Climbing & Descending Mt. Umunhum on a Recumbent Trike vs Road Bike: Steepest 5 Miles in California

Love the dynamic music as they descend the mountain.

That was fun watching and listening to the racy music! Thanks for filming and sharing it.

What an inspiring ride and video. You guys are great. Thanks,for sharing this super content/ride. Best wishes and thanks again.

Was looking for repair tips for bar end shifter. Low and behold a video you made shows the spring replacement. Ordered the springs.

Many thanks for the video. Kudos to you 2 for taking that challenge! Made me tired watching you go up, got me excited watching you come down.👍

Best trike video s from you guys

Very inspiring. Makes me want to go for a spin. No hills, though. I'm one of those that needs a ride up. Great comparison! I'm also surprised at the results. Well done!

Wow that's a brutal climb. The downhill looks like a blast!

not going head first also gives more confidence, really earned that shirt that day, awsome climb !

Great video.I like the fact that you two continue to challenge yourselves .

Hi Rich and Joe, Yep, we can definitely see bugs flying by all the way up that mega climb! I thought they may be butterflies at first ... but gnats? Ugh. The great news about this ride is that auto traffic is non-existent, which means the only agony is effort, not worrying about cars, haha. A nutritious meal bar that I now use regularly while triking is called the Protein Puck (did a recent video on my channel about them), which I have found superior to all the former bars I used to eat while on trike adventures. In the past, I used to eat Clif Bars every day, but that is over. I also really enjoy Larabars like you have here too. That view from the summit is spectacular! You can really appreciate how far and steep you had to climb to get there. Looks like they removed the huge antenna from the cube when they decommissioned it. Yes, your camera did a good job of capturing the views. Very impressive for sure! There is nothing easy about climbing these super steep and long grades. I did a video while pedaling up a super steep grade, talking on the way up, and like you two, you could certainly hear the extensive effort in my voice. There’s no disguising the extreme amount of energy funneled into getting oneself up a mountain on a recumbent trike! One thing for me that has made really challenging hill and mountain climbing noticeably easier is a change of pedals I made in July 2022 … I have always been a die-hard clipless rider for many years, and have gone on and on about the many positive virtues of clipless pedals in several of my articles and talks. I was the consummate clipless rider. But now (and it still seems hard for me to say), I will never return to clipless riding on my recumbent trike. I am using a large flat aluminum pedal with traction pins, which supports my entire foot with each pedal stroke, from forefoot to arch to heel. These pedals are longer than typical platform pedals, which is the key. I never would have believed the day and night difference in pedaling up steep grades unless I had actually tried it. Sure, it’s still physically challenging, but it is easier because I am no longer pedaling on my toes, which greatly reduces the amount of force that can be transferred from my lower body musculature into powering the cranks. When I first put them on my trike, I was so used to my minimal Shimano clipless pedals that I thought they looked kind of weird (too big), but my foot comfort and riding power have so dramatically increased that I no longer worry about it. I learned about the Pedaling Innovations “Catalyst” pedals from another rider, who discussed how Nerve Compression Syndrome (NCS), otherwise commonly known as hot-spots, completely disappeared with the full-foot support pedals, and how his feet no longer had any pain or other negative issues. After my talks on the channel, over two dozen other recumbent trikers have switched from clipless to these, and all are reporting the same results I have found. The thing is, at first I was very skeptical. I realize you two have a long heritage of racing road bikes, and that clipless riding is an integral aspect of that legacy and tradition, but I felt compelled to comment on my own transition after many years of clipless when I saw your climb to the top of Mt. Umunhum. The amount of power lost to toe-pedaling due to the instability of the human ankle (regardless of ankle conditioning) is considerable, but something that we have not considered because of the long tradition of clipless pedals with racing bikes. I think that bicycles are different than recumbent trikes because with a bike, we are atop the pedals, but with trikes, we are behind the pedals, which makes ankle instability and lost power much more prominent factors. With the 18 traction pins on each side of each pedal, my feet remain on the pedal just like with clipless, but now I have happy feet! Anyway, I don’t want to sound like a commercial, but just wanted to say how much more fun my triking is now with a simple pedal change. Your video here caused me to remember the countless miles over the years that I have pedaled my trikes up steep grades pedaling on my toes with my PD-M520 clipless, and I’m glad that’s a thing of the past. Thanks for sharing this monumental ride up and down Mt. Umunhum with us … it’s always enjoyable to watch your excellent presentations on your channel. Keep on pedaling, whether on a bike or trike! BTW: Did that radar near the bottom indicate you were going 27 MPH in a 25 zone, haha? I wonder if your descent time would be faster than that red Corvette that I noticed going up as you approached the bottom of the mountain! That would be an interesting comparison! Know anyone with a Vette? steve

Very impressive! Surprised that your brakes could survive. 100%, though variable, brake drag downhill? Thinking you already knew from experience (past watched video), the best pads to use. "Trike Hobo" got me to try Protein Pucks. Wish you two would try that brand and evaluate the product with your experience and athletic level. Best twin-cup-of-coffee snack ever to me. Not very many cyclists, of any age, could do what you guys did!

Have you seen the 2023 ICE prototype VTX Speed Trike? What a beautiful thing!! I saw it on YT.

Great fun! And fun music for the descent.

Would be a great bike ride this time of the year, must be a gruelling climb . Thanks for this video😅😅😅

Nice seeing you two passing on the trail today. I would enjoy talking to you about gearing and cadence as it relates to long climbs.I did the Davis double on the bacchetta last Saturday. Finished it with legs that were quite sore.

23:00 play it double speed and loud. Probably what the play in Berghain Berlin.

Crazy difficult climb! Would you guy be interested in making a video that shows what stuff you carry on rides? How much y to the full load out weight, how much water, etc.

My backyard! Ride it a lot on my motorcycle. The strava record for "Mt Umunhum DH from Cube to Hicks" is 9m45s! I can probably beat that on my motorcycle, lol. The guy is probably diving into the other lanes though. I don't think a recumbent trike can touch that record, they don't seem to corner as well as a single track vehicle due to those skinny tires folding over. I also think recumbent bikes would out descend recumbent trikes.

Yikes! And you guys do all this without e-assist! Nice ride!