Recent recumbent experiences and related

Howdy folks!

Boy, things sure do seem rather negatively spirited in this newsgroup of
late. I hope that this is a cyclical thing and it goes away on its own. It
makes an environment where people get turned off and don't want to post. At
any rate, I just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays! No matter how bad
things get, life is still good and is the neatest game in town. We had a
saying growing up that life is like playing a game of cards, and that you've
only got two rules that are non-negotiable. One, you can't fold. Two, you
must play the hand you're dealt. We may get a crappy hand now and again,
but for me anyway, I'm just as happy to still be at the table and in the
game!

Some recumbent thoughts I'd like to pass along:

Yesterday, my youngest daughter (10) accompanied me to the bikeshop where I
bought my Tour Easy SS XL and my wifes EZ-1 Lite. While I was buying some
things, she got the chance to ride a bunch of different recumbents. Did I
think she'd enjoy them? Sure. Did I think she would become passionately
hooked on them like her old man? No, but that is what happened! I
literally had to pull her off the bikes (after 3 hours of solid riding with
no letup in sight) so we could go home. (The bikeshop is almost 200 miles
from our home, so we had travel and traffic to face on the way home.) At
any rate, she rode an Evox 140, a Wizwheelz Terratrike 3.4, and an EZ-1
Lite. She liked the look of the Evox 140 but didn't care much for the seat.
She loved the trike and the EZ-1 Lite. She ended up riding the EZ-1 Lite
more than anything else. We're thinking of getting her an EZ-1 for
Christmas. She said that she was more comfortable on it than on the trike.
The missus and I are considering it but want to make sure that this is a
bike that she can really "grow" with, as she is already as tall as my 15 yr
old daughter and is still growing! (While mom is short, dad is 6'7" and has
4 other brothers, none who are under 6'4" and one who is 7'.) So, I just
wanted to share that there is a real chance that the 'bent ranks will quite
possibly gain another trooper this Christmas, a young one with a real zeal
and passion for 'benting.

I'd also like to pass along some updates about my heavier friend, the one
who had never ridden a bike and is committed to learning to ride and losing
weight. I took him to the bikeshop a few weeks back and the guys at the
shop put him on uprights and rollers to get him a "feel" for pedaling. They
also put him on a recumbent in rollers for the same thing. He tried several
trikes and really did well with the EZ-3 AL. The good news? He did
actually ride a recumbent! He rode about 100 yds, but that is a start. He
has already said that his bike purchase will be a recumbent, because it is
much more comfortable for him. I thought it would be, but not for the
reasons he mentioned. I was thinking about his back and whatnot... It
turns out that the upright position hunches him over to the point that he
does not breathe as freely as when he is in the recumbent position and
leaning back. I hadn't thought about that, but that is a plus for the
recumbents, I'd reckon. He did not go home with a recumbent, but plans to
get one in February or March of 2004. Once again, thanks to everyone on
here who had wonderful suggestions. You'll be happy to know that almost
every one of them were deployed in getting my friend to the point where he
could actually ride for a bit!

Another update for you, and this one is about my wife. She's the lady who
is blind in her left eye. We've still not had any real solutions. I bought
quite a few mirrors and tried to see if when we mount them on her glasses or
helmet, if she could use her right eye to see the mirror on the left. All
the mirrors do not extend far enough out to where she could use her right
eye to see things on the left with a mirror mounted on the left. We tried
mounting them on the right and just having her turn her head a bit to the
right to see things behind and to the left, but that hasn't been very
successful either. Either she has to turn her head a good deal to make it
work (which makes her nervous) or she still can't see things on her left,
especially close to her left. I'm not giving up finding a solution for her;
I know there has got to be a simple and intuitive fix.

Some lighting comments! I've been using a Cateye EL-300 as my headlight and
a Vistalite vertical blinker on the rear of my Tour Easy and I've been very
pleased with the amount of light the EL-300 throws out. I have it mounted
behind my fairing and it shines through the fairing with no issues. A nice
and unintended feature is that it reflects a small portion of light down,
lighting up the fairing somewhat which illuminates my bike computer nicely!
There is no reflected light directed backward and the EL-300 is amazingly
powerful for it's size. I liked it so much that I bought another and now
use two for headlights. I also have two Vistalite vertical blinkers on the
back now. In addition to the two EL-300s up front, I also have a Cateye
EL-400 mounted underneath on the stem and set it to blinking mode when I
ride. The end result is that I've got plenty of light to extend my riding
from dusk to into the night. I don't ride on the roads much, mostly in my
large development. I am amazed at how much light these LEDs produce.

I reckon that's about it for now. Again, happy holidays to everyone!

--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"Lars S. Mulford" wrote:

Howdy folks!

Boy, things sure do seem rather negatively spirited in this newsgroup of
late. I hope that this is a cyclical thing and it goes away on its own. It
makes an environment where people get turned off and don't want to post. At
any rate, I just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays! No matter how bad
things get, life is still good and is the neatest game in town. We had a
saying growing up that life is like playing a game of cards, and that you've
only got two rules that are non-negotiable. One, you can't fold. Two, you
must play the hand you're dealt. We may get a crappy hand now and again,
but for me anyway, I'm just as happy to still be at the table and in the
game!...

Yes, but the game is rigged.

Tom Sherman - Curmudgeon

Howdy Tom:

The game isn't rigged, you just need to pay closer attention. Scoot your
chair up closer to the table!

--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...

Yes, but the game is rigged.
Tom Sherman - Curmudgeon

"Lars S. Mulford" wrote in message .. .
Howdy Tom:

The game isn't rigged, you just need to pay closer attention. Scoot your
chair up closer to the table!

--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...

Yes, but the game is rigged.
Tom Sherman - Curmudgeon

================================================== =============================

Hi Lars,

You might want to check out the rear vision helmet that is on the market.

site: reevu.com (lots of pull down menus)

I bought one from England last year and still find it works better
than all of the rear view mirrors i've tried to use on my Vision uss bike.

Tom H visions r40 and r50 uss

********************************************

ps this is the English distributor I ordered from, easy to work with.

www.kinetics-online.co.uk
NEW ADDRESS: 54 Switchback Road,
Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1AE
tel/fax: +44 (0)141 942 2552

Lars S. Mulford wrote:
Howdy folks!
Boy, things sure do seem rather negatively spirited in this newsgroup of
late. I hope that this is a cyclical thing and it goes away on its own.
It makes an environment where people get turned off and don't want to
post. At any rate, I just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays! No
matter how bad things get, life is still good and is the neatest game in
town. We had a saying growing up that life is like playing a game of
cards, and that you've only got two rules that are non-negotiable. One,
you can't fold. Two, you must play the hand you're dealt. We may get a
crappy hand now and again, but for me anyway, I'm just as happy to still
be at the table and in the game!
Some recumbent thoughts I'd like to pass along:
Yesterday, my youngest daughter (10) accompanied me to the bikeshop
where I bought my Tour Easy SS XL and my wifes EZ-1 Lite. While I was
buying some things, she got the chance to ride a bunch of different
recumbents. Did I think she'd enjoy them? Sure. Did I think she would
become passionately hooked on them like her old man? No, but that is
what happened! I literally had to pull her off the bikes (after 3 hours
of solid riding with no letup in sight) so we could go home. (The
bikeshop is almost 200 miles from our home, so we had travel and traffic
to face on the way home.) At any rate, she rode an Evox 140, a Wizwheelz
Terratrike 3.4, and an EZ-1 Lite. She liked the look of the Evox 140 but
didn't care much for the seat. She loved the trike and the EZ-1 Lite.
She ended up riding the EZ-1 Lite more than anything else. We're
thinking of getting her an EZ-1 for Christmas. She said that she was
more comfortable on it than on the trike. The missus and I are
considering it but want to make sure that this is a bike that she can
really "grow" with, as she is already as tall as my 15 yr old daughter
and is still growing! (While mom is short, dad is 6'7" and has 4 other
brothers, none who are under 6'4" and one who is 7'.) So, I just wanted
to share that there is a real chance that the 'bent ranks will quite
possibly gain another trooper this Christmas, a young one with a real
zeal and passion for 'benting.
I'd also like to pass along some updates about my heavier friend, the
one who had never ridden a bike and is committed to learning to ride and
losing weight. I took him to the bikeshop a few weeks back and the guys
at the shop put him on uprights and rollers to get him a "feel" for
pedaling. They also put him on a recumbent in rollers for the same
thing. He tried several trikes and really did well with the EZ-3 AL. The
good news? He did actually ride a recumbent! He rode about 100 yds, but
that is a start. He has already said that his bike purchase will be a
recumbent, because it is much more comfortable for him. I thought it
would be, but not for the reasons he mentioned. I was thinking about his
back and whatnot... It turns out that the upright position hunches him
over to the point that he does not breathe as freely as when he is in
the recumbent position and leaning back. I hadn't thought about that,
but that is a plus for the recumbents, I'd reckon. He did not go home
with a recumbent, but plans to get one in February or March of 2004.
Once again, thanks to everyone on here who had wonderful suggestions.
You'll be happy to know that almost every one of them were deployed in
getting my friend to the point where he could actually ride for a bit!
Another update for you, and this one is about my wife. She's the lady
who is blind in her left eye. We've still not had any real solutions. I
bought quite a few mirrors and tried to see if when we mount them on her
glasses or helmet, if she could use her right eye to see the mirror on
the left. All the mirrors do not extend far enough out to where she
could use her right eye to see things on the left with a mirror mounted
on the left. We tried mounting them on the right and just having her
turn her head a bit to the right to see things behind and to the left,
but that hasn't been very successful either. Either she has to turn her
head a good deal to make it work (which makes her nervous) or she still
can't see things on her left, especially close to her left. I'm not
giving up finding a solution for her; I know there has got to be a
simple and intuitive fix.
Some lighting comments! I've been using a Cateye EL-300 as my headlight
and a Vistalite vertical blinker on the rear of my Tour Easy and I've
been very pleased with the amount of light the EL-300 throws out. I have
it mounted behind my fairing and it shines through the fairing with no
issues. A nice and unintended feature is that it reflects a small
portion of light down, lighting up the fairing somewhat which
illuminates my bike computer nicely! There is no reflected light
directed backward and the EL-300 is amazingly powerful for it's size. I
liked it so much that I bought another and now use two for headlights. I
also have two Vistalite vertical blinkers on the back now. In addition
to the two EL-300s up front, I also have a Cateye EL-400 mounted
underneath on the stem and set it to blinking mode when I ride. The end
result is that I've got plenty of light to extend my riding from dusk to
into the night. I don't ride on the roads much, mostly in my large
development. I am amazed at how much light these LEDs produce.
I reckon that's about it for now. Again, happy holidays to everyone!
--
"Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The
question is, why are you looking?"




Two headlights is a good idea any time as it gives other road users a
better perspective of the range from their position to yours.



--

Tom Sherman wrote:


Yes, but the game is rigged.

A college instructor used to tell us that the business world was
like a game - it was easy enough to win but you had to learn the
rules and then use them to your advantage. The ones that call that
'kissing up,' are the ones that never understood the rules.
--

John Foltz --- O _
Baron --- _O _ V-Rex 24 --- _\\/\-%)
_________(_)`=()___________________(_)= (_)_____

John Foltz wrote:

Tom Sherman wrote:


Yes, but the game is rigged.

A college instructor used to tell us that the business world was
like a game - it was easy enough to win but you had to learn the
rules and then use them to your advantage. The ones that call that
'kissing up,' are the ones that never understood the rules.

Exactly why it is immoral to run a government like a business.

Tom Sherman - Planet Earth

"There is enough in the world for everyone's need; there is not enough
for everyone's greed." - Mohandas Gandhi

Howdy Dan:

I agree with you. I also enjoy the wider field of light. I've really been
pleased with these EL-300s.

--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"Dan Burkhart" wrote in message
...
Two headlights is a good idea any time as it gives other road users a
better perspective of the range from their position to yours.

Howdy Tom:

I've read a bit about them but admittedly didn't give them a ton of thought,
as my concern would be that she'd have a great view of the immediate back of
the bike. From what I see on the website, the view is better than I
thought. I've been waiting to hear from other riders who have them so I can
have some real time grit on just how well they work or don't. Do you get
any distortion in the view?

--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"tom" wrote in message
om...
Hi Lars,

You might want to check out the rear vision helmet that is on the market.

site: reevu.com (lots of pull down menus)

I bought one from England last year and still find it works better
than all of the rear view mirrors i've tried to use on my Vision uss bike.

Tom H visions r40 and r50 uss

********************************************

ps this is the English distributor I ordered from, easy to work with.

www.kinetics-online.co.uk
NEW ADDRESS: 54 Switchback Road,
Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1AE
tel/fax: +44 (0)141 942 2552

Howdy John!

I had a college prof who said something similar, but added that if you quit
playing established games and created your own, you'd be that much better.
I remember at the time wondering if he meant that we should "invent" an
entirely new type of game, or simply begin a new game of same to what was
being played around us... I think he may have actually meant both.
--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"John Foltz" wrote in message
...

A college instructor used to tell us that the business world was
like a game - it was easy enough to win but you had to learn the
rules and then use them to your advantage. The ones that call that
'kissing up,' are the ones that never understood the rules.
--

John Foltz --- O _
Baron --- _O _ V-Rex 24 --- _\\/\-%)
_________(_)`=()___________________(_)= (_)_____