Al's Blog-o-Sphere

I took a ride today on the new bike before it rained. I parked across the canal in the path parking lot near the Cold Springs Rd. Bridge. I wanted to just take a short ride and check the bike out.

I spent some time today modifying my bike rack to handle the much more awkward trike. I had a hitch rack on my truck that held up to three bikes. I did some measurements and found that if I could rest the front of the bike on the rack, I could rest the rear wheel on the roof of the truck against the luggage rack.

I picked up a piece of 1″ square perforated steel tubing. I had used the same material to build a bike rack for the back bumper of my camping trailer in the past. It’s easy to work with because it has pre-drilled holes every inch and it’s like a really strong erector set. Continue Reading…

The Bicycle Man shop

I took a trip yesterday to Alfred Station NY to visit a bike shop. I know I could have found a bike shop closer to home, but not one like this. This was The Bicycle Man, a shop whose simple name gives no clue to the rare and special product they have.

Just as an idea how special this is, I visited the largest bike shop in my area last week, a mini-chain with four stores, and out of the hundreds of bikes they had on display, they had only one model of a recumbent!

The Bicycle Man, you see, specializes in recumbent bikes, those laid-back, weird-looking bikes you might have seen on TV, a movie or rarely in real life. I had been wanting one for a long time and finally decided to try some out. This shop is a rarity in that they almost don’t want to sell you a bike, unless you try several out and are sure it’s right for you. It’s really cool that they spend so much time making sure the customer is happy before they take a dime. I spent most of the day there, and there were several customers besides me who also spent considerable time trying things out. Some went away without making a purchase. Maybe they will be back, but not until they are sure! Continue Reading…