Recumbent - From last Saturday's 400-km Around the Bent Brevet

Opps - that's the "Around the Bend" Brevet.

Recumbents were fairly well represented:

A M5, a Volae and a Bacchetta:

http://www.azbrevet.com/assets/images/400_Bend_2012/bents.jpg

and a Cruzbike:

http://www.azbrevet.com/assets/images/400_Bend_2012/rider_group.jpg

It was a good day - everyone finished. The three recumbents in the top group came in at 19:50 and Dan the Man on the Cruzbike was at 17 flat. Dan's a fast guy - he's capable of a much, much faster time.

Congrats on the ride. That Cruzbike Vendetta looks so cool.

I've never seen a painted CHR. And maybe it's just the perspective, but it looks like the rear wheel is smaller than the front. 700C front/650C rear?

I've never seen a painted CHR.

M5 announced last year that they would sell a limited number of "Ice Blue" and "Fire Red" CHRs. Truly gorgeous.
http://www.m5-ligfietsen.com/uploads/Itemizer/popups/1788.1.jpg


I think the wheel size difference is perspective. But there is a different rim on the back.

This recount of the brevet doesn't make is sound like much fun. More like everyone taking turns bonking.

http://cyclewhitney.blogspot.com/2012/03/around-bend-400k-brevet.html

This recount of the brevet doesn't make is sound like much fun. More like everyone taking turns bonking.

http://cyclewhitney.blogspot.com/2012/03/around-bend-400k-brevet.html

True but that's only one person's story - clearly, not everyone on the same ride will have the same experience. Those guys appear to attempt personal bests on every ride and that's their prerogative. In my humble opinion, that's not the spirit of brevets but hey, it's their ride and if that's the experience they want, more power to them! They're all good strong riders and good guys to boot - I just have a difference approach. Here's my comments that were posted on another forum:


Yesterday, I did my longest distance at 400-km or 248.6 miles. We started at 6 am and our goal was simple: finish in 20 hours in an event where you'll allowed 27. The temps were cool at the start- around 50F and it warmed to almost 80. We traveled from Casa Grande to Gila Bend, north to Phoenix (Buckeye) and then traversed the valley to Queen Creek before heading back to Casa Grande.

Winds were reasonably light for the day. The worst winds occurred as we went from Maricopa to Gila Bend but luckily, they were from behind us. Towards the last 10-15 miles, we were pushing 25-30 mph. That was fun but my fear it was too much too early.

Gila Bend presented an opportunity for a quick bite to eat and then we traveled a barely used highway north to PHX. Spectacular highway that crossed an old iron bridge. We passed by Phoenix International Raceway and then headed into Buckeye... or was it the other way around? I forget. Buckeye is a beautiful little city - the drivers there were extremely accommodating on their 4 lane highway. The worst drivers were around 51 Ave in Phoenix and then those in the Chandler area. Lots o' red necks in pick-up trucks who can't be bothered to wait 5 seconds to make a safe pass.

Best part of the ride was the last control where a volunteer served hot soup - worst part was facing that last 44 miles after the control. The soup helped tremendously. We split it into two portions with a Circle K stop for a quick warm-up with coffee.

It's funny how the mind starts to play tricks on you. My riding buddy ask me for the time... it was a hour later than we expected. My watch switched to daylight savings which we don't do in AZ and I couldn't figure out why that occurred until this morning. Our motto was "Through by two" and we rolled into the final at 0150 despite my watch reading 0250. Average moving speed was just a shade under 15 mph. Highest speed was 38, average heart rate was 137. Max was 168 bpm. Average cadence was just under 80.

The bike was perfect - I put on the dynobub wheel w/ 25-mm Gators and didn't have a single issue.

I'll do another 200 brevet in two weeks and then we'll do a 600-km ride in April. My goals back in Jan were fairly modest: complete the brevet series of 200, 300, 400 and 600-km. I'm having so much fun, we've decided to attempt a 1200 in Sept.

Wow, that's a fair amount of luggage on the CHR...
Love the blue color.

Yep - it really shines in the sun.