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exhalations
Monday, August 29, 2005
 2005 BentRide 
Back from a short trip north to check out the 2005 BentRide sponsored by 'BentRider Online. It was a pleasant change to be surrounded by recumbent and trike riders. The day before the BentRide, several manufacturers and recumbent shop reps were present with lots of bikes to try out. The bike I enjoyed riding the most was Lightning P-38, a short wheelbase underseat steering recumbent. I've heard that the company is slow to deliver products and their web site hasn't been updated in about a year.

Randy Schlitter of Rans was present with his new crank forward bikes and a Force 5 short wheelbase bike with dual 650c wheels. I wanted to ride the Force 5 but it seemed to be out on test rides most of the day.

There were several Bacchetta and Volae big wheel bikes present, basically the road bike crowd who have discovered the speed advantages of the big wheel recumbents.

There were three options for Sunday's ride: the short out and back along the shore of Keuka Lake, the ride around the lake, and the longer ride around the lake that included two climbs. We did the longer ride with a very few of our bent cohorts, mostly the big wheel bunch. As a result, we brought up the rear most of the day. Lunch was rather basic, cold cut sandwiches, chips, and excellent zucchini bread. The sodas were all gone by the time we arrived at Keuka Spring Winery. I sampled a few wines with lunch, preferring the basic Crooked Lake White.

It was a fun event but a long drive, seven hours from Reston, which made for a short weekend. I'd attend again, although to make it worth the trip we may need to arrange to tour the area for a few days before or afterward.


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