Touring on a bicycle has always been my dream ever since I came to Australia. In early 2007, I bought a Jamis Coda Sport, a hybrid commuting bicycle that can be fitted with front and rear racks for lugging panniers. I was one step closer to my dream tour… or so I thought. That bike and some basic accessories (e.g. helmets, lock, lights, cyclometer) already dug up a grand from my savings. For the purpose of touring, I will need to equip my Jamis with racks and bags which will cost a lot more. Being a poor uni student, I decided to put my dream on hold.
Last year, while I was doing my Masters degree, I began to think more and more about bicycle touring. I found myself addicted to reading other bicycle tourists’ riding experience on crazyguyonabike.com (CGOAB). Eventually, I came to a point that I couldn’t hold it any longer. Life is short, I am reasonably fit and healthy, no other life commitments yet (marriage, family, debts, battling illnesses, etc), there is really no good reason for me to delay this further. I took the plunge, and set the date to begin my cycling tour in autumn this year, hopefully hitting the sweet spot between the scorching summer and freezing winter.
One of the biggest issue I had was my Jamis isn’t really a touring bicycle. I found out that the shorter wheel base of the frame and the relatively cheap components might be a bit pushing for a long distance tour. Plus, although I have been riding my bike for 3 years with occasional >50km rides, I usually experience soreness in my inner thigh, neck, and back on the longer rides. While looking for a new touring bicycle, I stumbled upon the world of recumbents. Recumbents are low-lying bicycles where the rider’s back and butt are rested on a chair and feet positioned horizontally in front. Even better, recumbents also come in another subtype, recumbent tricycles. These machines really caught my attention. It addresses most of the issues of touring on an upright bike, such as the need to achieve a certain speed to maintain balance on a two-wheeler, the soreness in the neck, back, and butt associated with the riding position, and the difficulty in pedalling uphill when stopped halfway.
After much consideration, I decided to leave my Jamis at home as my commuting specialist and brought home a touring beast, the Greenspeed GT3! It was one of the best decision I’ve made. The GT3 felt so amazingly comfortable, so much so that when my parents tried on it, they were tempted to follow me on the tour!
As you can see from the photo above, it is a very low machine and hence a flag of some sort is essential to stay visible to motorists. The other disadvantage of the trike is it is a tad heavier than an upright bike, and so it will naturally be slower than an upright bike when climbing up the hill. On flat and downhill, this machine is far more stable and due to its better aerodynamics, usually matches and sometimes exceed the speed of an upright bike. When riding a recumbent trike on the street, you will notice significantly more attention from the kids and the elderly, may be a good or a bad thing depending on your personality!
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