This morning marked the first field test of the Flevo since Danny worked on it. I am delighted with the results. Ken, Ben, Debbie and Pat and I met in Fulshear at the usual spot at 7am. Liz, my regular stoker, is buying a new new house this weekend and cannot ride. Debbie, brave soul that she is, volunteered to fill the stoker seat even though she had never ridden on the Flevo. She once told me on another ride, "I'm game for anything," and now I beleive it. We had 10-15mph winds out of the southeast, but the Flevo didn't mind. This bike seems impervious to headwinds and we quickly dropped the group everytime we had one.Debbie adjusted beautifully to the bike and furnished plenty of power when I called for it. I still haven't installed mirrors so I relied on her completely to call cars approaching from the rear. It wasn't a problem.
The new flip-it handlebars worked perfectly, allowing me to stand as we stopped. The new kickstand was a pleasure, but I have to figure an easier way to carry it. I stuffed it our cargo bag. It fit, but it was a pain maneauvering it in and out each time we stopped. The relaced wheels were silent; a marked improvement over my last ride. All in all, the bike functioned flawlessly and was blazing fast. At one point we cruised at 21 with only moderate effort. I had the rare pleasure of seeing the front of Ben's bike instead of his tail light.
The ride itself was a fun. There was some cloud cover so there wasn't much heat. A few drops of rain fell, but not enough to get us or the road wet. We headed north toward Brookshire on Jordan Rd and then reversed couse to P Wall. From there a short leg down to Simonton and then back up north, then east and finally south back to P Wall. From there back to Fulshear. 37 miles in all.
I am warmed up for the Tour De Braz tomorrow morning. Coleman will be stoking with me on the Seavo.
