> Jim- > > I'm doing the recumbent bike at the gym. > > According to the control panel, I'm doing aboujt 5 or 5.5 > miles per half-hour > session (have picked a slightly higher resistance level and > slightly lower > speed to try to work the legs and hips more). > > I was thinking of working up to an Ironman, but I waited too > long and rusted. > ;-)
I'm actually considering trying out a recumbent street bike - but I'm worried that my weight will be an even bigger factor there. I can definitely (now that I've been riding for a coupla years) do more than 6 miles in a 1/2 hour, but in traffic you've got red-lights and such - slows you down. ;^) My current bike is an ebike. It's 36-volt electric power on demand. When I started out I knew that I would have trouble getting to work (and I also didn't want to start to work everyday a sweaty mess) so this seemed like the perfect solution. I've got four big hills on the route to work (one of the nastiest is the Longfellow bridge - at the end of the ride and a looooong steady slope). When you need it a thumb throttle engages the motor - the 36 volt model carries my bulk up a hill at a nice steady clip. (It's rated for 17mph for 20 miles with a 200lb rider). The nice thing with an integrated model like this is that the system allows for combined tourque: I can pedal and give it a little juice at the same time. Pedaling becomes easier but not too easy. (You can also just ride the thing like a slim scooter, but that's not exactly helpful...) When you don't need it you pedal. The bike is quite heavy so pedaling is actually a might bit harder than with a regular bike - but most of that weight in the in removable battery (my bike weighs 80lbs, but 25lbs of it is the battery). I had been going without the battery but at the end of last season I broke my second axle. It took a while to get fixed and now I have to reset the wheel and get the bike tuned for spring. The problem is that the axle is part of the motor - and it's not easy to get parts. I think that this year is the year that I just go with a standard bike, but my love of gadgets is pretty strong. The ebike (ebike.com) is an excellent alternative for those people that would like to ride to work but find it just a just a bit too far or hilly or whatever. You get exercise with some help when you need it. I've got the black 36 volt SX and my wife has the black 24 volt standard... She doesn't ride as much as I do and when we ride together I pull a trailer with the kids (the trailers from Burley fit beautifully on these bikes). Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89 70.5
