You will get faster, but be prepared to put the miles in. Riding a recumbent is almost like learning to ride a bike all over again, and you'll use somewhat different muscles, differently. Some recumbent riders find that they eventually become nearly as fast as on an upright, but that's very individual and depends entirely on the individual and the particular recumbent model (i.e., SWB are faster than LWB for the most part and also lighter).

My particular experience was with a Tour Easy LWB recumbent last year. I am small (105 lbs), and this was a big, heavy bike (38 lbs with all the gear, fairing, etc.) even in the size small frame. I live in a area of rolling hills, and I was definitely slow on this bike on hills. I could scream down them and hold my own on the flats, but the climbs killed me. I rode the bike for about 5 months, including my longest ride of 50 miles, before giving up and getting an upright (Terry Isis, 21 lbs before adding gear). First ride out, I was 2 mph faster. Now, about 9 months after getting the upright, I'm about 4 mph faster than I was on the recumbent.

I probably didn't give it a fair shake or enough time. I was just getting back into cycling after about 5 years, so my legs were not very strong, and I wasn't in good shape aerobically when I started with the recumbent. I have read that you really need to give a recumbent about a year to become fast on it. I wasn't patient enough. I was unable to do club rides because of the "yo-yo effect" (slowest person up every hill, but fast downhill), and that was what I most wanted to do, so I allowed the situation to frustrate me.

So, YMMV of course, and I certainly don't mean to discourage you, but you might find that you'll never be a super fast rider on your recumbent. On the other hand, you're riding, you'll still have fun, get fit, and there are things in life more important than speed, so keep on riding! Good luck!

Emily