Thursday, August 30, 2012

I was the "captain" today on the Hase Pino!

We are learning to love our Hase Pino partial recumbent tandem more and more each day.  We bought it with the hope that we could take turns being "captain" (on the wedgie seat) and stoker (on the recumbent seat).  My husband is 5'11" and weighs about 175.  I'm 5'3" and weigh 139.  We weren't sure if I'd be able to handle holding the bike upright at starts and piloting the bike during takeoffs.

This morning, I decided to give it a try.  First, I took the bike out by myself solo.  I quickly discovered it was very easy to handle and soon thereafter I was doing figure 8's on our little dead-end street.  That's a sign of confidence on a bike when I can make tight turns in either direction.  After about five minutes of riding, we made a quick adjustment to lengthen the boom so my husband could ride in the recumbent seat in the front.  Off we went!!!  I felt very confident steering from in the back.  On level surfaces, I can easily maintain the bike on starts and stops.  At stop signs on steeper hills, it helps that Jim's legs are long enough that, if I need him to, he can put them down on either side of the boom while we are stopped to keep the bike  from rolling.

This is a fun bike, there is no doubt about it.

I'm really excited.  I'm sure now that we will be able to swap positions on a long tour to give each of us a break in our sitting positions and our leg muscles used.  How great is that!!!

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