Recovery Week

We are taking some time off from riding this week to give our bodies time to rest and adapt to the stresses of training.  Patti is away on a trip to Idaho to see her family and attend our nephew's wedding.  I'm staying here in Francesville ... feeding the cats, mowing the lawn, digging the garden, and all those other fun things.  We had a pretty intense month in April.  Rode more than 400 miles. Did our first 20-miler, our first 30-miler, and our first 40-miler.  We've now logged more than 700 miles on our trikes since we started training in March. Our initial training goal of riding 50 miles per day now is beginning to seem very achievable.

I'm also playing with our trikes while Patti is gone (of course!) I've previously mentioned some of the upgrades we've been contemplating. I hadn't planned on doing any major upgrades this year. We wanted, before investing any more money, to give ourselves time to see how far we want to take this triking thing ... and to see just how much our old bodies can handle! However, it has become evident that some of the entry-level components that came stock on our trikes will not be up to the kinds of miles we're putting on them. The hard plastic idlers already are showing significant wear after only two months and soon would need to be replaced. We've also had problems with the rear derailleurs, especally on Patti's trike.  The front derailleurs, especially, have been a pain in the butt for both of us. The chains keep slipping off the chainrings, requiring frequent emergency stops and greasy black fingers to put them back in place. We've also found that the gear ratios on the stock drive trains limit our top speed to just a little over 20 mph.

 So, all things considered, we decided to take the plunge and invested in some higher-quality components. We're replacing the front derailleurs and chainrings with Schlumpf High Speed Drives. The rear derailleurs and sprockets will be replaced with Shimano Nexus 8 internal transmissions. The stock plastic idlers will be replaced with titanium idlers from TerraTrike. I ordered the parts before Patti left on her trip. Most of them have arrived.  I've been having a lot of fun (between mowing, gardening, feeding the cats and occasional cursing sessions when things don't fit right) putting everything together. Hopefully, I will have our trikes ready to ride again when Patti gets home late next week.

The new components represent a significant investment. They definitely weren't cheap! However, we expect them to provide some significant benefits in return. They will be considerably more durable and reliable than the stock components we took off. That factor is an important consideration for folks, like us, who will be putting on thousands of miles per year, sometimes far from home. The titanium idlers, for example, are guaranteed for five years. Also, the new components will require very little, if any, maintenance ... just a little oil lubrication from time to time. With only one sprocket on the front and one on the back -- and no need to use derailleurs to switch the chain between numerous sprockets -- there's virtually no chance that our chains will slip off. And, finally, the gearing combinations provided by the Schlumpf drives and Nexus transmissions will give us a top speed (potentially) of more than 40 mph ... if we have the legs and aerobic fitness to pull it off.  Downhill runs and tail winds should be a blast!  All things considered, I expect the upgrades to more than pay for themselves over the long term, despite the high initial cost. Time will tell.