Quote from hornsmw13 on Aug 27th, 2009, 6:59pm:I ride five days a week on my lunch hour or hour and a half, usually getting 25 to 30 miles three days and 40 to 50 on Sat Sun. I look forward to retirement so I can ride more everyday, it's like a drug, the bike. I started riding when I turned 42 and was amazed to get 10 miles in. Then it quickly became my habit I looked forward to everyday. So after turning 47 this year I am riding just find and then my neck starts hurting and the doctor tells me I have to quit riding bikes. I can't do that so I by a stick bike and WOW, I can't believe the difference in comfort, speed and endurance levels. My buddies I ride with daily don't really want to ride with me anymore. So enough rambling, I see there are rides out of Glenrose and I live in Granbury so maybe I can hook up with someone down here. Again, thanks for all the advice.
I used to ride a mountain bike with road tires and like you, thought I was doing good to ride 30 miles per week. I rode 30 miles tonight after work on my Bacchetta Giro 20 and average over 120 miles/week. I averaged about 11 mph on my MTB and averaged 18.6 mph tonight on my Giro. Like you, riding is all I think about now. It has become a passion.
I quit riding my mountain bike after limping home one afternoon because my back hurt SOOO bad. When riding my MTB, my back, my neck and my hands constantly hurt. Riding hurt! It finally got so bad on August 31, 2006 I said that was it. The next day, I called a biker friend of mine and told him what happened and he mentioned recumbents might work. I had never even seen one. He said the Bike Rack in Granbury had them. I drove over there that day, rode a Sun EZ Sport and bought it. It was so comfortable!!!
I was riding much longer distances and many more miles per week. Then recumbutt happened. I wanted to get faster and get rid of recumbutt so I test rode a Giro 20 and bought it June 2007. I absolutely love it.
I turn 50 this year and am a better bike rider than I have ever been. It has helped me lose 30 pounds and I am much faster up and down hill and have so much fun riding now.
I live in Stephenville and work as an engineer at the nuclear plant in Glen Rose. I think I am the only recumbent in Stephenville. There are a few in Granbury, in fact, my friend rides an older Giro 20 and lives in Granbury. Maybe we can get together sometime.
Darrell Holmes