Beautiful Morning, Windy Forecast

It was 52 (!) degrees when I woke up at 5:30 this morning, almost twice the morning temperature yesterday (27)..  I wore only the windbreaker for the ride, and summer gloves, and did not get cold at all:  Had to stop and take off the windbreaker about 3 miles into the commute - it got too warm and sweaty.
Awakening BG:  215 (!)                             Post-Ride BG:  77
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7:40
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.5  Mph                          10.7 mph             22.2 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:59 mins                          41:40 mins            05:19 mins

For the ride back from work tonight:  Absolute worst wind I've ever experienced.  The entire morning was calm, balmy, and wonderful.... I went for a noon walk just before 1 PM and it was still calm and beautiful.
As I approached the facility the weather acted like God flipped the switch:  The wind came up suddenly, the sky got dark and brown, and it howled the rest of the afternoon.  My ride back to the car was truly awful.
I rocked back and forth with horrific cross wind gusts and finally, for the first time, was blown into the guard rail:

It wasn't a crash or even a bump, but very frustrating to just be forced into the rail.  Only had 4 more miles of the same before I turned east and the last 2 miles were with the boost of a fairly steady tail-wind.
Beginning BG:  126                              Post-Ride BG: unk
Evening Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.42
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
07.4  Mph                          08.1 mph             18.10 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
59:59 mins                          55:17 mins            04:42 mins 

Gettin' Old and Confused

... So what else is new?  This morning dawned clear and cold and almost wind-less.  Hooray.  I got to my secret parking location and saddled up the bike and took off (with barely enough time to get to work by the witching hour).  After I got maybe a mile into the commute, I couldn't remember for sure if I'd locked my car doors before leaving.  Since every neighborhood in Albuquerque is a high burglary area, I didn't dare hope for the best and just go on to work worry free.... so I turned around and rode back to the car, which of course was safely locked.  Gotta follow my procedure of checking it twice in hopes I won't have so much trouble remembering who I am and what I'm supposed to be doing.... no, no, I mean, whether I locked my car or not.
Since I now didn't have enough time to get to work on time, I racked the bike back up to the car and drove the rest of the distance.
Thus, when noon came around, I was seized upon with the urge to go for a noon bike ride.  I looked out the window:  The flag was hanging straight down, not screaming horizontally as has been the norm for the past few weeks.  Took off on the bike and had a pretty good ride, almost 10 miles.  Burned up some carbs, too... I ate a candy bar before I left, ate my sandwich on the way back, and still felt a bit dazed when I got back.  The Blood Glucose was 65, even after eating the sandwich without an insulin bolus.  Love that exercise, even if my legs do talk to me afterwards.  I rode down to Paseo Del Norte and then west along the Paseo bike trail to the Rio Grande.  It's been over a year since I've ridden this area and it is ROUGH riding.  Lots of unpatched cracks in the pavement, all kinds of ledges and bumps in the bridges going overhead of streets below, places where the public works guys have just ripped out the pavement and left loose chunks instead (very dangerous for any bike to ride over... I rattled and slid through it twice without going down;  not bad).

I found a spare Garmin 350 on Ebay and nailed it with the "buy it NOW" button.  50 bucks including shipping, which isn't bad.  Now that I've ordered a spare the one I currently have will probably give me no further trouble.  I use the 350 since it works with the Argent radio interface cable to feed position data to the internet, plus it's cute.  Not as feature-packed as the newer stuff, but the newer stuff seldom allows output of the GPS data for use with PC maps, radios, and such like.
Beginning BG:  181                              Post-Ride BG:  68
Noontime Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  10.11
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.6  Mph                          10.0 mph             23.4 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
1 hr,10 mins                          1.00 Hours            10:01 mins

Springtime Freezing in the Rockies

Yesterday, Tuesday, I had a cardio test scheduled at 8:00 AM.  That, plus the absolutely ugly wind forecast for the day (30-40MPH continuous, 60-70 MPH possible gusts), kept me from riding the bike from the medical clinic to work.  The wind howled all day, and every time I looked out of my work port-hole I could see the tall trees rocking back and forth.  I went for a shortened noon walk and almost lost my hat several times, and it was uncomfortably cold.  So I missed the daily high I get from riding, but was glad I wasn't out fighting the head and cross-winds on the bike.
Well, it was 28 degrees when I awoke this morning, and the house was COLD:  61 degrees inside, which was just a bit too uncomfortable.  Jacque had been suckered by our recent springtime warm weather and rearranged the living room and moved her classic treadle sewing machine snugged up within inches of the now-cold wood stove.  She's been running the propane forced-air heat, but I absolutely HATE the sound of that monster cranking up.  It sounds to me a lot like a big sucking sound of money going down into a black hole.  Thus I moved the sewing machine away a foot or more, partially blocking the hallway, so I could build a fire to take the chill off the house.  When Jacque got up later and saw the welcome glow of the wood-stove, she moved the sewing machine temporarily but totally out of the way... until warmer weather returns.  Which should be about this afternoon.
When I saddled up the bike for the usual ride, it was COLD even in Albuquerque, perhaps 40 degrees or less.  I dug out my cold weather mittens, skull cap, and 2 layers of jacket and windbreaker, and almost wore my face mask.
About this time up drives a guy who parks right next to me, on the side of the car where I have to open the door to get my pannier and backpack and water jug out, and proceeded with the usual "WOW!  What a nice bike!  How does it ride?  Etc, Etc, Etc....."  Assuming, I suppose, that I was just a recreational rider and not LATE FOR WORK.  I cannot bring myself to be short with such people;  after all, if they're interested in my ride I'M interested in THEM.   Finally, he got enough looking and questioning....
It was a cold ride.  Plus the "gentle wind" forecast just didn't make my life any easier as I was humping a cold head-wind for 5 out of the 7 mile commute.  Got to work 5 minutes later than normally allowable and exhausted.  But glad I rode... 2 days off the bike is almost enough to make me "lose my legs" again.
My Garmin 350 GPS couldn't seem to lock for the first part of my commute... finally locked after I powered it off an on again.  I'm worried it may be getting ready to give up the ghost after so many bumpy Albuquerque bike-trail miles.  Thankfully they are not very expensive on Ebay nowadays... Shopping for a backup.
Beginning BG:  187                              Post-Ride BG:  90
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  6:30 (GPS locked late in the ride today)
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
07.9  Mph                          08.2 mph             21.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
48:03 mins                          45:56 mins            02:07 mins

Heh.  Just goes to show you.... the weather false prophets said yesterday would be a mild day with little wind...  I guess everything is relative.  The ride back to the car from work was a struggle UNTIL I turned south after going through Balloon Fiesta Park, whereupon the awful wind turned into a rather nice TAILwind.
Lots of wind going through Tijeras Canyon, but that's just like Provo Canyon where the wind kinda funnels through at high speed almost all the time.

Beginning BG:  155                              Post-Ride BG: 64
Evening Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.45
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.8  Mph                          10.5 mph             21.0 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
45:50 mins                          42:33 mins            03:17 mins

Peddling Vs. Pedaling.... [Sigh]

I didn't ride the bike this morning.... hoping to do a long noon ride down the Paseo frontage trail and then down the Bosque Trail for a few miles and back.
Howsomever, I received an email advertisement this morning about the upcoming Santa Fe Century Bike Ride:

Help Animals by Participating
in the Santa Fe Century Bike Ride!

On Sunday, May 15th, bicyclists will take to the highway in the Santa Fe Century ride, a 100 mile bicycle ride now in its 26th year. This year the ride offers an opportunity for helping animals.  Animal Protection of New Mexico’s “Team Teddy” will be peddling their hearts out, hoping to raise money through pledges from supporters. Energetic cyclists can also join the team!

Peddling their hearts out, eh?  Mercy, how gruesome.  I sent them a nastygram:

"Sorry to be bothersome, but it is irksome to see the phrase “Peddling their hearts out” in the advertisement for the upcoming Santa Fe Century bicycle ride.

I fully realize spelling is a fading art and improper word-swapping is never going to go away, but really.

If read literally, this seems to imply that cyclists, instead of pedaling their bicycles furiously, will instead be standing by the wayside offering their hearts for sale alongside other peddlers selling garden produce, used clothing, and other stuff more normally offered by peddlers.

Meanwhile, some few other bicyclists will be PEDALING their bicycles while riding the Santa Fe Century…."

I went for a short noon ride just before noon.  I thought the wind was minimal (DING:  WRONG) and had planned to ride west out to the Bosque Trail for at least a few miles but I found, as soon as I got out of our parking lot and away from the wind-blocking buildings, that the head wind was pretty nasty.... and uncomfortably cool. 
 At about the 2 mile point there was a rest bench behind a business that blocked the wind quite well so I stopped, turned the bike around, parked it on the tri-stand, and ate my prefabricated ham 'n cheese 'n jalapeno sandwich. 

Then I saddled up and  came back to work early.
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  3.47
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
04.7 Mph                          07.8 mph             14.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
45:12 mins                          26:56 mins            18:36 mins

Not-So-Fine Friday Date Night

Being Good Friday and the workplace was almost totally deserted, I decided to leave work shortly after lunch so I could get in an extra long (different route) bike ride.  I'd thought I would take a very long detour out to the Rio Grande and ride the Bosque Trail bike path down to at least Central and work my way back to the car leisurely.  Then I made the mistake of deciding to "just work another hour".  I was scheduled to meet Jacque at the Albuquerque Temple for the 5:00 PM session, and as 3 PM approached I realized I did NOT have time for any extra biking:  I would barely have time to ride back to the car, drive to the Temple, change from work clothes to dress clothes, and still be able to catch the 5:00 session.  My strength seemed to be a bit off as I rode, and the headwind got pretty miserable, even though it was not the strongest headwind I've had to withstand, not by a long shot.
I ran low on blood sugar after the first 2 miles and had to stop for a power bar, then I trudged on back to the car.  What a relief to get to the Hahn Arroyo turnoff and turn east with the wind to my back.  Still didn't seem to have much strength but the pedaling was much easier.  Then, after all that, Jacque turned out to have forgotten about the 5 PM meeting and had gotten herself a leisurely pedicure and done some Easter dinner shopping as well.  We wound up eating dinner at one of our favorite holes-in-the-wall, a small East Mountain restaurant called Chilepeno's.  When we got out of our cars after parking, I noticed a medium knot of pain in my upper left shoulder area.  As usual, Chilepeno's food was fantastic, and the new cutie waitress serving us turned out to be someone we see every Sunday at church even though we didn't know her name:  Brooklyn, who lives in the other ward.  As we ate, I became concerned because my shoulder pain was still there and still unexplained:  I hadn't done anything strenuous that I could think of.  I told Jacque about it and she suggested we just pop over to the East Mountain Urgent Care Center which just so happened to be right across the street.  Unfortunately, it also turned out to be closed already for the evening.  We debated about whether to make a drive into Albuquerque and do the all-night wait drill in any of the area emergency rooms but I decided it wasn't hurting that bad and we should just go home, only another 4 miles away.  We passed a fire station which has EMT crews and Jacque suggested pulling in there to get a "priority ride" to the ER, which would result in more immediate service instead of having to sit all night, ignored, in the ER waiting room if we drove ourselves in.  I reluctantly agreed.  One of the firemen/EMT's was working on one of the trucks when we walked in the open bay of the substation.  He looked a bit dubiously at us until we explained I was experiencing chest pains, whereupon his demeanor immediately changed to courtly.  He escorted us into the office where an entire crew of EMT's sprang into action, wiring me up with probes, taking my blood pressure, pulse, etc, and radioing the Bernalillo County dispatcher that they were going to take me in the rescue wagon to town for an ER run.  At first my blood pressure seemed a bit high (I was a bit alarmed and off balance at first) but within a few minutes all that had calmed down in a few moments and my readings ran pretty well normal, except for my pulse rate.  We were underway and well into my first ambulance ride of my 63-year life when the EMT attending to me complained that my pulse rate was "Way too low".  When I told him I rode my bike 14 miles 5 days a week he calmed down and told me "Your pulse rate is lower than mine, and I'm half your age, so it worried me."
Got to Lovelace Downtown (what we old timers remember as Saint Joseph's, where so many of our kin have survived and died, including my brother George) and endured the usual pokes and prods and endless questions.  What we DIDN'T endure was the multi-hour wait outside in the ER waiting room we've all become so accustomed to.  It was 1:30 AM before we finally got home, with a clear bill of health, but all that time had been spent being LOOKED at instead of IGNORED.
So, the world is still stuck with me, for at least a little while longer, at least.
One thing that hammered my brain pretty hard was the realization:  It could have been "IT".  It could happen just that fast and that easily.  I'm close to "the age of a tree" already.  It further stiffens my resolve to get cracking on my "bucket list" and not keep putting it off until next week, next month, next year.....
Happy Easter, everyone.  Thank Heavens Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead to open the way, and allowed me the privilege of going to Heaven with all you Good Guys.

Good Friday 2011

Last night on the way home I noticed a whispery-clickey sound coming from my front wheel.  This has been going on for over a week now but it got to be really irritating yesterday.  When I got back to the car I hung the bike on the car trunk rack and spun the front wheel many times looking for the source of the noise.  It sounded like the tire was brushing the fender or touching something in the forks or brakes as it rotated.  I couldn't find anything at all that was touching the wheel.  After disconnecting the brake and the noise still persisting when I spun the wheel, I took the wheel off (thankful for quich-release levers) and was shocked to find the axle bearings were dry and loose!  Good thing I finally decided to look into this noise.  I just put the wheel in the passenger front seat and drove on home and worked on it on the kitchen table since it was by then dark outside.  Jacque was at an Eastern Star friendship night meeting in Santa Fe so my mess didn't alarm her until she got home and by then I was almost done.  Suffice it to say that, even though simple, it wasn't simple getting all 10 ball bearings out of their races on each side, cleaning the dirt out, filling the races with grease, and getting the ball bearings back in .... I had to disassemble and reassemble it twice before the balls would arrange themselves in proper order so the wheel didn't try to lock up when spun.
I was running a bit late this morning (when the alarm went off;  the bed felt so good I "checked my eyelids for holes" for another 20 minutes before finally arising.  I'd thought I wouldn't even try to ride the bike today but it was SO beautiful outside I decided to ride anyway at the last minute.  Currently I'm planning to knock off early today since 90% of my co workers are all absent due to Good Friday.
I don't even know these guys' names, but I see them almost every morning somewhere along the trail:

Awakening BG:  Unk (Was 319 at 4 AM)  Post-Ride BG:  60 (and feeling a bit draggy)
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.46
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.2  Mph                          11.0 mph             20.3 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
43:59 mins                          40:47 mins            03:12 mins

Great Ride, Pleasant Scenery

Wind was again not a big problem this morning:  Barely noticeable.  Yesterday I noticed when I hit the numerous bumps and cracks and wooden teeth-rattler bridges, the rear tire felt a bit soft.  Sharp  stops and turns provided an uncomfortably "squishy" feel.   So when I got home last night I decided it was time to check the air pressure and top off the tire pressure in both wheels.  I have a small "portable" air compressor with wheels and a small tank with about 30 feet of air hose.  Normally I have to drag it across our sloping, rocky, unpaved driveway, always in danger of jerking my back out of whack.  As I contemplated this, as I drove up to the house last night, it occurred to  me I might just back the car up to the edge of the deck where the compressor sits close to its electrical power outlet.  This I did, and since we own the place and rarely have visitors, after airing up the tires, I just left the car parked right there, butt up against the deck, all night.  The rear tire must have a slow leak since it has been only a few days since I remounted this tube and tire on this particular wheel because of the broken spoke in the other one.

I "ran out of gas" again this morning as I got down to the last 2 miles of the commute.  For some reason my blood sugar was high last night when I got home but stayed very low the rest of the night (after changing my insulin pump infusion site).  The pump noodle must be in a hot spot in my belly, it sure keeps the BG low there.  I got a bit woozy on the commute but didn't want to stop, but got so weak I had to stop and break out an oatmeal/chocolate chip power bar,  After opeing the wrapper I continued pedaling, munching the bar as I rode.  Should have stopped sooner, evidently, since the blood sugar was still low (with no pumping) when I got to work.
Awakening BG:   59  Post-Ride BG:  87 (after eating power bar 10 minutes earlier while riding)
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.46
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.6  Mph                          10.9 mph             20.4 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:31 mins                          41:04 mins            05:26 mins

More Balloons in the Sky

When I first parked my car this morning and unloaded the bike, there must have been over a dozen hot air balloons in the air floating around and overhead.  The wind was largely absent this morning and this must have inspired a bunch of balloon pilots to take off and enjoy a rare day of gentle ballooning.
As I rode north roughly parallel to I-25 I kept seeing one of the balloons slowly crossing my field of view, and when I got closer to him I was able to film him landing just off the side of the bike trail in an empty field.
As usual, ignore the default date and time in the video.  This actually occurred about 8:15 AM, 20 April 2011:

Awakening BG:  unk  Post-Ride BG:  124
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.50
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.6  Mph                          10.4 mph             22.1 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:46 mins                          43:19 mins            03:27 mins

This evening I was surprised to find it was a bit overcast when I came out of the building to saddle up the bike.  It made for a nice cool non-sunburn ride back to the car, with a bit of a headwind.  I felt a lack of strength during this ride, and assumed my blood sugar was low.  Imagine my chagrin to find it was 253 when I got home, with no after-ride snack at all.  Had fish tacos tonight, which are fairly low carb, thankfully.
Starting BG:  176      Back-At-home arrival BG:  253
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.6  Mph                          09.2 mph             19.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
51:59 mins                         43:36 mins            03:23 mins

When It's Springtime in the Rockies

... The dern Wind Will Blow All Day....
Wait, that's not one of the verses in that song.  Maybe it should be.
Last night (Monday) the wind howled again, though this time I didn't have to go outside in my underwear and capture any flying construction materials.  The weather guessers again called for more wind today wth a faint possibility of moisture.  I'm doing my part by riding my bicycle with the windows wide open so as to provide a tempting target for rain but it hasn't worked that well so far this year.
Last night on the way home the wind was huffing pretty good but it was almost a tail wind, almost helping me along instead of hindering me.  This morning it was 52 degrees when I woke up at 5:16 AM and I layered on only the light eye-catcher-yellow windbreaker for the ride to work, and got only slightly overheated.
I recently read an article on the near-universal sleep deprivation most of us suffer from.  I did the math on my quasi-normal "schedule" and realized that by going to bed at 10:30 or 11:00 PM and waking up to the alarm at 4:30 I was trying to "get by" on a bit less than 6 hours of sleep.  I set the alarm that early in hopes of getting out of the house earlier so I can ride the bike and still get in a good 8 hours at work and get home with sufficient time to chase Jacque around the house in the evening.  As it turns out I tend to fritter away the extra time and seldom get out of the house before 6:30 or 7:00 AM even though I've been up for a couple hours by then.  Last night I set my alarm for 5:30 and got to bed just after 10 PM and, even though it wasn't much difference from my "normal schedule", I actually felt livelier when I awoke this morning and THINK so far I haven't been as sleepy as I normally am all day.  I'm gonna make an effort to get closer to 8 hours of sleep for at least a few weeks and see if it helps.  I do tire of feeling droopy all day. 
Too much interesting things to do and a very short time left before I lay down in my coffin.  I wish I could do without sleep altogether.  When I'm dead I'll have all the sleep I need.  However, according to some of these sleep studies, getting more sleep may actually lengthen out the average lifespan....
Awakening BG:  unk  Post-Ride BG:  90
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.42
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.5  Mph                          10.4 mph             20.9 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:59 mins                          42:55 mins            04:04 mins

The Evening Return Ride...
Was, again, a bit breezy but not a bit unpleasant.  Many, many more walkers and cyclists and skateboarders popping up every day.  I passed a very attractive item of "eye candy" going through the north end of Balloon Fiesta Park and had thought I would post a video of her tonight, but of course when I actually see something or someone camera-noteworthy, the camera had shut itself off for whatever reason.  Every morning and evening I get almost a full hour of video of...... the same old trail, rocking and rolling along, and the video is recorded in boring faithfulness.  Oh Well. 
Starting BG:  158      Back-At-home arrival BG:  unk
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.42
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.5  Mph                          10.0 mph             19.7 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
52:08 mins                         44:41 mins            07:26 mins 

{Sigh} Warm Monday

It was great to be back on the bike again this morning.  It was 71 degrees inside the house when I woke up this morning so I didn't have to spend time building a fire in the wood stove, which got me out the door a bit earlier.
By the time I got to Albuquerque and unracking the bike for the morning commute, it was so warm I didn't even layer up with a windbreaker.  Just put on the light duty da-glow green reflective vest, normal summertime biking gloves, and off I went.  The forecast is for 20-30 MPH winds with gusts up to 40 MPH but this morning the only breeze was at my back.  I felt a little face-breeze which meant I was cruising slightly faster than the prevailing breeze so it was enough to keep me from getting overheated.  This afternoon it could well be howling, but we'll see.
I had to readjust the alignment of my temporary rear wheel again, and in doing so I realized my rear axle on this wheel is a bit short for a secure feeling when I tighten the axle nut on the side with the cassette and chain and gears:  It only allows about 3 or 4 threads or less than half the depth of the nut.  Must be good steel, since it didn't strip when I tightened it down.  I ordered a complete set of new spokes (Ebay:  http://cgi.ebay.com/BICYCLE-Spokes-100s-sizes-NEW-bike-fixie-road-BMX-/250799745095?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a64d46847 ) for the broke-spoke wheel yesterday and hopefully they will be here within a week.  Then I can get the straighter wheel back on the road again.
Awakening BG:  219  Post-Ride BG:  94
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.40
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.0  Mph                          12.3 mph             22.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:23 mins                          36:05 mins            08:18 mins

The evening ride back to the car was, well, quite breezy.  Thankfully it turned into a slanted cross wind that almost acted like a tailwind, and was not hammering me head-on.
Now, at almost 10 PM and beddy time, the wind is HOWLING outside, and I just got in from weighing down some loose metal roofing that I'm trying to save for a garage or woodshed construction project.  The wind had overturned the pieces, and knocked the auto wheels and tires on top of them right off.  Hopefully they will not fly away or slice anything in their path tonight.
Starting BG:  158      Back-At-home arrival BG:  unk
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.42
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.5  Mph                          10.0 mph             19.7 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
52:08 mins                         44:41 mins            07:26 mins 

Wheels, Gotta Love 'Em

I drove all the way to work yesterday, Thursday, since:
1) Broke Spoke on the recumbent's rear wheel
2) Wind forecast was awful - steady winds of 50 MPH with gusts to 70
It WAS a nasty windy cold day.  But had I a bike with functional spokes, I could have easily ridden, and probably enjoyed some tailwind on the way back to the car.  The wind, as usual, was not as bad as the weather-guessers prophesied. 
At any rate, I un-racked the bike and drove all the way to work.  During my noon walk I regretted going coatless and almost lost my hat several times.  BAH
After work last night, I worked in the frigid wind and looming darkness to get my wheel repaired.  I had an empty 26" wheel under the deck that seemed to be in fair condition when I spun it to see how bent it was.  This wheel was on the mountain bike I was riding when I got run down and almost crushed under a Ford Exploder about 3 or 4 years ago.  But all the spokes were intact and it didn't seem to exhibit a wobble when I spun it holding the axle at arm's length.  The cassette had only 6 gears compared to the 7 on the original wheel, but I can never get it into the last 2 lower gears anyway.  With the air compressor plugged in and sputtering away I blew off the old dust and grease and removed the broke-spoke wheel from the recumbent.
The existing tire and tube came out without too much trouble and installed neatly on the rescued junk-box wheel.  The frame on the recumbent was not designed FOR recumbent use so it is always tricky aligning the rear wheel and derailleur properly to avoid the front of the rear wheel brackets being so tight the wheel tire rubs against them.  Got it put back together, about half frozen from the wind, and got back in the house to put my fanny up to the wood stove and get thawed out.
For this morning's ride it was COLD.  April 15 and getting too cold again,  I layered up for the ride and didn't regret it a bit.
The "new" old rear wheel shifts OK but the tire is rubbing.  Gotta readjust it again... hopefully during the noon hour today when it's WARMER.
This afternoon, after work, is a local TEA PARTY gathering / protest at the corner of Wyoming and Menaul.
It's April 15 and a fitting time to show en masse that we, as a people, are willing to lose some part of our multiple government provided benefits in favor of reducing taxes, lowering the national debt, and hopefully saving our US of A from bankruptcy.
I am old enough to retire... I turn 64 this year and could go stand in line for a Vietnam Veteran's Diabetes Disabililty stipend of maybe $147 a month.  I've been eligible for it for years but have never dug through the mountain of paperwork the VA gave me.  Now research has proven there is NO link between serving in Vietnam, Agent Orange, and diabetes..... the incidence of diabetes is actually LESS among Vietnam vets than it is in the general populace.  Serving in Viet Nam may actually have somehow PREVENTED more ex-soldiers from contracting diabetes.  But that doesn't matter to the Government or the VA.... They are trying to INCREASE eligibility for this "benefit".  VA employees must realize they need more "recipients" standing in line for their checks to justify their jobs.
Thus far I still have a good paying job and am fit enough to work in any one of many jobs or self employment.  So my current inclination, IF I eventually DO retire, is to live solely off my IRA and only sign up for "Sociable Security" if I run out of money or sufficient strength to earn it.
I challenge you few readers to look closely at your tax return and pay stubs.  Add up:
-Tthe total of what you pay in income taxes PLUS
-add the total amount of Medicare and Social Security withheld from your checks PLUS
-Multiply your yearly take-home pay by whatever your local sales tax is (Here it's around 6 percent)
Do all this and you may find you are paying over half your income in taxes.  This doesn't even include property taxes and other levies.  You may think getting your disability, Social Security, SSID, food stamps, WIC food benefits, etc, etc, is wonderful, but they all come from the government taking money FROM you, and everyone else, and giving it back to you in various forms that seem attractive.  Government loves to claim YOUR benefits are coming from someone ELSE's pocket.... but it's a scam.  Kinda like buying your own stereo or Nintendo back from the thief at  a flea market and thinking you got a deal since it cost less than a new one.  BAH
-Hope to see your smiling face at the Tea Party rally tonight!

Whizzzz

For some reason I felt stonger riding to work this morning, though my speeds etc. don't reflect any magic.
For 3 or 4 miles I noticed another cyclist creeping up behind me, slowly gaining.  When they don't rush up and pass me immediately it is evidence of (1) Old Age, close to my own;  (2) an Old Woman, or (3) A cripple of some kind.  The guys with one leg don't count, they pass me all the time.  This guy this morning never did catch up to me, but faded out of sight and I wondered what happened to him.  To slow down enough to fail to pass ME must mean he was run over by a truck or something.
Awakening BG:  77  Post-Ride BG:  149
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.0  Mph                          11.9 mph             22.1 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:37 mins                          37:28 mins            07:09 mins

Some of the weather guessers proclaimed high winds for this afternoon but it turned out BEAUTIFUL.  However, while cruising along in the beautiful afternoon, I noticed my rear wheel dragging a bit.  I stopped to check it out and couldn't see anything, but when I got back to the car and hung it on the rear rack I noticed the wheel seemed to be bent, and as I checked the spokes to see if any needed tightening, I found one that was...... BROKEN.  Of course it's on the inside next to the cassette, which is where all my broken spokes have occurred.  I'll have to stay off the recumbent and rack up my DF road bike for a few days at least.  I'm spoiled..... it will be hard putting up with the sore neck, wrists, back and butt riding the regular bike.
Starting BG:  257      Back-At-home arrival BG:  69
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.0  Mph                          11.0 mph             20.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:24 mins                         40:21 mins            04:03 mins

Ouch

The OUCH is from me biting my fork while eating my dinner salad last night.  Chipped all 4 front teeth.  Only slightly, but what a dunderhead.  Here I am approaching 70 at warp-speed and I can't exercise my brain enough to be more careful when I eat.  BAH
So, I got an early 7:30 AM dental evaluation this morning and was then about 9:30 getting to work afterwards.
It was so warm and pretty by then, when I parked the car and unloaded the bike, that I almost took off in mere shirt-sleeves.  Good thing I didn't.  I decided to at least wear the windbreaker, with sleeves left zipped on, and I was a bit cold even then after I got underway.  A wee bit of a cool headwind kept me cooled down almost all the way to work.  The wind was supposed to get up to a mere 20-30 MPH this afternoon but after the last couple of windy weeks, who cares about mere breezes?  Howsomever, it has clouded up a bit.  As dry as it's been I will gladly accept getting soaked on the ride back to the car as a fitting price for receiving life sustaining rain.
Awakening BG:  170  Post-Ride BG:  116
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.4  Mph                          11.3 mph             23.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
43:04 mins                          39:32 mins            03:32 mins

Vastly increasing foot and bike traffic on the trails this evening .  Caught video on most of them; the best was of a younger couple whizzing past me with the girl's  half-bare hinie showing..... [sigh].  You shouldn't wear low slung jeans hunched over your bike seat.  I thought about posting the flashy video but decided against it.
Naked roadrunner birds, OK.  Pink flashes of hind ends, male or female..... NAH
Starting BG:  195      Back-At-home arrival BG:  72
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.47
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.3  Mph                          10.6 mph             19.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
48:15 mins                         42:15 mins            05:59 mins
...Looking at these lower speeds reminds me of the moderate head-wind tonight.  Not too bothersome but it did indeedy slow me down.

Global Warming Retreats, Again

We suffered through a horribly windy blustery weekend.  Saturday I thought the roof of the house was doomed, thought my 50 foot radio tower was doomed, it was not  a fun day.  I did get the trash barrels emptied and the bags hauled to the waste transfer station in Tijeras, but even doing that I thought the tarp covering the trash trailer would surely rip, fly away, and disappear.... but somehow it, and we, survived the weekend.
Sunday, yesterday, was bright and sunny but surprisingly cold.  We always take our Papillon lap-dawg with us to Church and leave her in the SUV while we're inside, and make sure to leave the windows open a few inches so she doesn't get overheated.  I checked the car after sacrament meeting and discovered it was almost FREEZING inside the car, even though the sun was still brightly shining and by now it was noonish.  I rolled up 3 of the 4 windows to try to cut down on the cold breeze getting inside the vehicle but the wind was still whistling away  and refrigerating the insides of the car, so I rolled up the last remaining window.  It still was none too warm.  We built a fire in the wood stove when we got home and kept it going until bedtime.  Good thing we got another trailer load of scrap lumber from a friend's home remodeling project about 6 weeks or more ago.
Today, Monday, was a bit warmer than Sunday but still chilly.  I decided to wear my cold weather gear on the bike, except for the face mask, and did NOT get a bit overheated on the 7 mile ride to work.  I thought I could get by without chemical hand warmers in my ski mittens and paid for that foolishness dearly:  My fingers were painfully cold and numb most of the way to work.  ...'Tis the season..... cold weather layers in the morning, had to run the car heater, and this evening I expect I'll be down to no jacket at all, shirt sleeves rolled up, and running the A/C when I get back to the car.
Having trouble keeping my blood glucose controlled today, though it seemed in good control all night. BAH
Awakening BG:  105  Post-Ride BG:  190 (!)
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.2  Mph                          11.4 mph             22.7 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
43:39 mins                          39:03 mins            04:35 mins

Today was entirely beautiful.  The ride back to the car tonight was uneventful, except for the continually increasing number of cyclists met coming and going, AND I was FINALLY able to catch my bike-trail roadrunner buddy on video:

Wiley RoadRunner started to first hide in the weeds but when I stopped the bike he came out to see what was going on.  As I whistled and chucked to him, he came within a few feet of me and then took off down the side of the ditch beside me.  Kool Bird.  Supposedly they are death on mice and bugs.  Hoorah for Roadrunners.
Bit of a cool headwind this evening while riding but not bad at all.
Starting BG:  UNK      Back-At-home arrival BG:  170 
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.48
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.6  Mph                          10.9 mph             23.1 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:37 mins                         41:20 mins            05:17 mins

On the Road (Path) Again; Flying Off the Handle

It was great to be back with the wind in my face this morning even though it was about 10 degrees cooler than the last couple days. (I must be too much like my dogs with the wind-in-the-face excitement.)
It seems like no matter how I lash things down, every few days (at least) I lose something off the bike, invariably when I cross one of the city's infamous path-to-sidewalk-to-street junctions  or more often, the teeth-rattler wooden bike bridges which we have too many of.
This morning as I whacka-whacka-whacka'd over the morning's 3rd wooden bridge, the video cam went POP and fluttered down to the bike path as I bounced off the last wooden rung of the bridge, bouncing off my leg as it went.  I immediately got on the brakes and stopped.  This warmer weather brings out many more cyclists and I hoped to get the camera (or remaining pieces) picked up before they got run over by oncoming bicyclists.  There turned out to be only one a couple hundred feet behind me and I was able to retrieve the cam before he got to me .I was again surprised to find the camera itself still intact but it had separated from the plastic spring-saddle-clip, breaking the black plastic zip-tie that held it in place.  I clipped it all back together with a new zip tie out of the rear pannier and went on to work.  The cam still seems to work, surprisingly.  This is the second big tumble it's taken without self destructing.  Pretty amazing for how cheaply it's constructed and how thin the plastic shell is.
Didn't catch any interesting video on it this morning, but it still works.  Go figure.
Starting BG:  123       Post-Ride BG:   111
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.45
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.5  Mph                          11.9  mph             22.5 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:59 Mins                         37:31 mins            09:28 mins

The ride back to the car this evening was surprisingly cold with VERY stiff headwinds much of the way.
This might be the first time I've ridden so long, around 5 miles, in my low and next-to-lowest gears, although I was still on my largest chain-ring on the front, but the rear derailleur was almost in "Grandma Gear" most of the way.  Even going downhill under the underpasses was a struggle bucking the stiff wind.  My legs are talking to me tonight....

If the video makes it appear like I'm barely moving..... it's for real and for true.  You can easily hear the almost direct-in-my-face wind howling in the audio feed.
 Starting BG: Unk       Back-At-Car arrival BG:  85 
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
07.8  Mph                          08.3 mph             23.4 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
57:11 mins                         53:32 mins            03:39 mins

RAIN

Didn't ride the bike today.  It rained all night, a good steady gentle drizzle, that really soaked the earth good and left everything smelling wonderful this morning, but the weather Guesser Steve Stucker forecast dry weather all day in Albuquerque.  Thus I intended to park & ride as usual but when I got off I-40 in Albuquerque it started splattering the windshield with fat rain drops.  It seemed to get heavier as I drove so I decided to wimp out, bag it, and drive all the way to work.  The morning brought some needed rain but it dried up later.  I took my usual 2-mile noon constitutional walk for my half hour lunch break and it started to rain on me about the time I got past the first mile and coming back around the west end of Wildflower Park by Honeywell.  I thought I was going to get soaked, and not complaining about it since we've had such a horrible drought the last 2 months, but it only sprinkled on me for about 10 minutes and then stopped.
Of course this evening when I got off work it was so bright and clear and beautiful I felt stupid for not riding the bike.....

Short Work Day

Wednesday was so warm I rode in the morning with regular summer gloves, no skull/ear-protector cap;  it was wonderful.
Jacque called just as I got to work to tell me an old timer named Elmer Robinette was going to have a short graveside service at 2 PM.  I was shocked to learn he had only recently died;  he was 93.  I hadn't heard about him in years and thought he was long gone before now.  (He'd been in a nursing home in T or C).  A computer upgrade at work prevented me from getting much useful work done so I asked for the afternoon off  and rode back to the car.  I got quite woozy just south of Osuna and stopped to eat half a sandwich and was still a bit woozy the rest of the ride back to the car.  Blood sugar was 85 by then, so it must have been pretty faint when I stopped for the snack.  Arrived  at 12:00-ish, drove to Edgewood where I met Jacque, and rode with her the rest of the way to Moriarty where the services occurred.
The wind was howling in Torrance County and we could hardly hear each other over the whining of the wind, but I was glad we went even though it was a last minute decision.  The person who was to give the closing prayer  did not show up so I was invited to offer it which I did.
Starting BG: Unk       Back-At-Car arrival BG:  85 
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.46
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.6  Mph                          10.5 mph             23.7 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
52:17 mins                         42:29 mins            09:48 mins   

Some more kids squealed loudly when I rode across the street in front of them.... they were 50 or more feet away but howled as I went through the bollards blocking the cross street entry to the bike path in front of them.  I get a lot of this from kids;  it may be I look so silly they think I'm  a clown for their entertainment.  Not far from the truth, I suppose.  A few days ago I got hollered at by a couple guys standing some distance from the bike path;  these were 20- or 30-somethings:  "Hey, Fireman.  FIREMAN....!!!"  I ignored them and continued pedaling.  Because I have electronics on my handlebars I'm a fireman?  My adoring public......
For some reason my APRS ham radio/GPS tracking device reported only one position during the morning ride, leading Jacque to think I was stopped somewhere.  It worked normally on the ride back to the car, without me making any changes to the settings.

tuesday WOW!!!!!!

Nothing much happened for the morning ride today.  It was a bit warmer than yesterday, still cold, but not enough for hand warmers in the mittens, and no face mask.
A lady (?) driver cut me off just before I pulled into the work parking lot..... I had hoped to find her license plate on my video cam but for some reason it had stopped recording about 2 miles earlier.
Starting BG:  TBD       Post-Ride BG:   TBD
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.1  Mph                          11.0  mph             20.7 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:23 Mins                         40:41 mins            03:42 mins

This afternoon, on the ride back to the gas guzzler, the warm balmy weather had  lured scads of walkers and cyclists out for the evening.   As I passed a small family of cyclists who had stopped for a break, the kids noticed me just as I passed by:

This is a typical reaction I hear from the younger folk when I pass by.  Older people normally only comment something such as:  "Why do you carry all that junk??"

Starting BG:  205       At-Home arrival BG:  114 
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.50
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.4  Mph                          10.1 mph             20.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
47:59 mins                         44:32 mins            03:27 mins   

The Whole State's on Fire, but it's Still Cold in the Morning

The ride back to the car this evening was windy and cool..... but the head-wind was short lived.  After the first mile and I got through the north end of Balloon Fiesta Park and turned south on the bicycle path (officially referred to as the "MUP" (Multi-Use-Path), the headwind turned into a TAIL wind which was a great help, as you can see from my maximum speed recorded tonight.  Almost 27 MPH, even downhill with the tailwind, ain't bad for an old out of shape geezer.....
Starting BG:  111       At-the-Car arrival BG:  Unk, but spacey:  Ate an oatmeal bar
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.38
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.8  Mph                          12.3 mph             26.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
40:56 mins                          36:04 mins            04:52 mins   

Woe is us.  High winds have buffeted the entire state all weekend.  Wildfires are burning - 50 or more according to the news.  This doesn't deter model rocketeers from launching rockets in the weeds in Embudo Canyon or kids from setting fires and playing with matches in the Menaul trailhead area (still burning 3 days later), NOR does it seem to bother Forest Service officialdom who have announced their intention of starting a (ahem) "Controlled Burn" in the Gila forest near Silver City.  They might do well to read the official accounts of the "controlled burn" in 2000 that burned half of the town of Los Alamos to the ground.
We watched Conference from the comfort of our living room with the wind howling outside Saturday and Sunday.  Early Sunday afternoon at 1:30 sharp, the house lights went OFF with a slight "Click" and that was that.  No electricity for hours.... and hours.... all night long.... and most of today, Monday morning.   We listened to KOB radio which was broadcasting their Sunday afternoon "Money Talks"  "talk show" but no local news breaks were allowed to interrupt this important programming.  I fired up the heart-attack-pull-cord-start emergency generator and found, from watching KOB TV, that there had been 8 power poles that collapsed in the wind in Edgewood, about 20 miles east of us, and that the electric power would likely be off until at least Monday afternoon.  Jacque called me this morning about 10:00 and the power had come back on unexpectedly early.  Hurray.  We have all sorts of standby power, RV generator, 5 KW generator to run the 240 Volt well pump, small generator and inverters to run small appliances, candles, battery lights, Coleman lantern (to REALLY blow the darkness outa the house), but it really isn't that much fun to have to go around and arrange extension cords, activate the change-over system for the emergency generator (which has a very minimal and thus LOUD muffler and is under the deck at the same corner of our house as our bedroom), light all the candles and lamps, put them out here and there, go dig out the emergency can of gas for the generator, etc, etc.....This doesn't happen enough to justify it, but when it does it sure gives you ideas about disconnecting entirely from the "Grid" and investing in solar and wind for power generation.  It's do-able, but even at today's prices, would take longer than we both have left to live to pay off the high investment costs for installing such stuff.
It was 27 degrees when I woke up this morning and it was a COLD bike ride when I got to Albuquerque.
I even drug out a pair of emergency hand warmers and ripped them open and put 'em into my bike mittens, and was I ever glad to have warm fingers this morning.  I thought I could make it without the face mask and regretted it all the way to work.  My face got so cold it ached.  But of course I didn't want to take additional non-rolling time to stop and dig it out and put it on so I kept pedaling..... and hurting.  BAH
Starting BG:  151       Post-Ride BG:   95
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.70
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
07.7  Mph                          09.7 mph             19.1 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
01.00 Hour(!)                     47:51 mins            12:28 mins

Gorgeous Me

I forgot a funny that happened to me Thursday evening.  When I left work and mounted the bicycle for the trip back to the parked car, it was so warm I left my sleeves rolled up, used my handkerchief as a neck-shield stuffed in the back of my helmet, and dug out the tube of sunscreen and slathered it on my arms and exposed face liberally.
After I got back to the car and started home I stopped at Sams Club and Wal-Mart for a couple items.
Now, when on the bike I'm always wearing the ugly bike helmet.  Otherwise when outside and walking around invariably I wear my much better looking straw cowboy hat, which makes me one of a dwindling minority nowadays.  This day I noticed several women looking at me interestedly as they passed me, and after several had taken a seemingly unusual interest in looking at me as they passed, I thought "Must be the cowboy hat, they don't see many of those these days."  I was back in the car and backing out of my parking space when I happened to notice my reflection in the rear-view mirror:  I had BIG splotches of white sun-block in odd spots on my nose and cheeks.  I looked rather like a clown that had applied his face paint while intoxicated.  Heh.  So much for my good looks enhanced by the cowboy hat.
Which reminds me of a typical guy-geek story several years earlier:  My supervisor up at Los Alamos was attending a singles dinner at his church.  He had gone home from work, noted the time, and realized he had time to do a little work on his race-boat out in the garage.  Donning goggles and gloves, he set about using a bench grinder and wire wheel to clean a set of intake and exhaust valves from his disassembled Chevy race engine from the boat.  When it was time to go to the dinner, he went in, cleaned up, and showed up at the dinner.  As he made his way through the chow-line filling his plate, he noticed all kinds of people looking at him strangely.  He was newly divorced and thought all the attention must be due to his newness to the group.  People continued to stare at him while he ate, so he finally got up, went to the restroom, and looked himself over in the mirror.  To his chagrin he realized he had cleaned everything up except his FACE:  He looked like a raccoon in the mirror.  His goggles had protected his eyes but the rest of his face was almost black with grease and grime..... (sigh).  What can a fellow male say about such a thing?  It's not like it's never happened to US

Wonderful Prelude to a Windy Weekend

I left work early because we were attending a temple sealing ceremony for a family with whom we've
been friends for years.  Left work about 3:40 PM (thank goodness for comp time) and arrived at the car by 4:36 PM.  I left the video cam running during the commute and passed several cyclists and walkers, and at one point passed a woman standing just off the path and her "guy" further off the path, up against a cinder block wall lining someone's back yard.  Just as I passed them I realized he was peeing against the wall, ignoring passers-by such as myself, with his wife looking a bit distressed at the whole idea.  I "tsk-Tsk-Tsk'ed" him as I rode by, and laughed aloud a few feet further on, thinking that could have been an interesting picture .... Wait a minute...  The video cam WAS running all this time, and sure enough when I got home to look at the video clips, there they were..... but as I passed him at the angle displaying full exposure, the camera was dutifully viewing straight ahead, missing the unzipped-pants view entirely.  Which is just as well.  I have no business publishing someone's path-potty episode:  I've had to do the same thing a few times, but try for areas with shrubbery and other things to block the view.  Along these trails there are no stores, just fenced backyard walls, if that.  The only "facilities" consist of an occasional park bench every several miles.  Big Whoop.  When you gotta go, you gotta go.....
Starting BG:  90-something       At-the-Car arrival BG:  95 
Afternoon Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.9  Mph                          11.5 mph             22.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
40:59 mins                          38:41 mins            02:18 mins  

The weather guessers are forecasting a miserable weekend with wind and slight possibility of rain.  We'd all welcome the rain in hopes the current drought will ease.  For today, it was a great balmy morning that required almost no cold weather gear.  I wore the light jacket and windbreaker but had to unzip them and open them to onrushing air to keep my belly button (and armpits, ugh) cooler.
I'm quite a bit more impressed with my cheapie DV005 sport-cam after catching yesterday's nasty bus driver in motion.  That was pretty much what I WANTED a live-cam for... to catch "incidents" on the fly and without being obvious that I was filming the action.  My cell phone actually takes much better photos and videos BUT it is not easy riding a bike, seeing something in progress, stopping the bike and getting off, digging out the phone, and activating the camera functions, etc, etc, as well as being patently obvious as to what I'm doing.
Our bulletin board crew here at work featured me as "April Fool Rider of the Month" today.  It has clips of garbage from this blog.... maybe some wealthy people will notice my gaunt appearance and contribute to my retirement fund in hopes of never seeing me on the bathroom wall again.  (Our company uses "Johnny-Boards" in the hallways and restrooms for bulletin boards.)
Starting BG:  UNK       Post-Ride BG:   95
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.39
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
12.3  Mph                          12.7 mph             22.4 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
35:58 mins                          35:00 mins            00:58 mins