Somehow, towards the end of the week, I managed to tweak my middle back area (I am blaming an intransigent office chair). This was somewhat unusual for me - I’m not a stranger to back pain, but my issues in this area, when they occur, are usually in my upper back, around the shoulder blades. This was a relatively new experience.
I did the usual things - ice and ibuprofen and backed off some of my exercise routine. It helped, but the area remained tender, and I debated about whether I should back off my riding schedule.
The thing is, this wouldn't even have been a question I’d have asked myself back when I was riding uprights. The uncompromising position that my road bike requires would have been an automatic “no” for any version of a sore back.
As I thought about riding on the recumbent trike, tho, I pictured the role that the back plays in the activity. It’s possible, of course, to engage the upper body on the trike - push back against the seat and pull forward on the handlebars to grind against the pedals. But you don’t have to (and if you are, you are doing it wrong). The better approach in general is to spin, which engages the legs and a maybe a bit of the core. In any case, it seemed very possible to just leave my back out of it.
So I decided to give it a shot.
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I took a relatively short outing to begin with. Aside from a bit of a twinge getting in and out of the seat, which I’d expected, it was absolutely fine. No pain while riding, and while my back wasn’t better after riding (and why would it be?), it wasn’t worse either, which is the important part.
So today I decided to push it a bit. I started earlier than usual to avoid the heat that we were expecting in mid-day (tho it was still running 94% humidity), and set out on a 27-mile route. The ride itself was not without complications - there were a couple of gravel sections that had clearly been recently resurfaced, which meant (for me) that I had to alter the route - but none of it was due to my back. In that department everything was essentially unchanged.
So it was an unqualified success - score this one for the recumbents.
This is maybe not all that surprising. Based on what you see in cycling groups, a fair number of people come to recumbent trikes because of significant health issues that may cause problems with balance or similar. It’s awesome that they make it possible for people to continue (or in some cases, begin) cycling after developing those issues.
I’ve been fortunate enough not to have such issues myself, at least not thus far. But what this event really illustrates for me is that the benefits of the trike apply at a lower level of injury as well. At this point in my life, cycling is my primary means for exercise, especially cardio. That hasn’t always been true.
For many years, off and on, my primary exercise source was martial arts. I realize, as I think about it, that my sore back would have sidelined me if that were the case. The same would be true if I were a runner (heaven forbid), or if I were still riding upright. I’d be out for several days, at least.
And, as you consider it, if I were someone who cycled to and from work on an upright machine, I’d be stuck looking for another way to get there until I healed up.
I’ve often thought that recumbent trikes were the natural, inevitably evolution of the bicycle. I think their adoption was sidelined by the emergence of the automobile at about the same time as the technologies that made both types of machine more practical (something I discussed in greater detail a few years ago). My current situation further cements that idea for me - the relative benefits of the recumbent would allow others to continue to use it for any given purpose even when using an upright bike isn’t an option.
I don’t think they will replace uprights any time soon (nor do they need to), but I do think we’ll continue to see them grow in popularity as people experience them and see the advantages.