Regaining your health and fitness with a recumbent trike

After my accident, which left me with vestibular problems, I tried various different things for cardiovascular fitness. By far my favorite was swimming, but since I don't have a swimming pool, and had no interest in using a public one, I began to despair - until I discovered a recumbent trike, about six years ago.

Yes, I had a gym membership and my gym had the finest equipment imaginable, from stationary bikes to ellipticals to stairmasters, and much more, but they all had one problem - they bored me. I tried to set the timer for twenty minutes and after about five minutes all I could do is wish that it was over. And that all changed when I got my trike.

This is steady-state cardio, the kind that they recommend for weight loss, and to keep weight off. This isn't Olympic speed-triking, nor is it so slow that snails pass me as I pedal along. For me, it's just right, about the same pace that I used to do jogging, about a fifteen minute mile, about 4-5 miles per hour, about as fast as a horse walks. I love watching the world go by me at that speed, and unless the weather is unpleasant, I'm always out there for at least an hour just about every morning.

If anyone asks me where I'm going, I could say "Right back here" or "Improving my health and fitness", but mostly I tell people that I'm going to the grocery store for a KitKat bar (which is quite often very true!). This is fun, and everything else is a side-effect.

If you've been pondering a recumbent trike, I encourage you. It took me at least a year to get the hang of it, because it's not a car, and it's not a bicycle. They're expensive, and the basic model of the manufacturer that I recommend, TerraTrike, is about two thousand bucks. And get a good lock! Oh yeah, and get a nice new one, they deliver it to you assembled - don't make your life miserable by trying to cobble together an old used one (unless you're really good at that, and I'm not). Once you start using it you'll save so much money on gas that it will quickly pay for itself. If you want the money faster you can do what I did, and sell your car right away. I haven't had car payments, or car repairs, or car insurance, etc. now for over six years. The trike runs on coffee!

Lately I've been making videos of my rides and posting them on YouTube. You can take a look at see how it feels from the driver's seat. Here ya go:

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