I've been an active club rider since about '85, and an avid short-hauler for years before that. So when the aches and pains associated with DFs started accumulating, I made the decision that I deserved a bike that didn't hurt to ride. My first recumbent was a V-Rex. I got it used, and it was the answer to all my cycling problems. I was slower initially, but by the end of that first summer, I'd gotten back most of my speed and could once again ride with my former DF riding partners. The following off-season, I got into fairings, and put a full body on the 'Rex. Wow! Instant 3 mph increase! I decided that full fairings were too much bother, so I designed a series of front fairings that got me a little extra speed, and were successively lighter and more refined. By even the second generation of front fairing, I had already gotten too fast for my DF riding partners, and 'graduated' to the fast group in the club. But it wasn't enough. I started looking at lowracers, and eventually bought a used Baron from a Chicagoland rider rather than special-order one and wait for weeks/months. Counting the rebuild to make it suit me, it ended up being about the same price as a new one would have been. The Baron is far faster than the V-Rex, even in its fully-faired form. Next up will be a carbon build-up that I'm referring to as a 'club racer,' which I hope will be easier to ride in mixed groups than a lowracer.