Brevet 200 km - Mińsk Mazowiecki - Poland

Damien

Damien

Well-Known Member
Second brevet of the season. Another one at a distance of 200 km, once again on the Cruzbike S40. This time through the eastern part of Mazovia in central Poland. The weather was dry and sunny, but at the same time it was cold, and the wind was strong — as always, blowing right into my face (some kind of magic and a general rule, it seems). This time, I was the only one riding a recumbent bike. Enjoy watching!

 
vmi1056

vmi1056

Well-Known Member
Looks like you are having a blast! Now that you have completed a couple of brevets on your S40, any set up changes you are thinking about or do you have it dialed in the way you like it?
 
Damien

Damien

Well-Known Member
vmi1056 said:
Looks like you are having a blast! Now that you have completed a couple of brevets on your S40, any set up changes you are thinking about or do you have it dialed in the way you like it?
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I’m not planning any changes except that I need to mount at least one more bottle cage, or maybe I'll switch to a hydration bladder. Currently, I ride with only one small bottle mounted under the handlebars, and it’s getting more and more insufficient. I tested the whole bike with the standard factory setup at the end of last season, and since then it has been upgraded based on the lessons learned from the first rides. However, I’m still learning and with every longer ride, I test some new solutions. This time, I used a Ventisit seat pad for the first time — and it’s working well.
 
Damien

Damien

Well-Known Member
Puttme Ray said:
I mounted water bottles on both sides of the seat very easy to access
you can get the needed parts from cruzbike
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Yeah... I don't necessarily buy it from Cruzbike due to high taxes and delivery costs - I am living in Poland :) All items I can buy here. Only thing to figure out it is bottle cage spacer so it will be ease to make something similar.
 
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Boreen bimbler

Member
The Polish Audax rides look very well organised and attended. Roads and surface look great (on the video) too. And almost every other rider looking twice thinking WTF is that he's riding is hilarious.
I too use the seat mounted cages and find them great.
The Irish audax rides often seemed wet and you spent a lot of stops outside a petrol station drinking crappy coffee. But I do miss it. Always good company and some great routes.
Did you experience any recumbutt?
 
Damien

Damien

Well-Known Member
Boreen bimbler said:
The Polish Audax rides look very well organised and attended. Roads and surface look great (on the video) too. And almost every other rider looking twice thinking WTF is that he's riding is hilarious.
I too use the seat mounted cages and find them great.
The Irish audax rides often seemed wet and you spent a lot of stops outside a petrol station drinking crappy coffee. But I do miss it. Always good company and some great routes.
Did you experience any recumbutt?
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It's true — recumbent riders aren’t a common sight on Polish roads, but they do show up at our brevets from time to time. On the last one (there’s a video link in another thread), my friend joined on a DIY Cruzbike.

What’s even more interesting is that, in the video, I pass a random tourist riding some kind of Azub with USS handlebars. I also know there’s at least one original Cruzbike Silvio in Poland, though I’ve never seen it in person.

Other brevet participants usually react with curiosity — especially since I’m not exactly slow and often end up overtaking others. Plus, I enjoy chatting along the way, which always makes the ride more enjoyable.

I met some folks from Audax Ireland during Paris-Brest-Paris 2023 — and funnily enough, it was outside a shop. So there’s definitely a grain of truth to what you mentioned!
 
Damien

Damien

Well-Known Member
There will be a lot of YouTube videos this year – if everything goes according to plan. In May, I have two more brevets: 200 km. In June, the Baltic–Bieszczady Tour, 1014 km, and a 300 km brevet. In July, a 1000 km brevet through Poland and Lithuania, followed by London–Edinburgh–London, 1540 km, and the cherry on top: the Audax Poland Universe Championship, 600 km. September is the time for 300 km brevets and the season finale with 200 km. The key is to stay healthy, avoid crashes and equipment failure, and I’ll complete everything.

I don’t think there will be many more Cruzbikes in Europe in the coming years. The company doesn’t have a dealer in the European Union. The prices are astronomical, the shipping costs are high, and soon there will probably be even higher customs duties. Competitors like Slyway or even Azub are cheaper and locally available.
 
M

marschu

New Member
Damien said:
I’m not planning any changes except that I need to mount at least one more bottle cage, or maybe I'll switch to a hydration bladder. Currently, I ride with only one small bottle mounted under the handlebars, and it’s getting more and more insufficient. I tested the whole bike with the standard factory setup at the end of last season, and since then it has been upgraded based on the lessons learned from the first rides. However, I’m still learning and with every longer ride, I test some new solutions. This time, I used a Ventisit seat pad for the first time — and it’s working well.
Click to expand...
I don't use a water bottle anymore, only a hydration bladder in the back of the suitcase / bag
With a tube to the wrist there to a velcro strap
I could drink very badly from the bottle while driving
 
M

Maverick1

New Member
I just can't comprehend why there are so few riders riding recumbent bikes these days?
Recumbents are infinitely more comfortable, especially over longer rides, they are more efficient as they cut through the air much cleaner than diamond framed bicycles.
It's mind-boggling why people won't try riding recumbents.
I live in Canada and for the last 3 years I've ridden on a well traveled paved pathway along Lake Ontario, from Hamilton to Burlington 5 days a week in the summer, and I've never seen anyone on a recumbent bike except myself on my Bacchetta Giro 26.
I can average 30 km per hour for most of the journey, and no one passes me except much younger cyclists on carbon fiber, lightweight racing bikes, or people cheating on e-bikes.
I also ride a racing Catrike 700.
I would love to try and maybe buy a Cruzbike V20, if I could get my hands on a used one some day.
 

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Damien

Damien

Well-Known Member
Maverick1 said:
I just can't comprehend why there are so few riders riding recumbent bikes these days?
Recumbents are infinitely more comfortable, especially over longer rides, they are more efficient as they cut through the air much cleaner than diamond framed bicycles.
It's mind-boggling why people won't try riding recumbents.
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Answer is simple and brutal.
People don't even know that such bikes exist and that they're a cool alternative. There are no shops offering them — I'm talking about the big ones, not the small, specialist ones — basically in Poland, a country of 40 million where bikes are super popular, there might be only one store like that. There's nowhere to see them, touch them, try them out.
 
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B

Boreen bimbler

Member
Freaks and those of us who can't ride a DF bike for any time any more (due to fibromyalgia). But then I'm probably a freak too.
My S40 means I can still spend time on a bike. I don't have the energy I used to by any means. But at least I'm comfortable on the rides I do. Thats priceless to me.
 
M

Maverick1

New Member
Boreen bimbler said:
Freaks and those of us who can't ride a DF bike for any time any more (due to fibromyalgia). But then I'm probably a freak too.
My S40 means I can still spend time on a bike. I don't have the energy I used to by any means. But at least I'm comfortable on the rides I do. Thats priceless to me.
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The amount of time I can ride my recumbent bike comfortably compared to my traditional bike with that tiny uncomfortable seat is maybe 3 to 4 times.
Plus riding a traditional diamond framed bike there is the saddle soreness, lower back pain, wrist pain and neck pain.
I just wish recumbents were more available in bicycle shops.
 
R

roadhog

New Member
Damien said:
Second brevet of the season. Another one at a distance of 200 km, once again on the Cruzbike S40. This time through the eastern part of Mazovia in central Poland. The weather was dry and sunny, but at the same time it was cold, and the wind was strong — as always, blowing right into my face (some kind of magic and a general rule, it seems). This time, I was the only one riding a recumbent bike. Enjoy watching!

Click to expand...
Did my First 200 yesterday. Didn’t register since I was unsure if I could finish. I haven’t DNF once in 40 years so I don’t want to start now. Ride was good but not easy with 1200metres of climbing IMG_0977.jpeg
 
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