Tiptoeing through the Tulips

Today was something of a landmark occasion: Kangaeroo made his first century ride on a recumbent bike.

Owning and riding a recumbent has been a long-held dream for this blogger.

And the dream finally became a reality earlier this year.

But the dream turned into a bit of a nightmare as Kangaeroo discovered how difficult it is to ride these bikes.

It took over a month of steady practice to learn how to ride.

Even then, a sense of unease persists.

Early plans to name the bike Lay Down Sally gave way to Death Machine.

If nothing else, the recumbent brings back the thrill of being close to death on wheels.

But finally, having enough confidence to tackle flatlands at least, Kangaeroo headed upstream along the Tama River.

Blessed with a handful of days off and glorious spring weather, he hopped on the Death Machine.

The objective was the Hamura Tulip Festival, about 40 km from home.

Kangaeroo arrived safely and without trouble at the festival only to find that there were almost no flowers there.

Chatting to his wife while eating lunch, he realized once again that she has exquisite taste in everything except her choice of men, Kangaeroo was advised to head to Showa Kinen Koen Park, where there would be a plethora of spring flowers.

Fortunately, the trip was on flat land, too, and the advice was spot-on.

The flowers were absolutely delightful and the cycling path around the park proved to be a wonderful spot for the Death Machine to strut its stuff.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and Kangaeroo can now point to a record of traveling more than 100 km in a single journey on a recumbent.

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