Recumbent - brand new bent rider

so i finally dropped the cash and on tuesday i brought home my new bacchetta strada. by the end of the day wednesday, i had commuted to and from work (12 miles each way on 45-50 mph roads) and gone on a family bike ride (4 kids, trailers, and training wheels). by this afternoon i've done more commuting, family riding, and even went to a church meeting last night (that turned some heads). i've logged 45 miles and am loving it. it's just a fun bike to ride. it's a little twitchy but i assume i'll get used to it. i've stalled out at a couple of intersections trying to get going after a light and that's a little nerve wracking, but i'm working on my technique and it's happening less frequently.

i'm loving it,

adam

Congratulations, that is a nice bike. Are you using clipless pedals? Very helpful on a high racer (but practice unclipping a lot first).

If you have not yet joined BentRiderOnline (http://www.bentrideronline.com/), you should.

The bike will get less twitchy with a little more time. Try using only your finger tips on the handle bars. You don't need to grip them tightly.

As for stalling out make sure you down shift when you stop to make starting easier.

The Strada is a nice bent - have fun with it.

Nice bike for a first one. You should have thousands of pleasant miles ahead.

I have a Bacchetta Corsa that I bought about 6 weeks ago. It felt twitchy at first, but now I feel really stable on it. One thing that helped me was to straighten my arms out into the "superman" position, I felt much more stable in that position, and I think that is the position the bike was designed to be ridden in. Also at first I had to get used to slow speed turning because I was getting some heelstrike, my heel hitting the front tire while turning, but now it rarely happens if ever. The muscles in my legs have also adapted to the position and I am more comfortable climbing on my recumbent than I am on my DF roadbike (which I have only been on twice since I got the Corsa). I loved the Corsa when I first rode it, but it just keeps getting better. Congratulations on the new Strada.

The strada can be an extremely fast bike - nice choice!