Flanders Tour 2007

Just got back from a short bicycle holiday, the Flanders Tour 2007. Starting and arrival place was Drongen (near Gent) and together with 23 people we cycled for five days. You had to carry your own luggage whith the exception of the tent, which was transported for you.
I rode my XP using 2 rear panniers and a BOB one wheel trailer, while my wife rode her Kettwiesel with 2 front panniers. Average daily distance was around 40 miles, with a cultural/social stop in the morning or in the afternoon. Tents were put up on soccer fields, where we could use the facilities such as showers, toilets etc. At the end of the day, for those who felt they did not ride enough, some extra rides could be made. Of course I joined all of them, enjoying riding the bike without the extra weight of the luggage. I rode all the way to Drongen last Sunday (a 102 mile trip) following the LF5 to Gent, where I spent the night together with some other riders who came from far away (we had one Englishman and 2 people from the Netherlands).
Without realizing it at the time, I completed my first century on the XP ! It wasn't hard at all, just riding along and following the signs .... When we got back on Friday, I decided that after sleeping in a tent for one week, I needed my own bed, so I rode the XP all the way back home. I only arrived at 02.30 am in the morning, but the luxuary of my own bed made everything more than okay ! Total distance this week was a stunning 420 miles, not bad for this old fart ;-) !

Though I never used the XP for touring before, I did not regret choosing this bike for doing so. It has comfort written all over it and I enjoyed every minute on it.
Some fellow riders asked to try out the XP and all of them were surprised at how comfortable and relaxed it rode. Most of them ride low riders with hard shell seats and although most of those bikes have rear suspension, there comfort is no match for the XP. On Thursday night we went for a local signaled tour which turned out to be more of a tour for mountain bikes : half of it was on fireroads, through some woods and on gravel. The XP handled extremely well and I could easily could keep up with a much younger rider riding his OPTIMA CONDOR, a dual 26" suspended high racer with fat tires. In fact, out of the 4 riders who participated, we were always leading. I really made me feel like a kid again, just blasting through and over anything with the big wheels underneath me .... Great ! After we finished the ride, the other 3 riders told me that they did not expect the XP to be so versatile, that I could even ride it on gravel and through the woods. It just shows what a great design the XP is !

Another nice surprise was to discover that the rollerbrakes performed more than adequate. There were some downhills were I reached speeds of almost 40 mph, but even fully loaded they performed flawlessly. Nice !

The only negative thing I can think of is the seat mesh. When I rode back home last Friday night, I felt the metal structure from the back of the seat through the mesh. I stopped and tried to stretch the seat mesh some more, but it was already stretched to the maximum. Maybe the mesh itself got stretched in time, but I need to fix this, for it is not really comfy. I'll sent RANS a mail to find out if they ever had heard of this problem before.

For those who are interested : info about the Flanders Tour 2007 can be found here, and the pictures I took on this trip can be found here

Group picture taken on the last day (without me, someone had to take it)

Touring with the XP

I'm planning to take a bike trip next September, so yesterday I put my loaded panniers on the front and back rack of the XP to see how it would ride. I'm not sure yet whether I'll take my XP for the trip, but since it's one of my most comfortable bikes, I wanted to do a testride. Except for the tent, almost everything I needed was loaded in the 4 panniers. I'm still not sure which tent I'm going to take with me and where to put it, so I left it out for this ride. I might add a B.O.B.-trailer, but that would make the XP really look like a freight train, I wanna try to get everyting on the XP itself. I know that you can order a under seat rack for the XP, but at 120 $ + shipping, that'll be a very expensive utility.

I rode the XP for almost one hour and I learned a couple of things.
First of all, the front rack I have on the XP sucks. Since the sides are connected on one side only, the weight of the panniers is pulling them open. Everytime I hit a hole or rode on bad surfaces, the rack would open up a bit in front. I defenitely need a front rack like the one for the regular Stratus, which is connected on both sides on top. Unfortunately, the Stratus has a 20" front wheel, so it's rack will not fit the XP.
Getting started was a tad more difficult, but once up to speed the XP still handles very stable. Average speed is a bit lower too, but that's no issue to me, especially not when touring.
It does take a bit more effort to get the bike straight again after taking curves, but that's only natural due to the heavier weight on the front wheel.
Another thing I was curious about were the brakes. I did some emergency stops and to my surprise, they worked okay. Since everything is flat here where I live, I decided to ride over the bridge across the canal to have some kind of elevation and even when I rolled down the bridge, the brakes did what they're supposed to do and stopped the bike just fine. I expected the Rollerbrakes not to be powerful enough, but to my surprise, they are. No need for disc brakes (yet).

So, I'll have to look for a new front pannier rack that'll fit the XP's big fork. Guess I'll be surfing on the internet for the next couple of days ....

The "wrong" kind of front pannier rack

Replacing the rear derailleur

Yesterday I removed the rear derailleur. Since I only use a single chain disc in front, there's no real need for a derailleur. It's only been there for the purpose of tensionning the chain. I replaced it with a single pully chain tensioner, the same I have on my mountain bike (it also has a Shimano Nexus hub). Took me about 15 minutes to install and shorten the chain and another 10 minutes to get my hands clean ;-).
Took a ride afterwards for about 2 hours near the canal, on the tow path. Though most of my rides are near the canal, I never seem to get bored riding there. Since no motorvehicles are allowed on the tow path, it's so nice to ride your bike without the noise and needed attention of motorised traffic and just enjoy the scenery.

When I returned home, I crossed a bike I've never seen on the road before : the PINO from Hase. Although I've seen some in bike shops, I recongnized the bike immediately. In front a woman was sitting very relaxed, her arms crossed on her chest and a big smile on her face, while her boyfriend (husband ?) was riding in the back. Since we were riding opposite directions I have no idea about there speed, but it must about the same as other tandems.

The single pully chain tensioner

My personal 5 seconds of fame ....

My mother in law called me last Monday, to tell me that I had been on TV riding the XP. The local TV-station from Turnhout had an item about how bike-friendly this town is (yeah right, in your dreams !) but since they repeat their program over and over, I decided to take a look. And yep, there I was : cruising near the canal on my Stratus XP, not aware at all that someone was filming me. I did not count the seconds they showed me (it's just a few seconds anyway), but they showed the XP pretty good. A little strange to see yourself on TV, but no big deal, just a few collegues from worked also saw it mentioned it to me.
Last night, I took a ride with my XP near the canal and at one point, I passed 2 fishermen sitting besides the canal. They both saw me coming and when I passed them, I heard one of them say to the other one : "Hey, that's the guy on his weird bike they showed on TV!" It was very weird to hear such a thing coming from a complete stranger !
For those who are interested and wanna watch, you can see the (short) broadcast here (WMP only - I'll cruise by around 1'28") and please, no autographs ;-)
The least you can say, is that you get noticed when riding a bike like the XP !

Test ride

A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from someone who is interested in getting a LWB recumbent. He was not sure whether to go for an Easy Racers or a Stratus XP, so he asked me if it was possible to pay me a visit and test ride my XP. I told him he was more than welcome.
I still remember when I bought my first Stratus back in 1999, there was no possibility at all to testride any LWB RANS bike. There was only one dealer in Germany back then and he only had 2 RANS SWB bikes. So I ordered the Stratus frame set based on reviews I read in the Recumbent Cyclist News , but I never regretted my choice. So it's no problem for me to let anyone who's interested in getting a LWB take a test ride on my XP.
The guy payed me a visit today, together with his wife. Since we're both the same height, no real adjustments were needed (I explained everything in detail though, but he felt comfortable the minute he sat down on the bike). We provided a regular bike for his wife so they could ride together, I showed them the start of the bicycle route nearby and told them to have a nice ride.
After only 20 minutes they both returned and he told me he really liked the XP. Since I still had an extra 2007 catalog, I gave it to him. Most likely he's also going to order a frame set (he told me he'd go for the aluminum frame).
That would make the 4th person in Belgium to ride a Stratus from RANS. My old one is bought by someone close to the seaside, another one ordered a frame set about a month ago and is building it up, me of course and maybe Bruno, who test rode my XP today. Maybe it's about time I ask RANS for a commission ;-)

And then ...

Two weeks after I sent Shimano an e-mail I received an answer telling me that they stopped producing that sensor two years ago. Sent them a mail back to inform them that it is still mentioned on their website, but I don't think think the big S company cares though ....
Strangely enough, the sensor is working again. A couple of nights ago I took my XP to ride to work and the lights switched on automatically when it got dark, so maybe ....
Overall, I'm very happy with the new tires. They are not slower, they produce a nice humming sound and most important : they do not throw up sand and dust like the Big Apples used to do. It must be the thread, which is completely different. With the Big Apples, the seat between my legs was always covered with sand, no matter where I rode the XP. Well, that's history now. Can't tell much about durability yet, only time will tell.
I also received Rans' latest brochure this week (I ordered another handlebar for my Zenetik Pro), so I could start drooling over these nice bikes Rans produces. Man, that Titanium XP .... wow !!! If only it was not so expensive, I'd .... yeah right !

Technical problems ....

I took the XP for a ride last night. I left home around 7 pm so there was still plenty of light. After riding for more than one hour, it started to get dark. I expected the lights of the XP turn on automatically, as they always did but nothing happened. I had to stop and set the sensor switch to the ON position in order to get my lights running. Though I love the automatic function of the
Shimano sensor switch ,this is already the 4th or the 5th unit that breaks down. You can still use the ON and OFF function, but since the automatic function no longer is available, what's the point in using a sensor switch ?! I called my bike shop for a replacement, where they told me that they are no longer in production since most head lights nowadays come with an automatic sensor of their own (the front light of the XP is such an example). But since my rear light is also powered by the hub dynamo, I'll have to look for another light powered by (rechargeable) batteries. Okay, I know it's not a big deal to have to stop to turn on your lights and maybe I am spoiled, but I'm used to having my lights turn on and off automatically (most of my bikes have this function). The switch is still mentioned on SHIMANO's website, so I'll send them a mail and ask them if the sensors are still available or not. To be continued ....

Back on the road again !

Last week, I picked up my "new" wheels with the new and stronger spokes. Since the thread of the rear BIG APPLE tire was almost completely gone, I also asked for a new set of tires. My friend ordered SCHWALBE's latest MARATHON SUPREMES and put them on my bike. Today I finally rode my XP again after months of collecting dust in my garage. Boy, I almost forgot how comfortable that seat is, pure luxury !!! The few first miles I rode the bike, I heard some a buzzing sound coming from the rear, which made me look back a couple of times, thinking there was something or someone riding close behind me. Than I realized that the new tires produced this sound ! It's not much of a bother, just something you should get used to in time. And they only buzz on real smooth surfaces, so it's no real problem at all.

I also replace the single legged kickstand with a double legged one. Last year, I read an article about HUMPERT, a German company that produces all kinds of bike parts. Their latest kickstand, the DOUBLE FLEX has 2 legs which fold inwards when you kick them back. Installation was a piece of cake and now the bike can be parked more stable, even when loaded. Another benefit of this kind of kickstand is that when in use, the bike rests on its front wheel, avoiding it from flopping sideways. I went out for some groceries this morning and even with my bags fully loaded, the bike could be parked firm and stable.

The new kickstand in use ....

and folded back.

Finally finally finally ....

I finally managed to get my hands on the right size of spokes. Not through my regular bike shop, but from someone who can make them any size you want. So last week I took both wheels of my XP and handed them in at my friend's place together with the new spokes. He promised me to have the wheels ready by the end of this week. The condition of the rear tyre was so bad, that I asked him to replace it with a new one. No more Big Apple, this time I'm gonna try out Schwalbe's new MARATHON SUPREMES. I ordered a complete set, both for the front and the back wheel. They come in the same size and should last longer than the Big Apples.
Harldy can believe it's almost been 2 months since I last rode my XP .... Luckily, I got plenty of bikes to choose from. Most of my riding lately has been on the Zenetik Pro, only on the days when it did not rain. Unfortunately, the winter has been very mild so far, but also very wet :-(

Still waiting ....

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the right size spokes to arrive at my bike shop. I now have 2 broken spokes in my rear wheel that need to be replaced, so I'm not riding the XP at all. I checked with my bike shop last week and they contacted SAPIM again, but were told that the spokes would not arrive until January. Total milage this year will be 3100 miles, a lot less than I expected. Luckily, I still have my Zenetik Pro and my velomobile to keep riding. Hopefully, next year I'll spend some more time on the XP !

Rain, rain, rain ....

It has been raining a lot lately, which means I did not ride the XP much. I don't mind getting wet myself, but exposing the chain and drivetrain to water and mud, no thanks, not me. This means that I have been riding my velomobile only lately and the XP was parked inside the garage. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a front pannier rack from CORDO ,but they did not send me the adapter set for forks without eyelets. These arrived this week so I installed the front rack, as you can see in the picture. Still have to find a solution for the upper rack claw, because the rack does not open wide enough due to the beefy fork. It stays in place, but I don't want it to rattle while riding. Also haven't tried to ride the XP with a fully loaded set of panniers yet, that's somehting I'll have to try soon.


I also finally picked my Zenetik Pro bike from my friend's place. The bike was ready more than a week ago, but because of the neverending rain ... - right. I did not have the chance to ride it yet, but the rain'll have to stop someday, and then .... I can't imagine that the Zenetik Pro will ride as comfortable as the XP, but it should be faster though. Can't wait to find out !

Waiting ...

I'm still riding my XP with a broken spoke in the rear wheel. So far, the rest of the wheels seems fine as I'm waiting until my bicycle shop has received the stronger and thicker spokes. Apearantly, SAPIM is only producing spokes in a specific size and/or length by the thousands, but cannot tell which size will be available when, so it's a matter of waiting. Could be a matter of a couple of days, but also a matter of weeks (probably the latter). As long as I can keep riding, I do not worry about it much.
I submitted some pictures of my XP to the gallery of
recumbentblog and received a nice e-mail from Alan about them (seems not everybody's taking the time and/or the effort to read the submission guidelines). He has one of the finest and most beautiful blogs around (that I'm aware of anyway). I'm stil trying to get my picture right on top of this blog, but I still need to work on my html skills (and it shows, I know).
Not much riding lately, mainly because of the weather. Winter is coming and with temperatures dropping, I'm more comfortable riding my velomobile, which offers much better protection against the elements. Not that I mind the cold, it's the rain I dislike the most. Not for myself, I don't care to get wet at all, but to get my bike wet and dirty .... Yuk ! I really hate to clean up bikes after riding them in the rain, so I try to avoid this as much as possible. Luckily for me, my velomobile is the perfect bike for rainy days !

2940 miles so far on my XP and still loving it

Autumn has arrived.

My velomobile was ready and I picked it up last Thursday, so the XP isn't used for commuting anymore. Not that I did mind commuting on the XP, but my velomobile is faster and offers much more protection against the elements, especially during winter time.

After my night shift from last night, I took the XP for a 2-hour ride late this afternoon. It was cloudy and pretty windy, but with mild temperatures. So mild actually, that I used my SPD-sandals for the ride and did not put on the socks I had with me, just in case. Not many riders on the towpath, but a lot of pedestrians, all enjoying the changing of the colors. I did attrack a lot of attention with my shorts and sandals, compared to the other bicyclists, most of them dressed like it was already wintertime !
Especially after night shifts, the XP is my favorite ride. The seat is absolutely the most comfortable I ever sat on. No pressure points, no reaons to stop pedalling for any discomfort except when your legs get tired .... For me, it's the ultimate touring bike. Of course, all of my rides with the XP start at home. We only have a small car, so there's no possibility to transport the XP, but what the heck, there are so many beautiful rides around the place were I live, why bother ....

National HPV Championships

Yesterday the National HPV Championships took place in the outdoor cycle track in Hulshout. Weather conditions were excellent : blues skies all over and a brisk breeze, so I decided to ride my XP to the place. It took me almost 2 hours to get there, but I missed a few exits. Not that I did mind, it was a nice ride and since it was Sunday, not much motorized traffic along the way. Most of the route to Hulshout was either on the towpath near the canal or on seperate bicycle lanes, it doesn't get any better than that !
Only a total of 17 riders showed up for the two races : the first race was a 10-round race (2 riders competing against eachother) and the second race was a 1-hour race. It took some pictures of the event, which can be seen here

Today was another nice autumn day, so I took my XP for a ride this afternoon. I tried out something new with my compact camera and the result can be seen by clicking on the "play" icon below. The camera was held in my left hand while riding the XP. Made an account on YouTube, were I downloaded the clip and imported it to this site.

The resolution from the clip on this site is worse than when you watch the clip on YouTube' site, but I can't explain why. Maybe the software is designed to do so ....

Bummer .....

Yesterday, another spoke broke in the rear wheel. This is the 4th spoke so far and I'm getting tired of it ! I rode to the bicycle shop yesterday morning to have them check my rear wheel and they instantly told me the spokes are too thin and too weak for the hub I'm using. They ordered a set of stronger ones, since they did not have the length I need in stock ( I need shorter ones since I'm using the Nexus hub ). I also noticed yesterday night that the light sensor is not working anymore, at least not the atomatic function. I've had this problem with these Shimano sensors before, it's still under warranty, so I'll trade it in for a new one. Luckily, I could still manually switch it to the "on" function, so I did not have to ride home without any light. The front light has an auto switch mode too, but the rear light cannot be connected to it, so I'll have to use the Shimano sensor to turn them on/off both ....

Still alive and kicking ....

It's been a while since I posted something, but not much important happened these last few weeks. About three weeks ago, I had to have another spoke replaced in the rear wheel, since I broke another on. Used the XP mostly for commuting, since my velomobile has not been put together yet. Fortunately, the weather conditions were mostly good ( meaning : no rain or showers ), so I really enjoyed riding the XP to work.
I did change the rubber grips on the handlebar though. During summertime, I noticed that the regular ( straight ) grips I had before became very slippery once I started to ride and sweat and that it took some effort to keep my hands on the grips. I replaced them with curvy ones, which offer more grip to keep my hands from slipping off. They were cheap no-brand grips ( Scorpions ?),but they offer more grip and are more comfortable on longer rides. I also changed the angle of the handlebars, putting the ends more inward. Feels a bit more comfortable too, just have to see what it'll give on the long run. Weather was excellent today, so I took a 2 hour ride. Actually, I checked out a route today, 'cause I'm supposed to organise a recumbent group ride during the weekend of November 18. I took a 40 mile trip today, which I think is the perfect distance for a group ride, especially since the group ride will include some kids on their bents. It's a ride that will cross the borders with the Netherlands a couple of times ( no problem, I live less than 10 miles away from it ), but with very nice scenery and either seperate bicycle lanes or roads with almost no motorized traffic. The picture below was taken this afternoon just across the border, close to a place called ESBEEK. Rode a total of 2565 miles on my XP so far.

Indian Summer ....

The weather improved a lot in the last two weeks, it seems that summer's back again. Not that I mind though, au contraire !
I'm still using the XP for commuting, since my velomobile is not ready yet (still waiting for a new paint job, hopefully this week !). Compared to my velomobile the XP is slower, but since my route to work has changed and improved recently, I do not mind at all. I can now ride near the canal to work on the towpath for almost the complete route, which means no cars or other motorized traffic on my way. It is about 1,8 miles shorter one way compared with what I used to ride everyday, but the silence and the peace near the canal is pure luxury ! Especially when riding to or coming from work at sunrise or sunset has something magical sometimes, whith the mist just above the water and only the sound of birds .... Makes me realize how lucky I am to be living on this side of the planet, where I can just take my bike and ride wherever I want to, with no worries or troubles at all ....
The picture below was taken a couple of days ago, I think it's some kind of fungus, growing on the ground near the towpath. Around 2150 miles so far.

And keeping them there ....

I stayed dry all night long, but when it was time to go home, it started to rain. It gave me the opportunity to test the mudflaps on wet surfaces and they seem to do their job : no more water and dirt spraying up anymore. Close to home, the front mudflap fell off and I heard a loud "ping!" coming from the back. I stopped to pick up the mudflap (the plastic pin connecting it to the fender was gone - as to be expected) and could not find anything else wrong with my bike, so I continued riding home. This afternoon I connected both mudflaps to the fenders with small nuts and bolts so they're supposed to stay in place this time.
While cleaning up my bike, I discoverd that 2 spokes in the rear wheel are broken -hence the "ping!" sound earlier this day ! Strange thing to brake 2 spokes at the same time, but anyway .... I'll bring my rear wheel to my bikeshop tomorrow morning and they promised to have the spokes replaced and the wheel trued by tomorrow night. I also checked the rear wheel sprocket, which turns out to be an 18 tooth cog. I want to replace it by a bigger cog, which will give me more lower gear. Still have to check with my bikeshop whether or not he has bigger cogs in stock ....

Adding mudflaps

I was finally able to take a longer ride today, a little over 2,5 hours. After days of rain it almost felt like spring : blue skies with white clouds and a lot of people of bicycles. Since my velomobile has been taken apart for a complete overhaul, I have been using my XP for commuting for the last week. I noticed that especially on wet surfaces, the water sprayed all underneath my legs and the seat. Also the top of the rear pannier rack got covered with a lot of dust and sand (part of my commuting trip includes a stretch of sand). A couple of months ago, I bought some mudflaps from SKS, but since they are black and my fenders are not, I did not install them. Today, before my ride, I finally installed them just to see if there' s any improvement. Can't tell anything about wet surfaces yet, but the mudflaps sure stop a lot of sand and dust from spraying all over the bike.
The fenders on the XP are SKS Bluemels and I originally wanted black ones, but according to my bike shop, they're only available in silver for 26" wheels. Bummer. Still looking for some nice black fenders though, with or without mudflaps ....
So far, I have ridden a little over 1840 miles on my XP.

mudflap with plastic pin (still needs to be cut)

Change of season ?

Did not ride much lately, mostly due to the bad weather. Since I got back from the Ecotrip, it has been raining most of the time and temperatures dropped quiet a bit. It feels more like autumn instead of summer the last days ... Whenever possible I tried to ride the XP between showers, which means no long rides at all. Hopefully the summer will not be completely gone and the sun will come back one of these days ....
Last week Sunday I took a ride to Lommel to visit the 2nd International Sand Sculpture Festival.
It was only a 20 mile ride one way and no signs of rain that day, so I took the XP to get there. It was my first time to visit sand sculptures and there were a few real nice sculptures I really liked/was impressed by. They charged an entry fee of 8 Euro's, which was way overpriced if you ask me. It only took you about half an hour to see every sculpture, so the exhibition was not that big. Anyway, it was a nice ride near the canal to Lommel and back and at least I took some pictures.

One of the most impressive sand sculptures

Tomorrow after my late shift at work I'll be off to Zutendaal. There will be a BBQ-ride for velomobiles on Tuesday ( 94 miles ), so I'll ride my Alleweder velomobile to get there and join the ride on Tuesday. My wife will take the car + trailer with her Kettwiesel tomorrow afternoon to get there, so the tent should be put up by the time I'll be there. She's planning to take part of the family ride on Tuesday, which is only around 25 miles. Let's hope the rain will stay away for a couple of days ....