[email protected] (swede) wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
>
[email protected] (Don) wrote in message news:<
[email protected]>...
> > Marci, Well Duh, the greatest recumbent riders live in California. So do the greatest movie
> > stars, singers, tech gurus, and whatever else you want. We have the greatest everything.
> >
> > Oh, me bad. I just reread your post. You said "numbers". Well I guess there are not a lot of
> > bent riders on the LA freeway. California does have the most bent builders----Easy Racer,
> > Lightning, Haluzak, Rotator.
> >
> > Sacramento has a great bike trail 32+ miles long to ride but the benters here are all free
> > spirits and not club bound except for first-Saturday and moonlight rides each month. The rest of
> > state just ain't safe for HPVs.
> don...your statement..."the rest of state just ain't safe for HPVs"...needs to be challenged! i
> know there are great rides all over this state. i'll just speak of my own backyard...san luis
> obispo...i suppose the qualifier..."safe"...perhaps rules out all bikes-everywhere. but getting
> out of bed in the morning also can be a no-no. san luis obispo (on the central coast-halfway
> between l.a. and s.f.- is a dandy place to be located if you are ANY kind of biker...the SLOBC
> with over 500 members has a ride calendar that includes rides every day of the year (even
> holidays) and on most days there are at least 3 different categories of rides. as for bent riders
> there are a dozen riders in my category (medium speed) and they are all quite active. however, if
> you want to ride with recumbents only then maybe portland or. is the place, as there is a huge
> bent club located there.
The Chicagoland area has two unofficial groups; I ride with The Chicagoland Recumbent Riders South.
We have had up to thirteen riders on some of our rides. However, there are many more riders
everyday. We are very lucky to have the Old Plank Trail which is completed for 19.6 miles and will
soon be connected to the Wauponsee Trail. The W__ Trl's first five miles are expected to be
completed by year end 2003. It is possible if the funding becomes available that the entire W___ Trl
will be completed to the Kankakee River Trail (13 miles). The trails I have just described are in
south suburbia, specifically south of I-80.
Three of us in the above group ride three to five days a week from forty to sixty odd miles daily,
occasionally to eight-five. One of this group regularly rides one hundred mile days. Four of us will
be riding the GIT AP (Grand Illinois Trails And Parks ride) June 15th - 21st (450 miles).
The north side group probably has the same number of riders, I have been on one ride with them when
there were ~eight riders. The north side group has riders that have exceeded 10,000 miles yearly.
One of their riders set a personal best last year, I seem to remember that he averaged 27 mph for
one hundred miles. Another of their riders, Ed Gin, rode the Lake Shore Drive ride last year. He
stayed with the police pace car at a 35 mph pace for about seven miles and then fell back to a 27
mph pace for the 29 miles. He then rerode the 29 miles.
Folks On Spokes, the primary club in the south suburban area, with a membership of ~250 has in
addition to the numbers above at least three more active recumbent riders.
We have many more miles of forest preserve trails and many rural roads. I would guess their are more
than eight active clubs in the Chicagoland area. With all the trails available and the Mayor of
Chicago being a bike rider himself the number of "bent riders" probably exceeds 2000.