Monday, March 7, 2011

Baja Dreams

This year I want to ride my bent through Baja Mexico.

Years ago I met a cyclist who was crossing Baja on his bike (I was on a Green Tortoise Baja Beach Daze, we have stopped to see the cave paintings near Catavina). I had a short chat with the fellow cyclists. I asked him what was the hardest thing, and he told me that the supply of water was dictating where he could travel.

Lower back pain has stopped me from bicycling a few years back, but I have been fighting back with a recumbent. Suddenly, the dream is back and I have ways of achieving it!

I did not feel that my Cannondale Bent 1 was adequate - I had unresolved issues with midrive that would cause the chain jump chainrings and would sometimes jam, so I was looking for the "ultimate" touring bent.

I came to the conclusion of HP Velotechnik's StreetMachine GTe. I had some money set aside for the traveling, which I dipped into and placed an order for an orange Street Machine. I ended up placing an order with Zach Kaplan in Alameda, as my almost local dealer (BentUp Cycles) did not have a Street Machine in stock to try. My local dealer Victor from Bicycle Workshop in Santa Monica doesn't carry HP Velotechnik at all, but I see him doing most of the work I can not do for the bike.

After going to India and coming back I eagerly awaited my new "dream machine".

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