I got off to a slow start. It rained most of the first week and as the machine was new, and the old bike needs fixing, I caught the bus and train to get to work for three of the five days. The first week was notable as I got two flat tyres. But now that I have reduced the pressure in them to a more sedately 45 psi, I have had no flats. *fingers crossed*
In the second week I started to get the hang of the trike. Gone are the speed wobbles and I have had it up to nearly 50kmh. My legs are adjusting and I am even going faster on the up hill sections. I wont say that I have the steering completely sorted, but I am going faster around corners and being generally more zippy.
I went to the dhbc slowies for two weekends. Last week was a glorious sunny morning as the rain, after several days, stopped just as we were starting to ride. Last week I was once again being dropped off on the hills. New muscles needed toning. This week I put in some effort and kept up on the hills.
I have had some mechanical issues. I discovered that one type of speed hump is bad for the trike and had to do some metal bending to fix it. I am having some issues with the rear derailleur and sram dual drive hub that I have yet to fully get to the bottom of. Later I will need to go and do some more adjusting. It is actually hard to adjust as you need two people. I cannot just reach over and spin the pedals to see what is happening. My arms are not that long.
The people in the dhbc have been very interested and supportive. I am always interested in what they ask. Children are also amazed by the trike. Adults give a mixed reaction. The road and council workers and trades men are very supportive and interested. At the other extreme, people seem more threatened and always ask about how dangerous it might be or make some other negative comment.
I made some mods to the trike. I added a bell, a head rest and some sideways looking mirrors. I got a new set of panniers from Greenspeed. I replaced my ancient helmet. I also purchased a speedo and mounting kit, but I have not yet mounted it. I purchased insurance for the trike from Velosure.
So on the whole it has been a good and interesting two weeks. I am becoming confident with the trike and I am enjoying it more as I have to spend less time concentrating on the pure mechanics of riding.
Oh, and the dhbc also think the trike should have a name and have given it the name bug. So in Chinese I dub it: 三葉蟲 (sān yè chóng) .