RojoRacing
Donut Powered Wise-guy
We'll call this my introduction as well as my progress report thread as I try to adapt my prior experiences to mastering my first Recumbent bike the Vendetta V20. I've been called over analytical more then a few times so be prepared for some details. I'll post updates as I go and feel free to chime in with advice and ideas you think will help. If you want to see my daily progress of the rides themselves you can follow my Strava page and see where, how far and fast I'm riding from day to day. https://www.strava.com/athletes/rojoracing
My name is Jason Perez currently 30years old and an aspiring MTB endurance racer. I may be a bit younger then the average recumbent rider but I've always been told I have a maturity about me that makes me easy to get along with. I tend to be impatient like most younger people, but I have an open mind and don't weigh anyone's opinion too heavy which includes my own. I look and new and different things and think huh that's different and don't judge it negatively just because it's different.
The Motorsports years
In 2000 I started riding and racing my first street motorcycle a YSR 50 and each year I progressed enough to jump up to the next size bike and class and found myself racing as a privately funded Professional at the world and national levels. At the end of 2007 I decided my favorite fun hobby of racing motorcycles had become to politically strained and no long fun so I promptly retired to retain my love of the sport. 2008 I raced motocross bikes in several varying disciplines and rediscover the thrill of racing two wheels.
The Ultra Running Years
2009 I attempted my first 50k(31miles) Ultra Marathon trail running race which quickly grew into an addiction to see how far my body could go. 2010-2012 I raced at least thirty 50k's, half a dozen 50 milers, and three 100 milers including the famed Western States 100. 2013 I quite all running and cycling and bought a Kawasaki Ninja 250 sport bike which I promptly started modifying top to bottom which would later become a very important part of what I do now.
Becoming a MTBer
The end of 2013 I was invited on a 10 day mtb trip through parts of Oregon. This was the turning point from when I transitioned from riding a mtb on local boring fire roads which I hated, to full fledged Mtber unable to quench his thirst for new trails. When I got back from that Oregon trip I ordered the parts to build a single speed mtb and as soon as I finished it on a friday night I drove 3hrs north got a few hours of sleep and lined up for a solo 24hr mtb race which I went onto winning with 202 miles in 21hrs. I had fallen in love with racing all over again but needed a more fuel efficient transport vehicle then my toyota tundra. That's where my highly modified street bike comes into play. With a little enginuity I fabricated a bicycle rack for my motorcycle that would allow me to carry everything I would need to camp and race over a full week. In 2014 I competed in 41 mtb races ranging from local 20 mile XC races to 8, 12 & 24hr solo races and as far from CA as New Mexico. It seemed the longer the race I better chance I had at winning so I tries focusing on my endurance and general riding skills. 2015 I've done fewer short distance races and really focused on the ultra distance events which would include the 2015 WEMBO 24HR SOLO Mtb world championships in two weeks time. I recently won the 24hrs of Bend completing 252 miles(new personal record) on the mtb on a course mostly consisting my windy single track.
Where I'm headed now
With my performance over these last 2 years as well as my carefree attitude towards trying anything if it sounded interesting I now find myself in possession of a Vendetta V20 on a limited trail curtosy of the folks at CruzBikes. The idea is to see if I can't put the hurt on the standard road bike field in the upcoming World 24hr Road Time Trial held on Nov 13-14 http://24hrworlds.com/24/index.php?N_webcat_id=360 setting some kind of record would just be icing on the cake.
The Trial
Day 1
So I received my brand new Vendetta fully assembled in what could be considered the worlds biggest bike box. During my lunch break I tried hopping on for a quick spin to get a feel for it and quickly found myself overwhelmed by a lack of balance. It took me a couple minutes to get both feet clipped in and rolling through our parking lot like a drunkard leaving the bar at 2am. I never feel over but in the short 15 mins I attempted to ride the bike I put my feet down a lot. I tried riding down our street but was quickly overcome by a severe sense of fear for my life, which may honestly be the very first time I can recall that happening EVER. I mean I'm comfortable with going nearly 200 mph and dragging my knee through corners at 140mph on a motorcycle knowing full well death is only a small mistake away but I never felt fearful for my life. I was afraid if I happen to get one of those assholes in a vehicle who passes you within inches and I just happen to swerve left due to my current lack of balance I'd get myself killed. I my area in order to safely road cycle you need to actively control your environment which means hand signals and occasional swerving to get the cars behind you to show a little common sense. This means on my 30 mile commute I spend nearly half my time checking my mirror to see how the cars are acting behind me. You can't look in a mirror if you so focused on merely balancing a bike that you can't look anywhere but strait ahead. With less then ½ mile on the bike I rolled in back into my show so I could bring in my truck to take it home where I could safely ride my local bike path.
Day 2
24.6 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/394515652
This would be my first true ride on the Vendetta so I spent some time riding back and forth in my street which has zero traffic. I made several adjustments to the ergonomics but with no prior recumbent experience I was just guessing on what it should feel like. After I got the bike to fit me and shift a little crisper I rode to our local paved bike path that in about 9 miles long and has one section of about 2.5 miles with no road crossing and several turns good for practicing cornering. I rode back and forth several times on this long section taking mental notes of what I felt and trying ideas to smooth out my balance. I found if I didn't pedal I could proceed perfectly strait and navigate corners with ease, so every time I passed a person I would simply coast by then start pedaling again. Another thing I noticed was I had zero issues with very hard accelerations since I found the high pressure on the pedals combined with me pulling back hard but consistently on the bars mad for a stable ride. The sudden easing up on the pedal force after sprinting would cause me to wobble though. I couldn't ride with only one hand so I would stop to drink out of my bottle.
I feel like a superstar when I can cleaning navigate between to bollards and check for cars at the road crossings on the trail. It goes something like "ok keep it steady, don't hit the pole, don't hit the pole, ohhhhh damnnnn......YEAH! I didn't hit the pole, damn are there any cars, crap I'm falling over, need....too.....keep.....pedaling....no not that way, Oh! another pole, don't hit the pole, don't hit the pole" it's pure comedy in my head.
Things I learned
I lifting your head slightly seemed to aid in balance and vision through corners. With the laid back position the sun is always in your eyes and makes it hard to see in some situations, yes I'm already wearing the darkest sunglasses I own. You trade a sweaty and sore ass or a much larger sweaty back. I sucks not being able to carry all my items in my rear jersey pockets. Don't carry item on your shorts like cell phones, wallets and such because they WILL fall out. I have zero perception of speed so it's hard to tell if I'm faster or slower on the Vendetta vs my standard road bike. Kids absolutely love seeing something different and new so you get a lot of positive chatter when rolling through the local park.
Day 3
17.2 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/395902868
I mounted my front and rear lights so I could do the same ride again but this time at night when there less traffic both pedestrian and vehicular. Half my road cycling commute is in the dark(3am) and almost all my local Mtbing is also at night due to most the trails being illegal to ride so I at home in the dark. If you've used Strava to record your rides via GPS you'll understand this next part but if you've never heard of strava then just do your best. At the end of the bike path I ride there's two 2.5 mile strava segment, one in each direction so after 5 miles to establish my balance again I rode as fast as I could through these two segments in hopes of gauging my speed on the Vendetta vs my other bike. I ended up about 10 second shy of my best recorded times on both segments which is very impressive when you consider it was a night on a bike I'm still struggling to balance with some rather tricky blind corners. At the end of this ride I saw a noticeable improvement in my balance as well as my starting and stopping skills so I decided I would start an hour earlier then the local fast guy group ride and practice riding the surface streets of the city. If I felt safe enough after the first hour I would join the group ride and just play it by ear.
Things I learned
Because your head is in contact with the head rest it's not in a fluid state like when it's not in contact with anything on a normal bike. I feel this makes it feel like my head it locked in place and I feel like I've lost a ton of peripheral vision. If I lift my head off the rest I get a lot of it back but that's an extra movement that seems to be hard to do automatically right now.
Day 4
51.7 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/396470205
7am and I'm rolling out my driveway and I notice I takes me almost no time to get as comfortable as I was the night before. I swung by my local doughnut shop for breakfast, yes I eat donuts before riding on weekends. I met up with a friend who wanted to see the bike in action which was perfect because I wanted his opinion of whether he felt safe enough riding with me which would be a good indicator of whether I would join the group ride later. We rode around and he got a good laugh at how I looked stable but then I have a small random swerve like if I got hit with a gust of wind. When he rode next to me I felt a little cramped and my nerves would spike a bit. We rode the the side of town with some 10% climbs to see how well I could climb. I think most off what I felt was the fact the the Vendetta is almost 10lbs heavier then my other bike but it felt notably slower getting it up the hill. I also found myself serving due to reduced balance at the slower speed. After cresting over the top we coasted down the other side and it just felt like the bike was picking up speed faster then I'm used to which put a smile on my face. The GPS recorded 41.6 mph and the bike was as stable as can be. I felt good enough to join the group ride so we jumped in with the group. I hung out at the back as we slowly cruised through town and everyone chuckled about my new machine and why I have it. Once we got out of town and onto two lane country roads I moved to the front and pulled the group for a bit then dropped back to the rear. As the other ride rotated back I would let into line in front of me and just hold the rear. After most of the group had a turn at the front I accelerated back to the front and started slowly picking up the pace to about 30mph. I held the lead for about 1.5 miles till we hit the next traffic light. I felt like I had work pretty hard to hold that pace and judging from the deep breaths everyone around me was taking I had made them all work hard to stay with me. There was a couple more times I was at the front and when I wanted I could accelerate to a point where no one could hold my wheel and then I could maintain that pace and open a gap. Everyone in the group knows me as one of the faster riders in the area and they all knew they were in for trouble with me showing up on a recumbent. I couldn't convince anyone to give it a try but we all joked about how fast we could all get going in a pace-line if the dozen of us all mastered the Vendetta. With each ride I make huge steps in my control over the bike but the finish line is still so far away which will keep me fiercely practicing to make the most out of these next two months.
Things I learned
Because of the laid back position of my body and the headrest hold my head up it's pinching off my wind pipe a bit. It's not enough to notice when just riding at a good effort but when sprinting I noticed I was running out of air and I started to wheeze like an asthmatic. The headrest is far from comfortable but I'm not sure what I should be shooting for in a good angle or point of contact. The adjustment dial in the rear of the helmet started to dig into the base of my skull where it kind has a high spot like a tail bone. I really think a headrest contacted lower on the neck that is also suspended to give way when hit bumps would go a long way for comfort. I know I could rough something up but I don't know if I'll have enough time before the race to test several ideas. If anyone has any other ideas or even some pictures that show you on the bike with a good representation of how it's fitted to you that could help speed up the process of what I can make.
It's hard to look behind you even when sitting up and fully turning your head. I'm sure this gets easier when I can balance better but for now it hard spotting riders who are more then 100' behind me. I have a mirror but its to convex to make out anything of detail unless its within 20' behind me. The fact that my face is pointed up into the sky isn't helping because it seems your eyes are like camera lenses and have their own auto white balance so when it's bright my mirror and GPS get darker and hard to read.
Here's a few pictures of what I've done so far.
My name is Jason Perez currently 30years old and an aspiring MTB endurance racer. I may be a bit younger then the average recumbent rider but I've always been told I have a maturity about me that makes me easy to get along with. I tend to be impatient like most younger people, but I have an open mind and don't weigh anyone's opinion too heavy which includes my own. I look and new and different things and think huh that's different and don't judge it negatively just because it's different.
The Motorsports years
In 2000 I started riding and racing my first street motorcycle a YSR 50 and each year I progressed enough to jump up to the next size bike and class and found myself racing as a privately funded Professional at the world and national levels. At the end of 2007 I decided my favorite fun hobby of racing motorcycles had become to politically strained and no long fun so I promptly retired to retain my love of the sport. 2008 I raced motocross bikes in several varying disciplines and rediscover the thrill of racing two wheels.
The Ultra Running Years
2009 I attempted my first 50k(31miles) Ultra Marathon trail running race which quickly grew into an addiction to see how far my body could go. 2010-2012 I raced at least thirty 50k's, half a dozen 50 milers, and three 100 milers including the famed Western States 100. 2013 I quite all running and cycling and bought a Kawasaki Ninja 250 sport bike which I promptly started modifying top to bottom which would later become a very important part of what I do now.
Becoming a MTBer
The end of 2013 I was invited on a 10 day mtb trip through parts of Oregon. This was the turning point from when I transitioned from riding a mtb on local boring fire roads which I hated, to full fledged Mtber unable to quench his thirst for new trails. When I got back from that Oregon trip I ordered the parts to build a single speed mtb and as soon as I finished it on a friday night I drove 3hrs north got a few hours of sleep and lined up for a solo 24hr mtb race which I went onto winning with 202 miles in 21hrs. I had fallen in love with racing all over again but needed a more fuel efficient transport vehicle then my toyota tundra. That's where my highly modified street bike comes into play. With a little enginuity I fabricated a bicycle rack for my motorcycle that would allow me to carry everything I would need to camp and race over a full week. In 2014 I competed in 41 mtb races ranging from local 20 mile XC races to 8, 12 & 24hr solo races and as far from CA as New Mexico. It seemed the longer the race I better chance I had at winning so I tries focusing on my endurance and general riding skills. 2015 I've done fewer short distance races and really focused on the ultra distance events which would include the 2015 WEMBO 24HR SOLO Mtb world championships in two weeks time. I recently won the 24hrs of Bend completing 252 miles(new personal record) on the mtb on a course mostly consisting my windy single track.
Where I'm headed now
With my performance over these last 2 years as well as my carefree attitude towards trying anything if it sounded interesting I now find myself in possession of a Vendetta V20 on a limited trail curtosy of the folks at CruzBikes. The idea is to see if I can't put the hurt on the standard road bike field in the upcoming World 24hr Road Time Trial held on Nov 13-14 http://24hrworlds.com/24/index.php?N_webcat_id=360 setting some kind of record would just be icing on the cake.
The Trial
Day 1
So I received my brand new Vendetta fully assembled in what could be considered the worlds biggest bike box. During my lunch break I tried hopping on for a quick spin to get a feel for it and quickly found myself overwhelmed by a lack of balance. It took me a couple minutes to get both feet clipped in and rolling through our parking lot like a drunkard leaving the bar at 2am. I never feel over but in the short 15 mins I attempted to ride the bike I put my feet down a lot. I tried riding down our street but was quickly overcome by a severe sense of fear for my life, which may honestly be the very first time I can recall that happening EVER. I mean I'm comfortable with going nearly 200 mph and dragging my knee through corners at 140mph on a motorcycle knowing full well death is only a small mistake away but I never felt fearful for my life. I was afraid if I happen to get one of those assholes in a vehicle who passes you within inches and I just happen to swerve left due to my current lack of balance I'd get myself killed. I my area in order to safely road cycle you need to actively control your environment which means hand signals and occasional swerving to get the cars behind you to show a little common sense. This means on my 30 mile commute I spend nearly half my time checking my mirror to see how the cars are acting behind me. You can't look in a mirror if you so focused on merely balancing a bike that you can't look anywhere but strait ahead. With less then ½ mile on the bike I rolled in back into my show so I could bring in my truck to take it home where I could safely ride my local bike path.
Day 2
24.6 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/394515652
This would be my first true ride on the Vendetta so I spent some time riding back and forth in my street which has zero traffic. I made several adjustments to the ergonomics but with no prior recumbent experience I was just guessing on what it should feel like. After I got the bike to fit me and shift a little crisper I rode to our local paved bike path that in about 9 miles long and has one section of about 2.5 miles with no road crossing and several turns good for practicing cornering. I rode back and forth several times on this long section taking mental notes of what I felt and trying ideas to smooth out my balance. I found if I didn't pedal I could proceed perfectly strait and navigate corners with ease, so every time I passed a person I would simply coast by then start pedaling again. Another thing I noticed was I had zero issues with very hard accelerations since I found the high pressure on the pedals combined with me pulling back hard but consistently on the bars mad for a stable ride. The sudden easing up on the pedal force after sprinting would cause me to wobble though. I couldn't ride with only one hand so I would stop to drink out of my bottle.
I feel like a superstar when I can cleaning navigate between to bollards and check for cars at the road crossings on the trail. It goes something like "ok keep it steady, don't hit the pole, don't hit the pole, ohhhhh damnnnn......YEAH! I didn't hit the pole, damn are there any cars, crap I'm falling over, need....too.....keep.....pedaling....no not that way, Oh! another pole, don't hit the pole, don't hit the pole" it's pure comedy in my head.
Things I learned
I lifting your head slightly seemed to aid in balance and vision through corners. With the laid back position the sun is always in your eyes and makes it hard to see in some situations, yes I'm already wearing the darkest sunglasses I own. You trade a sweaty and sore ass or a much larger sweaty back. I sucks not being able to carry all my items in my rear jersey pockets. Don't carry item on your shorts like cell phones, wallets and such because they WILL fall out. I have zero perception of speed so it's hard to tell if I'm faster or slower on the Vendetta vs my standard road bike. Kids absolutely love seeing something different and new so you get a lot of positive chatter when rolling through the local park.
Day 3
17.2 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/395902868
I mounted my front and rear lights so I could do the same ride again but this time at night when there less traffic both pedestrian and vehicular. Half my road cycling commute is in the dark(3am) and almost all my local Mtbing is also at night due to most the trails being illegal to ride so I at home in the dark. If you've used Strava to record your rides via GPS you'll understand this next part but if you've never heard of strava then just do your best. At the end of the bike path I ride there's two 2.5 mile strava segment, one in each direction so after 5 miles to establish my balance again I rode as fast as I could through these two segments in hopes of gauging my speed on the Vendetta vs my other bike. I ended up about 10 second shy of my best recorded times on both segments which is very impressive when you consider it was a night on a bike I'm still struggling to balance with some rather tricky blind corners. At the end of this ride I saw a noticeable improvement in my balance as well as my starting and stopping skills so I decided I would start an hour earlier then the local fast guy group ride and practice riding the surface streets of the city. If I felt safe enough after the first hour I would join the group ride and just play it by ear.
Things I learned
Because your head is in contact with the head rest it's not in a fluid state like when it's not in contact with anything on a normal bike. I feel this makes it feel like my head it locked in place and I feel like I've lost a ton of peripheral vision. If I lift my head off the rest I get a lot of it back but that's an extra movement that seems to be hard to do automatically right now.
Day 4
51.7 miles
https://www.strava.com/activities/396470205
7am and I'm rolling out my driveway and I notice I takes me almost no time to get as comfortable as I was the night before. I swung by my local doughnut shop for breakfast, yes I eat donuts before riding on weekends. I met up with a friend who wanted to see the bike in action which was perfect because I wanted his opinion of whether he felt safe enough riding with me which would be a good indicator of whether I would join the group ride later. We rode around and he got a good laugh at how I looked stable but then I have a small random swerve like if I got hit with a gust of wind. When he rode next to me I felt a little cramped and my nerves would spike a bit. We rode the the side of town with some 10% climbs to see how well I could climb. I think most off what I felt was the fact the the Vendetta is almost 10lbs heavier then my other bike but it felt notably slower getting it up the hill. I also found myself serving due to reduced balance at the slower speed. After cresting over the top we coasted down the other side and it just felt like the bike was picking up speed faster then I'm used to which put a smile on my face. The GPS recorded 41.6 mph and the bike was as stable as can be. I felt good enough to join the group ride so we jumped in with the group. I hung out at the back as we slowly cruised through town and everyone chuckled about my new machine and why I have it. Once we got out of town and onto two lane country roads I moved to the front and pulled the group for a bit then dropped back to the rear. As the other ride rotated back I would let into line in front of me and just hold the rear. After most of the group had a turn at the front I accelerated back to the front and started slowly picking up the pace to about 30mph. I held the lead for about 1.5 miles till we hit the next traffic light. I felt like I had work pretty hard to hold that pace and judging from the deep breaths everyone around me was taking I had made them all work hard to stay with me. There was a couple more times I was at the front and when I wanted I could accelerate to a point where no one could hold my wheel and then I could maintain that pace and open a gap. Everyone in the group knows me as one of the faster riders in the area and they all knew they were in for trouble with me showing up on a recumbent. I couldn't convince anyone to give it a try but we all joked about how fast we could all get going in a pace-line if the dozen of us all mastered the Vendetta. With each ride I make huge steps in my control over the bike but the finish line is still so far away which will keep me fiercely practicing to make the most out of these next two months.
Things I learned
Because of the laid back position of my body and the headrest hold my head up it's pinching off my wind pipe a bit. It's not enough to notice when just riding at a good effort but when sprinting I noticed I was running out of air and I started to wheeze like an asthmatic. The headrest is far from comfortable but I'm not sure what I should be shooting for in a good angle or point of contact. The adjustment dial in the rear of the helmet started to dig into the base of my skull where it kind has a high spot like a tail bone. I really think a headrest contacted lower on the neck that is also suspended to give way when hit bumps would go a long way for comfort. I know I could rough something up but I don't know if I'll have enough time before the race to test several ideas. If anyone has any other ideas or even some pictures that show you on the bike with a good representation of how it's fitted to you that could help speed up the process of what I can make.
It's hard to look behind you even when sitting up and fully turning your head. I'm sure this gets easier when I can balance better but for now it hard spotting riders who are more then 100' behind me. I have a mirror but its to convex to make out anything of detail unless its within 20' behind me. The fact that my face is pointed up into the sky isn't helping because it seems your eyes are like camera lenses and have their own auto white balance so when it's bright my mirror and GPS get darker and hard to read.
Here's a few pictures of what I've done so far.
Last edited:
