Won Cha's Adventure
Stereotypically,
westerners know that all Asian people ride bicycles, right? Well, I’m
Korean and I never learned to ride a bicycle. And these days, Korea,
Japan and most other developed Asian countries have at least as many cars per
capital as do Western nations. My husband, Hoppy, who is an avid cyclist
and the owner of T-Ryx Recumbent Trikes (one of the largest trike dealerships
in California) tried to teach me to ride a standard bicycle years ago but
pretty quickly he realized I was a lost cause for two wheels.
One Monday in early Fall 2011, after several years of trying to get me
to ride farther than our shop’s parking lot, Hoppy wheeled out a demo ICE
Adventure FS+. “There’s no learning curve in riding a recumbent trike” he said.
“Bah!” I said (I wasn’t going to let him win this learn-to-cycle battle!)
I’m a petite lady, only 4’-10” tall, and I couldn’t reach the pedals
with the boom all the way in. Hoppy added a bracket* that moved the seat
forward and upward so I could reach the pedals without a problem. To keep
my husband happy, I sat down for a little pedal; I had no intention of going
very far.
Although I’ll never admit it to Hoppy, I actually enjoyed riding the ICE
Adventure that day. It was my first time pedaling anything anywhere and I ended
up cycling 9.5 miles along Mission Bay in San Diego. A week later I rode 17.2
miles on the Silver Strand, Coronado Island, California. Then I got a
little lazy and only rode 15 miles. But the fourth time I rode 24 miles,
all the way around Mission Bay in San Diego! Granted, I was riding only
about 5-6 mph, but that’s one of the many benefits of riding a recumbent trike,
isn’t it? You can ride as fast or as slowly as you want and you’re not
going to fall over. Hoppy has a bunch of trikes in his shop going zero
mph as we speak, and they’re not falling over. J
I am now preparing for a new season of riding my trike (it’s not Hoppy’s
demo trike anymore, but I do let customers take a spin on my ICE
Adventure!) I sent photos to my family in San Jose, California and they now
plan to visit us and I’ll take them out for a spin through my favorite
spots. My niece In Cha said that if I can ride 24 miles, she can ride
farther. In Cha never learned to ride a bicycle either, but she’ll be
just fine on a trike.
So, for all those people out there who, like me, can’t ride a bicycle,
let me tell you that you can ride a recumbent trike. And with a suspended trike
like the ICE Adventure FS it’s like cruising around town on your favorite
armchair, so you can cycle and you can cycle all day!
- - Won
Cha Dean (sometimes known as “Atom”)
Click here to visit T-Ryx Recumbent Trikes
* ICE FF
Seat Bracket(Note: the FF bracket is not recommended for the
Adventure because, for average height and weight riders, it moves the center of
gravity too far forward, and upward. The FF Bracket is intended for use
on the ICE Sprint for shorter riders.