Although there weren't a lot of people there, I was impressed with the selection of bikes available to sample.
From long touring frames, to traditional tricycles,
newer trikes
and a lot of variations on the theme.
They were all available to try and, with the help of a friend I managed my first ride. It was like being
six years old again in the back yard. I boarded on and started down hill with him pushing until I coordinated
the balance and pedaling. In no time I was circling the parking lot and trying the different brands and styles.
It's not quite like riding a lawn chair, but pretty close. The comfort level is hard to match, even on the shorter wheelbase models. My favorites are the new trikes which handle with extreme quickness and make really agile turns compared to the traditional trikes which seem unstable turning at speed. Somebody likened them to riding a go-kart with their low center of gravity and two front wheels. I'd be a little anxious of these in traffic since they are so low and, having been hit by a car in the past, I like the idea of ending up on the hood rather than under a wheel.
There were some interesting configurations like the bike E,
with it's suspended rear wheel.
One of my favorite of the bike models was this folder belonging to my friend Paul.
This model is no longer in production but he has two, one for him and one for his wife. Not only were they made with two identical wheels ( a big plus in the recumbent world),
after he folds them up
both will fit in the rear of the Prius you see in the background. They make great traveling bikes.
Something like this is in my future I know, and probably should be in all of ours. I'll play hard to get though, I'm holding out for a folding single speed fixie trike with a lugged steel frame.
Yeah, that's my excuse.
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