Trike Ride with Central Georgia Cyclists
Trplay, Steve and I had a great ride on our trikes with the Central Georgia Cyclists yesterday, Saturday, August 25. Steve, who organized the ride, is a member of the group and lives in Perry, Georgia. Trplay rode over from Cochran and I took the 2.5 hour drive down from Atlanta.
We met at 8 am near the Georgia National Fairgrounds for the start. There were six other riders, all on diamond frames. At the outset, I thought that three trikes riding with a group of riders on conventional bikes might be a problem, but it was not. The group stayed together well throughout the ride, with various riders taking the lead throughout the morning. Our ride was over gently rolling terrain. We had two store stops to cool off and fuel up. It turned very hot around 10:30 am and there was very little shade.
It is really a treat to ride with other trike riders. Trplay, Steve and I ride at about the same pace and had a great time. Steve's Greenspeed X3, Trplay's Catrike 700 and my Trice Monster did a few relaxed pacelines and we continue to be impressed with the extra speed we can muster with trike pacelines. We certainly had no trouble staying with the other riders, even on the hills.
Some of the other riders were quizzing me on the safety of trikes. One asked whether I felt safe in traffic and I responded that I felt about the same in traffic as on a conventional bike. She was surprised. One of the barriers to more trike sales is the safety issue, even though I could tell that some of the other riders were envious of our relative comfort.
There are some drawbacks with mixing trikes and diamond frames on a ride. It is hard to converse while riding because of our low position. Also, while we can catch a slipstream from the upright bikes, they cannot from us, so there is some inequity. As it turned out, for some of the ride, the three of us rode in a little group, even though we all stayed together with the other riders for most of the time.
Central Georgia has some beautiful roads. At the parking lot after the ride we talked about our trikes and did a little test ride of each other's machine. Trplay's Catrike is set up for his shorter legs and I had a hard time getting the feel for it. It has direct steering and that long wheelbase I am familiar with on my Monster. It is a beautiful trike and is undoubtedly one of the fastest trikes in the world. Trplay and I were wondering what the next advances in trike engineering will be. Steve's X3 sits a little higher off the ground and has a plush ride with the Scorcher tires. The X3 is a nice little package which folds for easy transportation. Both the X3 and the Catrike have slightly wider wheelbases. The mesh seats help wick the sweat on hot days. My hardshell seat has some performance advantages but, even though it has ventilation holes, is probably less comfortable over long distances on hot days compared to the other two. Otherwise, my back feels better on a hard shell seat, although I have heard others sing the praises of both the Catrike and Greenspeed mesh seats, especially as it relates to comfort. I can see all three of these trikes doing well on the racetrack.
We covered 63 miles, and averaged between 14 and 14.5 miles per hour depending upon whose computer you believed. We pledged to expand our Georgia trike group (we now have four) and keep on riding together as much as possible.
