Behold Butters the Winnecycle!

According to Ivan, Butters won't officially become a Winnecycle (or a Bikabago) until it's fully loaded down for our trip, but I wanted to see what the title looked like in print.

I don't yet own Butters, but we went down to Angle Lake Cyclery - the only place in Seattle to get a recumbent - where I got on one and pedaled around for the first time. It was kind of scary at first. I didn't fall over or anything, but the shift in body position from vertical to semi-horizontal is off-putting. You have to move your body differently and the turn radius is larger than in a traditional diamond frame upright.

But both Ivan and Dale, the owner of Angle Lake who ran behind me for a while holding on to me while I got the knack, said I did really well for my first time and placed me high up on the learning curve. I was happy with the assessment because this isn't a cheap toy we're buying and I would hate to make the purchase and then discover that I have no aptitude for the style at all. Additionally, it struck me that, putting the trip aside, Butters will need to become my main bike to further justify the cost so I'd damn well better learn to love riding a recumbent. Since Ivan has accepted a position with the Fremont Solstice Parade this spring I'll have a good three months to both acclimate and get into shape as we won't be leaving now until July.

In the meantime, we went ahead and placed and order. A yellow Bacchetta Giro 26 (just like the picture) with a few modifications: wider handle bars; wider, tougher tires to handle the long miles; a rear rack; bottle rack, and clipless pedals (which are both a misnomer and scare the hell out of me.) With luck, it will be ready in a couple of weeks.