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Screw it I'm Going Fat!

 I've read more than I should have lately.  Mostly about trike touring and different makes and models listed for sale and reviewed. It's because triking is becoming an obsession for me.  Sailboat ownership has largely shifted beyond my financial grasp, and it was increasingly shifting outside my eco worldview. So cycle touring grabbed my attention.  As one wit wrote: "No car,  no partner,  no house.  No worries". So cool! Unfortunately I still own a car,  I need one for my small gardening business and to visit my mum,  but Im working on a car- less existence.  The house I won in a legal division of property following the sending of a 30 year partnership. I need to hold on to the farm because i have two young adult children who live here,  love  here and my daughter runs a fledgling horse training business here.  

I actually bought a bike about 6 weeks ago. She's a very fine China-made steel framed touring bike  I had been doing weekly rides of two hours and then up to for hours or so, and loving it.  Unfortunately,  the pains gained while riding any longer than a 3 hour session stay with me for days.  I've no confidence that I could back up each day for longer tours or that I would "get over it". In fact I read an ebook about an overweight Englishmen who rode a touring bike for months and had to wear pads,  insert wadding in various places,  smear himself with various creams,  and still he bled and had unsightly wounds to his buttocks and thighs.  This is supposed too be fun,  exertion Im into,  but not torture or self harm. 

Thankfully i got turned on to trikes.  People without sponsorship or for financial gain,  boasted that they smiled the whole time they were cycling,  could ride for hours every day without butt pain or numb hands.  One pilot even slept on his trike!

Following an unfortunate attempt to buy a modified and severely neglected Greenspeed trike last Saturday,  I learned (many things but) that they are quite small.  The images or touring trikes loaded with panniers,  mirrors,  extra water bottles, flags and riders with big personalities,  actually had me expecting something larger.  I'm also aware from personal insight,  that I'm very rough on machinery and prefer off  grid living to suburban claustrophobia with all the mod cons. Logically then,  ac low ground clearance,  tiny,  slick tyred trike will not suit my lifestyle,  let alone negotiate my driveway.  So a  FAT tyred trike it well be.  I couldn't afford to buy a bell for an Azub, ICE or Velo thing from Germany.  China- made is what floats my boat. If there's one thing I have learned,  the Chinese may not get quality control right straight up,  but if there's financial incentive and time took learn,  they can smash anyone out of the park with regards to value for money.  


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