Recumbent tricycle

Bought this Terratrike Traveler recumbent bike two years ago. It takes too much mental power for me to ride a two wheel bicycle anymore, can't get more than .5 mile. It is folding because I wanted to be able to pack it up and carry from apartment to car. So I purchased the travel bag with it.  The store modified the brakes so both cables operate by the right hand lever. Had the store staff fold it and stuff it in the carry bag. Watched two fully grown able bodied men wrestle it in there in 25 minutes. I immediately realized I would never use that bag again. The bike is heavy, about 42 pounds. Luckily with my strength and build I could hoist the bag to my shoulder with the long carry strap.  On my second carry of it back to my car after a night stop in St. Paul one of the attachment points for the carry strap ripped out, dropping the bike on the ground.  It also had two big grab loops at the ends, so I grabbed one and slung the whole thing on my back and into my car. This however caused the zipper to separate making the whole bag useless, returned it for a refund.

Getting the bike from my car to my apartment required me to balance it on a luggage cart I had.  Inside the apartment a nice woman helped me carry it down the half flight of steps to my place.

Last summer I was on the go all the time so no biking. This year I figured I needed an incentive to get using it so I signed up for the DALMAC(Dick Allen Lansing to MACkinaw Bicycle Tour) bicycling camping tour, Lansing to Mackinac Bridge. 5 days, 50-75 miles a day.

It was cancelled on June 5 due to COVID-19.  A friend wanted a partner to do daily yoga while I would do a daily bike ride, so finally got the bike unfolded.  I will only fold it as a last resort. When putting it together the two front wheels are joined by a tie rod that are pinned in place by these pin clips. 

Pin clips, hard to open one handed when closed like the left one

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you had two usable hands this would be easy, rotate the bar until the holes line up, insert pin. In my case this took 30 minutes and luckily my floor is carpeted so I didn't kill my knees, I would never be able to do this in the parking lot of a bike trail. Just found out the newest version of this trike only has one fold and no tie rod.

You can see the two hose clamps holding the bracket on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottle cage bracket is on the front post between the two front wheels. However if you fold the real wheel up it can't get all the way down because it hits the bracket. Bad design. So I decided that the logical place for the bottle cage is on the right steering post. But that means I have to figure out how to attach it there myself. Just get some properly sized hose clamps, open them up and strap the cage to the post. Restarting a hose clamp one handed is an exercise in swearing especially since I have to have it around the steering post and the bracket at the same time. I liberally used the various clamps and Vise Grips I have to hold everything in place while I screwed the hose clamp tight. It only took 30-45 minutes to do that.  

Decided to forgo for now installing the cage itself. Spent 1 hour getting the three tires pumped up, they were totally flat. With totally flat tires the tube stem just sinks into the tire as you try to attach the pump. Solution was to set the tire on a screwdriver handle, push down the tire so the stem stays up. Trying to get the screwdriver properly situated one handed caused massive amounts of swearing, by this time I'm already pouring sweat. Without the seat attached and tipping it on its side, got it into the hallway. Attached the seat, lugged it up the half flight of stairs to the door, tipped it on its side again and wiggled it out the door. Attached the chain to the sprockets, Sat in it and immediately realized the wheels needed to be extended 4-6 inches. Oh well, let's at least get around the parking lot. Nope, two revolutions of the pedals and the chain came off the front sprocket. Reattached, same thing happened. Noticed that the chain guard for the front sprocket had a very slight bend in it, which pushes the chain off the sprocket.

Got the bottle cage attached, slid the front pedal post forward two inches. Then slid the seat bracket back 4 inches. That should be enough to get my legs at the proper length. Bent the sprocket guard straight. Noticed that the front sprocket has a slight curve in it, probably when the strap for the carry bag ripped out on Bret's front steps and banged down hard. Well see if that needs repair yet today. Hope not. Waiting till this evening to get a little cooler, 88 now.

This occurred over the course of five days.

Needed a new helmet since the old one takes 30 minutes to get on one handed. This is a 1-handed magnetic fastener, the strap doesn't slide for tight fitting after putting it on but ok. The round circle pops out and you can put your U-lock thru it. Thousand Heritage bike helmet from REI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did get out. Had to push the front post back that two inches because I couldn't get the chain on. Got across the grass to the two inch drop to the parking lot where the chain fell off because of that slight bend in the front sprocket. A guy going by on a hoverboard helped me get it in the car, Toyota Matrix. Didn't even have to fold it, the back tire sits between the two front seats. Will take it into Trek bike tomorrow.

I have a couple of possibilities of making sure my left hand stays on the handle. I can't trust it staying there because if it fell off my hand would have to drag on the pavement until I got stopped. Got a good suggestion that putting on a biking glove with velco on it and the bike handle would work much easier than having to fasten it every time.  Won't work, just spent 40 minutes wrestling my hand into a glove. Fingers wouldn't stay straight long enough to get through the fingerless holes. Never mind trying to keep them all straight at the same time. Finally got the fingers sticking out through the openings and needed to wrestle the thumb in which took another 15 minutes. Will try a different possibility tomorrow. Finally remembered the procedure for putting on fingerless paddling gloves in 2009 when I went on a 21 day canoe trip in Canada/Alaska.  You roll down the wrist of the glove so the entry points for the fingers are exposed, then feed the fingers in one by one. Will eventually try that along with velcro but the current solution is in the pictures below; weightlifting hookers.

The glove on, notice the perpetually bent fingers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the work lugging the bike into and out of my apartment I think the bike is going to almost permanently stay in the car, I'm locking it to the car seat.  

The mechanic at Trek Bicycle was able to bend the front sprocket straight because it was steel, not aluminum. 

The pedals have these straps that keep your feet from sliding off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within a year after the stroke my wife at the time took me to get a trike. I looked at recumbents but didn't see any straps to keep the foot in place. And not sure I would be able to control the left foot and leg to keep it from dropping off I got a granny tricycle with the huge basket between the rear wheels. I absolutely hated it, zero amounts of speed. You had to constantly be on the alert that you kept the front wheel straight. Heavier than all get out, impossible to car carry unless you had a pickup and then you would need a hoist to get it up there. Donated it to a neighbor, was never going to ride it again after moving to Michigan. The first time I rode it I tipped it over because the first thing you have to unlearn is leaning to turn.

Like this but red frame

The mechanic at Trek Bicycle was able to bend the front sprocket straight because it was steel, not aluminum.  Did a half mile tonight, finally got some wind in my face again. Have to push back the seat a couple more inches.  Will need to figure out yet how to attach my left hand to the handlebar. A friend suggested putting a strip of velcro on a bike glove and a corresponding strip on the handlebar. Still have to attach front and rear lights. This is going to be fun.  Handlebar mirrors are coming yet. 

Spent 45 minutes installing two handlebar mirrors. Holding the component in place while simultaneously screwing in the bolt required half a dozen tries, dropping it all each time. Now with the mirrors at the handlebar ends I'm no longer worrying about my hand slipping off the end. I have to fold the mirrors down now to get the trike back in the car

After 10 days in the car because of 90+ degree heat one of the tires was flat again. Went thru the whole process of wedging a screwdriver handle under the tube stem again to get the pump clip to attach properly. 

Did get out on the local bike trail for 1.0 hours, maybe 8 miles in total.  The left hand stays on the handlebar maybe 10 minutes at a time. The spasticity of the wrist, fingers and biceps eventually pulls it off over the top of the bar. Still have to work on a velcro solution.

Today tried the weightlifting hookers to keep my left hand attached, worked quite well. One flat tire again, just pumped it up and went for an hour bike ride. Will have to replace the tube soon. Will need to remove billfold from back pocket.

Hooker, laid out, the strap goes around your wrist, hook is on inside of palm

On wrist, hook inside palm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I now have the seat all the way back and the front post all the way forward but still need more length. TerraTrike does sell a 3 inch extender but will have to wait for that since it is on backorder. It is still quite rideable but the extender will finally get the my legs at the proper bend. 

Back view, you can see the attached mirrors

Using hooker with thumb on inside like this I can't use it for more than 15 minutes without my spasticity blistering my thumb

With hooker and thumb on outside, much better, can ride pretty much forever with this setup.

Spastic wrist and fingers crawling to the top of the handlebar, just before falling off. You can see the mirror attached at the bottom but falling off that way is not the problem.

Front view, seat is very comfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has an index shifter so no clicking or changing sprockets. Can't tell what gear I'm in but today finally figured out generally where the gearing is. 

The little bicyclist going up a medium hill; midrange gearing

The little bicyclist  pretty level: high gearing

The little bicyclist going up a steep hill: low gearing