I Know These Guys!

Out of curiosity, I was looking up some pics on Google with the search terms "Aids Life Cycle Recumbent" hoping to see some people from ALC 10 last year. I can't believe it's been that long already! I came across these guys whom I rode with briefly on a stretch during the Aids Life Cycle.

They're riding a Greenspeed GGT Tandem with an internal gear hub in the back. They've been riding that thing forever. The fellow in the back? He donated all the chips for the entire ride last year! Yup, that's like a billion bags. Actually, let's do the math. Chips every day for 7 days for 3,000 people? That's 21,000 bags! Wow, that's nuts.

These guys were really nice on the ride and shared a few things with me to let me know what I was up for. They were the first trike riders I saw at my first day's rest stop. In the next 6 days, I only saw them a couple times. When we finally arrived in LA, the guys treated me for some beer as a congratulations gift. Thanks!

Alas, the Lights Have Arrived

This is Accessory #3 from a few days ago. It's arrived in the mail exactly as expected! I decided on a new location for mounting it however. I'm open to feedback on alternative locations but it looks to be that this is the cleanest.

ROTEB (Recumbents of the East Bay) - 1/15/12

This group meets every 3rd Sunday of the month. Found it through Yahoo and have gone a handful of times.

Maybe I should've have rushed so much to get to the Recumbents of the East Bay meet b/c by the time I got there, no one was there! It was 9:50am and the meeting spot was empty. Did everyone forget we moved the meet time from 9am to 10am? Were they gone? Did people just not show up? What's the deal?

As I was unloading, I saw a fellow on his bright green two wheeler waiting. I waved but probably at the wrong time b/c he didn't see me. As I crossed the street towards him, he greeted me by name!

Hi Brian!

Do I know this guy? It was Zack! He sold me an elliptical chain ring back in the day through the BROL forum. Great price and it came quick. It's always nice to put a face to a screen name. Zack runs a shop in Alameda and that's where Paul got his Expedition. Zack later shared with me that he's got over 20 bikes/trikes in his showroom! That'll be a sight to see! Never seen more than 5 trikes together at any one time before.

We really gotta set up some sort of bent trike meet where we can get a turnout of at least 10. That would be cool.

I didn't get a chance to ask for permission from Zack to post his pic, so here's a shot at a distance. He and his wife were the only ones that showed up for the Recumbents of the East Bay Ride! This was after a vote to decide on a new meeting time. With all that, we all figured the turnout would be a lot better than just 3!


We stopped by the usual Starbucks when I took a few shots of their rides. This is the HP Velotechnik Grasshopper, a folding bent with full adjustable suspension! By the time we took some rough roads to test it out, I had already put my camera away. Headlight and rear light are both hardwired and powered by the front hub! The thing's got an internal gear hub in the back too! Fully decked out. The rear's wrapped with a carbon fiber mudflap.

How fast does this thing go? Zack topped out at 43mph coming down the hill on the way back! That's nuts. I was prepared to catch up to him as he zipped down uber quick. Weight on this bad boy is in the low 30's - very light for a foldable full suspension bike! And that weight takes into account the rack and both hubs!

Lightning. Not sure what model this is but its weight is impressive. 24 lbs! That's ridiculously light - probably thanks to the carbon fiber seat. She was taking off up the hill like none other.

I brought the KMX today since I was worried about having to go across heavy gravel again like we did last month during this same ride.

Catrikes in the Park

I took these awhile back but never got the chance the post them. Just found these pics in my camera!

Here's a shot of my aunt's 2008 Speed. It came with the funky bell and rear rack. Can't tell from this pic, but that's a full set of Q-rings up front!

This was the first time my Aunt and I did an ALC training ride. Here's a few pics from before we started the day's ride.



I was curious how the sizes of the KMX and Catrike compared. It's literally the same length! For some reason, I had thought the Catrike would be a bit longer. Not the case.

Getting Horny Again

BOOOOOM! I'm hoping that's the sound and feel that cagers will get when they hear this thing. I hope I don't really have to use it. The one occasion where it would've been useful I unfortunately wasn't even riding the Catrike. I was riding my KMX! Ugh. Where's the Airzound when you need it?

This air horn was completely free. Well, it was included with the sale - so prepaid I guess you could say. After the trike arrived in the big box from Texas, I immediately noticed the horn was the rare white and grey version - not the ugly red and light grey standard color that the Airzound normally comes in.

I was trying to think of another another location to mount this, but the last owner did a pretty good job with it. Readily accessible and superloud. I'll post a pic later of where the air canister is mounted.

All Lit Up

Accessory 3: Headlight and tail light = $5.99/pair from Dealextreme

I was hesitant to mount this on the front derailleur post b/c of the weird angle. Who wants to point a headlight upwards? I gave it a try since it was all I had laying around.


I actually snagged this light from my Ebike. The one's I ordered for the trike hasn't actually arrived in the mail yet. Figured I could test fit it and this is what I came up with. The fastener doesn't really clear the derailleur cable, so I had to move the reflector down. The reflector then got in the way of the old cadence sensor on the small ring. After pulling the reflector down, the light came down with it and that's what we have hear.

The front boom's got a lot more stuff on it since I've taken ownership of this Speed. Just wanted to catch a shot of the Cage Rocket, computer and front headlight. Fairly clean look with color matching accessories. Liking it so far.

Color Swatch

I've decided on keeping the silver color of the Catrike! No more white dream. Not only do I feel like the $130-170 cost of the powder coating could be better spent elsewhere, but I think it would be good to keep my favorite white/black with red accent color scheme exclusively on the KMX.

The Catrike Speed's going to be a bit stealthy.

I guess you could say this was my inspiration. It's cool that it's got that Robocop/Batman look to it. Not exactly what I'm going for, but it brings home the point that this trike is not exactly doing a whole lot to get attention from motorist other than, "What the heck is that????"

I used to think it was dumb or dangerous for motorcycles to be completely black or grey. Why not have a super bright color like white, red, or better yet, yellow so it can stand out in the mayhem of traffic?

The answer is that I don't plan on ever being seen. I literally ride like I'm invisible. No one sees me. I gotta do whatever I gotta do to cross public roads and get around. If I'm ever riding assuming people see me or relying on their site to save my life, I'd be putting my life in other people's hands. That's not happening. I'm vulnerable and invisible and I know it. I simply just have to ride that way. I'm invisible all the time - every time.

So a grey flag perhaps might not be such a bad idea. I recently saw one online someplace - not too shabby.