Paul Brown, here… a.k.a., Recumbent Papparazzi Menace…
I actually used to do ~25 mile rides back in high school daze, riding solo around a country road loop outside of my little hometown in western Ohio… Moved to Dallas after college, and used to pedal a $100 Target 21-speed with 2” knobbies around WRL, but never liked the wrist soreness -- but thought I was doing well to make it around the lake in 45 minutes. Life went on, weight went up and down, then at age 40 I had a brief two-year flirtation with rollerblading (somebody gimme a TOE STOP!!!
) followed by spin classes for a couple years. After a two-year MBA program simultaneously killed all exercise time and supplied free all-you-can-eat breakfast and lunch on the weekends, my weight peaked in 2004 at about 265 (with high blood pressure and acid reflux, too).
The following spring, I purchased an EZ-1, swallowing heavily at the price ($750).
But I quickly discovered the enjoyment of discomfort-free bike riding – and my then-girlfriend (now wife) bought an EZ3 trike shortly thereafter!
We hooked into the Greater Dallas Bicyclists club and RBENT, and I proceeded to lose 40 pounds over the next two years. (The HBP and reflux are ALL GONE…)
I quickly went to riding ~6,000 miles a year, after finally purchasing all the crap you’ve gotta have to ride in cold weather, etc... (but I don’t do rain, if possible). I started carrying a camera with me on rides, and have become unofficial photographer for the GDB -- you can see my work here(
http://www.greaterdallasbicyclists.com/gallery/index.php).
My rides these days range anywhere from a 2 mile commute to the store, to the semi-regular work commute, to a 200K (300K?) rando marathon, with the occasional race or time trial thrown in (thanks, Reclining Flyers!). But it’s a family affair -- My wife and I now ride matching Stratus XPs,
and my stepson Brian rides the old EZ1
We enjoy the occasional meetup with RBENTers, or just going out ourselves in the neighborhood or at WRL. Through weird twists of fate, I’ve been shown both on television and in the newspaper the last year on my “coolbike,” and every jersey I own has the pockets in the front.