First (real) ride

So after days of lousy weather, a brief but unpleasant illness, etc... I finally got a free half hour to do a couple loops around the park. Total ride distance is about 5.4 miles, I don't have a computer mounted yet so avg speed etc are all unknown.

Impressions:

• I was quite wobbly at first but that subsided after about a mile. After that I was just a little wobbly.
  
• The bike climbs a lot better than I expected. I expect I'm still a bit slower than on my regular upright bike, but I am also expending a lot of energy just learning to ride the thing still, so that should go away. Riding uphill in the lowest gear (22.4 gear inches) is kind of tough to balance, though by no means impossible. Anything above that is gravy. I have no fears about doing the climbs on my commute.
  
• My butt got cold
  
• The only seat discomfort I had was from where my spine sticks out a bit more on my upper back. Seems to dig into the seat more than is comfortable and really gets jarred on hard bumps and rough surfaces. I'm thinking of making a small cutout in the seat to relieve this. Otherwise it was very comfortable.
  
• I really notice the sounds from the rear of the bike more than I'm used to. I can hear the rear drivetrain and the rear brake a lot. Not a bad thing, just noticeable.
  
• I feel my upper quads / hip flexors a lot more than I'm used to. Part of the recumbent adaptation I expect.
  
• Even on a day with few people out and about, I got a lot of stares and comments.
  
• GOOD mirrors are a wonderful thing.
  

Overall, I'm very happy about how the bike looks and handles. I'll do the small seat cutout, and I still need to make a bag to carry stuff, but otherwise I think I can call this thing done. Here are a few pics.