Thanks for the reply. I did see the TerraTrike Traveler has gone to a Enviolo hub on back (tweaked my interest), but the Ice looks more substantial. I guess I could upgrade hubs to a Alfina and add e-system as I continue to evaluate. I’m not quite ready to spend $12k on the Adventure with E up front and the Enviolo Automatiq hub they have come out with!
Some of my fave trails in the Carolinas/Va: Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville SC (my hometown), Neuse River Greenway in Raleigh, NC, Capitol Trail in Richmond to Williamsburg, VA. Good videos on these are on You Tube, filmed by the late Kenny P of BentNation.com. Again, enjoy the sun and reach out anytime! RR.

Glad you enjoy the journals as well as the videos. We will be documenting with both for our upcoming trip.

As for the trikes … unfortunately it is a semi-complicated answer and I believe it really depends on your own mechanical skill set as well as the intended use for the trikes.

We use a hub motor system, specifically a package I put together with input from Grin Technologies. We use the motors as a response to my wife’s stroke 4 years ago. Having the motor helps her to balance out her legs in terms of rotation and strength. But the biggest factor was the ability to have batteries that Grin produced that were airline capable. Unfortunately they aren’t making those batteries anymore but they were a requirement for us given the need to fly when we travel. Those original systems were moved from our old Terratrike Traveller trikes to our newer ICE Adventure trikes. Same setup …. The system also gives us the ability to “dial in” levels of assist much more precisely than what we found with a mid drive motor system. The ICE trikes were selected as we already had some other ICE trikes and I try to keep our trikes as similar as possible for potential maintenance issues as I’m the mechanic for all our trikes.

Another benefit which I didn’t know about earlier is the current fact that I can box the new trikes in slightly smaller boxes with a little less weight which should make flying is easier.

So … what would I recommend … trike choice, unfortunately, is somewhat dependent on cost and the quality of the ride. Given that, I would recommend that you visit as many trike stores as possible, ride everything and find the brand and model that fits you the best. I can recommend either brand I’ve ridden but the ICE models are simply a higher performing trike but the cost is quite a bit higher. Once you find a model you like, adding an electric assist system is quite easy and I would find the one that works for you. I don’t mind “playing” with things to get my best fit thus the hub motor system works well. Others don’t want that, thus a mid drive system is often times a better fit. Our first ICE trikes were mid drive motor systems. I put over 8000 miles on them without an issue. My wife still has her original and it works well for her. My current two ICE trikes are both hub based assist. I’ve put over 19,000 miles on those without any issues.

On another side note, we rode both of the Carolinas with our daughters when we rode from Charleston up to Washington DC many years ago. 16 day trip, 14 days of rain, on our original Vision long wheel based recumbents.

Larry - My wife and I are senior bike riders and have been enthused by your videos. We are at the point of switching to recumbents, as we are blessed with so many greenways in theCarolinas and Virginia. We watched you and your wife on the Travelers and thought about getting those for the back of our suv. Now I see you are using the Ice Adventurers, which come with a variety of hubs, etc. As a well traveled triker, do you have any suggestions about a setup of an Ice, especially for my far less experienced wife? I see so many new systems - e-assist, and several hub systems ( button and automatic). Hope your Tucson trip goes well and you video for us!
Randal Ridgeway (available by email, text, Facebook if easier)

Even the idea of spring sounds quite nice at the moment!

Ugh! I don’t doubt you’re dreaming of Tucson. You’ll be coming at a great time. It’s starting to feel like spring here.

Beautiful shot.

Thank you … looks like a nice way to bypass the VA block and the resident population. Are there any other cross Tucson connectors you use?

Scott and Rachael are good to explore different routes in town. He encourage me to try Treat Street - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45305408

I've only ridden it twice, for lack of opportunity, but it's going to be a regular of mine. I can suggest this one with confidence!

I think you said you are staying at Rita Ranch? That is right on this route.

Sounds great … will make contact.

I'm here off and on, all winter. We have been having regular recumbent rides on Wednesday. I hope you can join in.

Ravens thrive up here. Have seen them down on the coast and as far north as Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway. In fact the only place I haven’t seen them was when I spent time at Shemya out on the Aleutians.

Yes, that’s a problem with birds alright. They’re definitely flighty. Trees are actually a much easier study.

Aren’t ravens a successful species though? That’s quite a winter range - we have them down here now too. No redpolls or boreal chickadees though, of course.

Oh, it wasn’t as bad as all that, Kelly. Downtown it was only some light hail. Oh, and maybe 25 mph winds.

Certainly hope that clears up Feb 6. How long are you in town this year?

We had about five minutes of big, fat snowflakes in Tucson today. Can you believe it?