Recumbents

Jul

28

Final setup day

Submitted by XL-Network on Thu, 2011-07-28 03:19

Today was the last change to prepare yourself and your bike for the big tour. For personal care I bought some powdered Gatorade which you can mix with water. Besides that some bananas and fruity nuts. Also the bike has been tweaked a bit. The chain has been cleaned, some stickers have been applied (ROAM, DHL, Clif Bar, Schalbe, Sinner Bikes and my own number, 25) and I did some experimenting with the placement of the Contour+ camera. I was planning to record the entire coast-to-coast ride and make a time-lapse. So the camera has to be as vibration free as possible (see pictures below).

Jul

27

Visited TerraCycle

Submitted by XL-Network on Wed, 2011-07-27 02:45

Yesterday I woke up at 4:30 AM (probably because of the jetlag), but today I got to sleep in till 8:30 AM. After another American breakfast we headed to TerraCycle around noon. During the Cycle Vision weekend at Biddinhuizen I met Pat Franz (the owner) and we talked about visiting his little factory. TerraCycle makes all kinds of different recumbent parts. The one you might know is the idler.

Jul

26

Picked up our bikes

Submitted by XL-Network on Tue, 2011-07-26 07:36

After we've been up for 26 hours straight we went to bed around 10 PM. I for once really needed that. I got to sleep in until 4:30 AM. Hmmm, jetlag? Closed my eyes and try sleep again. Breakfast as around 8:30 AM and after that we were going to pick up our bikes. Three big pieces of bread with syrup, jam and peanut butter (well, not the kind I'm used to) and a number glasses of orange juice were digested. Then it was finally time to head down to the warehouse where our bikes were waiting for us. The unpacking went very quickly and within two hours we all stood on the loading area.

Jul

20

Low five

Submitted by XL-Network on Wed, 2011-07-20 19:15

It looks like I have a subscription on Stupid Cows because this afternoon I encountered another one. When exiting the round about a cyclist came from the opposite direction... which is not very handy. Just a moment later I signal to enter the side road and the man walking there thinks I want to low-five him. Sorry man, just signaling. Yeah, you're not used that cyclist do that, don't ya?

Jul

20

ROAM support truck

Submitted by XL-Network on Wed, 2011-07-20 09:44

Here's a quick message and some photo's about one of our support trucks which will be taking our luggage and (in case of a break down) our bikes. David Eggleston (also a ROAM rider) wrote the following.

Jul

19

2-in-a-row

Submitted by XL-Network on Tue, 2011-07-19 19:57

Sometimes you have one of those days that you want something different. As did I when I was cycling home today. I just felt like taking a different route than usual. But new routes also tend to bring new situations. The roundabout near the shopping center is being worked over and that's why the cars are directed over the steel plates next to it. Time to pay attention. Also for people who are leaving their care and just open the door whilst not paying attention to cyclist (probably). That's why I always try to stay away from doors with at least one meter clearance.

Jul

15

Please slow down

Submitted by XL-Network on Fri, 2011-07-15 19:30

After my new camera (the Contour+) had arrived this week it was a matter of trying it out and to wait if something worthwhile comes in front of the lens. Unfortunately that didn't take long. This morning I was on my way to work when I encountered a car that was pushing it in a 30 km/h zone. The junction had a offset center. If he should have stopped for me or another road user he probably couldn't have done so in time. Car drivers often speed at that junction, but this driver was being extra bad. Fortunately I could hear him coming and didn't enter the junction.

Jul

13

ROAM preparations (part 2)

Submitted by XL-Network on Wed, 2011-07-13 18:37

The next preparations are more technical by nature. I was planning to make a time-lapse movie in the 30 days it takes us to cycle from west to east. You have to take a picture every several seconds, but them all behind each other thus creating a sped up movie (like the example below).

Jul

10

Three firsts

Submitted by XL-Network on Sun, 2011-07-10 22:57

Today was a day with three first times. The first one is me joining the annual bike ride of the local cyclist association of Groningen. Of course I invited some other recumbent riders using our Hunneligger forum. I thought there were only going to be five of us, but eventually nine recumbent riders showed up. The 'upright' riders were outnumbered if I counted correctly. Not that it mattered. Despite us not going very fast the weather was beautiful and sunny and we even explored a new bike path. I wasn't planning on doing the whole ride because I had to be back at the rowing club at 4 PM.

Jul

5

Join in, place a banner!

Submitted by XL-Network on Tue, 2011-07-05 17:28

To draw more attention to my sponsoring I've asked a colleague to create a number of banners. These banners are free to use and I would very much appreciate it if you would place them on your website. It's preferred to place them in the navigation so they will show up on very page. Instructions and examples on how to place the banners can be found further down in this post.

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