We have both had a busy week and a half, doing lots of cycling recently. The continuing great weather has been wonderful for all outdoor activities - no rain and fairly warm, but not hot, temperatures.
On 20 August Ruth took a test drive on a Catrike tadpole-style recumbent tricycle and decided to order a Catrike Trail model from the local dealer Les Bicyclettes de Hull. She wanted me to order one, but on 9 September 2009 I found a used Catrike Speed model for sale in the area and bought that. Going out to see it involved a 50 km round trip on my mountain bike - easier than taking the bus to the far reaches of Aylmer, Quebec! I put in 20 km bringing the Speed home from Westboro, where I was able to pick it up. Since then I have done a number of trips on it and have a good feel for its speed, handling and load carrying capabilities.
Ruth's Catrike Trail arrived on Tuesday 15 September. Ruth got the call from Les Bicyclettes de Hull that her order had arrived, had been assembled and was ready for pick-up. She took the bus up there and I rode my Catrike Speed there to be able to ride home with her. That was a 45 km trip.
Since then we have done more trips together and individually, getting used to the Catrikes and what they can do, as well as tweaking and adjusting things, installing racks and saddle bags for carrying gear on the road. We have also done some quadracycle trips, mostly getting groceries and hauling loads home.
The first question many readers may ask is "are we selling our quadracycle?". The answer to that is "no". When we got our Rhoades Car in early 2007 we knew it would not entirely replace our mountain bikes and in a similar manner the Catrikes don't replace the quadracycle. They all do different things for us.
The Rhoades Car is comfortable and carries a good load, but isn't very fast. Also its width restricts it from NCC bike pathways. Our biggest load carried to date was 280 lbs of top soil - something you can't do with many other cycles. Our longer trips turn in consistent average speeds of 15 km/h. It also has the advantage of side-by-side seating, which is much more friendly and enables both people to carry on a conversation easily while pedalling. It makes a great pick-up truck.
The Catrikes are definitely fast - I can cruise mine at 30 km/h without too much effort on a flat road and get 35 km/h out of it with a bit of work. They are both also very comfortable to ride. With my two saddlebags installed I can carry a few items up to about 30 or 40 lbs total weight. They are both very much road bikes and do best on very smooth surfaces. The handling is very light and they are very manoeuvrable, very much like a sports car. They are also light weight, my Speed is just 29 lbs basic weight weight. When we are out together it is quite different from being out on the Rhoades Car - we are almost always in single file and that means that it is hard to communicate, unless we stop for a break. Still her Catrike Trail does give Ruth some mobility when her balance is off, which is often the case these days. Also, unlike the four-wheeled quadracycle, her Catrike can be electrically motorised legally in the future and turned into an e-bike, if need be. We have started a diary of our Catriking experiences.
Our mountain bicycles are still useful for off-roading and taking routes that require an upright bike. They aren't fast - my long distance speed usually turns out to be about 22 km/h, but they are all-terrain. They can also do something that neither the Rhoades Car nor the Catrikes can do: hop over curbs.
So our garage is getting to be full of cycles of various types, but they all add up to complimentary solutions to getting around without a car. I have to say each one is a lot of fun in its own right!
Total quadracycling for 2009 so far - 322 km
0 Comment(s).
Bravenet Blog 
Blog Community
Get a Free Blog
Manage your Blog
bravenet.com