Ep 82: More Things I Learned Riding A Recumbent Trike Like How to Avoid Falling Coconuts

Guess what? I learned more things about riding a recumbent trike. From different color shirts, crashing on a trike, riding into the wind, when is the best day to ride a trike and avoiding falling coconuts.
Mahalo nui loa for riding along with us as we trike all throughout the Hawaiian islands.
PS: my channel features original music, video and photos. Here's this week’s music:
Music: Coconut Joe “What a Wonderful Day”
Middle of the Ocean CD • ©2003 Bob Rogers/Turtle Bay Records
Available on iTunes
I ride a HP Velotechnik Scorpion FS26 recumbent trike . Here's a link with more gear and facts: www.coconutjoe.com/trike.html
Gear Note: I maintain a simple gear footprint. Accompanied by iphone, gopro max and Skydio drone, I do all my own filming including drone footage. Audio is captured on my phone and then married to the video footage in iMovie where I do all my own editing.
©2023 Bob Rogers

[@pitmastertoby2598]

Awesome ride. After years decades of riding diamond frames i switch to trikes about three yeas ago and i absolutely love it.

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

I totally concur. Happy triking in the new year.

[@tomboyd9053]

Mele Kalikimaka, Bob! Many shirts of many colors... I have also added velcro to my da Brim to assist in holding it to my helmet. Keep on Triking! 🤙

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Great minds think alike. Mele Kalikimaka to you and yours.

[@char8a291]

Hi from DFW! Love your videos. That scenery is so relaxing. Thanks!

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Glad you dropped by. Aloha to y’all in DFW.

[@marshabarton9415]

Enjoyed the last frame of festive attire. Bring the elves on!

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

It will be forth coming, maybe Sunday.

[@juselinoamorim8401]

Hi from Brazil I love you videos thanks brother

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Mahalo. Keep on triking

[@PedalsNPetals]

Those would be so relaxing. I would just be afraid not to be seen well enough

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Truth is you’re seen more than on a regular bike. Flashers, flag, bright attire, mirrors are the safety measures and make you stand out more. It’s a little more scary when riding in unfamiliar roads and in busy cities which I don’t do any more. Yes, you do have to keep an eye on the environment around you. Aloha! 🌴

[@pitmastertoby2598]

Hey brain you are more limited on a diamond frame. You have more freedom on trike and its more comfortable.

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

So true, you can’t beat the comfort on a recumbent trike. It’s worth the price of admission IMHO. Hou`oil Makahiki Hou! 🎉

[@brucefarrar300]

If one of those roundish, brown things falls in your lap, is that coconuts? (sorry, could not resist)

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Yeah, according to Wikipedia that coco is nuts. 😝 🌴

[@davidmiller3109]

Hey bra…what, no water?? Mele Kalikimaka to you and yours!!

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Storm surf and heavy winds ova hea. Junk kine surf this week. Maybe this weekend. Mele Kalikimaka to all the Millers.

[@davidmiller3109]

Ha ha…. I didn’t mean surf when I said water! I meant it as something that goes on your prep for ride list….no? Best always bro🏄‍♂️

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

You know, once a water rat always a water rat. That’s all I can’t think about. Yeah, I should have said something about my water supply which is really just a 19oz water bottle half filled that I leave in the freezer. I top it off for the ride and add some no sugar electrolytes. It rides in my side bag along with a spare dog horn. You can’t be over protected with a spare dog horn. Woof. Shoots, maybe I should do a whole new episode on water. I’ll give you credit of course.

[@popsbents3542]

Another benefit of wearing the face mask is it makes a good protein filter.

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Darn tootin, especially those “nosee ems”. Nasty buggers.

[@SolarizeYourLife]

If you had a AR-3, you would not flip in a fast turn...

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Interesting, loved to try one out. Mahalo for the comments.

[@brianbassett4379]

I will never understand people who ride recumbents if they don't absolutely need to. A horrible ride and so many limitations like having to ride on roads primarily. To each his or her own. Ride safe.

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

You’re right, to each their own. I don’t need to ride a recumbent, I just enjoy it much more than my fairly new carbon fiber cross trainer diamond frame that now sits in my shed. I ride the trike much more often than I ever did with DF. BTW, I also go off road once or twice a week. True, no single track but I have enough trails that work well with the 3 wheels and the great full suspension. It all depends on our objectives for riding. Happy and safe travels.

[@brianbassett4379]

@@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak I couldn't return to an unsuspended bike, not at 70. Just as I couldn't ride without a Speedhub. You're on an island, and I'm sure that mandates where you ride locally, but you have to admit there are many places bikes easily access that you can't. I've watched people on recumbents struggle to get their rides through pedestrian gates and infrastructure that I ride through. A recumbent/trike feels more like "driving" than riding. Heavier with more rolling resistance and the fat tire fad means they almost require a motor now. They're more challenging to transport and must have more maintenance issues, at least as many as bicycles. For long-distance riders or bike campers, they can't carry as much gear. Do recumbents have an advantage for able-bodied people? One thing I can think of for you is strong, gusting winds, especially on long open stretches. I have to concentrate on side winds when my bike is loaded and/or pulling my trailer. I've seen recumbents with solar panels mounted to collect while riding. That's a _possible_ advantage and just as likely a way to end up in a ditch as a semi-truck flies by turning it into a solar *sail.* So you're the perfect person to ask, and I ask many people online and while riding, why a recumbent over a bike? There is probably a recumbent in my future, and I'm trying not to dread it. There's just something special about being 30 or 40 miles from the nearest road that bikes have always given me.

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Aloha Brian. I think it’s imperative that for anyone to be able to judge the differences between a diamond frame bike and a recumbent trike, we have to owned and have done extensive riding on both. I have. As I mentioned in my last post our riding objectives dictate what’s best for us. You seemed to be hung up on trikes are for non-able-bodied riders. I’m’ sorry but you’re wrong on that assumption. Yes, physically challenged riders now have an option to continue riding but non challenged riders ride trikes as well. I’m not physically challenged and as I mentioned before, I choose to ride a recumbent trike. Why? Most importantly, it’s much more comfortable, gone are the days of rump soreness and I love riding in a recliner. Also gone are the numb fingers and arms. I sit back, I actually have arm rests. I can ride with eyes on the scenery instead of having to constantly watch for pot holes and the edge of the road (we also won’t tip over if we hit a rock or debris on the highway). I’m also not bent over with my eyes on the pavement and having to strain my neck to observe. I can carry more gear than on my diamond framed bike with panniers, rear and side bags. Ideal for multi day road tours. I can safely operate a camera while riding a trike (see my over 85 YT episodes). I used to have to stop to operate my Nikon during my biking days. I rarely even considered hand held videoing back then. I don’t have path access issues on my trike. I get more cardio exercise on a trike because I ride more often, I don’t use my weight when standing on my peddles to navigate hills and wind. It’s not a muscle centric ride. Of the hundred of places I rode my DF bike here in the islands I can ride 90% of them on a trike (again, check out my over 85 YT episodes especially my tour around the island of Oahu). I have done extensive riding on a DF across the US and parts of Canada during my 10 years where we traveled in an RV during our 60s and I can’t think of many where the trike could not go. There’s more but let address the differences between a bike and a recumbent. Yes, the bike is lighter, yes, less rolling and wind resistant. This really only matters to those where speed is a primary objective. I left my speed ego parked with my DF bike long ago. True, there are various single track routes that I no longed ride. I got over that really quickly as I ride more often and I enjoy my riding. I have many off road trails that gets me out in the boondocks, ok, not 30 miles a way from the highway. The island is only 50 miles long. In three years of riding a trike I have gone to significantly more cycling routes that I ever did in 50 years on my DF bike. If I want to ride single track, I can hop on my DF. Very, very rare though (actually once in 3 years). Yes, it’s easier to transport a DF. Once I solved the problem with ramps, it’s a non- issue. I can carry both my trikes in the bed of my Ford Ranger. Maintenance? It’s a longer chain, one extra wheel, that’s about it. Electric assist adds to the complexity on both DF and Trikes. Storage? Ok, you got me there. Ok, I think I hit most of the points. Again, to fairly compare you have experienced both environments, not just observe trikers. BTW, I love my Rohlof. Hey, I have enough here to make a new episode for my channel. Wait, I’ve compared the two many episodes ago. Maybe I need to publish an update. Happy cycling.

[@brianbassett4379]

@@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak Well, we both seem to agree on one thing... to each their own. I've never experienced problems with pain or fatigue while riding in my back, butt, legs, arms, or hands. Primarily because of the bikes I've ridden. Proper frame geometry and sizing, along with a great seat, take care of that. Along with being able to change the position of the bars easily. Head up, eyes up, and not hunched over the bars. Ironically, speed has never been my focus, even when I was young. Now, I have a bike that can fly at over 45 mph if I want, and it's geared to climb fully loaded. The bike's weight affects *way* more than just speed, at least it does when riding on more than smooth hard surfaces. Even more so when riding an ebike. Getting the bike over and through obstructions gets exponentially more difficult as the weight grows. You'll have to explain your term "road trails"; that's new for me. They're either roads or not. It's hard to compare riding when, as you point out, the island is only 50 miles from end to end and 112 miles in circumference (Google check). Another difference is that the only time my bike has ever been ferried somewhere by car has been for maintenance. I've averaged over 6K miles a year on a single bike for the last 8 years. I find it hard to believe you can load over 120 lbs of gear on a recumbent just because of the lack of physical space for panniers. Another advantage of my bike is that I can have up to 200 lbs. of gear and toys when pulling a trailer and can stop, set up camp, unload the bike, and do long day rides on single-track with a reasonably light bike. Once I've seen the area, I pack up camp and move on to the next. Having a 300W folding solar panel safely stored in the trailer and a pair of 2058Wh batteries essentially means unlimited range. My record is 8 days riding without ever seeing another human. It would have been longer, but I couldn't catch a fish to save my life... so I packed up and rode 40 miles and had Mexican food. I hear you saying that trikes are less likely to fall over, that you can ride along holding a camera in your hand, that you are more comfortable lying down, and that it requires less physicality. That physicality allows me to ride much further, not relying on the motor and battery nearly as much, and to help stay warm! LOL! Some of us ride in cold, rainy weather for a big portion of the year. For me, at this point in my life, a bike is far more versatile than a trike. Thanks for the time. Stay safe. - photos.app.goo.gl/ADgC6oyPM2gyrCq27

[@hawaiiantrike-surfkayak]

Sheesh, I guess we are from different galaxies. In my galaxy I haven’t met very many DF’er who despite slotted saddles and appropriate fames and handle bars that have not faced physical issues during their years of riding. You are amazing, congratulations. In my galaxy we try not to make judgment on triking if we’ve never ridden one extensively. In my galaxy your assumptions would be considered inaccurate and misguided. We don’t lie down, we can pull trailers, with solar panels, we have panniers, a lot of us are physically fit, our objectives are just greatly different, comfort is our reward, better access to scenery is important, “off” road trails are available and greatly accessed, I can generate physicality as I much as I want as I’m in better condition mentally and physically on my trike. While you certainly don’t need my suggestions, I would suggest you stay on your 2 wheels, carry your 200 lbs, your trailer, ride 45 mph and access single tracks with ease, 100s of miles away from civilization. Like my pod cast as I road around America 15 years ago on my DF, today my YT channel is to document and share my observations while riding around the island on my trike, not to convert cyclist from 2 wheels to 3. There’s enough road for all of us. See you on the trails. Aloha.