Fifty Plus (50+) - Zombie apocalypse and the four 'bent riders of death

Today I took a giant leap towards senescence and purchased a recumbent.

I now have a MTB, a tandem, a road bike, and now a 'bent.

The Mayan calendar is correct. The world will indeed come to an end in the very near future. You best get your affairs in order.

For a variety of reasons I've not ridden my bike much this year, and every time I did, it touched off pain in my neck and shoulders. Other activities touch it off as well, and I imagine I have the dreaded cervical disc disease.

Fortunately I have a friend who lent me out a Bacchetta Strada:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/07e9ba4e.jpg

Well, other than trying to get the fool thing rolling, and trying to get it up very steep grades, it's a lot of fun. I decided to purchase one when my wife elected to buy some stuff of equal or greater value for her habit, sewing.

The LBS had a demo model of the Giro, similar to the Strada except that the wheels are 26 inch instead of 650c, the drive train is a bit better, and it comes with disc brakes. Given my tendancy to aim bikes at random and hope for the best, I thought it was a good idea to get something with a lot of stopping power.

The demo model also came with the Brain Bag, sufficiently large to carry three weeks of provisions and lots of ammo (for the coming zombie apocalypse), and it accepts a Camelbak so I won't have to fiddle around with bottles at my breakneck speed of 12 MPH.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/d59d09c5.jpg
This is the first bike I've own in fifty years that has a kickstand and I'm darned proud of it.

So I went whistling by the graveyard:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/2b2692a5.jpg

There's something about 'bents that bring out the weird in people, and I don't mean just the riders. A car with three women pulled up next to me and snapped pictures of me with their cell-phones.

Drivers looked at me with expressions that ranged from bemusement to outright terror.

There is one very steep hill towards the end of my ride that I dismounted for and pushed my bike up. At the top there was an elderly lady holding a stick who came up to me and said, "I'm a grandmother and my grandchildren are 36 and 32."

"Wow, that's Awesome!" I replied.

So anyway, I got my 20 miles in, my neck and shoulders feel fine, my knees are a bit sore as I try to get used to climbing in very low gears with a high cadence (which I don't do very well) and life is pretty good at the moment.

That is all.

Great looking ride! Looks like mine, but I have the older seat style. The shoulders and neck pain were impoosible for me on my old bike. I had c-cpine repair some years ago and it still gives me issues. Seeing the world around you is the "undocumented feature" when riding a bent bike. You are IN the environment and not just riding through it anymore.

When on our recumbent tandem, my wife is happy to look at something other than my BUTT.

Best regards to you and happy trails.
Bob

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/IMG_0055.jpg
I forgot to mention that I have named this beast the Honey Badger.

Nice report. Were you afraid the grandmother with the stick was going to hit you?

. . . At the top there was an elderly lady holding a stick who came up to me and said, "I'm a grandmother and my grandchildren are 36 and 32."

Do you think she told you that because she thought you could relate?

My concern was that she would wander into traffic, so I stuck around until she wandered back to her house.

Then I stole her stick.

If the world is going to end, who will be around to care if my affairs are in order?

I think he is saying 'the end is near' and that you should just lay down and enjoy it.

Be warned, recumbents are the gateway to the weird and extreme. Pre 'bent I was your typical fair-weather lycra clad recreational road rider. Post 'bent, I've done the following:
Learned to ride a unicycle.
Started commuting through the winter.
Put fenders on my bike and ride without regard to rain.
Put lights on my bike and ride at night.
Ridden brevets, up to and including Paris Brest Paris.
Built and ridden a tallbike. On a zombie ride with people half my age.

That's really a funny-looking bike.:D

Kind of a loud yellow, too.:) The yellow water bottle cage is a nice touch.

One-and-a-half of my three funny-looking bikes are a loud yellow.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z284/JanMM/DSCN1645.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z284/JanMM/IMG_0461.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z284/JanMM/IMG_2329.jpg

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!

My wife was horrified at the color and I'm not a big fan of it, either. The guy at the shop has a very cool custom paint job (wish I'd taken a picture of it) if I ever have loose change sitting around.

As far as future weirdness is concerned, I've just visited the web site of the Furnace 508. Now that would be one great trip, if I lived.

http://www.the508.com/
Ultramarathon Bicycle Race. Looks pretty Challenging. I could probably (maybe:twitchy:) do that but it might take a couple of weeks.

Today I took a giant leap towards senescence and purchased a recumbent.

I now have a MTB, a tandem, a road bike, and now a 'bent.

The Mayan calendar is correct. The world will indeed come to an end in the very near future. You best get your affairs in order.

For a variety of reasons I've not ridden my bike much this year, and every time I did, it touched off pain in my neck and shoulders. Other activities touch it off as well, and I imagine I have the dreaded cervical disc disease.

Fortunately I have a friend who lent me out a Bacchetta Strada:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/07e9ba4e.jpg

Well, other than trying to get the fool thing rolling, and trying to get it up very steep grades, it's a lot of fun. I decided to purchase one when my wife elected to buy some stuff of equal or greater value for her habit, sewing.

The LBS had a demo model of the Giro, similar to the Strada except that the wheels are 26 inch instead of 650c, the drive train is a bit better, and it comes with disc brakes. Given my tendancy to aim bikes at random and hope for the best, I thought it was a good idea to get something with a lot of stopping power.

The demo model also came with the Brain Bag, sufficiently large to carry three weeks of provisions and lots of ammo (for the coming zombie apocalypse), and it accepts a Camelbak so I won't have to fiddle around with bottles at my breakneck speed of 12 MPH.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/d59d09c5.jpg
This is the first bike I've own in fifty years that has a kickstand and I'm darned proud of it.

So I went whistling by the graveyard:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x40/TWLBA/2b2692a5.jpg

There's something about 'bents that bring out the weird in people, and I don't mean just the riders. A car with three women pulled up next to me and snapped pictures of me with their cell-phones.

Drivers looked at me with expressions that ranged from bemusement to outright terror.

There is one very steep hill towards the end of my ride that I dismounted for and pushed my bike up. At the top there was an elderly lady holding a stick who came up to me and said, "I'm a grandmother and my grandchildren are 36 and 32."

"Wow, that's Awesome!" I replied.

So anyway, I got my 20 miles in, my neck and shoulders feel fine, my knees are a bit sore as I try to get used to climbing in very low gears with a high cadence (which I don't do very well) and life is pretty good at the moment.

That is all.
Nice looking Bike, BTW the Mayan Calender doesn't actually end, it simply loops over and repeats, Mayans could then refer to this as the beginning of a new Era, which is roughly 4,900 years long.

A car with three women pulled up next to me and snapped pictures of me with their cell-phones.

So how old were the women?

If the world is going to end, who will be around to care if my affairs are in order?

I suggest you make peace with Hunahpu-Gutch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunahpu-Gutch), preferably by offering your cat as a sacrifice at the Toltec alter.

You have just confirmed things to me and I have enough weirdo's about where I live without attracting any more.

I will not be getting a bent in the near future but I have tried one for a few hours. That confirms the weirdo bit and that they do not suit me.

Course, a trike is *much* better for the zombie issue, when needed I can ride with one or no hands, that way the better to aim the shotgun at them~! Can't do that well on a 2-wheeler, you gotta stop and unholtster your weapon, and by the time you'll have been bit.

If a roadie sees somebody riding a bent, does he have a moral obligation to intervene?

If a roadie sees somebody riding a bent, does he have a moral obligation to intervene?

Sure, if he can catch him.

I suggest you make peace with Hunahpu-Gutch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunahpu-Gutch), preferably by offering your cat as a sacrifice at the Toltec alter.


Hunahpu and his brother were conceived when their mother Xquic spoke with the decapitated head of their father Hun Hunahpu.


Hunahpu peeked out to see if daylight had come, and was decapitated by a bat.

These people keep losing their heads...
I'm not that woried.

Congrrats. Think you have purchased a great all-around bike. Now to get you up that hill without getting off. Bent legs do take a little time to develop. If you really like to fly save your pennies for your dream lightweight bent that can keep pace with your buddies on those steeper ascents. Something on the order of a Carbent or Carbon Aero would definietly be a dream. Meta aluminum bike frame fitted with a carbon seat would get your weight down in the 20 lb. range. Just recently two freinds who I have done some organized rides in the past with, both purchased used Ti-Aeros. Don't promote the myth that just because you ride in a lazy boy position that you can't climb like a goat.

Push up evey hill to the extreme effort because otherwise you won't get much of a workout when you ride.

Course, a trike is *much* better for the zombie issue, when needed I can ride with one or no hands, that way the better to aim the shotgun at them~! Can't do that well on a 2-wheeler, you gotta stop and unholtster your weapon, and by the time you'll have been bit.

Very good point Peter. I am pleased to see I am not the only one who has given the zombie issue some serious thought.