Core and Upper Body
I've been riding a 'bent for about 5 years - after ~20 years of road-bike riding. I still ride a DF for my short commute, errands, etc, but rarely over 3-4 miles.
Yesterday we had a corporate volunteer day at a rural youth camp, and I rode my DF commuter to the camp. It was about 15 miles with a couple decent hills. All I can say is, WOW my upper body is absolutely gone. If bikers have weenie arms then recumbent bikers have - what - marshmallow arms? Fifty feet of out-of-saddle climbing and I had to sit down and spin. Ugh.
I switched to a bent because of lower back pain. Now I'm wondering if I'm doing myself more harm than good by letting my upper body go to pot.
What do you guys do? Lift weights? Bricklaying on the side?