I got 8.5 miles in Saturday morning. It's definitely a little different workout than an upright bicycle. We were riding 10-15 pretty regularly with our uprights. I'm not sure fully what I think yet as it was the first time hitting the trail with it versus just riding a couple miles around the neighborhood or test rides at the bike shops. I'm trying to hold back too much judgement until I get used to the process. It's big and awkward, so it has to get folded to get there. For the first time ever i'm running lock in biking shoes (I did run straps years ago on a road bike). So, it's a lot to get used to. My shoes are brand new and the uppers are pretty stiff yet, so that was the only discomfort I really had on the ride other than some aches from different leg muscles that haven't been used the same way on the upright over the past couple months. Some sort of foot retention is pretty much required with a tadpole trike. If your foot slips off the pedal you can get hurt pretty bad.
We had gotten a really nice upright bike rack that took seconds to load and unload, so we could pretty much park the car, slap on our helmets and go. Now the wife has to help me unload my trike, unfold it, I have to change shoes...adds about 5-10 minutes on both ends of the ride, so the first trip in my mind was just like this takes a lot of the fun out of it. I think it will get better after I get used to everything and get the shoes broken in a bit. It was also frustrating, because I was slowing down the wife instead of waiting on her the whole ride. With the uprights, I got cussed at a couple times trying to push her too fast or far. Usually, when you fork over a wad of cash, you're trying to make things more convenient instead of more work. I'm sure I'll get used to it and get a process down as well as get my muscles retrained a bit and be able to ride a little faster and further.
On the positive notes, everything worked well on the trike, my unmentionable parts were not numb after the ride and not achy for a few days following, and the wife was happy she gets to keep riding. The ride was no more jarring than the upright bike, probably a little smoother even. The trail we've been riding is decently flat, but older so has a fair amount of cracks and bumps. I also just left the trike folded when we got home and it takes up a lot less real-estate in the garage and is ready to be thrown in back for the next ride.
