I got nothing against recumbents-- they're kinda neat in their odd, unique way. But In +25,000 miles of riding, I've seen a grand total of one of them on the open road-- and it's a crazy tandem trike ridden by this older couple, only in one neighborhood. I've seen some trikes and proper recumbents on the river trails, but even then it's like seeing a unicorn. I think this has everything to do with the fact that I live in one of a series of interconnecting valleys-- it's a climb in every direction, really. It seems that the number of recumbent riders that set out to climb 5,000+ feet in a day comes in at zero.