The Vice-President of our local bike club organized an ad hoc protest ride this past weekend. The controversy revolved around a local road commission requiring bike tours to purchase a parade permit. The story got a lot of publicity and about 100 of us gathered to make the 50 mile ride out to the road commission's office and back.
I was disappointed that there were no blockades or big guys in mirrored glasses with riot guns and billy clubs waiting at the county line. It was fun to thumb our noses at the local authority but I cut my share of the ride short to go visit with a friend at the Recumbent Rally being held again this year. My friend, Richard Tool, from the 50's Bike Forum had made the trip up from Ohio and brought the star of this year's show with him. He bought an ICE (Inspired Cycling Engineering) Sprint after developing some inner ear problems a while back.
This is an impressive machine with a design just low and sleek enough to make all the others seem like slugs. It was difficult to get a chance to test it but when I did I was overwhelmed at the handling. He said there are times when he has thought of using a seat belt because the turning radius is so tight.
The other big star of the afternoon was this Terra Trike Rover, a trike we had all seen before
but this one is equipped with a Nuvinci N360 hub, that was no great surprise
but it also had the new electronic automatic shifter as well.
I made it a point to take this one out for a test drive. Although there weren't any severe hills to climb, I found the shifter to be really impressive. It transforms the hub into a truly automatic, continuously variable transmission. Once a cadence has been established through the use of a 3 button control, the hub adjusts to the terrain smoothly and increases or decreases the ratio based on minute changes in the cadence. I was impressed enough to follow up to see it they are available as an after market add on.
Fortunately they are not and I avoided the temptation to add one NOW!
The following day Dick and I enjoyed a perfect morning at the
Vineyard Classic in Michigan Wine country.
It was easy work to enjoy the fields of flowers and vineyards in full blossom.
Over the forty mile course we barely broke a sweat the weather was so pure, and the skies cloudless. we were tempted to just keep riding into the late afternoon. But we had lunch instead.
Vineyard Classic in Michigan Wine country.
Over the forty mile course we barely broke a sweat the weather was so pure, and the skies cloudless. we were tempted to just keep riding into the late afternoon. But we had lunch instead.
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