Well, I sold the Quest - the most photographed riding machine I have ever owned.

The Quest was an incredible machine, always lots of comments at rides and many photos taken.

I purchased the Quest in August of 2014 and sold it October 2015 putting 3,972.3 miles on it. The first month of riding I put just over 800 miles on it.

The Quest is definitely the king of the roadies. I captured many Strava KOMs in the Georgetown area trading first place back and forth with professional triathletes, mainly depending upon the strength of a good tailwind for them and dead still air for me.

I also did more centuries (100 mile rides) with the Quest than any other bike. With three wheel independent suspension it has an amazing ability to cover a lot of ground in great comfort.

• Austin to Shiner GASP ride - 100 miles - 5 hours 40 minutes
• 24 Hours in the Canyon race - 100 miles - 7 hours 22 minutes - climbed the canyon wall!
• RUSA 160k - 101.7 miles - 109.4 degrees high temperature
• Hotter N’Hell ride - 100 miles - 5 hours 39 minutes
• 18 Strava KOMs in the Georgetown area

It went to a great home - congrats Greg Gross!

One last ride in the minivan for the Quest as I deliver it to it’s new owner.

The Quest

Washed, waxed, buffed and ready to roll.

Well, today was not my day. Throughly enjoyed the ride, but about mile 80 I started getting very weary and decided to shorten the ride to “just over 100 miles.

I knew that 300k (200 miles) was going to be quite a stretch for me so I easy peddled the first 50 miles all the way to Rockdale. Coast as much as possible, easy peddle up hills, try to never touch the brakes.

Here we are getting ready to ride again after stopping at the Rockdale control.

Lots of wild live leaving Rockdale.

First, a Bobcat. Big, but not very pretty being fresh road kill. Don’t usually see Bobcats on the side of the road.

Next was this huge hawk. Flying right next to me about 20 feet in the air and just pacing my speed - about 18 mph. Beautiful to see one close up flying along side the velo.

Then a little while later, at 20 mph a tarantula came flying up and into the opening of the velo and landed on my right shoulder.

It was huge. All I could see out of the corner of my eye was lots of legs and hair.

No matter how big my eyes widen, or how much I tried to tilt my head to the left to lengthen my neck, that big o’tarantula stayed right there on the front of my shoulder right next to my face.

As fast as I could I reached across my body with my left hand and flicked it off my right shoulder towards the rear. I never saw it again. It could still be in the back of the velo as far as I know.

Later, texting Robyn after the ride she texts: “We want to see the film!” (from the video camera I usually have on).

I respond, “The only film is a brown spot on the bottom of my shorts. Damn that thing was big.”.

It was a very fast group today. Even though I pushed it some between mile 50 to mile 80 (Rockdale to Bartlett) the group was always right on my tail. I stopped to take a picture of the country side and the group quickly caught me.

This rider, Julie, was in Austin for a convention and decided to rent a bike from Performance Sports Shop and ride the 300k with us. She is a member with the Davis rando club in CA and said they have thousands of members. Hill Country Rando have about 12 riders that usually show up.

I always like riding through downtown Bartlett. Very picturesque.

When getting back into the velo after the Bartlett rest stop I notice that my left foot is caddywonked and when peddling my left knee is slanted inwards quite a bit.

Of course I scrap up my ankle trying to straighten out shoe. I finally get it good enough to ride with but it is still an irritant.

After the ride, back at the minivan, I finally decide to take a look at my cleats. Hmmm, missing a screw, and definitely twisted to the side.

You know, the screw has been missing for awhile. A few days ago I found the rectangle shaped cleat washer on the garage floor next to the velo. Did not know what it was and just picked it up and set it aside. I’ll pay more attention next time to lose random parts. I’ll also start using medium lock-tight on the cleat screws.

Had a great time with a good group of people on the ride. The weather was great and the scenery was incredible.

I probably need to do a few more RUSA 200Ks and build up my endurance before trying a 300k again.

Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/415300047

Garmin:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/930962276

Bright and early Satuday morning at 6:45 am I arrive at the starting location for my third RUSA ride. The 200k Rock Dale and Ice route. That’s 129 miles. My longest ride to day was a 105 mile ride a couple of years ago.

We start at Oh-dark-thirty (ie 7am). Since I’ve ridden a couple of rides at night before I have most of the night riding challenges solved. Clear riding glasses, night riding lights, headlamp in case of flat tire or mechanical, etc..

The DFXL came with a tiny little battery which I have since upgrade to four times the size. This one should last the whole ride (which it did at 10 hours for the whole ride).

I’m riding with a new group so hang out at the rear of the pack riding the brakes most of the time.

Soon the sun is peaking over the horizon. It is going to be a beautiful day!

Pretty quickly we get to the first control stop in Granger. Everybody gets their RUSA cards stamped and refills all their water bottles because the next control is 30 some miles on down the road.

Jeff says “Hey, it is pretty downhill towards Rockdale, go on ahead if you want to.” I stay with the group for a little while until we hit a big downhill run. Then I stop ridding the brakes and quickly coast out of site in front of the group.

Sky’s were clear and the morning beautiful. What scenery.

After leaving Rockday (50 mile down) Jeff takes some great pictures of the group riding. Me bringing up the rear as usual.

A good picture of me in the DF.

Mechanical Problems

Leaving Jarrell heading towards Florence there is a section of road that is tore up and just really rough gravel / caliche. What a mess. I is a little down hill so I’m just coasting along about 20 mph for the whole mile long section trying not to get my teeth shaken out. Once I get back out of the construction section and back on the road for awhile I’m just getting up to cruising speed when my peddles lock up.

Can’t peddle forward or backward. I’m on a bad section of road with no shoulder at all. If I pull off the road I know I’ll roll the velo so I stop as close to the edge of the road as I dare and get out of the velo.

Everyone else in the group slows down and asks if I need any help. I tell them to keep going it is probably just a thrown chain, I’ll put it back on and catch with them shortly.

Well it turned out to be much more than just a thrown chain.

The rough road had bounce the two things (head lamps) I did not put into the neoprene lunch bags into the rear of the velo and got one of them wrapped up into the derailleur. Crammed in there wrapped tighter than you could ever imagine. I pulled, I yanked, I cussed, I tried everything I could think of. Finally I’m looking at my phone contemplating calling my son to come rescue me. 100 miles already done and only 29 more miles to go and I’m going to have to DNF (Did-Not-Finish).

Well, I decided that if I’m going to DNF and get a ride anyway it would not hurt to really pull so hard that I might break the derailleur. I grab the head lamp strap and just gradually pull harder and harder until BOOM it comes loose. A little more gentler pulling the the strap is un-wound from the derailleur and the chain and cassette is running freely again.

I leave the rear cover off the velo and start easy peddling. Everything seems to be working fine. It is 15 miles to the next control, wonder if I can catch the group again?

While when I arrive at the next control in Andice the group is still there and resting. I have enough time to get my card stamped, use the rest room and refill by water bottle.

Then we are off again for the last 15 miles of the 200k.

Everybody finishes up pretty much at the same time.

Here is a great picture of us all at the finish.

Thanks Peter for organizing and putting this ride on!

Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/405698706

Garmin:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/917510749

The DF is all carbon fiber. After several rides I’ve come to the conclusion that it is best to try and make the ride as quiet as possible.

Without any extra items in the DF (like sun screen, tool pouch, water bottle, etc.) riding in the DF is really quiet. If you have anything loose in the DF it will bounce around on the carbon fiber with a musical drum like effect creating a tremendous amount of noise.

So today under took an effort to sound proof anything I want to carry in the DF.

I wrapped the air pump in the yoga mat I put on the ground when rolling the DF on it’s side. After several mechanicals I have yet to use the yoga mat, I guess I’ll only need it if I have to change the rear tire.

I bought a couple of neoprene Built lunch pouches to put small things into. The neoprene cushions the objects and absorbers any noise.

Finally my DF is quite again - even on rough chip-seal roads.

Got the gearing mostly fixed the other day. Went out for a nice training ride today.

Beautiful day, clear, sunny, mild temps.

Felt pretty good to pushed pretty hard. 41.53 miles at 21.6 mph.

Nice video of a long coasting downhill 30+ mph in the DF.

Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/402769528

Garmin:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/913537417

Decided this weekend to do the Liberty Hill Rip Roaring Ride with my friends Brian and Susan Buckmaster.

Start of the ride:

Just wanted an easy day so opted for the 50 mile route. Beautiful day, not much climbing but a couple of really steep hills. One steep hill I got out and pushed the velo up. Wasn’t very long.

About three miles from the finish, flying downhill towards a stop sign and right hand turn, I down shift too fast at 30+ mph and throw the chain of the front chainring, front idler and back cassette. Of course I discover these one at a time getting in and out of the velo several times to discover the cause of the hard peddling and all the grinding noise.

After about 15 minutes I can’t seem to get things corrected so I’m sitting next to the rode and Brian and Susan catch up with me and ask if I’m ok. I give Brian my minivan keys and tell him to please come rescue me when he finishes the ride.

After sitting there a couple of more minutes I decide to give it one more try and put the velo into a lower gear and crawl to the finish. Before starting back I texted Brian and indicated that I could probably make it back on my own.

About 15 minutes later I roll into the finish glad to be done.

Tomorrow I’ll have to figure out what is happening with the gearing.

Afterwards Robyn and her sister Liz meet Brian, Susan and I at Dalia’s in Liberty Hill for lunch. Nice time, good company, good conversation and good food. All in all a great day!

Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/400788193

Garmin:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/910644191

Well the Quest is now for sale - $6,000 - located near Austin Texas.

Why am I selling this fantastic machine? Because I purchased a DF-XL and need to make room in the garage (according to the wife two velos not allowed).

I purchased the Quest August 2014 when it only had about 200 miles on it. You can read about the purchase and bringing it home here: http://danhansenjr.com/2014/08/01/quest-arrives-home-.html

I have put almost 4,000 miles on the Quest since then on many epic rides:

• 2014 Cove House Classic
• 2014 Hotter N’ Hell
• 2014 Waco Wild West 100
• 2015 Georgetown Autism Ride
• 2015 GASP
• 2015 Tour de Vineyard
• 2015 24 Hours in the Canyon
• 2015 Tour d’Italia
• 2015 Hotter N’ Hell

You can read about these rides (many of them contain videos) and most of my training rides on my blog http://danhansenjr.com.

Here is a pretty good post about Strava KOM hunting (includes video): http://danhansenjr.com/2014/11/02/quest-kom-hunting-3-koms-and-one-2nd-place-video-.html

Quest ride history:

Specifications:

The Quest is serial number CB0025. I have upgraded the front chain rings, front tires and the rear shock. The body is in great shape. Never been wrecked, crashed or rolled. There are scrapes on the bottom from driveways, speed bumps, etc..

Not sure what the official weight is but it is pretty heavy compared to a brand new carbon fiber Quest.

Everything I have in the garage that is Quest specific I will be including with the Quest. Tires (many), tubes (many), tools, bags, accessories, etc., etc..

There are currently no peddles on it (I moved my Garmin Vector 2 power peddles to the DF-XL). I can install a set of SPD or Speedplay I have laying around if need be.

• Full suspension
• Sturmey Archer 70mm drum brakes
• Custom Triple front crank (58/46/30)
• 9 speed Shimano rear cassette (11-34 I think it is a -34, it might be a -32)
• SRAM Grip Shift
• Drive system completely isolated from the elements
• Monocoque design
• Yellow
• Front tires: f-Lites (w/ extra pair)
• Rear tire: Schwalbe Marathon Plus 
• Kayak style cockpit cover 
• Lighting package (front/rear/interior light/ composite “dash”)
• Turn Signals/Hazards/Running lights
• Cateye  computer
• Brake light
• Electric Horn
• Second Mirror
• Fabric Wheel
• Ventisit Comfort Seat Cushion
• Risse Shock (rear)
• Convenience Handle (Tail Mounted)
• Accessory light mount

Also for sale separately Schermer One Piece Racing Hood w/NACA air duct $500.

Did my normal training route this morning for the first time in the DF-XL.

My fastest time ever on this route which I have done many times - 26.4 miles at 22.7 mph, no wind, mild 73 degrees temps.

Three Strava KOMs - I already had two of them prior with the Quest. Garmin Vector 2 Power peddles so the power required for this run.

I really like this KOM. Most of the prior runs were with the Quest. The very last one was my first try in the DF-XL. Of course I really pushed it hard today.

Almost three minutes at 35 mph.

Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/397807838

Garmin:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/906614156

Last week the DF-XL arrived on Wednesday. I spent Wednesday afternoon and Thursday getting the fit close enough to where I could ride the DF in the Conquer the Coast (CTC) ride in Corpus Christi TX.

Even though the fit was not perfect the results of the CTC ride were incredible. You can read the CTC ride report here.

Following are my initial thoughts on the DF velomobile itself.

Ode to the Quest

August 2014 I purchased a very slightly used 4 year old Quest. Even though the Quest was 4 years old the original owner only put about 200 miles on it and then it sat covered in his garage for the next 4 years.

In the last year I put 3,729 miles on the Quest riding it almost exclusively instead of any of my other bents. It is roomy, smooth and very fast.

I’ve had many epic rides and many Strava KOMs.

So my only frame of reference is my existing 4 year old awesome Quest velo (which I will be selling soon).

With this information in mind here are my thoughts on my new DF-XL.

Tiny

The DF-XL is much smaller than the Quest.

The Quest took me about 2 weeks to get the fit correct before nothing hit or rubbed while peddling.

Here is a picture of scrapes on my knees from hitting the bolts holding the hood opening on. Now I only had a day and a half to fit the DF so on the Conquer the Coast ride my feet and knees where hitting and rubbing while peddling. Especially towards the end of the ride when I was getting very tired and my peddle stroke became 'less smooth'. I'm still working out how to address this issue. I believe that if I lose about 20 pounds (which is my goal) my x-seam will shrink enough that my knees will stop hitting the bolts. I also have bruises all over my shoulders and arms from trying to get out of the DF when all sweaty from riding.

Because of my weight and weak upper body getting out of the DF is very difficult for me. I have to use a yoga block to get out. I have to carry the yoga block in the DF and make sure I can reach it when I am finished with a ride and I am still inside the DF. This block is 9" x 6" x 4" and very sturdy and light weight. Holding the 9" side I extend my arm out the right side of the DF putting the block on the ground and using the 9" height to allow me to push up off the ground. Because my arm is almost fully extended when I start this mechanism I have the leverage to lift my butt up onto the first hump of the carbon fiber seat. Then I can put my hands on the side of the DF top opening and have enough leverage to lift my fat butt up and out over the lip of the opening.

I still have to perform the very extreme hip rotate maneuver so that I can get one knee clear of the opening so that I can put a foot on the seat. Once the foot is on the seat I can lift my butt up onto the very top of the back hump of the DF. This allows my long legs to now be lifted one at a time such that they can clear the top of the opening.

This sounds very complicated (and it is), but I also had to learn a somewhat simpler technique for the Quest when I first got it (no yoga block required).

Smooth Ride

The Quest is impervious to even the largest chip-seal roads. With the big f-Lite tires up front and a very thick ventisit seat pad I could hit the roughest roads and not really notice. Of course the turning radius really sucks in the Quest with the f-List tires - but you gotta love the 50 psi front tires where you can change an inner tube without any tools.

With the DF I had to remove the ventisit seat cushion because I needed the extra 1/2 inch x-seam length it gives me for my long legs. Also, the wheel wells for the DF only allow for up to 406-35 tires on the front - so no big 50 psi f-Lites.

The CTC ride was with no seat cushion and Kojak 405-35 tires inflated to 85 psi. There was very bad chip-seal on a few sections of the route and when I rode over them there was just a very small reduction in speed. The other fast diamond frame bikes riding close to me lost a lot speed when hitting the chip-seal and quickly started dropping away behind me.

The carbon fiber seat in the DF is very comfortable and even after the 66.5 mile ride I was still very relaxed and comfortable without any back pains or sores. Rough chip-seal is a non-issue.

Light Weight

The 4 year old fiberglass Quest weighs 85 pounds empty. The DF-XL weighs 50 pounds. The difference is huge and especially noticeable during hill climbs and when lifting the DF into the minivan.

The beginning of the Conquer the Coast ride starts out by climbing over the Harbor Bridge, a 6 percent grade 1/2 mile long. In the low gear of the DF pushing 200 watts at 80 rpm I was averaging a little over 6 mph with a steady heart rate of 150 bpm. I could have kept that up for a very long time.

At that effort the right front of the Quest would be bobbing up and down. The DF was rock solid with no discernible movement from the front. Towards the end of the ride when I was very tired I noticed that under power, and a very non-smooth peddle stroke, the front of the DF would move side-to-side but never up and down.

When putting the DF into the minivan you have to be careful where you grab the DF to pick it up. Although the drive train is very stiff there is no extra body material. If you push in on the DF side in the wrong place it will quickly deform inwards - but just as quickly pop back out once you release pressure. Remember - only pick up the DF by the bottom.

This light weight is now forcing me to rethink everything I carry inside while riding. With the Quest if I though I might someday need a widget on a ride I would throw the widget into the back of the Quest. Plenty of room for everything and since the Quest was already heavy what difference would another pound or two make? I think my Quest actually weighed around 100 pounds when loaded up for a ride. With the DF I’m trying to keep all added weight under 5 pounds total making the actual riding weight of the DF-XL half the riding weight of the Quest.

No more stereo system, no more 56 oz stainless steel beer growler, etc., etc..

The stiff drive train combined with the light weight makes the DF accelerate much faster than the Quest. You are still not going to accelerate with the diamond frame bikes but at least you will catch them sooner.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting much more information on the DF-XL.

For the second time Robyn and I did Conquer the Coast - a ride starting in Corpus Christi with the 65 mile route circling around the Corpus Christi Bay.

The weather cooperated this year and scenery was beautiful.

Robyn and I were quite the attention getters with the following picture being taken at the start by the local newspaper and then appearing the next day in the Sunday morning newspaper.

Outside of a couple of loops around the neighborhood to get the fit correct this would be my first significant ride in the new DF-XL.

The Start

Just seconds before the ride started I snapped this picture while setting in the DF-XL.

The ride started in waves. First they let out a the fastest group of about 20 riders who were planning on averaging about 22 mph for the ride.

They waited 5 minutes and then let out the first wave of 65 mile route riders who where trying to average 20 mph for the ride. There were probably over 100 riders in this group. I started in the middle of this second group.

They waited another five minutes and then let out the third wave of 65 mile riders. In all there were 1,000 riders on the 65 mile route.

The Big Hill (Harbor Bridge)

Immediately after the ride starts you have to climb the Harbor Bridge. This is a 6 percent grade for about 1/2 mile.

The DF was pretty easy to get up the hill. The velo only weighs 50 pounds and the drive train is very stiff. I put out 200 to 215 watts all the way up averaging around 8 mph on the 6 percent grade. Still I was almost the last one to the top out of the first two groups and many people in the third group also passed me.

Race To The Ferry

Cresting the bridge the DF zoomed right up to 38 mph and would have keep accelerating except I got scared and started riding the brakes. This was my first ride on the velo and I didn’t want to test the maximum speed possible right away.

After the Harbor bridge the ride was flat, flat, flat. I held the watts at 163 and the heart rate at 153 steady and just started passing people left and right. I was a little concerned whether I could hold this effort for the whole 65 miles but I knew I would get at least a 20 minute rest break while waiting to cross the ferry to Port Aransas.

The 163 watts effort was putting me at about 28 mph and I was really making up for lost time climbing the Harbor bridge.

Right around the 10 mile mark I pass the lead pace line of what I thought was the first group. There was nobody else in front for as far as I could see. I kept the effort up because I wanted to be first to the bridge.

Slowly I started catching single riders who where going pretty fast, but not 28 mph. After several of these riders I slowly came upon what I knew now to be the very first fast riders who started 5 minutes before me. There were about 10 of them in a very professional pace line rotating out about every 20 seconds just like clockwork.

I paced them for a little while to catch my breath and then I put forth a pretty good burst of energy to pass them and start pulling away. After I got about 50 yards out I think they slowed down a little because I seemed to be pulling away quicker without any more effort. Needless to say when I saw them dropping away in the rear view mirror I let up a little bit on the effort myself.

I missed the right hand turn to the ferry because the sheriff was standing in front of it and nobody waved me to turn. I notice the guys behind be turn in my rear view mirror, and knowing they probably weren’t stopping at the rest stop there, I immediately u-turned went back to the corner and asked the sheriff which way the route went. Now I went from first to about twentieth and just tried to maintain my position the next five miles to the ferry.

When I got the ferry there were about twenty people in front of me. Probably another 80 riders arrived before we got on the ferry to cross just before 9 am.

The ride started at 7:30 am and I think I averaged 22 mph on the 28 mile route to the ferry.

The Data

Shows averaging 22 mph for the first 28 miles to the ferry.

Down Mustang Island

Of course, once off the ferry everyone hops on their bike and with extreme side-to-side in-your-face motion proceed to leave me in their dust.

Once we got to the other side of Port Aransas and start heading down Mustang Island I start reeling them in. Onesies, twosies at first. Then a big ol’ pace line. The pace sped up to match my pace but started drifting back.

They were rotating out of the front and about every fifth position this one strong rider would come to the front and they would start catching me pretty fast. As soon as the strong guy rotated out I would put more distance between me and them. After a couple of miles of this they gave up and let me go.

Towards the bottom of Mustang Island I really starting to wear out. About mile 45 I decided to start riding a little easier. Even though I’m pretty wore out the DF is still cruising at 19 to 20 mph back up the coast towards Corpus Christi.

The Finish

Three hours and 42 minutes elapsed time I finish the 66.5 mile route. The ferry wait and crossing was 18 minutes so my actual ride time was 3 hours and 24 minutes. I did not stop at any rest stops.

Crossing the finish line one of the vendors really wanted his picture (with advertisement) taken with the velo.

What about the DF vs. Quest?

There were 1,000 riders doing the 65 mile route. I probably came in the top 30 finishers. The DF is a cruising machine.

I’ll post later this week about DF teething pains and a comparison between the DF and the Quest.

The Quest is an awesome machine and previously the fastest of all my recumbents.

The DF is definitely a keeper and the Quest is going up for sale (along with a few other of my bents).

Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/396564224

Garmin:

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/904905764