Recumbent tour WITH tailwinds!



T

Tom Nicholson

Guest
Just thought I should let you all know that I recently had a little ride around the east coast of
Tasmania (the triangular bit on the bottom side of Australia) and had tailwinds for 4 of my 5 days
riding!! I suspect that's some sort of record - coupled with only one night of rain in 6 nights of
camping in Tassie. For those who don't know Tasmania is a really wet place - not a huge annual
rainfall but it always seems to be raining there. It's also the Mecca for cycle tourists in
Australia.

My dual 20" Kotzur SWB touring bike excelled:

Stable as a rock even at absurd speeds. Clocked near 90kn/h on one long descent {Black Charlies
Opening...} - yup silly but what a blast!

Low wind resistance allowing me to average 20km/h each day at least (I'm not cycle fit and weight
far too much, and thats about 3km/h faster than my usual touring speed)

No pain anywhere except in the engine room due to fatigue. Well a bit of a sunburnt nose but that
was all my fault...

The only downside was the dirt roads and logging trucks really were not pleasant.

Just thought I should share that..

Tom
 
>Just thought I should let you all know that I recently had a little ride around the east coast of
>Tasmania (the triangular bit on the bottom side of Australia) and had tailwinds for 4 of my 5
>days riding!!

Fun! What route did you take (I think I remember Black Charlies Opening on the east coast from my
two trips to Tassie)? How well did the uphills ride?

--mev, Mike Vermeulen
 
Mike Vermeulen <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> >Just thought I should let you all know that I recently had a little ride around the east coast of
> >Tasmania (the triangular bit on the bottom side of Australia) and had tailwinds for 4 of my 5
> >days riding!!
>
> Fun! What route did you take (I think I remember Black Charlies Opening on the east coast from my
> two trips to Tassie)? How well did the uphills ride?
>
> --mev, Mike Vermeulen

Launceston to Ben Lomond NP (big mistake! Huge dirt road hills with logging trucks..) Ben Lomond to
Bicheno via St Marys and Mt Elephant pancake shop, Bicheno to Feycinet NP for lunch then on to Pt
Bagot just across the river from Freycinet on a boat. then the usual down to Orford and to Hobart
Via Break-Me-Neck, Bust-Me-Gut hills, and Black Charlies Opening. 5 days, something like 500km, and
$200 all up for food and accom.

Uphills - its all about the engine room, the last meal, and the propensity to sit back an spin. Yes
they hurt, but I'm learning that the most time I spend on my bike is going up hill, so I had better
get to like it! Really uphills touring are the same on a DF as a recumbent. You can't exactly get
out of the saddle and mash on a laden DF can you? So its all about spinning.

Tom