Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Pete Clark
06-24-03, 11:02 AM
As I was descending a hill on McLendon Ave. on my way home from work, I spotted what looked like a person in a wheelchair at the bottom of the hill, in the street. After a double-take, I realized it was a recumbent cyclist, waiting for the light. I just had to speak with the cyclist. As I caught up, the light changed and off he went up the next hill.
"How do you like the bike?" I shouted from behind as we climbed slowly. He said he really liked it, and said a lot of other things as well, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. All I knew was that he sure was talking up a storm. I rolled up next to him at Clifton Rd. in Candler Park community. "I couldn't hear you back there," I began, but as soon as I started talking, he reached out his hand.
"I'm Father Paul, a Franciscan priest." That was the last thing I expected to hear. As he talked about his trip on his recumbent from Baltimore to Atlanta and his upcoming trip by bike from Atlanta to Arizona, I looked over his interesting features. His self-proclaimed vow of poverty was believable as he was dressed in sandals, shorts and a tee shirt bearing a few small holes. His reddish-brown hair was long and his young, bearded face looked as if he had not shaved in a very long time. His appearance struck me more as if he were a local "back-to-the-earth" devotee. This was not far from the truth.
He talked on and on as I listened through several series of light changes while traffic continued on, one frustrated commuter honking at us as we chatted off to the right, me draping myself comfortably over my bike. In a satisfied tone he described to me
the lack of environmental damage he and his choice of transportation were accountable for. Even the conference he was to attend in Arizona was restricted to guests who could arrive there without damaging the environment by their choices of transportation. He was taking his recumbent, while some others had sailed to California and were walking.
"Walking from California to Arizona?" I remarked. "They should have ridden bikes!"
"One state is not that far to walk," he said. What could I say? I was way out of my league. Anyway, he was a fascinating character whose lifestyle stood for almost everthing I believed in, including his choice of a recumbent bike for transportation. He was very friendly and told me all I wanted to know about his recumbent. He said he loves it and will never go back to an upright bike.
"It's great, you can eat while you ride. I can go really fast, too, and climbing is not hard at all, though it's slow, I get there just the same. I put over 27,000 miles on this bike before the computer was stolen."
The bike is about 2 years old.
"It does have it's drawbacks. You can't take it offroad or in the gravel. You have to keep to the pavement. And you can't hop curbs."
Anyway, he was fun to listen to. What an insiration.
By the way, the conference he was attending in Arizona was hosted by Native Americans and the participants were to be representatives from every race on the globe. He was representing the white European lineage.
:)
"How do you like the bike?" I shouted from behind as we climbed slowly. He said he really liked it, and said a lot of other things as well, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. All I knew was that he sure was talking up a storm. I rolled up next to him at Clifton Rd. in Candler Park community. "I couldn't hear you back there," I began, but as soon as I started talking, he reached out his hand.
"I'm Father Paul, a Franciscan priest." That was the last thing I expected to hear. As he talked about his trip on his recumbent from Baltimore to Atlanta and his upcoming trip by bike from Atlanta to Arizona, I looked over his interesting features. His self-proclaimed vow of poverty was believable as he was dressed in sandals, shorts and a tee shirt bearing a few small holes. His reddish-brown hair was long and his young, bearded face looked as if he had not shaved in a very long time. His appearance struck me more as if he were a local "back-to-the-earth" devotee. This was not far from the truth.
He talked on and on as I listened through several series of light changes while traffic continued on, one frustrated commuter honking at us as we chatted off to the right, me draping myself comfortably over my bike. In a satisfied tone he described to me
the lack of environmental damage he and his choice of transportation were accountable for. Even the conference he was to attend in Arizona was restricted to guests who could arrive there without damaging the environment by their choices of transportation. He was taking his recumbent, while some others had sailed to California and were walking.
"Walking from California to Arizona?" I remarked. "They should have ridden bikes!"
"One state is not that far to walk," he said. What could I say? I was way out of my league. Anyway, he was a fascinating character whose lifestyle stood for almost everthing I believed in, including his choice of a recumbent bike for transportation. He was very friendly and told me all I wanted to know about his recumbent. He said he loves it and will never go back to an upright bike.
"It's great, you can eat while you ride. I can go really fast, too, and climbing is not hard at all, though it's slow, I get there just the same. I put over 27,000 miles on this bike before the computer was stolen."
The bike is about 2 years old.
"It does have it's drawbacks. You can't take it offroad or in the gravel. You have to keep to the pavement. And you can't hop curbs."
Anyway, he was fun to listen to. What an insiration.
By the way, the conference he was attending in Arizona was hosted by Native Americans and the participants were to be representatives from every race on the globe. He was representing the white European lineage.
:)