Car-free weekdays are getting a lot more common for me. Most days that I ride to work, I’m too tired to do anything else. If I have to make a grocery run, I do it on the bike, as the store is less than two miles away.
When the weekend comes, then I end up using the car. I (obviously) use the car when I decide not to ride to work. However, I rode four days last week, and I’m still on track to ride all five this week.
My food is my fuel for most of my travel now. After a healthy breakfast this morning, I rode to work, and was famished. There was a package of donut holes in the kitchen. A serving (four holes) is 260 calories, so I grabbed a single hole, and ate it. It’s not the highest quality fuel, but it was only 65 calories.
My two dogs eat a fair amount of dog food. I usually buy a 40 lb bag to limit the number of trips to the pet store. A 40 lb bag of dog good is large, yet I’ve lost more weight than that. It still surprises me. Based on the progress pictures, human fat is denser than dog food.
I rode my “wedgie” bike yesterday. It has fenders, and the weather forecast was calling for rain. On the bright side, I didn’t get caught in the rain. On the not so bright side, I rode that bike for no real reason. I’m 2-3 mph slower on it, and the seat hurts me. I never wanted to be one of those recumbent riders who swears off traditional bikes, but I can’t imagine taking a long ride on a traditional bike.
Thought on your back pain, have you tried rotating between the recumb and traditional every other day? That may help fix your seat and back pain issues.. I switch between my road bike and mtnbike on commutes, and the different position and riding style seems to help me..
You also may want to think about a professional sizing/setup on all your types of bikes.. I’ve heard some places with the fancy $400 laser point setup is covered by insurance.
I think I’ve only commuted on my traditional bike once since I bought the recumbent. I have taken numerous short trips on the traditional bike with no issues, it’s just the trips of more than ten miles or so that bother me.
I’m not prepared to spend a bunch of money on sizing. The recumbent fits me fine. The other bike probably needs another saddle. I’m still looking into it.