Recumbenteers sit comfortably, their backs and bottoms supported in chair-like seats. They lean back and pedal with their legs extended in front of them. The bikes look wacky to the hopelessly conventional, but they feel great. Never numb, sore or stiff, my body and hands stay relaxed as I pedal for hours. At the end of a 30-mile ride, my companions riding standard bicycles limp about groaning, shaking out their legs and rubbing their aching necks, shoulders and derrieres.
R iding a recumbent is also safe.
Jam on the front brakes and the long wheelbase bikes won't lurch forward, catapulting you into space. And the rider's view of the road is wide, virtually panoramic. Ride a conventional bike and you spend a lot of time hunched over, staring down at your front wheel. D espite their benefits, recumbents and other radically different bike designs are still rare, unfairly so. In fact, every human-powered vehicle land speed record is still held by a recumbent design.