EPIC Recumbent Rides Reports

You're probably right. What I didn't add was that I have somewhere between 1000 and 1500 miles on the chain and he said strong mashers would decrease chain life. Also, 10-speed chains seem to have a somewhat shorter lifespan anyway. If looks like I am just going to have to replace the idlers as well.

 

Yes but you will LOVE the TerraCycle idler. I wouldn't have a bent without one now. (Note - I only put them on the power side of the chain not the return side because I am cheap and I don't think the return side makes much difference.)

 

Well, I must not be a very good ambassador for recumbents. Scott traded his trike the monday after the ride for an upright. Oh well, to each his own.

 

Just got back from my latest "epic" ride. The ride wasn't so epic but the weather,at the time, certainly seemed epic.The first night the temps were supposedly in the lower single digits. Still was not cold enough to zip up my sleeping bag tho. Go figure. In the morning it was much colder in the cabin shell than it was outside.But at least i was kept dry during the sleet snow and other nasties that fell most of the night. And i have to say at least one of the climbs somewhere just before Hot Springs was pretty epic.
And the fact that i got to Asheville on the wrong day, certainly made me feel like an epic idiot.
I also found out (fount if you went to Ktown public school) that the idiot forgot to take care of the lowered traction of a Tadpole trike on steep inclines and slick roadways. Of course he may have done a better job with that problem if he had bothered to check the weather forecast. Also found that no matter the weather; you are always wearing to many clothes going up hill and never enough coming down.
All in all it was a good trip. kinda like fish'n "any day cycling is better than any day in the hospital". Or sump'n to that affect.......

 

There is a trike ricer on BROL that ties jute fibers around his rear wheel to increase traction in the snow.
http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=66365

This first post is worth the read

 

I will give that a try nest snow day.I ***-u-me the writer rides in a region that gets regular long term accumulations of snow.So i am curious how the jute will hold up around east Tn.,and West NC. with the open patches of asphalt between the infrequent snow and ice?
I was searching the various sites for options myself. I came upon one where a guy used plastic zip ties, alternating the knotted ends from side to side;supposedly to allow the knobbies to do their thing on the unfrozen snow and the zip tie knots to grip the ice. Will be interesting to see how that pans out as well.......Looks like it's gonna be a good winter.......

 

Nothing works on ice as well as real studs. Ya gotta have enough of them so there's always several in contact with the ground, which means a hundred or more per tire. Noisy and slow on pavement, but when you get to ice, you don't have to worry about staying up. In snow... plain old knobbies do the job just fine. Lower the pressure for more contact area.

You know about snow tires, right? It's not the lugs that dig into the snow and give you traction. It's the space between the lugs, holding snow between them. The contact between the snow stuck in your treads and the snow on the road is what gives you your traction. That's why car and truck snow tires have big zig-zaggy treads instead of knobbies. So when you're looking at snow tires for your bike, the most aggressive, widest-spaced lugs aren't the best choice. You want tires where the snow sticks between the knobs.

 

John I probably can't use the studded tires down here in E.Tn..The reason Tennesseans hate snow is cuz they never get enough to actually enjoy it. In 25 years or so i have only seen one time when it laid on the ground for more than a day. The rest of the time it is gone before you get to do anything with it, but the muddy mess lasts for endless days.
So i would get maybe a few hours use out of studded tires.Every dozen years........

 

Hmmm... lessee... Dandridge is nearly within sight of Morristown. I've lived in or near here for all but about 7 of my 55 years. And you say you've only seen one multi-day snow in 25 years? Maybe that's cuz of hibernation.

Case in point could be this coming Saturday night and Sunday.

Don't want foreigners (re: anybody north of the TN/KY line) to get the wrong impression. We DO get shut-down, all-stop, clear-out-the-grocery-bread-aisle snows, often several per winter. Man-made global warming is a myth propagated by the news media when there's nothing interesting to write about, and Al Gore is Tennessee's own non-scientist idiot. It does get cold here and we do get snow and ice. And I do hate both; I would move to Florida in the winter if a) I could afford to, and b) I could speak the language.

 

Dave your right, I have seen the ice and the crazies at the store at the hint of flurries; i just ain't seen a good snow! Of course i have been told such as this last weekend while i was in S. Carolina that y'all got more ice. But it still aint a good snow. For example while at my sisters in Ahia, she got about a foot and still has it. Spent the day getting to know a snow blower,and when i left it was still pretty and white. I am hoping to go back soon before it is all gone. All i have ever seen in Tn. other than that one year is mud!

 

Today is Day 23 without even getting bike out of garage. Only one month this year (June) with zero (0) miles, and that cuz doc had chopped up my vertebrae disks and wearing a neck brace 24/7. Winter doesn't even officially start til Tuesday & we've already had single-digit temperatures and up to 1/2" of ice. Stay tuned. More after this message from our sponsor, Al Gore.

 

Listening to public radio, which I rarely do, they were talking global
warming. Our tax money supports that too. Now that was just last
week.

 

Hmmm... where ARE all the global warming "pundits" this time of year? I'll bet they're snuggled up like ferrets waiting for the Spring thaw. Man-caused global warming... hogwash (actually can't wash a hog now; his bacon would freeze).

 

Which is why I was so thankful to ride TWICE last week. I think I am ahead of Dave for the first time in my LIFE!!! WOW!!! (But I am sure it won't last long.)

 

Six (6) miles YTD, and got them while piddling around waiting for my tennis opponent to show up at Carson Newman College.