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Fear of Flying
Hey guys -
Jeff and I got a bit off the topic in the TdPS. His last post there said: I have no problem piloting a trike in the mid to high 20's but when I go down a hill of any decent size, I'm very quickly in the 30's and the trike does not feel stable. I'm glad we got some numbers into this discussion. As it turns out, I'm actually in very close agreement with Jeff on this issue. Although we've been talking about tadpole trikes, I think the same concerns apply to all 'bents and other bikes as well. If you've ever been on one of those parachute drops at a thrill ride park, you've probably felt that irrational fear that comes as you suddenly approach weightlessness and watch the ground begin accelerating up toward you. I say 'irrational' fear, because you probably assessed the risk before you got on that thing and decided the real danger was pretty minimal. When I first read Jeff's comment that he "had to ride the brakes" on downhills, I thought he was talking about keeping his speed below 15 to 20 MPH, and for most folks with normal reflexes, eyesight, mental stability and such, feeling any kind of serious terror at 20 MPH on a contemporary middle-of-the-road tadpole is probably very close to that same kind of 'irrational' fear as the parachute drop. However, as you get into that 30 to 50 MPH range, any concern for personal safety you feel is more in the nature of 'rational' fear. The actual number for any one person will depend on his riding abilities and his own priorities, the trail, the weather, and the trike. I think most current model tadpoles are stable and safe at 20 MPH, but at 40 MPH there are definite differences, and issues like frame stiffness, tracking, weight bias, track width, wheelbase, seat height and steering sensitivity begin to become very important. At speed, brakes play a major role for a rider's peace of mind - some folks feel uncomfortable with the higher lever pressures of drum brakes; some discs are 'grabby' or hard to modulate; brake steering makes some riders very uneasy. As a cyclist who's spent remarkably little time on any kind of two-wheeled recumbent, I'm often intrigued at the conversations of 'bent bikers comparing their impressions of long wheel-base, short wheel-base and lowracers, and who feels safest at what speed on which machine. Trikes are probably a bit different in that they require almost nothing in the way of operator skill or training at speeds up to 'casual cruising', and some riders seem to be lulled into forgetting that as they push the limits, trikes begin to demand some of the same skills and heightened attention that it takes to ride a bike fast. Tadpoles are very stable and simple to ride at low to medium speeds, and their braking ability may be the best available on any 'normal' road vehicle, but at some point, a trikey is exposed to the same real risks as any other cyclist. For me, that transition from carefree fun (in lower case) to gunfighter-eyed, yellow-alert, battle stations, play racer mentality usually comes somewhere between about 30 and 40 MPH. But hey, sometimes even a little rational fear is FUN! (upper case with exclamation point) Regards, Wayne |
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