castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
Painless in Flowood, Mississippi's first-ever recumbent rally, has drawn to a close, save for a handful of intrepid recumbenteers who are riding the Natchez Trace end to end this week, 444 miles from Natchez to Nashville.
Two-wheeled recumbents and tadpole trikes were well represented. There was plenty of variety among the two-wheelers: LWB, SWB, USS, OSS, high-racers, an Optima low-racer--and three Cruzbikers (ReklinedRider, Wannabe, and me)! A soon-to-be fourth Cruzbike owner (battleaxe0) was there also, with his wife, on their trikes. The tadpoles were mostly Greenspeed and Catrike, best I could tell. There were also three velomobiles, and at least one Hase Kettwiesel delta trike.
We had somewhere between 60 and 75 participants for the rides and discussions. Friday afternoon's first speaker was Janet Buckwalter, discussing touring for recumbents. About 50 riders went out afterward for a 15-mile loop of bike paths and bike lanes around Pelahatchie Bay, off the Ross Barnett Reservoir, enjoying the beautiful weather.
After the evening meal at the hotel, participants were treated to a presentation from Ian Sims on the design and evolution of Greenspeed's tadpole trikes.
Saturday morning featured two 7 a.m. rides leaving from the RideSouth shop--a rolling 30-mile multi-use trail out-and-back, or a metric century on the Natchez Trace--with the Ridgeland Natchez Trace Century as a third option. Most of the rally group chose one of the two RideSouth options, rather than mixing it up with the 600 DF riders.
The walkers and joggers on the trails near Flowood must surely be used to seeing a few recumbents; but not a parade of 25 of us, all bedecked with flashing front and rear lights! We cruised along, riding courteously and greeting the other trail users, and got many smiles and waves in return. (We passed two of my IT coworkers, who were doing their weekend long run. I'm sure they'll have plenty of questions for me on Monday morning. LOL.)
Box lunches were ready soon after we returned to the shop. We had plenty of time to relax and visit before the time trials at 3 p.m. I had taken my Silvio on both the rides, but had also brought the Q451 along for anyone who might want a test ride. Mrs. Axe came up to me, a bit hesitantly, to ask for a ride (apparently Mr. Axe's idea). So we walked the Q down to the end of the street, and started running through an abbreviated version of Ratz's learning checklist. After a couple of coastdowns with feet off the pedals, and one with feet on but not pedaling, Mrs. Axe wanted to try pedaling--and away she went! She even managed to circle the cul-de-sac without too much trouble.
Next, since battleaxe is getting his Silvio S30 soon, Wannabe and I twisted his arm (ha!) and got him to try the Q. Not quite as quick a learner as his Mrs.
, but pretty soon, he had the hang of it well enough to switch over to Wannabe's Silvio while I let someone else try the Q.
The time trials were supposed to conclude at 4:20; but between the hilly course and the morning's exertions, everyone was toast by 3:30 (or too tired even to attempt the trials). The winning speed was just over 20 mph.
Saturday evening concluded with a discussion session at the hotel. Ian Sims spoke again briefly. We also heard from Mark Colliton of Bacchetta Bikes, and a local surgeon who rides recumbents discussed nutrition. The floor was then opened for questions, comments, and anecdotes.
Today (Sunday), the organizers took one group to the Longleaf Trace (42-mile rail trail) to ride from Prentiss to Hattiesburg, while a smaller group went to Vicksburg Military Park (serious hills, at least for this area).
I didn't get any pictures of the rides I went on, but hopefully RideSouth will post some of their many photos on their web site soon. The local newspaper did a front-page story about the rally, and posted a couple of video interviews, but no photo galleries yet. However, since pictures are a requirement here, I did take a couple...
Two-wheeled recumbents and tadpole trikes were well represented. There was plenty of variety among the two-wheelers: LWB, SWB, USS, OSS, high-racers, an Optima low-racer--and three Cruzbikers (ReklinedRider, Wannabe, and me)! A soon-to-be fourth Cruzbike owner (battleaxe0) was there also, with his wife, on their trikes. The tadpoles were mostly Greenspeed and Catrike, best I could tell. There were also three velomobiles, and at least one Hase Kettwiesel delta trike.
We had somewhere between 60 and 75 participants for the rides and discussions. Friday afternoon's first speaker was Janet Buckwalter, discussing touring for recumbents. About 50 riders went out afterward for a 15-mile loop of bike paths and bike lanes around Pelahatchie Bay, off the Ross Barnett Reservoir, enjoying the beautiful weather.
After the evening meal at the hotel, participants were treated to a presentation from Ian Sims on the design and evolution of Greenspeed's tadpole trikes.
Saturday morning featured two 7 a.m. rides leaving from the RideSouth shop--a rolling 30-mile multi-use trail out-and-back, or a metric century on the Natchez Trace--with the Ridgeland Natchez Trace Century as a third option. Most of the rally group chose one of the two RideSouth options, rather than mixing it up with the 600 DF riders.
The walkers and joggers on the trails near Flowood must surely be used to seeing a few recumbents; but not a parade of 25 of us, all bedecked with flashing front and rear lights! We cruised along, riding courteously and greeting the other trail users, and got many smiles and waves in return. (We passed two of my IT coworkers, who were doing their weekend long run. I'm sure they'll have plenty of questions for me on Monday morning. LOL.)
Box lunches were ready soon after we returned to the shop. We had plenty of time to relax and visit before the time trials at 3 p.m. I had taken my Silvio on both the rides, but had also brought the Q451 along for anyone who might want a test ride. Mrs. Axe came up to me, a bit hesitantly, to ask for a ride (apparently Mr. Axe's idea). So we walked the Q down to the end of the street, and started running through an abbreviated version of Ratz's learning checklist. After a couple of coastdowns with feet off the pedals, and one with feet on but not pedaling, Mrs. Axe wanted to try pedaling--and away she went! She even managed to circle the cul-de-sac without too much trouble.
Next, since battleaxe is getting his Silvio S30 soon, Wannabe and I twisted his arm (ha!) and got him to try the Q. Not quite as quick a learner as his Mrs.
, but pretty soon, he had the hang of it well enough to switch over to Wannabe's Silvio while I let someone else try the Q.The time trials were supposed to conclude at 4:20; but between the hilly course and the morning's exertions, everyone was toast by 3:30 (or too tired even to attempt the trials). The winning speed was just over 20 mph.
Saturday evening concluded with a discussion session at the hotel. Ian Sims spoke again briefly. We also heard from Mark Colliton of Bacchetta Bikes, and a local surgeon who rides recumbents discussed nutrition. The floor was then opened for questions, comments, and anecdotes.
Today (Sunday), the organizers took one group to the Longleaf Trace (42-mile rail trail) to ride from Prentiss to Hattiesburg, while a smaller group went to Vicksburg Military Park (serious hills, at least for this area).
I didn't get any pictures of the rides I went on, but hopefully RideSouth will post some of their many photos on their web site soon. The local newspaper did a front-page story about the rally, and posted a couple of video interviews, but no photo galleries yet. However, since pictures are a requirement here
, I did take a couple... 
