Seat brackets

One of the issues you will find with a recumbent is the seat because all of your power comes from your seat , and if the seat brackets are not big you have the problems I have in my picture. I fixed this by adding some large washers to my brackets. However this is a temporary fix. I would like to know if there are better solutions

Mass transit

One of the nice things about a SWB (SHORT WHEEL BASE) recumbent is that they fit most mass transit racks, here is my bike on the train.

Locking recumbents

Speaking as someone who has had there bike stolen locking is a art. Everyday I see bikes locked up wrong. There are a number of times I have lock up my bike wrong, that is the reason why it was stolen.

You to understand the type of bike you are locking. A diamond frame bike is different then a recumbent. With a recumbent there is no place to lock it too like a diamond frame, on a diamond frame to lock on the inside of the diamond.

That is why I start with the back wheel one it is one of the more costly parts. Two is I loop it through the seat and them to a rack, tree or pole. On a cable there is not enough room to remove the wheel and there no way to take the wheel off the frame. Every bike is different and is what works for me.

Cleap lights

Ok its getting dark out there and I am sure that most have front and back lights, however from the side these lights are not much help. Because of this is I have added these dumb lights to my tire stems. They are cheap about 8 dollars at walmart. They turn on when the wheels go around, so it is easy to turn them off, and they work real well all of the bikers here are impressed on how much light they give off.

September bike commute stats

last September Month I commuted 19 times out of the 20 days I worked that is about 95 percent of the time. I commuted 215 mile, my goal was 400 this month I was cheating a little by driving in part of the way.

However by biking in I saved over 210 lbs of carbon, and I didn't send 60 dollars off foreign oil. currently not a big deal but a start.

New Reason to Commute.

Sign into Law the new Bicycle Commuting Riebursement, this is a good start with the US paying 800 Billion to for Foreign oil in one year this makes the bail out look like small potatoes. Below is what is signed into Law.

SEC. 211. TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENEFIT TO BICYCLE COMMUTERS.(a) In General- Paragraph (1) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘(D) Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.’.(b) Limitation on Exclusion- Paragraph (2) of section 132(f) is amended by striking ‘and’ at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘, and’, and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ‘(C) the applicable annual limitation in the case of any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.’.(c) Definitions- Paragraph (5) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘(F) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT-
‘(i) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT- The term ‘qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ means, with respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 15-month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.‘(ii) APPLICABLE ANNUAL LIMITATION- The term ‘applicable annual limitation’ means, with respect to any employee for any calendar year, the product of $20 multiplied by the number of qualified bicycle commuting months during such year.‘(iii) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING MONTH- The term ‘qualified bicycle commuting month’ means, with respect to any employee, any month during which such employee--‘(I) regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment, and‘(II) does not receive any benefit described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).’.(d) Constructive Receipt of Benefit- Paragraph (4) of section 132(f) is amended by inserting ‘(other than a qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement)’ after ‘qualified transportation fringe’.(e) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.

New Bike

Ok a few months ago I had my bike stolen from work. So the past few month I have been looking for my bike.

After that didn't work I turned it in to my home owners insureance and they paid me to replace my bike. My old bike was a OSS Recumbentusa.com It was ok but it had it problems. So I knew what I didn't like.

I picked out my new bike from http://www.getitbent.com/ the Blaze it is the same bike that http://www.actionbent.com/ sold called the Meto rail it is a older model they were closing out on e-bay and I paid half the internet price below is my bike

Some of the thinks I like is the Chain Management like using a over and under idler. like this is one of them most of the high price bikes use them for there excellent design.

another nice part of this bike is that on the other had the chain run over the chain stay. This bike runs under and out of the way.

Find out about the plan at:
http://www.pickensplan.com

Ok this is my new old ride.

for the short time I will be back on my old commuter bike. This is a great bike for a diamond frame. I rode this for years in So. California to work for 13 years. So it is a great old bike.

bike stolen

I was finshed with work, and was going to have my son pick me up. I walked down to the bike rack at work to find my bike was gone. If you see it around please e-mail thanks

Bridge to know where

I got this picture from BikePortland.org. Shows the traffic there is on the Hawthorne Bridge when it is up. Not all of the Bridges in Portland support bike traffic. This is a problem for commuters. Most of the bike traffic use the Hawthorne Bridge as access to downtown. Bike traffic is getting so heavy there is a need to supply a bike only bridge.

The Sellwood bridge which is south of the downtown area would be a great solution to the problem, It is old and can not support car traffic now. It would make my commute alot safer.

A commuting success

One of the befits of commuting is losing weight. I lost 20 pounds. This is the deal I ride about 1 hour a day commuting into work that burns about 645 calories a day and I ride 5 days a week that is a total of 3225 calories. Daily I eat around 2500 calories. So during week I burn 1.29 days of calories, so who needs to diet.

However the real success story is the a cool blog is "Large Fella on a Bike" about a guy that weight over 400 pounds and has dropped half of it ride a bake and changing his diet. http://istanbultea.typepad.com/largefellaonabike/

Commuting in the Netherlands

I visited the Netherland in Fall of 2007 commuting by bike is a big deal as you can see. This is a College parking lot by Amsterdam. This is our bike parking in Portland. Yes it is sad.

It in the Bag

Ok you have the bike but how am I going to get my junk to work well its in the bag. there are alot of neat bags and racks out there. I went with the messager bag because of I ride the bus some of the way home. The bag is easy throw on my shoulder and to hook on my bike I just put the handle over the head rest.

In my bag I have a commuter my clothes for work lunch bike tools all in the bag. the bag cost about $40. hanging it on my head rest keeps it out of the rain and in the draft behind the seat. This is a eddy bauer messager bag and it works great.

My short ride into work.

This is the route I ride when I carpool with my wife to work. This is a lot of city traffic.

my long ride into work

Below is my long way into work. This route looks like the long way around the barn, but it there is less traffic. About 1/3 of the ride is a bike path called Springwater Trail.
Which is a old railroad converted into a bike path.

Getting a Recumbent

What if I want to get a Recumbent? Where do I get one? What kind should I get? Well these are great questions. let me answer some of them.

If you read any of the reviews on the net, or go to any of the bike shops they will push you to the hi end bikes telling you get what you pay for. Well some of that is true however 90 percent of the bike frames come from China and a lot of the wheel sets and parts also.

So get one off the Internet for half the price is not a bad option. the brand I got is a recumbentUSA at the following link http://www.recumbentusa.com/rebi20.html and it has worked out well. I have added a rack and fenders to the bike and did some tuning on the bike. If you buy it online you will have to do this.

However I didn't buy my bike direct from recumbentusa. I bought it off craigslist. which is another great way to buy a Recumbent. The guy who bought the bike first found out he was too big for the bike after spending 100's on it at a local bike shop. The bike sold online for about 800 and I bought it for 500 after checking it out. A bike like this in a bike shop is around 1200. So there are some deals out there, However here are a few things you want to review.

1. Buy online is OK.
2. Look around for the bike model so you can try it out.
3. Check the size of the bike, not all sizes fits all.
4. Bike should be under 35 lbs
5. How are you going to use the bike? Are you going to take it on the Bus will it fit?
6. How will you transport it?

there is a number of recumbent types you need to review also happy hunting.

Some of the benefits from commuting

I have been commuting by bike for about 15 years about 12 years in So Cal. and 3 years in Portland Oregon a lot more rain. Below are the benefits.

• I lost over 15 pounds
• you get to know you community better.
• you save money.
• you save the earth.

My Ride

This is my Recumbent I ride this bike into work 22 miles a day. This is a cheap internet bike a recumbentusa bike it cost about 700 dollars, but I like it and I have been riding it two years.