T
Tom Blum
Guest
Went for a ride on the Van Fleet trail Sunday morning.
The weekend weather was marvelous, here in West Central Florida. It is officially spring The
snakes are out. I must have seen 10 on my ride. A yellow rat snake some kind of fat dark snake
and the rest black snakes. You only see then in spring and fall, when the warm asphalt is
attractive.
I just revised my Speed Machine Clone yet again.
1. seat is finally comfortable.I padded it with 1 inch foam topped by 1/2 inch closed cell camp mat.
Also added a head rest.
2.the store bought fork (from Poweron Cycling) greatly improved handling.
3. The new front wheel from RegisHampton (Sun 13mm aero rim-Shimano Deore LX hub 32 spoke radial)
seems to roll well.
The 4 or 5 lb weight reduction is quite welcome. It now weighs 35 lbs.
I was able to cruise along at 19 mph on the way up. Watching the Spanish moss angle to estimate
wind speed, I talked myself into believing there was no effective tail wind.
Because things were going so well, I decided to ride an extra 20 miles. When I turned around at
the 20 mile marker, the truth was forced upon me, the wind was SE quartering the trail. I could
only go 15 to 16. Ended up averaging 16.xx. New high for me.
Today,on the trail, there were quite a few recumbents. I saw about six or seven. Most were Tour
Easy, with a Rans and one Lightning M5 low racer.
I talked to the M5 owner. He said his weighed 28 lbs. I guess at 35 lbs, I'm not doing too bad for a
muffler pipe home built. Looking at his bike, I believe I could make a 30 lb low racer that weighed
30 lbs or less.
Also met two guys on DF's who were interested in building recumbents. Gave them url's to BROL and
HPVA and a few others. It never hurts to recruit.
The big moonlight ride, starring Laurie "Wo" Smith, from Easy Racers is next Saturday night. Over 50
people have signed up so far. Eating will be a "chinese fire drill" but the moonlight ride should be
great. Ya'all come.
--
Miles of Smiles,
Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed Machine Clone
www.gate.net/~teblum
The weekend weather was marvelous, here in West Central Florida. It is officially spring The
snakes are out. I must have seen 10 on my ride. A yellow rat snake some kind of fat dark snake
and the rest black snakes. You only see then in spring and fall, when the warm asphalt is
attractive.
I just revised my Speed Machine Clone yet again.
1. seat is finally comfortable.I padded it with 1 inch foam topped by 1/2 inch closed cell camp mat.
Also added a head rest.
2.the store bought fork (from Poweron Cycling) greatly improved handling.
3. The new front wheel from RegisHampton (Sun 13mm aero rim-Shimano Deore LX hub 32 spoke radial)
seems to roll well.
The 4 or 5 lb weight reduction is quite welcome. It now weighs 35 lbs.
I was able to cruise along at 19 mph on the way up. Watching the Spanish moss angle to estimate
wind speed, I talked myself into believing there was no effective tail wind.
Because things were going so well, I decided to ride an extra 20 miles. When I turned around at
the 20 mile marker, the truth was forced upon me, the wind was SE quartering the trail. I could
only go 15 to 16. Ended up averaging 16.xx. New high for me.
Today,on the trail, there were quite a few recumbents. I saw about six or seven. Most were Tour
Easy, with a Rans and one Lightning M5 low racer.
I talked to the M5 owner. He said his weighed 28 lbs. I guess at 35 lbs, I'm not doing too bad for a
muffler pipe home built. Looking at his bike, I believe I could make a 30 lb low racer that weighed
30 lbs or less.
Also met two guys on DF's who were interested in building recumbents. Gave them url's to BROL and
HPVA and a few others. It never hurts to recruit.
The big moonlight ride, starring Laurie "Wo" Smith, from Easy Racers is next Saturday night. Over 50
people have signed up so far. Eating will be a "chinese fire drill" but the moonlight ride should be
great. Ya'all come.
--
Miles of Smiles,
Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed Machine Clone
www.gate.net/~teblum
