New to a recumbent

[ccetex]

I'm new to recumbent bikes, actually I haven't ridden bikes much since college. Last Memorial Day I saw a very strange bike at a camp ground we were at. (not a recumbent) It was an Elliptigo. Come to find out a friend of mine had 3 so I borrowed one and loved the fact that none of my joints or back hurt after riding it. I had my left knee replaced in 2008 and was a little concerned, but no problem.
I bought one and started riding for about 30 minutes a couple of times a week.

Last September I had my 59th birthday and decided to make a bucket list of things I want to do before the big 60. One was to ride in a 100 miler (don't ask why, I have no reason). My friend has ridden in two on his Ellipitgo so I thought I can do that. Last Friday I rode in a hard wind for an hour and could only average 12 MPH. I had been kind of looking for something to get under the wind but thought I could be tough and get through standing up. Well Saturday morning I got out on a beautiful morning, no wind, a little cool, but it warmed up and I rode 25 miles. The bad news was I still averaged just over 12 MPH and felt like with the effort I put in I should of done better.

As luck would have it there was a 2012 1.5 Silvio on ebay in Lubbock and it had less than 100 miles on it. I did some fast research and really liked everything I could find about the bike. I went and looked at it Saturday and made a deal.

My question is, am I crazy thinking I can get use to the Silvio and ride a century ride on May 3rd?

By the way, I have lost 42 pounds the last 6 months and I'm in better shape than I have been in years.
(another item on the bucket list)

The bike went to the shop today to get fine tuned, the previous owner was about 6'2" and I'm 5'8".
They are taking the extension out and adjusting everything.

I am very motivated to ride this bike. The more I read the more excited I get about the possibilities.

 

[Charles.Plager]

A month is a short time to

A month is a short time to prepare for a century, regardless of bike. The elliptical training will help, but I don't know how much.

I do think that you can get used to the Silvio in a month, so that riding it will be as good a choice as any bike (and you won't be sore at the end, just very tired. You will need to get used to the bike and very soon start going for very long rides. Learning how to eat and hydrate.

Good luck.

 

[John Tolhurst]

You are already doing two

You are already doing two hours, and for 100 mile on the Silvio you will need around 6 say. You will need to learn how to keep your nutrition and fluids going. Seems like a challenging but achievable goal?

 

[Ivan]

You could do it, but it may

You could do it, but it will be painful and not very enjoyable because you don't have much time to prepare. The negative consequence is that you may ride LESS afterwards because you have pushed yourself too fast / too early. Now you are getting just used to a Silvio for the first time so even more so you don't have much time to prepare.

So while you could probably finish it on will power, I would advise not. You have still have time later in the year to ride 100 miles. It doesn't even have to be an organized ride. Give yourself a couple of months to get completely comfortable on Silvio, then a 6 week training plan to get ready for the century. Still in time before your 60th birthday!

 

[Charles.Plager]

For what it's worth, I don't

For what it's worth, I don't disagree with Ivan (he's right that a bad experience here could easily cause to to avoid the bike for a while). I think you could probably do it (where I think John's estimates of 6 hours is way too short). I think you'll be happier not doing it.

 

[ratz]

Well crazy is relative to the individual

Crazy can be relative to the person and the situation.

I road my first century over 10 years ago. I "trained" for a it all season figuring that if I worked hard I could make it easy. Did weekly 75 mile rides un supported etc etc. Got to the ride and took off, hey what's this? A rest stop with food and bathroom at 20 miles? Bah who needs that; blow past it. Hit another one at 40 miles, what are all these people doing how are you going to get a fast speed that way? Blow past it. Hit another one at 60 miles. Ok I'll stop... hey what do you know this is kind of nice: fruit, water, snacks music etc. Road on; 85 miles in massive wind; blew me up; started too hard. Limp out of the wind until mile 95 and the limp in to the finish.

The next year knowing what to expect I road one and I knew what was coming; training eh 50-60 mile max rides due to time limits. Did the ride; take advantage of each stop not worried about time; completed no problem;

Been riding 2-5 centuries a year since. The key is to know what kind of ride it is; many are social rides these days with multiple distances; 25, 40, 50, 65, 75 and 100. Find a multiple distance one; that has overlapping routes. Sign up for the 100 miler. They will likely have cut offs; if you don't make a certain turn by XX minutes they will divert you onto the short routes; and you can always choose to turn on to a short route if you start to weaken. Then ride it have fun; and use ALL the rest stops and eat the food and drink. If you approach it that way; if you train up to 35-45 mile distance on your own; you should be able to ride the century and have fun.

If you are dedicated and can find the right event you can train for it in a month. I suspect that you will find the early season centuries are less social and more hard core. I'd be looking for one in June if I where you. That should be plenty of time to get moderate mileage into your legs and find a more social century. The take home point I have learned is the organizer have a vested interest in making it easy for you to go the distance you desire; and that yields a ride that is far far easier than what you do on your own solo on the weekend.

 

[ccetex]

New to recumbent

Thanks for the comments. You have given me some things to think about.
My thinking is along the same line as John. My goal is to be between 7 and 8 hours for the ride though. The ride is called the Shiner GASP and is from Austin Tx. to the Shiner Brewery!! I have several friends that have done it and they tell me it is not hard core.

ratz, I agree with you about taking advantage of the rest stops and not burning out. They have stops every hour or so along the way. As you stated I can cut the ride short if I need to.

cplager and Ivan, you both make very valid points about a bad experience could be harmful. The mind set I have and plan to take into the ride is to have fun and be thankful the good lord has blessed me enough to be able to even attempt this. I will have to be careful and not let the old competitive juices start flowing though!!!

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Chuck,
If you do attempt

Hi Chuck,

If you do attempt it, just be willing to not finish it. Having a (possibly) unreasonable goal can still be a lot of fun and a good source of motivation. There's a lot of wisdom in "living to fight another day."

Regardless, do keep us up-to-date on your progress. Good luck!

Charles

 

[John Dorlon]

Shiner GASP

That's such a fun ride - I've done it myself 3 years in a row now. The last 10-15 miles are TOUGH, so save some strength for them. There is a long, gradual hill, due south (typically straight into the wind, with nothing to block it).

Be sure to work your way up to at least one 80 mile training ride before then, preferably two. If you can get through that fairly comfortably, then you should be OK for 100. It's a little hillier in the Austin-Shiner area than in Lubbock, but it's pretty windy where you are, right? So I guess your winds can simulate hills.

If you see a Vendetta there, it's probably me. I am not 100% sure if I'll make it this year due to scheduling.

-John

 

[ccetex]

First ride

I took the Silvio out for the first time today. Spent the first 30 min. in a parking lot learning how to start, doing figure eights and just getting the feel. Then I went out on a park road that is fairly flat for a little over a hour.
I was a little nervous at first but once I relaxed some I started feeling much more comfortable. I figured out real quick how important even pedal pressure is!!!!

I am going to do some hills tomorrow and ride longer.

So far so good!!

Reading everything I could on this site about riding sure did help. It seemed like any time something felt funny I remembered reading about it and how to correct it. Thanks everyone for all info on this site.

 

[BentBierz]

Congrats on your first

Congrats on your first successful ride!!!

I have yet to do my first ride due to continuing back issues. I'm signed up with a few people from work to do the Shiner G.A.S.P. this year but it isn't going to happen for me due to more back problems and potentially more surgery in my future. Man, if I could just get past this back issue and get back to riding...

 

[bladderhead]

How absolutely wretched for

How absolutely wretched for you! I thought you were already riding it. I hope you will be doing so soon.

 

[BentBierz]

Thanks bladderhead. I'll

Thanks bladderhead. I'll eventually get there but it gets kind of depressing reading everyone's success stories while I continue to be stuck in neutral. Not to worry...reading these stories leaves me with no doubt that I will be able to master this bike once given the opportunity so keep them coming.

 

[ccetex]

Update

Here is an update on riding my Silvio;
Saturday I rode 20 miles and everything felt good, still a little uneasy when going down hill and the speed gets over 25 MPH. I'm still learning the technique for changing gears going up steep hills.

Today I spent about an hour working on clipping in and out of the pedals first holding on to the truck, then in a parking lot. When I felt like I was getting the hang of it I went on the road for about 45 minutes. I like being clipped in!!

Planing on putting in quite a few miles this week and doing at least 40 Sunday.

I really like this bike!!!!!

 

[chrisblessing]

Clipping in...

Worth noting that you can adjust the clip to the loosest possible settings as your feet aren't going anywhere.

Chris

 

[ccetex]

Rode 40 miles this morning

Rode 40 miles this morning and I like this bike more every time I ride it. During my ride I didn't think I was making very good time, when I finished I checked and I averaged only 12.2. Not bad but not great. Then I checked the weather channel and I was riding in a 30 MPH wind. I knew the wind was blowing pretty good but had no idea it was 30.
The aerodynamics of this bike do make a difference!!!

 

[ccetex]

Finished the century

I finished the Shiner GASP Saturday, it was one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life.

Thanks to everyone for the input on how to do the ride. I really want to thank John Dorlon, he gave me a lot of info about the Shiner that really helped!!!

By stopping at all the aid stations, eating at each one, and drinking a lot of liquid I had plenty of energy for the last 20 miles that were the toughest of the ride. Thanks again John for warning me about this!!!

I absolutely love the Cruzbike. Now I have to decide if I want to build a Silvio 2 or a Vendetta?

Chuck

 

[John Dorlon]

Hi Chuck,
  I'm glad I was

Hi Chuck,

I'm glad I was able to be of help! I enjoyed our exchange of emails. Hopefully I'll meet up with you next year or at some other event.

-John

 

[Eric Winn]

Outstanding! Great job,

Outstanding! Great job, Chuck.

 

[BentBierz]

Good job Chuck!!!

Good job Chuck!!!