Mathew Fy
GRU
I was leery of riding this tour with a Cruzbike. I’ve enjoyed touring with diamond frame bikes and tandems but carpal tunnel syndrome, saddle sores, and neck pain have limited my participation. Recumbents seemed slow because I was always passing them. That was until I rode a DALMAC tour when a guy on a Bacchetta would pass me every day like clockwork. When Maria give an interview on The Outspoken Cyclist radio/podcast I started following forums, watching videos, and tested a couple trikes.
Sold! It seemed to take forever, but the Vendetta V20 frame finally arrived, the bike was assembled and I began the learning steps. I wondered if I’d be good enough in two months to ride a seven day tour in upstate NY. After getting the hang of it I decided to go for it and rode about half the recommended pre-tour training plan miles. I was going to ride or walk about 400 miles around the Adirondacks. I won’t bore you with the details, you can find more at (link no longer works, this tour is no longer offered.)
I was not the only recumbent, a yellow Bacchetta was there also, but I never saw him on the ride. I was able to climb the most difficult section, a 3.5 mile variable pitch (up to 10%, average 5%) up Graphite Mountain Road which was made easier by having a wide shoulder and low traffic. Cheerleaders celebrated our success at the top before an exciting and curvy 47 mph decent. On later sections I had too much low-speed wobble to comfortably climb. I found these brief walks didn’t slow my overall speed much (3 mph walk vs. 5-6 mph struggle) and gave my muscles a break. I loved getting back on, rejuvenated, and passing everyone that passed me.
I thought I’d be able to share some photos from the official photographers and videographers on the route but no shots of the Vendetta made the editing cut. The official videos are here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCarEZDIbqJ7TS1JT5BsUqrQ
At about 38 seconds into the video of Day 2 you can see Bacchetta Dude sailing down with his TerraCycle Sky Flag. Now I wish I had taken mine along. Also on the Day 2 video you see our catered lunch stop at the Hub on the Hill where never-tiring kids welcomed us by running along the fence line ringing their cowbells.
Usually, I stayed in the campsites, but on layover day, I stayed at a nice hotel about a mile away.
Day 5 was the most scenic and peaceful ride. The roads, drivers, and weather must have been in some sort of harmony.
Does anyone remember The Cowsills? Their 1968 hit was inspired by our overnight stop: Indian Lake. While I was setting up my tent one of the Wildlife Conservation Society members said “Did you see that bear?” Apparently a black bear cub walked a few hundred feet behind the sign next to my tent. We later got glimpses of a couple departing further beyond. The girls with the moose and bear scat hunting dogs (seen on the Day 5 & 6 video) spent some time in the woods to hopefully chase the bears away.
A steady rain stopped around 7 just in time to splash through the breakfast line, pack up, and go so that by 8:30 the roads were staring to dry up. The later start also meant having the pleasure of passing many other riders. This day I hit my top speed of 49 mph on a downhill going into Speculator.
I saved a bit of bike camera video from the day:
Overall it was a very enjoyable week of touring and a great way to break in the Vendetta. Cycle Adirondacks are great hosts and provide excellent service but next year I’m going for a cheaper tour on roads with much less high-speed traffic, probably the 31st annual Shoreline West Tour or 47th annual DALMAC, both in Michigan. I have about a year to train.
Sold! It seemed to take forever, but the Vendetta V20 frame finally arrived, the bike was assembled and I began the learning steps. I wondered if I’d be good enough in two months to ride a seven day tour in upstate NY. After getting the hang of it I decided to go for it and rode about half the recommended pre-tour training plan miles. I was going to ride or walk about 400 miles around the Adirondacks. I won’t bore you with the details, you can find more at (link no longer works, this tour is no longer offered.)
I was not the only recumbent, a yellow Bacchetta was there also, but I never saw him on the ride. I was able to climb the most difficult section, a 3.5 mile variable pitch (up to 10%, average 5%) up Graphite Mountain Road which was made easier by having a wide shoulder and low traffic. Cheerleaders celebrated our success at the top before an exciting and curvy 47 mph decent. On later sections I had too much low-speed wobble to comfortably climb. I found these brief walks didn’t slow my overall speed much (3 mph walk vs. 5-6 mph struggle) and gave my muscles a break. I loved getting back on, rejuvenated, and passing everyone that passed me.
I thought I’d be able to share some photos from the official photographers and videographers on the route but no shots of the Vendetta made the editing cut. The official videos are here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCarEZDIbqJ7TS1JT5BsUqrQ
At about 38 seconds into the video of Day 2 you can see Bacchetta Dude sailing down with his TerraCycle Sky Flag. Now I wish I had taken mine along. Also on the Day 2 video you see our catered lunch stop at the Hub on the Hill where never-tiring kids welcomed us by running along the fence line ringing their cowbells.
Usually, I stayed in the campsites, but on layover day, I stayed at a nice hotel about a mile away.
Day 5 was the most scenic and peaceful ride. The roads, drivers, and weather must have been in some sort of harmony.
Does anyone remember The Cowsills? Their 1968 hit was inspired by our overnight stop: Indian Lake. While I was setting up my tent one of the Wildlife Conservation Society members said “Did you see that bear?” Apparently a black bear cub walked a few hundred feet behind the sign next to my tent. We later got glimpses of a couple departing further beyond. The girls with the moose and bear scat hunting dogs (seen on the Day 5 & 6 video) spent some time in the woods to hopefully chase the bears away.
A steady rain stopped around 7 just in time to splash through the breakfast line, pack up, and go so that by 8:30 the roads were staring to dry up. The later start also meant having the pleasure of passing many other riders. This day I hit my top speed of 49 mph on a downhill going into Speculator.
I saved a bit of bike camera video from the day:
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