Sold my car, bought a bike

It's been a week now since I sold my car and bought a bike instead. I had a classic Mini Cooper, but no time to give it proper maintenance and not enough money to have it done for me... So I decided to sell the car to someone who does have enough spare time. He is going to do a full restoration on it, so the car is in good hands.

But of course I needed a different means of transport. So the same weekend I sold the car, I bought a Challenge Hurricane Sport USS (Under Seat Steering) recumbent bicycle. My shed is getting a bit full now, with My Specialized MTB, Astrids MTB (custom built by me), my ancient Giant Touring bike, Astrids daily (more like weekly) driver bike, and another MTB and a beach cruiser in parts. I might have to sell the Giant to make a bit more room for the recumbent. Anyway, after a little practice to make sure I can participate in traffic safely, I'll be using the bike for my 10 mile (one way) commute to work.

The bike has a SON hub dynamo, and I look forward to make a nice custom light to be powered by it. Which will be needed regularly as I work in shifts, and with the days getting shorter I'll be traveling in the dark more than during daylight.

Anyway, the traffic situation on my commute is pretty nice, I have choice of 3 routes, all mainly made up out of dedicated bicycle paths. 1 even passes by one of the estates of the dutch royal family and has some very nice scenery But there are a few bits where I will have to mix in city traffic, so I was wondering if there are any other recumbent bikers here and if they might have some safety (or other) tips.

Oh, a bycicle. And here I was, ready to compliment you for giving up the car and becoming a motorcyclist.

Hehe, no, a motorcycle is not for me... I get too much of a kick out of speed and have too little self control If I'd buy a motorcycle, I'd probably turn myself into a roadpizza within a week.
So for now I'll stick with bicycles (and my tiny japanese econobox for the longer distances)

Maycooper, are there a lot of dedicated bicycle paths in the Netherlands? I'd love to live in a bicycle (path) friendly nation which I don't classify the USA, at least in the northeast as being. Is the weather such that you can ride your bikes at all times of the year?

Congrats on your recumbent purchase!
I have been riding a recumbent for over 8 years and really enjoy riding it. My commute is 10.9 KM (6.6 miles) one-way and I ride it each day to work.
A few hints for us USS steering folks... I use a Planet Bike speedo/odometer/tripmeter thing and mount it behind the derailluer tube on the boom. Just take a few plastic cable ties and slide it through the mount and right on the boom, fits very secure that way. The Planet Bike versions display your speed, tripmeter distace/time and total distance without needing any buttons pressed.
The Planet Bike SuperFlash rear LED flasher is very strong and the single AAA Planet Bike helmet mount auto-leveling flasher works well also. I throw a Fenix L1D CE on my helmet so I can look at drivers and they see the light.

yes there are a loth of dedicated bike paths here. Literally 1000s. And the weather, well, riding all times of the year kinda depends on how hardcore you are. We don't have much of extreme temperatures, but wind and rain are available all year round.

And the speedo/odometer/tripmeter is pretty much covered... I have a Sigmasport Targa and a Cateye Enduro, but I will probably just buy a bike mount for my Garmin GPS unit. I'm lucky because there is a mounting point where I can easily mount it. (will post pics when it's mounted). But it's really too bad that the planet bike stuff is not available here. From what I've seen they make some very nice products and pricing isn't too bad either.

I would be a bit concerned about the lower profile of a recumbent; both in terms of being seen by motorists and being able to see. I am very sympathetic to bikers in general and was tempted to do it myself when I lived 6 miles from work (I now live 35 miles away). But competing for space with two ton pieces of metal moving waay faster than I did not seem like the way to go. If I had access to dedicated bike paths, that would be different. Congratulations, be careful, and fire up a bunch of lights on the bike.

obviously a light or lights on tall stalks at truck driver's eye level would help..
perhaps several that wave around with movement..

I looked up the numbers on how the situation op bike paths is here in the netherlands, and according to the national bikers association there is more than 22000km (13670,54 miles) of dedicated bike path in the netherlands. Pretty impressive, as the whole country is only 41.526 square kilometers (16033 square miles) big, and that includes all water within the countries borders. The land surface is about 37.000 square kilometers (14285 square miles).

I've been thinking about mounting a light on a stalk to be seen, but there are some laws on bike lighting here, front lights are pretty much unlimited, as long as the color of the light is white or yellow, not blinding to oncoming traffic and not flashing. Also it has to be directional lighting pointing towards the direction of travel. The taillight has to be red, has to be between 25 and 120 cm high, has to be of an approved type (this basicly rules out all DIY lights) cannot be flashing. These rules pretty much rule out any lights on stalks.

I'm not sure the lower profile of a recumbent matters. First off, since it's unusual, it's likely to attract attention that an upright bike won't get. Second, as any good rider knows you should always ride as if you're invisible. DO NOT depend upon others seeing you to be safe. This is a recipe for disaster. Unlike driving a car, you usually won't get a second chance if you have a collision. In light of this, it shouldn't matter if your bike is less visible, or even not visible at all.

BTW, anybody ever try the Lightning F-40? Should I ever become flush with money in the future it'll be my next ride. Is it really about 50% faster than a decent upright bike? And how hard is it to ride? The prospect of being able to cruise in the low to mid 30s has me drooling, but if the drawbacks (besides the price) outweigh the advantages...

The lower profile of the bike would have me concerned with motorists being able to see the rider. Most drivers expect a bicycle rider to be on a road bike or Mtn bike, not a low profile. I live in New York, not exactly bike friendly, I would not ride a low profile bike here. I have seen some with a small triangle flag mounted on a stalk, the stalk being at least eye level of a standing person.

I've been reading up about the being seen aspect of a recumbent bike on various internet resources, and as it seems it isn't that much of a problem. It is mostly a concern of non-recumbent bikers that they would be harder to see when riding a recumbent.

Many recumbent bikers state that you stand out in traffic way more, because the recumbent isn't something most people are used to see. But even though the Netherlands is a very 'bike aware' country, I'm not going to take any chances and equip my bike with plenty lights & reflectors...

MayCooper said:

Many recumbent bikers state that you stand out in traffic way more, because the recumbent isn't something most people are used to see. But even though the Netherlands is a very 'bike aware' country, I'm not going to take any chances and equip my bike with plenty lights & reflectors...

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ABSOLUTELY!

I have been riding a recumbent for close to 9 years in the following US states and countries

Texas, USA
South Korea
Adana, Turkey
Tampa, Florida

I would be less noticable riding a mountain bike naked with a big American flag on the back than riding my recumbent.

Think about it for a minute. Your mind and vision scan for anything abnormal, weird or strange as you drive. The cars, pedestrians and cylists riding around are normal. The naked girl running, an odd-ball recumbent rider and the guy on fire are abnormal. Wackos stick out and are noticed!

In Turkey and Korea, traffic would come to a stop and pedestrians would point at me as I rode my under seat steered short wheel base recumbent down the road. There was no way in hell I could ride anywere without a reaction from the general populace. Yep, even in Florida I am very different. Different is impossible to ignore and with the help of 3 red LED lights, a frame mounted light. a helmet light moving around and reflective tire sidewalls, reflective tape and bags... impossible to ignore.

You drive by countless SUVs and 4-door sedans every day without noticing them. Would you notice a TANK rumbling down a road or three naked girls on a motorized trike? I bet you would! Safety has to do with being seen, not some pre-conceived notion that a street diamond frame bicycle is noticable. Be strange, be a crazy shape, have more lights than a gay pride float and you will be SEEN!

Recumbent rider with a wild lighting system is heading to the house <out>

May - AndyTieDye rides a rec. I remember him having a pretty unique setup which presented some challenges in the front lighting department. He might be a good person to ask about lights for your bike.

I don't know what the general perception is, but I live in a bike-friendly place and I feel like rec's are easier to spot. Maybe it's the "weird" factor BentHeadTX is referring to?

I agree that once a recumbent is seen by a driver, that person will keep an eye on the bike. The issue is seeing it in the first place. Most drivers are not looking for a bike that low. I ride a road bike here on Long Island, I have had a few close calls. Here again, there are drivers that are not looking for people on bikes. I spent some time in Florida, I ended up riding around an airpark that had path ( jogging, roller blading, biking ) I found it safest to stay on the sidewalks getting there.

will said:

I ride a road bike here on Long Island, I have had a few close calls. Here again, there are drivers that are not looking for people on bikes.

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Interesting that you mention this because I read a few days ago that as the number of cyclists goes up, the average accident rate per cyclist goes down. This is because as bikes become more common, the average motorists tends to look for them more while driving, just as a city driver might be more aware of pedestrians than someone who usually sticks to highways. The obvious corollary of this is to do all you can to get everyone you know to cycle. The more of us on bikes, the safer we'll all be. NYC recently started added many bike lanes all over the place. This is good in that it legitimizes cycling. Also, it's more likely cyclists will be seen now that they have their own lane where drivers will specifically look for them.

I spent some time in Florida, I ended up riding around an airpark that had path ( jogging, roller blading, biking ) I found it safest to stay on the sidewalks getting there.

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I also find that occasionally riding on the sidewalk is the only safe alternative. The only caveat is that I remember this is the pedestrian's space, so I give them a wide berth, and/or reduce my speed if needed.

I am in Nassau County. There are no bike paths nearby. Any riding that is done here is on the street or the sidewalk. There is not a lot of bicycle traffic where I am, I think that may be why drivers are not as aware of bikes as other areas. There are other areas where there is more bicycle traffic and people expect to see them.

Florida - there is an elderly driving population where I was in South Florida. Suffice it to say - some of these people should not be driving at all.

The majority of drivers are aware of what is near them, but all it takes is one who is not.

Shouldn't you change your name to MayBiker now?

well, I would change it if I could, but IIRC this cannot be done without the forums administrave staffs help. Also I'd prefer to change it just to Coop instead of MayBiker. Cos I'm already known by that name in a lot of places...

MayCooper said:

well, I would change it if I could, but IIRC this cannot be done without the forums administrave staffs help. Also I'd prefer to change it just to Coop instead of MayBiker. Cos I'm already known by that name in a lot of places...

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Huh never noticed the forum lack that option. Besides it was a joke anyway.