Why the hate for Streamliners?

Dissing streamlined bikes as "condom bikes" is as misguided as folks on
uprights calling Recumbents 'wierd'. Streamlining is AWESOME.

As I once said:

Recumbent Riders and Designers of the class of '99:
Ride Streamlined.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, streamlining would be
it. The aerodynamic benefits of streamlining have been proved by
scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your glutes. Oh, never mind. You will not
understand the power and beauty of your glutes until they've faded. But
trust me, after a 200 mile ride, you'll think back to the first hill
you sprinted up and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much pain
lay before you and how fabulous you really felt. You are not as fast as
you imagine.

Don't worry about a puncture. Or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to convince a roadie that a recumbent can be faster
and more comfortable. The real troubles in your ride are apt to be
things that never crossed your worried mind, like running over a bunch
of nails at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Blow past one roadie every day who dares you.

Spin.

Don't be reckless with other people's recumbents. Don't put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Lube.

Don't wash your tires with gasoline. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes
you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with the
same fellow who kicked your butt last time.

Remember "cool bike" comments you receive. Forget the laughter. If you
succeed in doing this, you should get your ears checked.

Keep your old mile logs. Throw away your old bike shop bills.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what kind of recumbent you want to
build. The most interesting people I know didn't know 20 minutes before
they started welding what they wanted to build. Some of the most
interesting builders still don't know.

Get plenty of cliff bars. Be kind to your LBS that doesn't stock
recumbents. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll race, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have win, maybe you
won't. Maybe you'll do the 200m at 40, maybe you'll win the Decimach at
75 mph. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or
berate yourself either. You'll get beat by Andres Wiegel anyway. So
will everyone else.

Enjoy your bike. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of
what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever
own.

Train, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, but don't follow them.

Do not read normal bicycling magazines. They will only make you feel
superior.

Get some new brake pads. You never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your chainrings. They're your best link to your power and
the part most likely to stick in the door of the next car to cut you
off.

Understand that riders come and go, but with a precious few you should
draft. Work hard to bridge the gap between you and the pack of roadies
up ahead, because the older you get, the more you need people you can
wheelsuck.

Ride in New York City once, but leave before it maims you. Live in
Northern California once, but leave before Zach cuts you seat down to
size.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Cannondale will be
rumored to have a recumbent. You, too, will get a trike. And when you
do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, parts were compatible,
potholes were smaller and Campangnola ruled the planet.

Disinfect your Camelback Bladders.

Don't expect any narrow tires to support you. Maybe you have a tire
liner. Maybe you'll have a thorn tube. But you never know when either
one might run out of air.

Don't mess too much with your seat or by the time you've ridden 40 it
will feel like 85.

Be careful whose recumbents you buy, but be a pain to those that ship
late. Grabbing an old bike from the dumpster is a form of nostalgia.
Dissecting it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, welding
it up, painting over the ugly parts and riding it for it's worth.
But trust me on the streamlining.

BikingBill wrote:

Dissing streamlined bikes as "condom bikes" is as misguided as folks on
uprights calling Recumbents 'wierd'. Streamlining is AWESOME.

Wild Bill,

That is just "Monkey Poo Flingin'", and not to be taken seriously.

Check out the name of this stretch fabric pattern
http://www.paragonpatterns.com/Fabric/Knits/images/Sunset.JPG. Could
it be a sign that I should make a bodysock for my favorite bike?

--
Tom Sherman - Earth

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
BikingBill wrote:

Dissing streamlined bikes as "condom bikes" is as misguided as folks on
uprights calling Recumbents 'wierd'. Streamlining is AWESOME.

Wild Bill,

That is just "Monkey Poo Flingin'", and not to be taken seriously.

It is time for Mr. Sherman to take a stand. What was that about if good men
do nothing, then evil prevails. Monkey poo can easily destroy this
newsgroup. Ed Gin is consistently vulgar. That is because he is a *******. I
should have taken him on long ago, but as long as he stayed on his own
threads it didn't bother me much. But it should have. And now we have the
Devil to pay for our appeasement of him. No more! From now on it is all out
war as far as I am concerned. Death to that ****ing asshole!

--
****ing Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

Will Bill you are trying to reason with a crazy monkey who is having a crazy
monkey fit.

It's kind of you to offer guidance, but what's really needed is an XXXXL
size monkey straight jacket and some med's.

Since none of that is likely to happen the next best possibility is to
ignore him and let him calm down in his own time.

skip

wrote in message
...
Will Bill you are trying to reason with a crazy monkey who is having a
crazy
monkey fit.

It's kind of you to offer guidance, but what's really needed is an XXXXL
size monkey straight jacket and some med's.

Since none of that is likely to happen the next best possibility is to
ignore him and let him calm down in his own time.

skip

I am afraid that does not really work Skip. These assholes like Ed Gin need
to be called out. I am fed up with him showing up every so often and making
a mess of the group. He is a crazy ******* and needs to be told that he is.
I will tell him what he is if no one else wants to do it, but I am not going
to bother with his interleaved posts as they are too just too stupid.
Instead I will post new messages (copy and paste types) telling the world
what I think of him. In short, I will make sure that everyone on this group
knows that ****ing Ed Gin is an asshole and a son of a bitch.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

Well you two Ed's have at it.

In the mean time I'm about two winters behind on my winter bike projects -
getting a real Schwinn touring bike and a Raleigh Twenty back on the road.
And I'll be packing up my Bike Friday, my folding Klepper kayak, and my
backpacking equipment for an early spring southern adventure. We're going
to a 17.5 mile long Atlantic Island with very few people and hardly any
cars. No stores. No restaurants other than a fancy hotel on the northern
end of the Island that doesn't exactly cater to kayak camper types [John
John Kennedy was married there for privacy purposes]. But there is off road
bike riding, kayaking, wild horses grazing in the ruins of a Carnegie family
mansion, over 300 species of birds, really old live oaks, and a national
seashore. My kind of go to place. Then we will head to Cedar Key on the
Gulf side paddling along the way on the Suwannee and Waccasassa Rivers. I
can hardly wait. The outside temperature where I live is about what it is
inside your Minn. house and that's a bit chilly for me.

skip

wrote in message
...
Well you two Ed's have at it.

In the mean time I'm about two winters behind on my winter bike projects -
getting a real Schwinn touring bike and a Raleigh Twenty back on the road.
And I'll be packing up my Bike Friday, my folding Klepper kayak, and my
backpacking equipment for an early spring southern adventure. We're going
to a 17.5 mile long Atlantic Island with very few people and hardly any
cars. No stores. No restaurants other than a fancy hotel on the northern
end of the Island that doesn't exactly cater to kayak camper types [John
John Kennedy was married there for privacy purposes]. But there is off
road
bike riding, kayaking, wild horses grazing in the ruins of a Carnegie
family
mansion, over 300 species of birds, really old live oaks, and a national
seashore. My kind of go to place. Then we will head to Cedar Key on the
Gulf side paddling along the way on the Suwannee and Waccasassa Rivers.
I
can hardly wait. The outside temperature where I live is about what it is
inside your Minn. house and that's a bit chilly for me.

skip

Enjoy your trip. We are all envious of you.

--
Best Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota