Calmar Days Parade

We had a great day being involved with the Calmar Parade and Mega Garage Sale. 4 people rode Trikes and I rode my Velo during the parade. We had a booth setup for people to try out the trikes after the parade. During the afternoon Several people tried out the trikes and many came over to gawk at the velo. Most people around here have only seen me zipping up and down the hiway and were curious to see what makes it go!
Later in the day we had a visit from John who is interested in getting his own Velo. He commute over 25 km one way to work. Currently he rides a Cat Trike Expedition with a Bionix Electric Assist and is looking at getting a Strada to lengthen his commuting days and get some decent weather protection. Wouter and I tried it out his trike with assist at max. When the electric motor kicked in my first response was a startled Wo hoo! I can definitely see how an electric assist would be right for a longer commute. It's a blast!

Calmar Days VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It was a fun day getting exposure for the Sinner Mango & Trikes

What’s a Weekend off for?

 

A leisurely summer Saturday ride in country!

T'was a goot day fer a ride! Ya!

After a somewhat damp week and feeling a bit of a want for a few miles under my tires Wouter called up Friday and asked if I was busy on Saturday. I promptly replied “yep going for a ride!”  He replied “I thought so, lets do it.” So after 1:00 pm, after my shift at the shop Wouter called and said he had a hankering to meander around Millet. So remembering the route Godspoke took when John and Teresa escorted us around a few years back, we headed out to Millet.
KML Link
We had a great afternoon wandering around the acreages along nice paved and quiet roads. Stopping here and there enjoying the sights, the nicely groomed yards, a few horses, you know.

T'was a goot day fer a ride! Ya! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Then we did mighty battle against the onerous wind gods on the return. After a mighty and prolonged battle we over came the Furies of the Howling Gusts and did retrieve the standard that was plucked from our midst unawares midway of our trek. T'was unknown to us of the Wily Siroccos vile trickery until the real battle was upon us!  (*for explanation see end of post) But we over came and were Victorious in our Quest! ( cheers and reverie noises from the crowds reading )

I do enjoy riding a lot, but I enjoy riding even more when I am with others who are just riding for the scenery, camaraderie and potential adventure! We had the luxury of knowing our route, well mostly, today. But sometimes its even more fun to head down a road and turn just to see where it takes you.
When was the last time you just went out in the country for an adventure ride?  Want to go for a ride? Call up one or more from the group and see who shows up. Sometimes those are the the most memorable. If you want to be on the spontaneous adventure ride list leave a comment; who knows what may lie ahead…..


(*it was a bit windy on our return and  Wouter had lost his new Renu Cycle flag at the railway tracks but we found it on our way back, hooray! The other description sounds more "adventurous" :) )

Joined the Gang in `Da Hood`!!

Today I received my Sinner Tour Cap, aka: “Da Hood!” from Ray at Bluevelo

Tonight I went on a 12km test ride. OMG! I am a believer! on a short 2% stretch outside of town the best I’ve ever done down was 45kph at the end of the season when I was conditioned. Tonight at the beginning of the season I hit 50 kph!!! Actually it was the first time I ever hit 50 while pedaling the velo on a relatively flattish road. I am excited to see what I can do as I get fitter.


Okay maybe losing 45 lbs this winter helped too, but I did this stretch only two weeks ago! Zoom Zoom....

Save your pennies boys and girls, it really is worth it.

On the side of the tour cap it says: Sinner!
        But I’ve been Redeemed! (honest Officer!)
Havin Fun and lovin my Velo
Larry P.S. Thanks Harry for a Great innovation (looking forward to the new holey seat ;) and Ray for prompt delivery!

Red Deer Ramble Report

Friday, Wouter and headed down to Red Deer with the ICE Trikes, Adventure and Sprint, to deliver a large hard-shell seat for my friend Cornells’ ICE QNT. after the usual BS ing we rode the river valley trail system for the day.

It was a great ride.the pathway was paved and fairly quiet of of other riders and pedestrians. In the morning it was cool and when we rode through tree cover it was chilly but by the we stopped for coffee it had warmed up and turned out quite pleasant for the remainder off the ride.

Riding with Cornell and Wouter is always a lot of fun as these two Dutch guys have a lot of anecdotes to share along the way. Just over 3/4 through the ride we found a nice coffee shop and picked up a latte then rode over to a park and sat on the trikes soaking up the sun and chatting. It sure is nice to have a comfy seat where ever you you find a nice spot to stop!

 

If you ever get a chance to ride in Red Deer go for it its a very pleasant day ride.  When we finished the ride Cornell had to get back to Cochrane (2 hours away) so after lingering around a bit he left, then Wouter and I headed for supper at the Bistro (formerly Applebee's ) then went on the hunt for some licorice in the shopping center. Didn’t find “Dutch” licorice but found some and then we headed back up to Leduc (just over 1 hour) .

Over all it was a great inaugural ride for an annual recumbent rendezvous!

We hope to get together again this year to ride parts of the new trail from Cochrane to Calgary and the Legacy Trail from Lake Louis to Calgary. And to get a run on our Velos! If you want to come stay tuned for details. Next is the annual migration to Kellogg at the end of June of course.

Ramping it UP!

Often I have the privilege of having my wife Alice (or a friend) help me load and unload my velo or a trike into my Caravan to go somewhere to ride. But often I have to try and get the trike or velo in or out by myself, which can be somewhat awkward. So after doing a few experiments with various results I finally came up with a great solution.
I picked up at our local lumber supplier, 2.5 - 1”x 6” x 6’ smooth sided pine fence boards for $2.45 ea. cdn. To which I screwed, 3 stripes of woven strapping that I cut off from a couple of old tie downs and Walla:
       

The straps will allow me to just roll the ramp together and tuck under the velo or trike! The silver part on the bottom is a metal drywall stud I cut to fit and just drop in and out, so the ramp does not squeeze together when rolling the velo up or down.  Simple, cheap, strong, light and compact!  YES!

After the ramp was made my freind Wayne and I went out for a 30k ride during the best Saturday afternoon weather we have had here in Leduc since the early Fall. A bit windy but over 21c and sunny!

Introducing Trikes to the Masses

This past weekend Wouter and I spent Friday Eve, all day Saturday and Sunday at the Leduc Business Expo. We had a booth displaying 4 of our trikes and promoting comfortable and fun cycling! A majority of attendees had probably never seen a trike and were shocked at the price and quickly lost interest. But I was surprised a the number who took to the idea and wanted to go for a quick ride. About 50 or so rode them all came back with huge grins! It was really a blast watching people young and old take the trikes out for a brief ride around the expo hall. All were astounded that they were so comfortable and easy to ride. We had a couple of individuals who tried out the bikes who had almost given up riding due to bad back and other ailments, but could see the trikes as an alternative to renew their riding. Over all I think it was a great start to the Year. Will we see them out on a new trike or velo this year? Who knows, but at least they had a chance to ride “one of them” and now they have something to talk about around the water cooler this week at work! “Hey, guess what I did this weekend?!”

Gym-tastic

Friday, April 19, We  had the opportunity to to show some of the high school teachers at Beaumont Comp a variety of recumbents. Last Friday was a Professional Development Day for the Teachers. The Students had the day off while the teachers met for planning and, etc. Later in the afternoon after they had been in planning sessions all day they wanted something different to do so they had contacted Wouter to bring by some trikes and stuff. Wouter still subs there so they knew of his recumbent and trikes passion.

We had a great time as most had never seen, much less ever tried to ride a recumbent. Seeing them flounder on the 2 wheeled Tour Easy and Burley Django was fun for all, but getting on the trikes brought out the kid in many. Zipping around the large Gym at the school was a pleasant ending to a day of meetings! 

Beaumont Comp Bent Visit VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Giving opportunities for people to ride and experience the comfort and fun of "’Bent riding is what Renu Cycle is all about

This Weekend, April 25-28,we will be hosting a booth at the Leduc Business Trade show and Exhibition.  Come down to see our ICE and Terra Cycle recumbent Trikes!

Velomobile Cockpit Edge Protection

Ever since I saw some of the Euro riders Velos with a nice trimmed cockpit edge protection on their velos I liked it. I always seem to scuff my edge getting in or out of my velo. Wim sells Neoprene that looks great but uses contact cement to Apply. Being in Automotive Cleaning / Tint paint protection Services, I was aware of a product that may be easier to apply and remove later. This week a velomobile Quest Rider on BROL asked about paint he could use to lower the glare under his Vizor. When I saw this thread last night I was reminded that I wanted to try applying Some Xpel Doorsill Film to cover the edge of my Sinner Mango Velo cockpit rim. So Today I grabbed the Xpel Off the Shelf, along with my heat gun. and did a quick trial.


The product comes in clear and black and is quite tough and stiff. A little heat and it moulds very nicely to the gel coat. To go all the way around the rim you need about 6.5 feet. It comes in 60" x 2.75" retail rolls.
Half an hour later it was done. Be careful with the heat as the film only has a certain stretch point when heated then it shrinks and tears. When Cool the film is quite tough. Now my rim is protected from scuffing, reduces glare and looks cool; and if you fold it under the lip can prevent nasty scrapes!


This will peel off with a wee bit of heat and a gentle pull.
I also used this product for a non slip cover on the bridge deck. Its great for areas on your other bikes/trikes for a chain slap guard or where you could scuff the paint with your foot.
You should be able to find it at your local automotive accessory store or I can supply it to you.

I Can’t See!

Today I decided to ride into Leduc From Calmar (18 Km) as the weather seemed to have finally become more mild than the last few days. So around 4:00 pm I got my stuff ready for the ride to my local Gym. Snap Fitness is concluding a 6 week weight loss challenge that ends on Monday April 15. Currently I am in second spot. The weather was sunny with a few clouds and no wind, YES! I moved the velo out of the garage to set my gym gear and batteries for my stereo in and I noticed the rear tire was flat- okay fixed that. I love you don’t have to remove a wheel on the velo to change tire tubes! Then I had troubles getting my heart rate sensor and speed sensor paired with my IPhone . Finally got that going and off we go 15 min later.
Man I am just cruising along at about 30-35 kph along highway 39 east, just before the Devon turn off, listening to music on  mysound system via an iPhone. About 15 min into the ride I start to notice that my breathe is starting to fog up my oversized visor, the temperature is dropping.. I love this Visor because it keeps me totally out of the cold spring air as I cruise along.  About 9 km along or about halfway to Leduc I start seeing large snow flacks floating around. The sun is still shining, but the breeze has picked up. 1 kilometer later the Visor is definitely foggy from my breathe and body heat rising out of the velo and there is a lot more snow flying around. The closer I get to Leduc the worse it is getting. From the edge of Leduc to Snap Fitness is about 3-4 kilometers. From the first reduced speed sign to the first red light is about 400 meters, I could barely see the light from there is was snowing so bad. I could see these huge heavy snowflakes hit the ground and leave large wet spots. I wasn’t cold being in the open  velo, but the big wet snowflakes were pletering the visor so bad I was having trouble seeing clearly. As I past Leduc Common it really started to snow heavy. Maintaining a good for me pace of around 27kph through Leduc (in traffic) past Leduc Common retail area and onto the highway entrance to bypass Leduc residential area.
As I turned on to the highway for that 1.5 km shortcut to Snap Fitness, a huge dollop of snow hit me in glasses and then smeared and fogged up. So Here I am peddling my @$$$ off at 30-35kph on the busy highway right hand lane, with merging traffic behind me, having to look sideways past my glasses pulling the visor down occasionally to stay on the right side of the lane I was in and yet not drive into the ditch. Every time I pulled down the vizor my glasses would unfog for a moment, but the wind would throw more wet heavy snow on them and the visor.  I finally rolled into the parking lot and Snap fitness barely seeing where I was going. When I got out of the Velo, the visor and the top of my head was caked with wet heavy snow.
Man Was that ever a Fun, Thrilling and memorable first of the Year Ride into Leduc WAHOO! I love Velo Riding. Only my face was a bit wet , but I was warm  and smilin! Sorry I don’t have any pictures, I would love to get one of the ones that at least 5 people slowed down to take as i was madly flying down the streets in a April snow storm. Did I mention that 10 minutes after arriving at Snap Fitness the Snow Stopped, the Sun came out and steam was rising from the wet streets!  That’s Alberta for ya!

Look Ma No Breeze!

I took the Mango out for a ride around town tonight to test out a clear extra large vizor I cut out this afternoon( I cut a tinted one on the weekend for daytime riding) Over the past week a lot of our town bike paths and side streets have cleared nicely from all the snow we got last month. The weather is supposed to get colder with snow and Rain in the next few days, so a ride before the storm was in order!

 

I was a great test as the sun dropped so did the Temperature. My Buddy Wouter was riding the Ice Sprint 26” and really noticed it getting a lot colder as we rode. The new extra large visor kept me quite warm and totally out of any breeze of cold air! I would love to have a Sinner Race Cap, but since I don’t plan ride my Mango in to much  rainy weather, this visor will extend the cooler ends of the season quite nicely until I can afford one.

Cool Evening Protection

After recently having gotten my Mango back into riding condition and the snow having melted in our neck of the woods, I am back enjoying the velo so much!

Saturday my Pal Wouter B. and I went for our first ride of the year to a little community center about 13 km from my home in Calmar. I was in my Velo, he on our new ICE Sprint 26 shop Demo. A great afternoon of riding ! Total for the day –35 km, YES!

 

I found that the spring air was chill when riding over 25kph so I decided, after remembering several posts from Euro Velo riders, to make a larger visor. So After Easter Church services I designed and made a larger visor and then had the opportunity to test it out later that afternoon. My youngest Son Brian, also tried it out during a few loops around the block. Verdict: No breeze on my face, felt luxurious in the velo with the sun shining!!

 

Changing the drive side chain tube out

Last summer I had a couple of problems with the drive side chain tube on my Mango velo coming loose, to the extent that I wrapped it around my chain ring twice. Needless to say it was not as round and quiet afterwards. Well last Saturday I finally got frustrated enough and got rid of the tubes and installed a chain keeper on the Terra cyle idler I was using. Plus I found the plastic chain guide on the mid drive derailer was barely screwed on (vibrated loose last year i guess) which also was contributing to chain noise and crappy shifting. My Mango has the plastic two sided cage with the capscrew and the three little plastic tube bushings with screws through them. The cap screw was almost 3/4 out, yikes!! I added a drop of blue loctite when I retightened it. I see from more recent videos on the Sinner site there is a jockey wheel now in that part. Harry if you read this, can we change the guide to the one with a sprocket? Does it really make a difference? Oh, I also shortened the chain by 4 links! I had moved my BB last summer and thought the tensioner would be tight enough, but the chain was skipping when I changed gears since. Ever since I got the Mango I could not free pedal backwards, NOW I CAN with these changes! I got in a quick loop or two in my shop and about 6km is it ever quiet and shifting is a lot smoother!

The Ultimate Leisurely Ride Accessory

I would Never consider putting one of these on My GRR or in my Velo, but on a trike going for a nice leisurely cruise around the local lake bike path, taking in the scenery (Landscape and !!!!) It just hits the spot!
It's a  Bicycle Coffee Cup Holder!
Ooh Yes, since I am in Canada, eh! it's gotta hold a large dbl dbl Tims' !



This Week we put in our order for 3 new demo Trikes from: Drum Roll Please…… Terra Trikes! Yes! We snagged a new Dealership from the Most Prolific Trike Manufacturer in the World!  Stay Tuned for more details over the next couple of Weeks.You can head over to their Web site to see what they have to offer! www.terratrike.com
There is a lot of info there for you to read!  We will be getting in a Rover 8 Nexus, A Rambler base and a Tour II Base. See you soon,
Larry

A New Flag

We ordered a new flag for our demo trikes for when we are out and about the Neighbourhood!

Stay  tuned for some exciting News as we confirm becoming dealers for the biggest Recumbent Trike Manufacturer in the World! ….

Middle of the Road

Here is a great website dedicated to some Great Illustration regarding Cycling: Here is the First one I saw that was sent form a friend of mine in Calgary.
http://bikeyface.com/2012/12/05/middle-of-the-road/

I really like is that the material is drawn from a womens prespective. So often it seems that cycling related content is from a man point of view. Yet women are becoming a boigger demographic in prctical cycling!

If you are stuck in side because of the snow .check out her site , its pretty good.

Welcome To 2013!

I am excited for the year coming up! Last Night I rode in the New year with my daughter Kara with the ICE Adventure HD.

Guess What? I Read this Morning that the ICE Adventure HD won the "RECUMBENT OF THE YEAR" On Bent Rider Online! This was a result of a poll done by participator and editors of the From. Bent Rider is THE go to source for Recumbent info and Forums on the Net so this is Huge for the manufacturer. ICE is undoubtably excited today! And YES We have one for you to try out at Renu Cycle here in Leduc!

Track Your Ride

One of the largest and FREE Cycling Journals is bikejournal.com. Tracking your rides over the year can be a great motivator for personal fitness and yes, some competitiveness/accountabilty. You can be all private or share others, it's up to you! You can even track it using the browser on your smartphone. I highly recommend that you sign up. I did!
Join the 'BentRider Recumbent Club
it can add some competiveness, encouragement, motivation and accountablity to your riding this year.
I look forward to see some of you on the Board! Plus Bryan is looking into having some prizes this year for Bent Rider Members participating on Bike Journal this year.
TTFN
Larry