Thank you pierce! See, that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I figured that, like with the hybrid bike itself, the "road" wheels would have to be a compromise. I can accept that. I will not be doing centuries on this bike, period. If my desire along these lines - to ride in this type of setting - continues, I think I'll buy a road frame and build it. Learn something along the way and get to buy the best stuff I can afford.

That should help with GAS issues along with giving me a kick-ass ride. I'm really just drawn to the whole look and idea of the clean lines of the internal hub'ed concept. The Gates drive? That I can take or leave. The last trike I was thinking of getting would have had a Patterson drive up front and an Alfine 11 rear - but chainlines on a trike can never really be clean. The pictures of that Spot bike are just spot-on for what I'd love to see.

The 40 mile ride is FLAT - one 200' rise in the whole thing. There are several rides going on that morning - 34, 40, 60, and 100. The others are all, save for the 34 which is a completely different route, modifications of the 40. I've been 'training' (HAHAHAHAHA) for this by riding my town. It's very hilly and I've been riding basically 10 miles with 800 or so feet of elevation climb. Last two were 13.3 miles with 1440' of climb. All the climbing is done either in 4 or 7 miles in those since they are round trip. I'm going to start next week working on a 20 mile loop that will involve 10 miles of downhill first, then a climb of 1850' for the last 10. The ride is Feb 10, so the last two weeks I plan to increase to 40 miles, either doubling the 20 mile loop or going further up in the town on some of the paved fire trails. I suppose the weather will have more to say than me. It's snowing like a big dog out there right now.