Another weekend, another ride!

I got to go for another ride this past weekend. I got in almost 15 miles. The speed was a still a little slow, but my average was still faster than my last ride.

The map of my ride is to the right. If you look at my last ride, it looks like the same route. I looped a section of the route to get the extra distance. Not a lot of difference to look at, but the distance is about 150% longer!

I felt good after the ride, but a little tired, as I had expected. It was good to be out again and put some miles on the trike. No, I don't have a lot of miles on it yet, but I have to start somewhere!

Here's to the future of more riding! See you on the road!

First Trike Ride!

I go take my first ride on my trike today! It felt good to be back outside and active. I just rode from the house and got in 10.8 miles.

The ride felt good overall. It took about 5 miles for my legs to get used to the motion again (for the first time!). Then I started to get tired about mile 7. But at least I kept going for a little farther.

You can see a page about my ride information here. Be warned that the speeds are pretty low, but it was the first time I have ridden a bike or trike in about 16 months. I am just happy that I was able to ride and keep going.

After the ride, I felt pretty good. My legs weren't overly tired, but I was winded and tired. I think that should be expected considering my lack of exercise for quite a while. I am sure with time I will gain both speed and endurance.

The Trike is Here!

I received my trike via a DHL cargo truck on Friday. The family was home and active, so I waited as long as I could before I started assembling the trike. In all, I lasted about an hour! Then I got to started with the unboxing process.

Trident Trikes claims that they ship the trike 95% assembled. I am honestly not sure it was 95% assembled, but they at least got me a good starting point. After unboxing everything, you get a good experience in cutting off cardboard protective wrapping! If you don't think investing in a trike company is a good idea, consider investing in a cardboard

company. There was that much protecting this trike. On the plus side, I haven't found a scratch on the trike.

I got the trike unfolded and all the shipping protection removed. Then you have to mount the rear derailleur, mount the rear tire, inflate all the tires, attach the pedals, mount the seat, adjust the handlebar position, adjust the crank boom length (since the pedals move, not the seat like on a traditional bike), adust the chain length (I think it was cut for maximum boom length), attach the rear fender, attach the rear rack, attach the mirror, attach the rear light, and

attach the flag. Sounds easy, right! Admittedly, after about an hour, I only had half the tasks done, but I did get to ride my trike around my driveway and to the mailbox and back. In fact, I still haven't finished the list of to-do items, but I will get to it some time soon!

My intial impressions were almost all positive. The seat is comfortable, even with only my initial position attempt. The steering is easy and intuitive, not too mention very responsive (maybe a little too much so). The trike rolls really well. Most amazingly, the derailleurs and shifters were adjusted properly

right out of the box. I have rarely had a bike shop get the shifting adjusted in one shot as accurately as this is. This accuracy of adjustment is very impressive for a trike that was assembled, boxed, and shipped!

My only negative observation at this point is that the paint protection system for where the chain tubes cross the front wheel arm and where the frame touches when folded appears to be gaffer tape. It is cleanly cut and neatly applied, but seems a little cheap and low-tech. My last bike, which was not a high-dollar vehicle, used a clear film.

I have also seen bikes with die-cut appliques. What look likes squares of gaffer tape seem pretty low-end for a nearly $2000 trike. But in reality, that is also a pretty nit-picky complaint!

I hope to get all the accessories mounted soon and get a real test ride this coming weekend. So of course it is supposed to rain this weekend, too. I also need to get some final accessories ordered (tubes, tool bag, etc.).

Watch out world, I am coming!

It's A New Blog!

Welcome to HOUTrike! And please welcome HOUTrike to the web! I am glad you found me. This post is a bit of background, as I don't actually have a trike yet. That part of the fun starts tomorrow (more on that later). So you can know who I am, I have been a casual cyclist for many years. I

An old photo of me, but I don't look
that different now.

was a competitive cyclist in college, primarily in the mountain bike events. However, our team could get points for riders participating in any events, so I occasionally got put on a road bike for competition as well. After school, I rode mountain bikes casually for several years. After moving to Texas, I started riding the MS150, and purchased my first road bike for that purpose. After a few MS150s on a road frame, I did a few on a mountain frame (with road tires), and then went back to a road bike for a few more years. I think that I have ridden ten MS150 events total.

Last year I started breaking ribs on a regular basis - like every three weeks. I finally was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable type of cancer that grows in the bone marrow and causes osteoporosis. Due to the risk of falls, I was forbidden from getting on a bike until my cancer was under control and my bones had gotten stronger. Well, my cancer is at least somewhat under control, but it will be a couple years before my bones get stronger. In the mean time, I wanted to ride again. Thus, I mentally entered the world of trikes!

When I started looking at trikes, it didn't take me long to settle on the tadpole style trike as my objective. I then started considering almost every brand of trike I could find on-line. Sadly, in a metropolitan area of over 4 million people, Houston has one bike shop that stocks trikes. I did visit and sit on several of them, but cancer diagnostics the same day prevented real test rides.

Taking the data I learned from my test sits, I continued looking on-line at trikes. I started comparing equipment levels and prices, and made a big spreadsheet to try and quantify my preferences. I decided that price was a significant factor for me (after all, I was out of work for six months this year!). I included trikes from several manufacturers, including one manufacturer in Taiwan who has no actual presence (and only one dealer that I could find) in the US!

In the end I selected and ordered a Stowaway II from Trident Trikes. Between the price, the componentry, the included accessories, and the US presence, I found this to be the best vehicle for my introduction to trikes. I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of my Carolina Blue Stowaway II!

My intent is to start getting back into shape and then ride an MS150 on my trike next spring. I do not think that this is an unreasonable goal, barring unforeseen side effects from my ongoing cancer treatment. I will post some information about my trike experience, as well as links to my ride history, on this blog for my friends, family, and others to follow.