Bicycle Tours

SeeMore Completes the Tour de Cure

Most importantly:
SeeMore, the Rear Admiral, and I would like to thank everyone who donated to American Diabetes Association's TourdeCure. Our team, Boettchers at Heart raised over $10,000 dollars which will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

The 100K ride
SeeMore headed out in the Maine fog, with about 90 riders (our guess) from Kennebunk High School at 8:00 am Sunday morning. Through out the ride we remained at the end of the pack, happily deferring to sleek road bikes and fit spandexed riders. SeeMore is built for touring NOT SPEED and we soon found ourselves happily settled in at the end of the line.

What a beautiful ride, fog or no fog!!! We headed through West Kennebunk on a large circle towards Wells, mostly on very quiet back roads. After the first check in (about 15 miles) we followed route 109 as it merged with route 1. Route 1, as expected, was very busy but the cars were kind. It was really a very short ride (2 miles?) and then we turned towards the ocean. We then took the road along Kennebunk Beach towards the second check in. Ocean views, quaint cottages (well some were huge), downtown Kennbunk Port, birds and flowers were the sights and smells that kept our minds occupied. We successfully passed the Bush compound without George and Barbara asking for a ride on SeeMore then headed inland.

We refueled at check point number three (40 miles down!). Back along the coast again. Mary and I both filled up with oranges, pretzels, and cliff bars but did not take the short ride down to the point. There is supposed to be great views but the TourdeCure volunteer recommended that we visit another day as the view was non existent through the fog today. We think the weather was a blessing in disguise, no sun burn or heat exhaustion to worry about today. Temperatures were perfect for riding, in the low 70s.

The rest of the ride took us through through quiet back roads, returning once again to Kennebunk High School and a fantastic BBQ supper.

A special thank you to Linda Lambert (team captain) of Boettchers At Heart for inviting us on their team. This is the 15th year that Boettchers At Heart has ridden the Tour de Cure. Finally, another thank you to our daughter Kate for her support and help.

Sincerely,
SeeMore, Mary and Noel

SeeMore will be cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fundraising event. Along with the Rear Admiral (Mary) and myself, we will be cycling the Kennebunk, Maine Tour de Cure on June 13th. I'm ready to do the 100 kilometers, I wonder if the Rear Admiral and Captain are up to it!

Please visit Mary's site:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/rear_admiral

Or visit Noel's site:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/noel1

If you can make a donation.


On that page, please select the "Click Here to Sponsor Me" button. Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes. So let's get in gear and ride to Stop Diabetes!




Thank you,
SeeMore
Mary
and Noel

During our last big trip (North to South Tour) in the summer of 2008, we had the pleasure of stopping at the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters in Missoula Montana. We had a polaroid taken (including SeeMore) by Teri in the front of the building. She offered us ice cream, water, water bottles, juice, and soda. A very nice lady. Then Gary asked if he could take a picture of SeeMore (because he look so unusual) for a chance to appear in their magazine.

Well SeeMore, the Orange Mountain Goat, did charm the hearts at Adventure Cycling. Click here to read the article (pdf). As we have stated previously, Adventure Cycling supply our maps for this Great Parks tour, and our ride across the United States. If you want to have an easier time bicycle touring, we recommend purchasing maps from Adventure Cycling. See the link on the right side of this page.

SeeMore's Operation











SeeMore is now ORANGE!



SeeMore spent this spring with Ted Wojcik who installed some S and S couplings so he could be taken apart when traveling. Now it is NO easy task keeping a 9 foot bike straight and true, will trying to divide and weld back together.... The operation did have some moments of concern, but Ted is a true craftsman. Now SeeMore is back, and beautiful! THANK YOU TED!

We've been asking numerous times, 'What is it like riding SeeMore'?

To date, we have only ridden two recumbents and both of them are tandems. I had fantasies about those single seat recumbents. In bike stores, I have been know to sit atop in a dreamlike state for a few moments when the rear admiral is cruising the clothing section. However, I soon come back to reality. I remember the days before Clyde (our first tandem), when riding with the Rear Admiral was not as delightful. Our strengths and riding style were handicapping our enjoyment. A great part of the fun of bike riding, for us, is doing it together.

Tandem life is not all down hill, and tail winds. It takes two to ride, and there have been days (very very few) that it felt that we were both riding on different bikes. As I gotten older, my cadence has gotten slower. Mary's cadence has picked up. More and more her questions of me "dogging it" have increased. I think a lot has to do with SeeMore.

Most of you reading this are sitting with your backs against a comfortable chair. If you stop reading and look around, your vision is about 300 degrees in every direction. Seating on SeeMore is the same. We refer to it as sitting in an easy chair. We love Clyde as much as any cyclist loves their faithful companion, but SeeMore is just plain more comfortable. I can see so much more, which in turn, has slowed my pace down.

Even if we couldn't see more, we travel slower on SeeMore than Clyde in two out of three areas. You are either climbing, descending or on flat terrain. Since you can't stand while attacking a climb, you speed is naturally going to suffer. While climbing, our lower back pushes against the lower part of the back of our seats. We can travel at a slower speed without feeling like we are tipping over. On the flats, we are also a tad bit slower. SeeMore's aerodynamics is countered by his weight. Our speed riding the flats in about 1/2 mile per hour slower then when we ride Clyde. We can cruise comfortably and steadily at 15 to 16 mph (non touring) on SeeMore. The teams on Tour de France have nothing to worry about.

Down hill is a different story. SeeMore is a RANS Screamer, and he lives up to this title. First, you have to be safe. The Rear Admiral needs to be comfortable, and feel secure. After all, I need her energy to help drive us up the next climb. SeeMore is very steady when sailing down an incline. Our center of balance, coupled with the smoothness of the Schwalbe Tires, make screaming down hills enjoyable (at least for me!). We have safety reached speeds of over 45 mph, and could have easily gone faster.

Steering and turning are different also. SeeMore needs very little steering. It is very important that your hands rest gently on the handlebars. You can over steer SeeMore, which is a big mistake. Just remember that HE is in control, and you are all set. Most of our steering is by shifting our weight. If you hit a groove, do not steer out of it! It's best to let SeeMore handle it. It takes a full size two lane American road to reverse direction. When reversing direction, you need to watch your heals of your feet, as they may hit the front tire. Since we reverse direction very little, you don't get to practice this move, hence we are not very smooth.

We hope this gives you just a little insight on the ride.

The Rear Admiral and myself are NOT gear heads. We had people ask us for SeeMore's Specs, so:


RANS Screamer Sport 2004


Frame - Tig Welded, 4130 Cro-Moly Steel
Main Tube size - 2"
Rider Size/ X-Seam - Capt. 37"-47, Stoker 34"-44
Wheelbase - 74.5"
Fork - Threadless Cro-Moly Steel, Unicrown
Seat Height- Capt. 25.50", Stoker 23.50"
Headset - Cane Creek 1 1/8" Threadless (replaced the orginal)
Crankset - Truvativ Elita 52/42/30T
Chain - KMC Z9000
Front Derailleur - Shimano 105
Rear Derailleur - SRAM X7
Shifters - SRAM Rapid Fire (replaced)
Brakes - Avid Single Digit 7
Hubs - 20" Velocity, 26" Velocity w/disk mount
Rims - 20"- 26" Velocity Deep V
F/R Tire - (F) 20" x 1.75", Marathon Plus, (R)-26"x2.00", Marathon XR by Schwalbe (replaced)
Cassette -SRAM X7 9-Speed 11/32T
Gear Inches - 25-123
Bike Weight - 45 lbs. (on Weight Watchers)
Overall Length - 102" (will not turn on a dime!)
Color - Galaxy Blue
Weight Limit - 275 lbs.ea.

The Rear Admiral and I enjoyed our winter break in Georgetown Texas with my folks. We arrived in Austin by airplane on Saturday evening. Sunday we arranged with Mike at http://easystreetrecumbents.com to rent a recumbent tandem for 3 days.
Finding Easy Street Recumbents is not hard, if you know what you are looking for. Mike's shop is inside his house, so my image of a "bike shop" didn't work so well. Mike kindly printed out maps of Austin so we could have an easier time getting out of town. He set us up on a Bike E tandem with carrying bags, mirrors and a kick stand. He even invented a handle bar lock to help the bike stay in place, once we were parked.


THANK YOU MIKE!


Bike E tandems are no longer built. The main differences between SeeMore and Ernie (yes I gave the Bike E a name) is that Ernie has smaller wheels, weighs more, and the Rear Admiral sits father back from me. The first two points, illustrate why it a slower bike than our RANS Screamer. Since our seats were father apart, it harder for the Rear Admiral to hit me, when I make a silly comment. If you are going to be using Ernie for " around town ", then the Bike E would fit nicely in your riding fleet.


After a short test flight; and with Mike's highlighted maps we made our way through Central Austin towards Georgetown. It was Sunday morning, and we traveled under blue skies. In New Hampshire the temperature was a balmy 20 degrees. While in Texas, we had to suffer with it being in the high 70s low 80s for the whole week! There are MANY bike routes through and around Austin, Lance Armstrong's home town. Riding a bike through Austin is fantastic. Driving through Austin in a car (after 4:00 pm) stinks! I would recommend leaving the car behind. Here is our route north from Easy Street Recumbents to Georgetown: 45 1/2 Street, Caswell Ave, 50th Street, Duval Street, 56th Street, Avenue F, Skyview Road, Guadalupe Street, Bentwood Street, Grover Ave, Tisdale Drive, Wooten Drive, Lazy Lane, Beckett, Kromer Street, FairField Drive, Clairwood, Hunters Trace, Colony Creek Drive, Parkfield Drive, Bittern Hollow, Metric Blvd, Ceder Bend Drive, Park Bend Drive, Waters Park Road, Adelphin, and then onto West Parmer Lane.


West Parmer Lane is a four lane road that goes north through Cedar Park. This road is very busy but has a wide shoulder. We saw a number of cyclists on this route. In Leander, Parmer Lane turns into Ronald W Reagan Blvd and then into Williamson Co Rd 268. W Parmer will soon (in a year) replace these roads.


We were forced to ride on route 29 for a short bit, but thanks to Dad, we were able to follow some less traveled roads into north west Georgetown. Lake Georgetown and a number of quarries force you to travel in either a westernly or easternly direction, if you are trying to get to Georgetown from the south. We did not have a odometer today, but we believe we got in a 45 mile ride, YES!


Monday we did a short ride (about 20 miles round trip) to downtown Georgetown. We picked up a bike trail near the Georgetown Lake Dam, following it into town. This trail is a great place to ride or walk. My mom rode by herself, and then wanted to try the tandem, so about halve way to town, we switched stokers. Our goal was breakfast afterwards walked the main streets, before the Rear Admiral and I continued back on our journey back to my parents home.


Tuesday we followed Sunday's directions, backwards back to Easy Street Recumbents in central Austin. For these three days we got in about 110 miles of riding. It was great to see what kind of winter shape we are in!