Mrs. Grouch and I took out the "Screaming Yellow Zonker" today. Our launches were a little ugly and, after moving our shoe cleats back as recommended by the seller, clipping-in took waaaaay longer than I would have expected. We were a little wobbly riding down the Katy trail and I don't think that I've got the handlebar ergonomics quite right yet. It'll come.

We only rode about 8 miles which I thought was plenty. We haven't been on our conventional tandem for 9 months so we would have struggled a little anyway. Even in that short distance I could tell that our SWB style recumbent uses different muscles than I'm used to. We need to be up to 50 mile days by the middle of June so we need to get in some practice miles.

More good news is the bike will fit easily inside our Honda Element by only removing the seats (quick release) and rear wheel.

I'm thinking this is going to be a fun year.

Congratulations! Two new bikes at home!

Tandem arrived, Maiden Voyage completed without incident, it all fits in your car, & the single bike is up and running....that is the news we've been waiting to read.

Nothing left to do now but enjoy the bikes!

This thread is nothing without pictures!!!!!

Sounds like a good start. I would love to have a comfy recumbent tandem to ride with my wife. But she doesn't ride much at all and it just isn't economically feasible given the likely low usage.

I struggled with a similar concern for quite a while. My wife can't ride much due to physical issues so a tandem recumbent made no economic sense at all, well not based on mileage anyway. Then I changed my perspective and wondered how does one measure shared enjoyment in dollars and cents?

I paid $1200 for our gently used EZ Tandem in March of 2008. The only cycling she did in '08 was the few miles we enjoyed together on that tandem. In March 2009 I went over the edge and bought her a Sun X-1 which she has put possibly as much as 25 - 30 miles on, in addition to a few more miles on the tandem.

Over the two seasons we've owned it we have put a total of only 70 miles on the tandem, all at a snails pace of 10mph or less over distances of 10 miles or less. Most of our outings involved stopping during the ride for lunch. The enjoyment that we have shared over those 70 short miles have more than offset the $1200 already, at least for me anyway.

The wife has already made mention of getting back on it again this season for some more adventures. We may only be going short distances very slowly, but it's still a major rush!

I guess what I'm trying to express is that sometimes it's not the quantity of time spent on an expensive venture such as a tandem that justifies the purchase, it's the quality of that time shared with your special someone. That's what does it for me, anyway. Maybe I'm just sappy!!

Here's wishing Mr. & Mrs. Grouch many fond and precious moments and memories tearing up the roadways on their 'Screaming Yellow Zonker'!

Spoken like a man with his priorities in order.

It's a simple equation: price vs. value.

The price side is easy to evaluate.