Originally Posted by N_C
snipped
Everything Forester says about riding a recumbent & the problem associated with one is for the most part a myth or false. I can get started while on a hill if I have to stop on one. Yes it is harder, but possible. Yes it is slower to ride up a hill, but it is possible.
When I first started riding mine I would not have ridden it in the manner I describe above. Why? Well I did not have the experience I do now with it. It took me time to learn how to ride & control it. It took a whole week of riding it on a high school track, then an empty parking lot to learn how to control it enough before I took it out onto the roadways. A recumbent is just not the type of bike you jump on & expect to handle like a diamond frame bike. I think John expected this when he rode the ones he did.
NC, you must be a very clumsy cyclist to take that long to solo a recumbent on the road. Of course, I don't suppose that you see your words as admitting your clumsiness.
The first time I tried a recumbent, I just got on and rode it, because it handled just like I expected a recumbent to handle. For that matter, the first time I leaped onto an ordinary (that's the motion that is required), I just mounted and rode it, because it handled as I expected an ordinary to handle.
To emphasize the point, I never expected a recumbent to handle just like a diamond-frame bike. I am not so stupid.