When we are a baby, we get milk from a bottle. Next we progress to baby food. As our teeth come in we eat normal food. When we get older, we lose our teeth so we get baby food again and Ensure. A full circle cycle. Full Circle Cycle
By Jon Dittrich
Have you ever noticed everything has a cycle? A beginning, middle, an end, and then it starts over. A full circle cycle.
Look all around us and you will see it. I'll give you some examples..
First we plant a seed which grows into a plant. The plant in turn usually contains the seeds to start the process over again the following year. A full circle cycle.
When we are a baby, we get milk from a bottle. Next we progress to baby food. As our teeth come in we eat normal food. When we get older, we lose our teeth so we get baby food again and Ensure. A full circle cycle.
So what does this have to do with a bicycle. (ahhh. the cycle word again!) In the world of cycling, we start off with a tricycle, big wheel (fancy low riding tricycle) or a kiddy bike with training wheels (a quad cycle). Then we drop the training wheels and go to two wheels. And we stay there until age catches up to us again and we quit. Doesn't seem to fit the pattern. But wait…
Yes you guessed it. I just bought my first tricycle. (Back to three wheels.) Now why would I do something like that? Surely not to support this corny theory. Well you are right! But let me digress first.
I joined the world of road cycling 35 years ago with the purchase of my first good road bike. It was a Fuji Dynamic 12. At the time it was hot stuff. It had 12 gears (one lower and one higher gear than most bicycles at the time. Ten speeds were the norm back then.)I didn't race or anything radical. Being from Indianapolis , the land of no hills, the bike was great.
Jump 30 years. I found the joy of riding again. I dusted off the ‘ol Fuji and rode mostly on the Greenways of Knoxville. All is good! But I noticed something. My body was telling me through stiff lower back and tingling in my hands I was riding a Neanderthal while everyone else was riding Ferraris! No problem. I bought a new Fuji . This Fuji is stockier than most road bikes because it was designed for touring and carrying panniers. The wider tires and 21 gears gave me all I needed to get up and down any hill Tennessee has to offer. The difference was amazing. The older I get, the more I know that technology is my friend. (Expensive friend, but friend no less.)
Two years go by and I am having a great time on my new bike.. Sure these folks have thighs like Arnold Schwarzenegger and I have tooth picks for legs. But I enjoy any day on a bike, even dead last. Yet my back, hands and feet were singing the same sore song.
I started my quest. I took the faithful step and put the key words “recumbent bicycle” into the Google god. Low and behold, the gospel of “bents” was revealed to me. I started reading about “bents” (the slang for recumbent). Did you know bent riders call us “roadies”? It was alphabet soup. A new language. I read about B
B (bottom bracket) height. I learned about OSS and USS. (Over Seat Steering and Under Seat Steering) I read about LWB, CLWB and SWB, (Long Wheel Base, Compact Long Wheel Base and Short Wheel Base) bents. I read about two wheelers (bikes) three wheelers (trikes) and four wheelers (quads). When you read about recumbents, there are far more different configurations than any normal two wheeled bicycle. Most are handmade by small companies in the US , England , Germany and Australia . Soon I was bewildered with techno jargon but feeling smarter the more I digested it. (Not that I understood this stuff mind you!)
I bought a tadpole instead of a delta trike. (You will have to guess what that means.) It was hand made by WizWheels of Hasting Michigan. This tiny virtual company (3 main officers that work out of their homes) is the leader in trike sales in the US by selling a whooping 400 trike a year. (Did I mention this was a very small segment of the bicycle industry?)
What I want to stress is a recumbent of any kind I is much easier on your body so you enjoy the ride more. I mean does it make sense riding wrapped up in a fetal position for hours? That is not the position assume when you relax and watch TV is it?
The best part of a recumbent is my riding position is like sitting in a Lazy Boy recliner. No more bike butt or tingling wrists. No more sore necks from looking up all the time. In fact, with three wheels, when I want to rest, I simply stop. I am already comfy and I don't topple over when I come to a halt. My feet are stretched out forward on the pedals, hands relax at my sides lightly holding my steering. Shifters are easily accessible on top of the steering columns and the mechanical disc brakes are just a squeeze away from fast stopping. (Did you catch the Shimano Deore disc brakes? This has a nice component grouping.) I have 27 speeds from the Shimano Deore derailleur that will take me up and down any hill. The trike sports Velocity hand built rims (albeit only 16 inch wheels). Plus, I have much less wind resistant than the rest of you. In fact, the only addition I can think of to make a more perfect ride is a TV remote. I have a new love affair with cycling. Thank you technology!
So if you see a red trike on the street or on one of the SMW rides, slow down and say “hi”. (I still will not win any land speed records but my average speed is up 3 – 5 mph.) In fact, I will be happy to let you try it out if you ask me nicely. Once you do, you will have to admit, it is like driving a go cart with pedals. Fast, fun and comfy. So, I have indeed gone Full Circle Cycle. Maybe there is some truth in my theory for you? And when you are suffering from a serious case of bike butt, think of me on my trike! There are alternatives if you have an open mind. See you on the roads! You will just have to look down to find me. My cruising altitude is 6 inches above the pavement. Like I said, it's a go cart you pedal.
