by Mike | Dec 12, 2019 | News, Rally
For our 2020 rally and spring event, ESR will develop on an earlier concept and borrow from the Heart of Texas Recumbent Rallies we’ve done in recent years. The new ‘Bent Event will be a combination of a public demo day, where the recumbent-curious can come and try out the new spring lineup, and a rally, where the enthusiasts can share their love of this activity and the culture around it.
Saturday, March 21, at the shop in Keller, just outside Fort Worth:
- We’ll actively promote the event with the surrounding communities in the DFW area to bring in the crowds.
- I’ll have a lot of new models from our suppliers.
- We’ll have manufacturers’ rep’s on hand to help show off all the neat stuff. Currently TerraTrike will be on hand. I’m yet to go after others, but that will happen.
- We’ll be doing test rides around our test ride space, and down the Red Carpet Trail, connecting to the Little Bear Creek / John Barfield Trail system
- Other fun stuff that I haven’t thought of yet
But that is just part of it.
Registration will open for a “mini-rally” that day, which includes:
- VIP status as a Recumbent Ambassador at the ‘Bent Event. Bring you ride, bring your recumbent homies, and be a recumbent elder statesman to help guide and energize the crowd that arrives. I’m all about giving people someone to interact with who isn’t a salesman. Come give the crowd someone to deal with on their level and show them what the culture is about.
- VIP lounge, snacks, and other perks
- After the main event, we’ll meet for dinner and talks, a mini-‘Bent University, for those who are familiar with that part of our former HOT Rallies.
- I might come up with other ideas.
- I will probably not have an opportunity to put on the chicken suit this year. 🙁
Then, Sunday March 22
- Rally registrants will get overnight bike/trike storage at the shop, if needed
- Meet up for a ride down our fabulous trail system. I’m still designing the route, but I’d anticipate a 1 hour ride, a stop for food at a restaurant (that will be expecting us) and a ride back. Anyone wanting to turn around sooner can, since the ride would mainly on trail except maybe at the very end.
- This ride will be open to everyone in the community, so I’d expect a mix of recumbents and not-so-recumbents.
Why the change? I need to get more exposure for the Keller shop, so I need a public event. The Rally is great, but it doesn’t reach new people and, honestly, to do it up the way I’d think proper was a lot of work. Though it broke even on paper, I could never compensate for the amount of time my Minister of Culture put in to organizing it.
I’ll probably bug you with more announcements as this event approaches, but you can also keep up by going to the HOT Rally Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HOTRecumbentRally/
by Mike | Feb 9, 2019 | Rally
So … Saturday, March 2nd, is our biggest Rally day and now … it’s bigger! One of our neighbors at the Business Park is Wild Birds Unlimited, run by owner, Donna Berry. It is just a lovely shop with a whole variety of Nature-focused items as well as, specifically, bird seed and all things birdie.
If you want to start your Saturday with a Bird Walk before all those pesky recumbents take over the nearby trails beginning about 9:00 a.m., join her and others at 8:00 a.m. for a chance to see and have identified for you the local bird population. When asked which birds you might get to see, she mentioned cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, and a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron has been sighted in the neighborhood. Meet the group at the Wild Birds Unlimited shop, around the corner from Easy Street and next to another exciting store you might want to visit which is all about fish and aquariums.
If we are lucky, Donna be contributing a raffle prize or coupons … we have our fingers crossed.
by Mike | Jan 26, 2019 | Rally
Having gone to so much work to design this stuff, I think I’ll take a moment to show you the fabulous items that will dispensed to those lucky recumbent riders with enough taste and discernment to come to my big tricycle party.
- Rally-themed Purple Sky Flag. Our first custom flag designed with help from the multi-talented Raina at TerraCycle:
This lovely number features our HOT logo cowboy mingled deftly with our ESR logo wheel, spangled with reflective stars and of course a Texas icon, just to get everyone’s ego inflated. Safety with style!
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- Rally t-shirt. Everyone needs another t-shirt, right? This one will be a silver-gray District brand t-shirt, which we brought in a sample of to make sure it was of good quality. I, for one, do not do cheap in this regard. The front features our new chicken roping graphics which I personally find cute and maybe someone else does too:
The back of the shirt will be where all our groovy sponsors will have their logos crammed. We’ll also have those badass Shootout trikes. I may be the only one here who remembers the 2010 Rally shirts, which I borrowed on for that Shootout image:
Not like anyone can see the back of your shirt when you are riding your recumbents
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- Goodie bag. We mainly used the shirt images for the bag, but since Catrike sponsored the bag we gave them an extra bonus impression:
Pretty cool, huh? Of course the schwag is just a bonus. People mostly come for the Easy-ritos and the guy in the chicken suit.
by Culture at Easy Street | Dec 23, 2018 | Rally
As of Feb. 13, 2019:
Alright … our SUPER nice contact at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Trophy Club has offered us a kindness. Whereas, up until Feb. 12, you could click on the picture of the hotel and be linked directly to a special rate we worked out with them, that link has expired. HOWEVER, Vickie is STILL willing to give you the special rate — you just need to call her directly on her cell phone number and she will take care of you. That phone number is: 817-366-1731. Just explain you are calling to reserve a room for The HOT. She will know what you are talking about. Any issues? Just call me, Rebecca, at 512-789-4118 or 512-413-5919.
Travel from the Hotel:
For those staying at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Trophy Club, check out this route to and from the shop if you want to ride out from the hotel and get some extra miles in!
Trophy Club Ride (11.6 miles): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29307201
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Previously posted:
OH YAY! I have reserved our “Hotties” a block of rooms in Trophy Club, about 20 mins from our HOT headquarters in Keller. Click on the photo to go to a direct link where you will be able to make a room reservation at our special price. You will also be able to see the rooms, tour the hotel, get directions, etc. etc. We have blocked 30 rooms total, we will use a few for our sponsor reps, so don’t wait too long to decide. There are rooms with 2 queens and king bed suites. Mike toured the hotel and our rep there is enthusiastic about having our group.
I also checked with the hotel about whether there would be any problem with our guests storing their trikes in their rooms. No problem!
I think you will be pleased. The hotel includes a substantial breakfast, free WiFi, and many other amenities as well. The hotel does not have its own restaurant, however right across the street is a bar/restaurant called Breadwinners. Perhaps we will see you there on Friday evening.
On a related note, they evidently have plans to break ground for a new location in Keller next fall. That will certainly be handy when it is finally complete. (I wish I could have found us something suitable within trike-riding distance this year, but that was just not possible.)
AND … if you are wishing to stay in your RV, there are a couple of RV parks near the hotel. One of our guests seemed pleased with The Vineyards Campgrounds on Lake Grapevine. It looks to be about 20 minutes away from The Hampton. Our contact at The Hampton also mentioned the Northlake Village RV Park in Roanoke which looks as if it is about 10 minutes away from The Hampton. If you are an RV’er and wish for fellow RV’ers who are attending the HOT to stay in the same park, I would encourage you to post a comment on this page.
ALRIGHT, I can cross one more thing off my HOT “To-Do” list. YAY! It may be just about time to get in the Xmas spirit. 
by Mike | Dec 22, 2018 | Events, News, Rally
So, this just in … Gary Solomon and crew from the Laidback Bike Report are going to be at the HOT and we are EXCITED! The Laidback Bike Report puts together a monthly program followed by many in the recumbent community. As they describe it, “a monthly live video webcast of recumbent interviews and news.” Well, they are going to have more material than they know what to do with when they join us in March! We are looking forward to having them be a part of the fun. And, if you are there and asked for an interview, just say “yes!” If you’d like, take a look at the announcement they made in Facebook on December 20 about their plans to attend. Are we going to see YOU there too? I hope so!
Best wishes of the season to you,
Rebecca, your Easy Street Minister of Culture
by Culture at Easy Street | Dec 8, 2018 | Events, News, Rally
What you will get is a REALLY GOOD DEAL on our new Easy Street “Texas” jersey, designed especially for recumbent riders. It is the same jersey as we have sold in the past (and have since run out of), but we have changed “Austin” to “Texas” in honor of our two shops.
Oops! We need to have a few days to organize our order and submit it to Bend-It. So, I had to change the final date to register and order jerseys to Dec. 26th. Thanks for your understanding!
(The actual jersey will have the color fade you see on the far left. I’m not sure why we don’t see that on the other three views.)
SO, here is the offer:
The jerseys are going to retail for $65/each. WHEN you register by December 26th, you are able to order a jersey for only $45, deliverable to you at the HOT. In this way, you can get a significant price break on them AND be sure you get one (or as many as you want) in the size(s) you want.
If you have already registered, go back to BikeReg and you will see an option for ordering Merchandise. Enter your order there. Obviously, if you have not yet registered, go do it now and order your jersey(s). 🙂
Now, a word on sizes. Bend-It swears that if you use their size chart, you will get a jersey that fits. I know we all feel as if their jerseys run small. So, keep that in mind when you order.
–Rebecca, Your ESR Minister of Culture
by Mike | Nov 29, 2018 | Events, News, Rally
The newest event at Easy Street’s Heart of Texas Recumbent Rally is the Texas Trike Shootout. I expect this event to be exclusive to the 2019 rally.
Back in the 1990’s when ESR got started, the #1 recumbent news source was Recumbent Cyclist News, and editor Bob Bryant did reviews of any ‘bent he could get his hands on. When Bryant managed to get two closely-competing bike or trike designs in his stable at once, he’d do a dual, comparative review called a “shootout.” I’m borrowing that term here.
Earlier in 2018, Bacchetta Bikes made a splash at Recumbent Cycle Con by introducing the Bacchetta CT2.0 carbon racing trike. The CT 2.0 took an existing European design and enhanced it with innovations used by Bacchetta, known mainly for making fast recumbent two-wheelers. Prior to this, there were only two “fast trikes” that one could buy “off the rack,” so to speak: The Catrike 700 and the ICE VTX.
I will not knock the 700’s speed, but it keeps a lot of sport-touring ideas, like the mesh seat and rear disk drag brake, and a plethora of standard accessories for comfort. It was not a full-blown “win at any price” trike like the VTX, with its carbon shell seat, titanium axles, and meticulously analyzed and hydroformed frame geometry.
The VTX is the one to beat. Can the CT 2.0 do it?
Well, let’s find out! At the 2019 rally, Bacchetta and ICE pit crews will be attending with their trikes. Here is how it will work.
- A select group of rally attendees, probably 10-15 people, will each race both models. (See below for how we’ll decide who races.) These races will be competitive with both trikes on the course at one time.
- We’ll lay out an out-and-back course, making a steady climb to a turn-around, so climbing speed is a factor. The trikes will circle a pole before returning, so turning radius and turning stability is a factor. Then the trikes descend to the finish, so top speed is a factor.
- We will measure all the individual times for each trike. We will also count total wins. The trike with the lowest overall time across all riders wins. The trike with the most individual victories wins. Most likely these measurements point to the same winner, but I’d be curious to see why if they don’t.
- We will see how an individual’s times compare on each trike, and the companies can look into why different people’s times vary.
- We intend for a variety of people to race, not just the biggest, fastest people. Sure, someone signed up for the Warriors’ ride will ride faster than someone signed up for the Scenic ride, but we’d like men, women, short, tall, big, small, old, young… a wide variety of people to race these. All this is to help both companies make a better racing trike. And we’re doing it to have fun!
- The course will be laid out to give a competitive spectacle but also to be safe. We don’t want anyone dying for the cause, here.
- We’ll aim to give lots of people a crack at this, but we will limit the number of racers just because we figure people will only want to watch two trikes race each other for so long. We will do some time trials on Friday to determine who will race, along with our own selection criteria. So, let us know id you want to do it (email works, use culture@wemakecyclingeasy.com), get there on the early side, and make sure you are on the list when you arrive.
- Whether you race or not, you’ll be able to ride both trikes. Experts will be on hand to help you get off that low seat! We’ve got all weekend and lots of opportunities to ride.
- The CT 2.0 will not be available for sale until summer of 2019. Come ride it and race it in the spring! If you are on the fence about ordering this trike, this will give you a better chance to check it out than you might have had at Recumbent Cycle Con in Nashville. The 2019 VTX will be available in January of 2019, and will be on display in Austin from that time
- If you want to race then contact trikemike@wemakecyclingeasy.com and let me know, but it isn’t essential that you do. Please get to the rally as soon as you can so we can put you in the time trials. Just because you aren’t the fastest rider doesn’t mean you shouldn’t race. Leggy Lance bike racer types are welcome, but so is fat old granny. We want a diverse range of riders, and since each rider’s times count toward both trikes, we’ll still be doing a balanced assessment of the trikes even if Lance vs. granny isn’t a balanced race.
That’s it. Since I don’t foresee a product release like this every year, expect this laid-back showdown only at the 2019 HOT Rally in Keller.
