This past weekend saw the commencement of the RBR Recumbent Bike and Trike Rally. Gareth and I attended on Saturday for what we originally planned as a 10 mile ride in Spring Mills. The route was five miles out and five miles back.
But when we got to the fork in the route that was the decision point between the 10 mile ride and the 20 mile ride, I decided to go for 20 miles.
Gareth enjoyed it right up until, oh, mile 11. After that, he got angry and very vocal about his displeasure.
When we finally got back to our car after the two hour trip, Gareth’s face busted out into a huge grin as I started to unbuckle him from the recumbent seat. He was thrilled to finally be off the bike and back in the car.
He then told me that the ride was just way too long and that, as a result, it wasn’t any fun. Days later, he now says it was fun, but I can’t be sure that he isn’t just saying that to make me feel better.
Next time, we’ll take the shorter route.
[...] The big lesson I learned on our 20 mile ride was that Gare needs to get off the bike at some point or else he’ll become quite uncomfortable. When Brandy bought a rack for my trike, I purchased panniers for it shortly thereafter. We put them to good use for our trail ride, packing them with a blanket, spare diapers, Gareth’s food, a camera, repair tools/supplies, et cetera. This allowed us to stop on the trail and attend to Gare’s needs (like the need to stretch) in order to prolong the ride. As a result, we ended up doing 5 miles before stopping off to rest and returning back to the trailhead. At no time did Gare express discomfort or a desire to stop the ride. [...]