Hi John,
Hm, now I'm linguistically confused. "In civvies" seems to mean "in non-uniform clothing"? Considering the Dursley-Pedersen's history as military bike, I'd have expected the opposite to apply ;-)
I'm glad to hear both you and your sense of humour survived the encounter with a careless German motorist! I've once been the victim of a careless driver too, and I found the indifference to basic road safety rules she showed really hard to stand. Fortunately, while my bike was wrecked, I was OK!
Tram lines really scare me, as I'm from Hamburg where these were torn out when I was a little kid. I crossed some in Cologne the other week, carefully going at right angle to the rails, but my hairs still stood on end.
I have some experience with a recumbent tricycle too, and that's really safe with regard to different road status dangers. You have to watch out for lateral slopes though as they can tilt you on the side if they align with centrifugal forces in sharp corners, so you have to acquire a different set of skills to ride them safely.
My trike was pretty good for transporting delicate equipment safely (to get back on track) as it had a big alumnium box on the rear rack which would take the equivalent of two backpacks volume and protect it from elements and impacts. Some padding inside still made sense anyway, but the rear wheel suspension was pretty effective in filtering out the bumps and vibrations). It was an Anthrotech trike,
AnthroTech ... not the most elegant or fastest, but I had bought it with an eye on suitability for poor tracks and winter rides, and it certainly beats most other trikes in that regard. (Not this one, though:
Mit dem ICE Liegedreirad zum Südpol - ICLETTA Culture of Cycling )
Regards,
Henning