Can I share a secret with everyone?  Recumbent bikes are a little pricey.  There, I said it.

As such, the last thing you want to have happen is to have it stolen and never returned.  There are the usual preventive measure to be followed: employing good locks; knowing your environment; buying a recumbent so unique that nobody could ever sell it without you noticing.

But what if it does get stolen?  How will you get it back?

Living up to his alias (in a good way), Longfellow of the 'BentRider Online forums posted a great story about his conversion to recumbent riding and the Longbikes Slipstream that has made it so enjoyable.  I'd normally just shuttle you over to the forums, but this really deserves to have as wide an audience as possible.  So without further ado...

When I decided to make the switch from an upright to a recumbent, many recumbent veterans told me to be prepared for using different muscles. Little did I expect them to be my facial muscles.

I’ve been grinning from ear to ear since my Longbikes Slipstream arrived on December 3, 2008.

As recumbent rider Roland writes in his blog at www.ebent.wordpress.com: “You are learning to ride again. This is the time to feel like a kid and enjoy every moment of this new experience. Old roads will look new.”

He is absolutely right. Every familiar road on which I’ve cycled, feels and looks different — like I’m exploring it for the first time. It really is like being a kid again and discovering a whole new world out there on your first bicycle.

So why a recumbent?

A post over at the CycleChat forums recently revealed the following:

ICE B3 is an ICE B2 with a 20" front wheel prototype cross of the B1/B2 I liked it so much ICE let me have one now . They intend to market it in the future when refinements have been completed.

Looks like ICE has gone full steam into its recumbent bike endeavors and will soon round things out with a 26/20 SWB.