33 Miles, Uphill Both Ways?

[Charles.Plager]

I went to the 2nd Annual Dutches Rail Trail Recumbent ride. Great trail. Great group of people (~20-25 showed up).

They claim the route is flat, but boy, it felt like I was going up-hill both ways. Balancing was a lot harder than usual. I rode the 33 miles (16.5 miles each way), but my upper body was tired.

Of course, it could be because I was pulling an extra 130 lbs of stuff...

Cheers,
Charles

 

[ratz]

Now that is an abdominal workout no matter how you slice it.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Now that is an abdominal workout no matter how you slice it.

It's my arms that were the most tired. One of my biggest problems is that when I tow two, I can't use the lay-back seatpost and I'm too upright. My butt gets sore and just less comfortable in general. But still better than a DF...


I don't see how this would have worked on a non-MBB 'bent.

 

[LarryOz]

What a haul Charles! Great job and great pictures!

 

[chrisblessing]

Just WOW!

 

[BentAero]

Good job, dad! That looks like hard work going downhill both ways.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Good job, dad! That looks like hard work going downhill both ways.

I tell people you need to be relaxed when descending and it's especially true when pulling a trail a bike. When towing, the biggest thing to remember is to not let it get too fast because then you can get in trouble.

My monkeys are trained to pedal on the up hills and coast on the downhills. Works pretty well.

 

[jond]

wow great pictures charles. trained monkeys can sometimes only look like they are pedaling up hills
fantastic to see all the smiles thanks for sharing.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

trained monkeys can sometimes only look like they are pedaling up hills

This is true!

 

[Cruzbiker]

My monkeys are trained to pedal on the up hills and coast on the downhills. Works pretty well.

This is what went wrong and made you so tired. You have to train them to pedal also on flat land and not only up hills .

Kudos; a kid's smile is priceless!!!

 

[Charles.Plager]

This is what went wrong and made you so tired. You have to train them to pedal also on flat land and not only up hills .

I've taken the kids out extensively on a single trail-a-bike and they do quite well. The problem here is that like many tandems, the pedals are tied together. So either both of them have to pedal or neither can pedal (or, yet, worse, one doesn't have her feet on the pedals). So, they fight about pedaling. A. Lot. Oh well...