Thursday, August 11, 2016

Butt-Buster Afternoon Ride

I had a damaged missionary vehicle that needed delivery to the body shop today.  I google-mapped the route, discovered it was 3.9 miles of mostly bike route and maybe half a mile of back-streets with low traffic, and made plans.  The car I was delivering was one of the few we have with a trailer/bike hitch installed, so I bolted in the first bike rack in the spare pile, found a large DF (Diamond Frame Upright) bike, loaded it up, and took off.
I remembered to take a water jug and my helmet, but forgot my bike gloves, which I certainly missed.
When I dropped off the car and unstrapped the bike, one of the body craftsmen noticed and commented I was taking the exact same route HE takes EVERY DAY.  He's a true-blue bike commuter.  Cool.
Riding the bike was enjoyable to a point, but it didn't take long to realize WHY we love recumbents instead of the ever-standard upright versions.  Within minutes I had sore wrists, palms, grips, elbows, and..... Butt.
Upright bikes are hard on all these and I was hurting in seldom-sore places.  The "rolling lawn chair" is certainly a vast improvement in reducing bike discomfort.
Anyway, at slightly less than 4 miles, it wasn't rocket science, after all.
Before any much time had elapsed I arrived back home safe and sound.... and a bit tired.  Good feeling kind of tired.
No GPS, no camera, no electronics of any kind.... go figure.  My recumbent is too large to fit on a bike rack, so to get in a ride I rode what I did.  Recumbents do have disadvantages too, after all.  But not Many.

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