I am 62 years old and have been riding bikes since my mid 20's. Early on I took an interest in mountain biking, which led to my purchasing a Klein. After several years of riding off road I put 1.25 inch slicks on the Klein and started street riding. One day 23 years ago I had an encounter with a dog and went over the handlebars, hitting the road hard and cracking the seat tube. I got up and finished the ride. This encounter with the dog led to 1 cervical surgery and 4 lumbar surgeries, including 6 years in pain management on Methadone. To continue cycling, after the first lumbar surgery, I purchased a Vision recumbent, which I recently had modified for my wife to ride. At the beginning of 2012, after the 6 years in pain management and the final 2 surgeries, I decided it was time to get back to cycling so I went on a diet, started aggressive exercise and lost the 55 lbs I had gained. In the spring of this year got my Vision back on the road. With the weight loss I found biking a pleasure and progressed quickly. In June I was having enough success that I signed up for the Sea Gull Century (2 100 mile rides and one 65 mile ride) held on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for the past 25 years in October. My longest ride before this was a club ride of 50 miles I did more than 15 years ago. In July I decided it was time to upgrade my bike and was prepared to buy a P38 Lightening XT. I had purchased my Vision from Mt Airy Bikes so I went to their web site and discovered they did not carry the P38, but I saw a picture of a new product that they had just started selling - the Cruzbike. It looked unusual and the idea of front wheel drive did not seem to make sense so I started looking for a bike shop that carried the P38. But the uniqueness of the Cruzbike had caught my attention and I started trying to find out more. Mt Airy had not yet gotten a demo bike in so I had no way of trying the Cruzbike but I finally determined that I liked the bike enough that I ordered the Silvio 2.0 sight unseen. Shortly after I placed a deposit on the bike, with a money back guarantee if not satisfied, they got a Quest and I rode a Cruzbike for the first time. It was difficult but my recumbent experience helped and I found I enjoyed the challenge.
My Silvio with the Shimano triple crank finally arrived. I had less than 2 months to learn to ride the bike before the Sea Gull. I started in parking lots of shopping centers and office buildings and than onto an 11 mile loop around the BWI Airport. It was difficult at first and I started considering skipping the Sea Gull. On top of the initial riding difficulties, I was having trouble arranging a place to stay and the ride is 3 hours from my home. Eight days before the ride I found a place and with great hesitation decided to give the event a try. At the worse I would have to stop and have the SAG van take me back. I started at 7AM with nearly 7000 other riders. A few people ask if they could take pictures of the Silvio. After 4 hours and 14 minutes I completed the longest ride I had ever ridden in the fastest time in my nearly 40 years on a bike. The last 20 miles was into a headwind and with the Silvio I was passing riders half my age. The Silvio is an incredible bike and well worth the effort to learn to ride.
My Silvio with the Shimano triple crank finally arrived. I had less than 2 months to learn to ride the bike before the Sea Gull. I started in parking lots of shopping centers and office buildings and than onto an 11 mile loop around the BWI Airport. It was difficult at first and I started considering skipping the Sea Gull. On top of the initial riding difficulties, I was having trouble arranging a place to stay and the ride is 3 hours from my home. Eight days before the ride I found a place and with great hesitation decided to give the event a try. At the worse I would have to stop and have the SAG van take me back. I started at 7AM with nearly 7000 other riders. A few people ask if they could take pictures of the Silvio. After 4 hours and 14 minutes I completed the longest ride I had ever ridden in the fastest time in my nearly 40 years on a bike. The last 20 miles was into a headwind and with the Silvio I was passing riders half my age. The Silvio is an incredible bike and well worth the effort to learn to ride.
