Recumbent - Congrats to you trike riders out there.

Well, I got outside today and did 50 miles on the catrike. Flat roads and steep hills mixture. I feel like I did 150 miles on that thing. I'm not used to the speed difference. It took me a good hour or so more to do the 50 miles compared to the baron or vk-2. . I don't know how you guys do centuries on those things. My hat is off to you guys. It's a heck of a lot more work than a lowracer. It'll take my legs a couple days to recover now. Maybe if I keep riding the trike for a few weeks, I'll be able to hop on the lowracer and blast right off the planets surface!

Trike speed is always a tough issue to discuss. I ride a Greenspeed GTO, and it is built for other than speed. The first year that I owned it I took a couple 75 mile rides and wore out my arthritic knees, though even in my late 50's I still recovered enough to ride the next day. No question, if I want to go far with less strain on my body I should stick to my Subaru.

A trike has other advantages for me. I live in the mountains and climbing is much easier on the trike due to no balancing issues. I ride a lot in town and enjoy not having to unclip. Plus a trike seems to give me more control over my own vehicle when sharing the road in a urban setting. With a Burley trailer, I use it for many local errands.

I enjoy riding the trike more. I can not rack up big miles but the fitness aspect is still there at the lower mileage.

I often think that if I lived in a flat rural community with lots of open road, I would had stayed with the Rans Stratus and perhaps have been considering a Grasshopper now.

Regards,

Gary

I've never ridden a lowracer, but I do or rather use to ride a Vision R40. I now ride a Greenspeed GTO trike and would never go back to either the Vision or a wedgie. I don't come away with the same conclusions. The trike is not harder (or easier) to ride than the Vision as far as power output goes. I have ridden the Vision for centuries and have ridden the GTO on LOADED centuries. I can't tell that much of a difference physically. The trike IS a LOT more fun!!

I ride at a good B pace, 17-22 mph. I have ridden a Catrike for a short while, didn't like the handling.

Thats just it. You haven't ridden a lowracer. A vision r40 is not in the same league as a lowracer, just as the case that a catrike speed may not be in the same class as your greenspeed.