Reminiscing

Ever remember something that happened a long time ago that really was not a big event in your life and for no apparent reason you can think of.  However, when you think of it with such a vivid recollection, it makes you wonder if there was more to it.  I had just such an experience a few days ago.   Maybe it was due to a recent death in a family that I consider close friends?  Who knows?  Anyways, the event (if you could call it that) was watching a movie with my Grandmaw.  The movie was "The Villain" and to tell the truth, I don't remember much about the movie. In fact, I could not remember the title, so that made finding it harder, I do remember that it starred Arnold Scharzenegger so I finally used IMDb and typed in True Lies, then went to the cast and clicked on Arnold's name and saw the list of movies he was in and thus found it.  I was surprised it was made in 1979.  Not because the time frame seems wrong or anything like that, but the fact that I watched it with Grandmaw and spent the night.  And the reason this seems off is I don't recall spending the night with her a whole lot after I was out of high school, and it would have been 1980 or 81 when it was released on t.v.  But now that I have found it and read the reviews, I guess my taste in movies at that time was not that great.  It got terrible reviews.  But then again, I never have seemed to like the popular movies, tending to gravitate towards lesser known or at least smaller box office hits. One of my all time favorite movies is "The Man From Snowy River" and it was just a so so movie according to the experts.

But back to my reminiscing. I remember that Grandmaw got to laughing so hard that she turned red. I was a little worried that she might stop breathing.  And I'm not sure if it was her laughter that made me laugh so much, but I do remember laughing a lot myself.  I've seen her do this before so I was not that worried but I do recall telling her she might orta git up and walk around a little. Grandmaw passed away many years ago but other than my parents, she was probably one of if not the most influential people in my life.  She had a way of finding the bright side of nearly every situation.  She also loved to cook and I loved to eat so that may have been part of it.  I remember going fishing with her and she was always pretty serious when it came to fishing. She would tell me, "you're scarring all the fish off acting like that" (me running around being a kid) and when I would pause long enough to actually fish a little, "your never gona catch anything beatin the water with you fishin pole like that".  Right now I would just love to be able to go fishin with her one more time, or watch a movie with her, or eat some of her fried fish and hush puppies. If you're lucky enough to still have your grandparents with you, please find the time to tell them how much you appreciate and love them.  

My evolution from regular bikes to recumbents

Bacchetta Cafe, my first recumbent

the Trek 520

the Easy Racer Tour Easy

and finally, my Rans Dynamik

Before I say anything, let's get one thing straight, I'm not here to convert anyone to recumbents.  Yes, they are vastly superior to regular bikes... LOL ...but if you are comfortable on a regular bike then more power to you.  In other words, this is just my story... YMMV

 I remember having a couple of bikes as a kid, but they were second hand department store bikes bikes (nothing wrong with that).  I also had a bad  habit of destroying them jumping a small stream that ran across the pasture behind our house.  Then from around age of 16 (yep, you guessed it, driving age) to 44 I pretty much forgot about bikes.   However, my knees were getting to where running hurt them and weekend pick up basketball games were torture on them.  I needed to find a better way to get back and then stay in shape.  I had a friend get into road biking and upon his advice (and insistence) I bought my first real bike in 2006 at the tender age of 44. It was a Giant OCR 3. I also talked my wife into getting a bike the same day, a Giant Cypress comfort bike.   I started out with short rides of 5 to 10 miles, but was soon going 30 miles or more.  The limiting factor in my distance was my discomfort on the saddle.  I had my bike fitted when I bought it and read a lot of things online about how to get more comfortable.   I don't guess it would be considered a professional fitting, but the salesman was knowledgeable and helped me adjust the seat and handlebars etc. Anyways, I rode all summer wearing those padded bike shorts I despised but never was very comfortable. I tried a couple of different saddles and spent countless hours reading bikeforums.net on all threads related to bike saddle comfort.  Of course in my reading I found out that steel bikes are smoother riding than aluminum ones so I bought a used Trek 520 in the fall of 07.  I rode it a lot, even taking a possum for a ride once (I call it my possum tour).  It was slightly more comfortable then the OCR  but I was still in search of that perfect saddle. I finally settled on a moon saddle: read here if you think I'm making this stuff up...

Then I saw a recumbent or read about them somewhere on the net. I mentioned them to the friend who had talked me into getting a road bike and he agreed that a more comfy ride would be nice.  Only one problem, there were no recumbent dealers in our area.   After a bit of research we found a recumbent dealer in Birmingham Al and went down to test ride a couple and see what the fuss was all about.  We were both shaky on starts and wobbly at slow speed (the test area was hilly) but sold on the comfort. About a month later in December of 2007 we both bought one.  He got a Rans V-Rex and I bought a Bacchetta Cafe. I will admit that at first I was not sure if I had made the right decision. I live in a hilly area and was still wobbly on long climbs. However, I stayed with it and by the spring of 2008 I was doing great and never looked back. I sold the ORC but kept the 520. I have since put an SMP saddle on it but still don't like to ride it over an hour so just ride it for short trips up to Grant. Perfect for that since it is about 10 miles round trip and I usually have a reason to get off the bike mid ride (picking up something at the store etc).

As much as I liked the Cafe, I wanted a bike I could put a front fairing on for winter riding.  I kept reading about a certain recumbent called the Easy Racer Tour Easy on various recumbent forums (mostly BentRiderOnline).  The only problem was, a new ones cost around 2400 bucks and there were no dealers close by.  However, in the summer of 09 I found a used one with a fairing for sale for $1200 near Birmingham so I bit the bullet and purchased it.  The ride of the Tour Easy is hard to beat.  It is slightly more comfortable and faster than the Cafe and with the fairing it is much nicer to ride in cold weather.  However, I now take the fairing off in the summer and ride it year round.

I have to admit that in some ways, I missed riding my regular road bike.  I'm not as nimble on my recumbents and I still find my road bike climb better (please do not say this on a recumbent forum).  I also like that  a road bike can be ridden hands free. Anyways, I kept reading about another type of bike called a Crank Forward which claimed to be the best of both worlds.  As in comfy like a recumbent but nimble like a road bike.  Of course the one I set my heart on was pretty expensive and again, there were no dealers nearby.  However, through the power of the internet, I found a Rans Dynamik frame for sale in Colorado.  BTW, having it shipped was not all that expensive.  I think shipping came to about $60,  but of course this was without wheels.  I used the parts from my wife's Cypress (a long story that to this day still gets me in trouble).  I now ride my crank forward when I'm riding alone, but with the fat tires I have on it, it will not keep up with most recumbents, so, when I go for a ride with my recumbent riding buddies it stays at home.

Then in the fall of 2011 I bought a mountain bike. I enjoyed riding it, but like my road bike, after an hour I was ready to get off. I wrecked it in the spring of 2012 and broke my collar bone. I have ridden it a few times since my recovery but now feel unsafe on it, like I'm going to endo (go over the handlebars) at any moment going down anything very steep. So...I kept seeing threads on BentRiderOnline about off road bents and I kept an eye out for a possible bent (frame or complete bike). I snagged a Bella frame and am in the process of building an off road bent (The Bumble Beast).  I'm sure I'll have more to say about it later.  (note to wife: do not read past this point)  I'm also sure I will eventually own another trike. I did own one briefly, but it was too small and low to the ground for my taste.  Fortunately, there are several options that address all my concerns.  Can you say Greenspeed Magnum, ICE Adventure HD  or TerraTrike Rambler!  Maybe a retirement present to myself!  However, before I get put out to pasture, there are a couple of fast recumbents I'd like to try.  Problem is, all three (OK, more than a couple) are pretty expensive.  But if anyone has a Rans Xstream, Cruzbike Vendetta or MetaBike MetaPhysic they are sick of just let me know and I'd be happy to take it off your hands.

One excuse is as good as another

And by that I mean, most of the things we do in life (or have happen to us) are the results of our own actions, but we often make excuses for why certain things remain undone or do not turn out like we planned.  A perfect example for me is my weight.  It was easy to stay in shape up until I hit about 30.  Then I slowly started adding on the lbs.  By the time I hit 40 it was official, I was fat.   However, I carried it well, or at least that's what folks would tell me, so it was not that big a deal and I did not  become obsessed about it.  However, since I like to ride my recumbent up and down the mountain and also enjoy backpacking, keeping my weight in check would be advantageous, not to mention the fact that it is just healthier.   And here are where the excuses come in.  Like I mentioned earlier, I would have folks say, well you don't look fat. In fact I took pride in asking folks how much they thought I weighed.  I would get answers like 200 or 210 lbs  when In fact I weighed about 235 #.  And now that I'm up to around 250 # I still get similar answers, only now it is you don't look that fat...and they usually guess somewhere around 230 #.  Another excuse I like to use is my wife. We like to go out and eat on Friday or Saturday night.  We will usually order something different and then share.  As a perfect example, we went to eat on our birthday last Thursday night (we share the same birthday).  She ordered shrimp and grits and I ordered a stake.  I cut her off a medium sized piece of my steak and she said, that's too much.  She cut about half of it off and handed it back.  She then proceeds to put well over half of her food on my plate. Another excuses is that the little ole ladies at church cook way too good!  When we have a fellowship meal after services I have a habit of eating 2 plates full of food and then a plate full of desert after that.  At one time a lady (now deceased) would make 2 strawberry pies, and would always announce, now one of those is for Coy.  I honestly never did eat the whole thing but I would often eat at least half.

Along with over eating I also make excuses for not exercising.  I like to get out and ride my recumbent or walk to the holler, but often times I will let 2 or 3 days go by without a good walk or ride.  One excuses is my job.  After working a 24 hour shift, I come home and take a long nap and then get up around noon.  I will then laze around the house the rest of the day.  And because if this I wont sleep good this night and will often take a long nap the second day I'm off.  Another excuse is the weather. If it is raining I probably wont ride or walk, but I also let the cold or the wind stop me, especially from riding.  I do walk more in the winter so at least I don't get completely out of shape, but every spring that first ride back up the mountain is a killer.   I also watch way too much football and TV in general.  Perhaps to make up for the fact that we did not have a TV until I was about 14.   But even so,  I remember a time when there would only be a couple of Bama football games televised each year.  That meant I usually spent Saturdays fishing, hiking or doing some type of outdoor activity.  Now there are usually only a couple of games a year that are not televised and even those are usually available on pay per view.  And then there is NASCAR.  Before I became a fan I would usually play basketball or something similar after morning services. Now I come home, plop down on the couch and watch the race.  Last year I bought a rower with the plan being to use it while watching the race or a ball games.   I used it pretty regularly for about a month but here lately I've noticed it seems to serve only one purpose.  I will say it makes a pretty good coat rack. And besides, the treadmill in the bedroom was already full.