XTR mech
than it ever did with the old Deore one, but is still rather noisy. It was very noticeable from my
lower vantage point that Campag-equipped bikes shift cleaner and make less noise running (which
means less friction), so when I buy That Trike it will be Campag-equipped.
The Stinger also went over the 2,500 mile mark. Still doing fine, save the niggles already
discussed, the rear tyre is looking a bit worn though. Time for those Stelvios I think.
There were a couple of tandems along, and the recumbent dynamics were very similar: wide turning
circles, fast descents, awesome braking and grind up the hills. Naturally the tandemists and I
made a point of saying how challenging our mounts were on hills as we sailed past the solos on
the ascents.
This is reputed to be the first time a recumbent has gone along on the main Reading CTC Sunday ride.
Not sure how true that is, but it was good to wave the flag. And you can bet that several wedgie
riders nearly impaled themselves on said flag, so maybe next time I'll set it at a different angle.
Guy
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