Bike Choice

I have 2 bikes that I can take on this ride; my Litespeed Vortex, which is a normal upright bicycle and my Toureasy which is a long wheelbase, recumbent. The Litespeed has a light titanium frame and a carbon fork. It weighs 22 1/2 pounds with the aerobars. The Toureasy is steel and weighs 38 pounds with the fairing and the the seat bag.

Both will be heavier when loaded with what I need to carry during each day of riding; rain gear, clothes layers according to the expected weather, water, snacks, tools, spare tubes, camera, cell phone, suntan lotion, mini medical kit and the all important iPod and mini speakers.

The Litespeed has been my main bicycle for the past 8 years. I rode it on numerous Bike North Carolina, Bike Florida, Bike Virginia, Bike Michigan rides and an assortment of other week-long rides in addition to club rides.

The Toureasy is about a year old and has yet to prove itself to me. I rode it for a while last year and I suspected that it contributed to pain in my knee so it was relegated to the corner of the garage. I am attempting to give it a second chance. It is so much more comfortable on long rides, especially long rides without uphills. Ah, therein lies the problem; it is clearly more difficult to push up a hill from the recumbent position, pushing against the seat back, then it is from the upright position, using my weight over the pedals.

So, do I take a traditional bike, less comfortable, but easier to climb with, and I suspect we will have some long climbs, or the recumbent, on which I climb slower, but descend faster, for a more comfortable less numbing ride?

In the end, I suspect I will take the Litespeed because it feels better to ride in the upright position even if the seat hurts more. I feel more in control, able to push and power through a ride, then on the recumbent which feels more passive. The downhills, though, on the recumbent are awesome. Stable as rock and aerodynamic, effortlessly slipping through the wind.

Happily, it's not decision time yet.