David M said:With the new GT5 trike, I went for my first "real" ride today. Only
maybe 35km, and around the river in Perth so a few hills but nothing
serious, and what would have been an easy ride on my roadie, but it
almost killed me!
What's the best training method to aclimatise to the recumbent-trike
style, and what are the tricks and tips? What average speeds do people
exect to get whilst cruising on a trike on the cycleway and quiet
suburban streets, assuming I average 28-30 on the roadie?
Cheers
David M
This will make superb cross-training for your road bike but this is
because you will be working similar muscles but in a different way. You
will need to work on your 'recumbent legs'.
If you really want to enjoy the trike forget speed for now as you will
either master this on the trike or never. Take your trike out for a bit
of cornering fun. Have you had it up on two wheels yet and how long did
you keep the wheel up for? (Yes you can do front wheel wheelies on a
trike but it best to do only one wheel at a time). You can corner hard
by either leaning into the inside wheel to keep it down or just letting
it hover off the ground. Remember that you can also pedal through
corners that your roadster can't.
You will also find other secrets of the trike. Those barber pole
chicanes that you find placed at the end of some bike paths, the sort
that you have to weave through on a bike you may find that you simply
ride under on the trike. The next trick is to learn which of these are
safe to do so at speed.
A ride to the fish and chip shop is different, you can now ride off with
a steaming packet on your belly, eating as you go. On a bike this is a
juggling trick.
And of course at the next Skyshow you won't have to sit on the grass and
debris as you would if you rode your bike out there as this time you can
ride your deckchair-on-wheels. Fireworks from the comfort of your own
trike, priceless.
As to speed trikes are a different pedalling style as well as muscles
but speed comparable to a roadbike is possible. I've overtaken roadies
out training around riverside Perth on the trike while towing home a
trailer and a couple of palm trees (one roadie says to the other 'we're
going so slow even the trees are overtaking us?'😉. However if you want
to ride the 'Old Pappas' Tuesday morning ride, for instance, then you'd
do it on a comparable road bike if you wanted to keep up, not a trike,
not a lowracer, not a Kmart trashie.
I've ridden my trike the 92km on the 'Sydney to 'Gong' ride and spent
the ride passing untold bikes and other trikes. The trike allowed me to
survive an emergency swerve while descending the hill after Waterfall,
when I came around a bend to find the emergency crew looking after some
cyclist who didn't handle the speed and corner. I missed the ambulance
and the other cyclists who had wobbled into my path. The MTBers behind
me were impressed with the trike's control. Later I stopped at a
roadside diner for a massive burger and when I rode off it was onto a
section of the 'Gong ride where there are the short, sharp seaside
hills. I heard people complaining as they walked up the hills with their
bikes that not only was I still pedalling but I was eating a burger with
both hands while doing so. Further on was a steep downhill where you
were supposed to wait for the police to escort you down in groups as it
was reportedly too steep for the organisers to comprehend the joy of
descending, I came upon this just after a group of riders had ridden off
without escort and some poor cardriver was stuck behind these nervous
cyclists. Not an issue, the trike descended better than all (weight and
control) and I weaved through the strung out riders/driver, kicked the
gear into top and away into the blue went that trike. In the latter part
of the 'Gong you have flat roads and that godawful headwind. My trike
isn't the standard tourer, with a slightly more inclined seat it is more
aerodynamic that a standard roadbike easily. This was a shame as I
didn't feel that headwind much but spent most of the last 10km having to
pass riders who did on the narrow cyclepaths leading into Wollongong. I
finished the ride well happy, others were plain tuckered out from the
effort of hills and headwind. Lots of tired cyclists.
I've ridden the HPV Challenge on the Canberra course where out the back
of the road circuit through the hills there is a diversion, you can go
straight but up a steep ramp between two hills or turn right halfway
down the dip while at speed and then cruise around a better gradient
without the need for knee surgery. The bikes had no choice but to take
option one, the trikes ate up option two. What bike could handle the
sharp righthand corner at speed down the hill and pedalling through the
corner? And coming off the hills back onto the straight run pass the
finish line was thrilling, you came about a tight bend equipped with
steel rails at whatever speed you thought you could hit while still
keeping all wheels on the ground and not sliding across the road. You
wanted all the speed you could get for the following slightly downhill
sprint along the straight then back around a long bend back into the
rolling hills. Trikes dominated the front of that race.
Gearing, handling, aerodynamics, load-carrying, comfort, let alone
climbing and speed will be different for your trike and bike. From all
this I'd say that expect your trike to perform differently, don't try to
go the same speed along the same roads that you take your bike. Get out
there and find those differences on your trike. And if you think trike,
not bike then you'll enjoy the experience more.
Ride lots to acclimatise. Expect to ride 25-30km while commuting and
expect that roadies will try to pass you simply to try to prove a point.
Experiment a bit on the handling, braking and your pedalling style,
perhaps even cleat placement as ankling is different when your legs are
no longer pumping below your saddle but suspended slightly above. Find
some rolling hills to spin around on when you think you've got a bit of
recumbent muscle developed, just to feel the difference in style. Oh,
and practice steering by braking, cornering while locking up the inside
brake and other arcane acts that you wouldn't consider for your bike.
Some new trikers have practiced on the grassy banks around Kings Park or
Subiaco, doing wheelies and brake manoeuvres on a safe surface. Just
don't try to get airborne off a speed hump, such as those coming down
from the Devil's Elbow along the Esplanade, Peppy Grove, as skill and
backbone is required in landing safely on all three wheels with chain
intact.
Enjoy.
