Today's chilly tracking
Today the Albuquerque Recumbent Group had their monthly ride, starting at the RailRunner stop at El Pueblo (just off Paseo and Edith) and ending up at Twister's in Rio Rancho. Jacque at first didn't want to go because of the weather forecast for cold and wind but wants to get more involved in outdoor activity so she decided at the last minute to go along and ride too. I'm fairly used to cold weather and wind and wasn't too worried about it.
When we took off Jacque began having trouble in the first mile: We were riding straight into a bitter cold headwind. She got cold, to the core, before she could get warmed up. She soldiered on another couple miles and then decided to turn around and give up. She had Tinkerbell riding in her basket just behind Jacque's shoulders and even though Tink had her puppy overcoat on she was whimpering: At first we thought she had to do some doggy business in the grass but finally decided she was just too cold herself. So they turned back to the car and fired it up and ran the heater awhile to thaw out. Meanwhile I rode on and caught up with the recumbent group within about a mile. By then we had all turned south on the Bosque Trail, with the wind now at our backs, so it was much easier riding. There was another bicycle-ham radio operator with us on today's ride: Kiernan WA6BJH. He's a more faithful participant in these club rides than I am.
We all rode down to Bridge Avenue, where the bike path does a horrifically tight "Z"-barrier that supposedly prevents motorized vehicles from entering the bike path but also does a good job of forcing cyclists, even quasi normal ones (IF there is such a thing as a NORMAL cyclist) to dismount and wrestle their bikes through the barrier. Very frustrating. Anyway, rather than man-handle our bikes through that maze, we used that as a turnaround point and rest stop before riding back.
MERCY. Going back, the wind was now in our faces, and seeming to get stronger the farther we rode. I kept calling Jacque on the radio, hoping she was waiting not far away, because I decided I, too, wanted to drop out rather than contend with the wind and cold. Just numb to the core I was.
When we finally arrived at Central and took a short break I announced I was done and would call for rescue. I buzzed Jacque on the cell phone and she cut short her warm-store shopping and got to me about half an hour later. I haven't yet heard from the hard-core rest of the group. I did not regret wimping out: The wind continued to strengthen and get colder, it seemed, as the day progressed. Hopefully they all made it OK without problems.
I soldered a huge lithium battery cell to the mini-video camera I have that has essentially no battery life left in the stock battery. Trouble is, I have no test results from it yet, as I keep forgetting to take the stupid gizmo WITH me and when I DO, I forget to take it out of my pocket and TURN IT ON....... BAH
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 33 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 51 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 20.03
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
07.6 Mph 09.8 mph 18.5 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 38 mins 2 hours 3 mins 34 mins 44 secs
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