I have been enjoying my newest ride, a Catrike recumbent trike, the Speed model, since the spring of '08. I have been riding it to work about everyday, and building up my trike muscles. Pedaling a recumbent trike uses different muscles from riding a DF (diamond frame), and it takes several months to build them up. My ride from home starts with a fun little hill that gets the heart racing. I have hit 38 on this hill, then on flat sections of my route I have hit 26 mph for short bursts. This video was shot after I had the trike for a week, and shows the fun part of my ride to work.
I have found that riding a trike is a lot of fun, but no way is it as fast as a road bike. However, it is fun and comfortable. There is back support, no need for padded crotch pants, nor padded gloves. You also can't fall over, and can crank up a steep hill as slow as you want.
To the stock trike I have added a chain guard, locking handgrips for the brakes, a rack, an air horn, and a speedometer. The speedometer mount is a triangle of foam that is strapped to the telescoping boom. 
I am using a powerful tactical flashlight for a headlight, and it puts out 240 lumens. Its a Surefire flashlight with a replacement lamp that really boosts the light output from the stock output of 80 lumens. A special rechargeable battery lasts for 8 hours on a charge. I have no idea who the old guy on my trike is in the picture below.
That looks like a ton of fun! Just curious as to why you chose the two front wheels vs. two rear wheels?
Posted by: Matt Weyen | September 22, 2008 at 05:42 PM
The tadpole configuration (two wheels in front) trikes are lower to the ground, lighter in weight, and higher quality components. Turning on a tadpole is like riding a sports car, and is a lot of fun. I never got that feeling of speed from a delta (two wheels in back) trike.
Posted by: | September 28, 2008 at 08:44 PM