Fenlason, she is not very well balanced, between mild cerebral palsy, inner ear problems to do with havivg been born premature, and being very overweight and detrained. Back injuries she has sustained don't help any, either. If I got fer a recumbent anything she probably would have a problem getting on and off of it, just like the Total Gym I bought her, and if she gets on it, she can't get back up (too close to the floor) Columbus is pretty flat and I don't see her being any more than a casual rider until her weight and conditioning improve. I'm also looking into some Tai Chi vids for her as well.
Our knee issues are probably very similar; twenty five years of MA training here, with a focus on Judo and Jujutsu (traditional japenese, not the brazilian derivative), very hard on knees, plus all the running, jumping off things like houses and small cliffs. No military service, but likely did near the same damage with a few years on the track team as a sprinter and high jumper, plus years of physicaly demanding work, from fast food (running on concrete to keep up with the rushes,heavy lifting and carrying on truck day) to Mechanic (bending over cars all day) to Detailing cars (lots of time on knees) and warehouse work (heavy lifting and carrying while turning, twisting) Also weightlifting (not body building, strength training, very heavy) I first noticed a problem five or six years ago and, becuase I still do manual labor, it has progressed rapidly. I doubt I could do weight training again, and as hard as you have to pedal sometimes, I doubt I'll need to, just do basic upper body stuff, and bike.
That's why, having done a bit of riding on my new BSO, I'm glad I did get something with gears, even as flat as my town is, I find middle gear front, fifth rear, too much on even a mild upslope. (2/4 is okay) I don't know the actual gearing of this thing (15 speed) but that seems pretty weak on pavement. I will do my best to heed your warning about too big a gear, as I'm exactly the type to use too much gear and hurt my knees. Thanks for the reminder