Here's the Track to HalfBreed and Back
I have a quasi-monthly lunch date with Paul N5DBB and today was the day. We'd previously decided to eat at Pete's HalfBreed and Jacque decided to join us so we decided to ride our bike/trikes to lunch since it is only maybe a mile father than our normally - daily post office ride.
Since we had our puppy dog with us we decided to dine outside in the patio area, and there were agreeably shady trees protecting a couple tables for us. The food was great, though Jacque was underwhelmed with her Tostada plate, except for the flies which swarmed us instantly when our meals were delivered. Next time we'll leave Tink in the shade outside and we'll eat inside. Very nice weather, hot and breezy.... with the breeze providing wonderful relief from the sun. We stopped at the Post Office on the way back and had, overall, a very nice ride to and from. At least we had no trouble staying awake after lunch....
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 -- Ending Voltage: 12.8
Lowest Temp: 87 F Highest Temp: 92 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 6.95
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
02.5 MPH 6.7 MPH 24.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 50 mins 1 hour 1 min 1 hour 48 mins
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
NMMR (Normal Monday Mail Run)
Another Boring Radio . GPS (APRS) Track
Jacque and I both rode our human powered vehicles (HPV's) today, but largely separately. She decided to take off on a post office run with or without me, and since I was not yet ready, she was almost an hour ahead of me. She rode on up to the Triangle Shell station, another quarter mile or so, and enjoyed her soda-fountain lemonade leisurely before she rode back. She'd been gone so long I worried she might have broken down somewhere, but not to worry. I met her when she was halfway back on her return leg home,. and since all I had to do was drop off an envelope with a house payment, I had a quick turnaround and caught up with her just as she entered the home gate. I compared temperature readings between my bike sensor and the house thermometer and was shocked to see a 10 degree difference... the bike sensor reading too low. I'd been wondering at the relatively cooler temperatures it's been reporting, so now I have to change the cal factor on the OpenTracker that monitors and transmits the temperature as the air blows by.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 -- Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 87 F Highest Temp: 92 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.57
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.9 MPH 8.2 MPH 25.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
57 mins 25 secs 40 mins 51 secs 17 mins 2 secs
Jacque and I both rode our human powered vehicles (HPV's) today, but largely separately. She decided to take off on a post office run with or without me, and since I was not yet ready, she was almost an hour ahead of me. She rode on up to the Triangle Shell station, another quarter mile or so, and enjoyed her soda-fountain lemonade leisurely before she rode back. She'd been gone so long I worried she might have broken down somewhere, but not to worry. I met her when she was halfway back on her return leg home,. and since all I had to do was drop off an envelope with a house payment, I had a quick turnaround and caught up with her just as she entered the home gate. I compared temperature readings between my bike sensor and the house thermometer and was shocked to see a 10 degree difference... the bike sensor reading too low. I'd been wondering at the relatively cooler temperatures it's been reporting, so now I have to change the cal factor on the OpenTracker that monitors and transmits the temperature as the air blows by.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 -- Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 87 F Highest Temp: 92 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.57
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.9 MPH 8.2 MPH 25.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
57 mins 25 secs 40 mins 51 secs 17 mins 2 secs
Friday, July 27, 2012
20-Miler to ABQ. Hot Weather
Good Radio Tracking Except Tijeras Canyon
We got a call from our favorite One Stop Office Store yesterday evening that we had 2 parcels there to pick up. We use these wonderful folks for a delivery address since UPS and Fedex both have trouble making accurate and timely deliveries to our house, being off the beaten path and all. By using One Stop we can go pick up our packages without looking for them off the side of the road, in plastic bags scooting across the yard in the wind or not finding them at all.
Anywho. I decided to ride the bike down there, maybe 10 miles and back, which is an enjoyable ride though I usually detour around to the east end of the county to make a longer loop ride. Jacque announced she was going to drive into Albuquerque and ride her trike around a bit in the flatter terrain, so I decided instead of looping around the east mountains I would ride into abq again and meet her and ride with her a bit too.
For those few unaware, prairie dogs seem to enjoy some kind of protection in Albuquerque. Some few years ago a local entrepreneur created a local stir by coming up with a very effective way of dealing with the rodents: He used a propane tank to fill their tunnels with gas and then set the gas off with a small explosive, very effectively wiping out large networks of the burrowing disasters. Since then, it seems imprudent to mention killing them. Entire fields are infested with them and they undermine all sorts of business areas, especially along east Albuquuerque along I-40 and Central. My handlebar-cam caught a few flashes of a couple that dashed in front of me on the bike trail. They zoom across the paved trail and dive into the 4" drainage holes in the concrete wall shoring up I-40 a few feet above: (You have to look closely to spot them)
At Los Altos, I caught up with Jacque and Tink:
After meeting Jacque, we had a nice pick-a-nick lunch at one of Albuquerque's parks along the bike trail just east of Eubank and just north of Indian School. Then we rode more eastward, uphill with the intention of making it all the way to Tramway before turning around.
The heat got to us a bit so we turned around short of our goal.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.9 -- Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp: 73 F Highest Temp: 84 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 25.14
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.1 MPH 10.2 MPH 38.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 6 mins 2 hours 28 mins 1 hour 38 mins
We got a call from our favorite One Stop Office Store yesterday evening that we had 2 parcels there to pick up. We use these wonderful folks for a delivery address since UPS and Fedex both have trouble making accurate and timely deliveries to our house, being off the beaten path and all. By using One Stop we can go pick up our packages without looking for them off the side of the road, in plastic bags scooting across the yard in the wind or not finding them at all.
Anywho. I decided to ride the bike down there, maybe 10 miles and back, which is an enjoyable ride though I usually detour around to the east end of the county to make a longer loop ride. Jacque announced she was going to drive into Albuquerque and ride her trike around a bit in the flatter terrain, so I decided instead of looping around the east mountains I would ride into abq again and meet her and ride with her a bit too.
For those few unaware, prairie dogs seem to enjoy some kind of protection in Albuquerque. Some few years ago a local entrepreneur created a local stir by coming up with a very effective way of dealing with the rodents: He used a propane tank to fill their tunnels with gas and then set the gas off with a small explosive, very effectively wiping out large networks of the burrowing disasters. Since then, it seems imprudent to mention killing them. Entire fields are infested with them and they undermine all sorts of business areas, especially along east Albuquuerque along I-40 and Central. My handlebar-cam caught a few flashes of a couple that dashed in front of me on the bike trail. They zoom across the paved trail and dive into the 4" drainage holes in the concrete wall shoring up I-40 a few feet above: (You have to look closely to spot them)
At Los Altos, I caught up with Jacque and Tink:
The heat got to us a bit so we turned around short of our goal.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.9 -- Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp: 73 F Highest Temp: 84 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 25.14
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.1 MPH 10.2 MPH 38.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 6 mins 2 hours 28 mins 1 hour 38 mins
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Typical Short but TOUGH Post-Office Ride
Got the Tracker working again
I took a couple shots of the front fork I ruined by backing it into my cousin's mail-post next to the newly installed replacement fork:
Jacque rode her trike with me for the 6-mile round trip to the Post Office and back. A very short run but the hills involved are reeally rough - so much so that Jacque was about done in on the way back up the rocky hill to the house.
It was a bit hotter than yesterday and she was still tired from yesterday.
Here's a blip of a video of her riding her new trike...
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.7 -- Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 73 F Highest Temp: 80 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.95
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.4 MPH 5.5 MPH 24.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 43 mins 1 hour 4 mins 39 mins 8 secs
I took a couple shots of the front fork I ruined by backing it into my cousin's mail-post next to the newly installed replacement fork:
Jacque rode her trike with me for the 6-mile round trip to the Post Office and back. A very short run but the hills involved are reeally rough - so much so that Jacque was about done in on the way back up the rocky hill to the house.
It was a bit hotter than yesterday and she was still tired from yesterday.
Here's a blip of a video of her riding her new trike...
Lowest Temp: 73 F Highest Temp: 80 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.95
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.4 MPH 5.5 MPH 24.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 43 mins 1 hour 4 mins 39 mins 8 secs
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Crunched Bike, Fixed, Good Break-in Ride Today
Last week we spent Thursday through Sunday at the very pleasant Circle Cross RV Park in Timberon, south of Cloudcroft in the Sacramento Mountains.
We rode the bikes around that area a bit. We left Sunday about noon, and we decided to "take the long way home" and drive down Highway 82 through Mayhill and Artesia and then north on Highway 285 through Roswell and home. On a whim we side-tracked over to Hagerman to look at the 3 generations of Devenport ancestors buried there.
Then I got the itch to drop in on my cousin Darel Devenport and his wife Genia, who own a ranch just south of Roswell in the Dexter area.
Devenports get away with such behavior (Dropping in without advance warning) for some reason; it's just the way we were raised. Our wives, of course, are horrified at the thought of not planning such visits weeks in advance with appropriate advance letters, cards, calls, to make it official.
Anyway. We found Darel at home by himself and the first thing I did upon arrival was to back over his newspaper receptacle on its post, bending it horizontally and partially cracking the plastic news-box. Adding injury to myself as well as insult to Darel's property, we discovered the contact point for the pole-crunching exercise was my beloved recumbent bike, supposedly safely mounted on the hitch-platform on the rear of the RV.
As you may have noted from previous posts, I'm kinda hard on front forks. This is the third one I've damaged. Thank goodness the wheel was removed already for the trip or it would have been crunched too.
I was able to man-handle Darel's newspaper-post back almost perfectly vertical again by heaving on it several times and then using stainless steel hose clamps to re-fasten the paper-box to the pole. But straightening out this fork.... no amount of muscle would budge it and I was afraid I'd break it if I used pry bars or other heavy duty tools to try to bend it pack to the correct angles.
SO. We stayed the night in Roswell and got home late Monday afternoon, and I spent most of the day Tuesday working on my bent 'bent.
After fruitlessly tearing up 2 other "parts bikes" to see if their front forks would work, which of course they didn't, I found a bike I'd paid $10 for at a yard sale had a fork that fit perfectly. I was only able to test it for about 100 yards down the road and back, but decided to ride it today for a long ride anyway.
I had a doctor's appointment in Albuquerque at 9 AM today, Wednesday, so I decided to try riding the 30-some-odd miles on the bike. Since it used to take me slightly over 2 1/2 hours for that trip to work, almost the same neighborhood, I awoke at 5:30 AM and scuttled about getting ready to leave. I was able to depart about 6:15 and made it there at 8:30, so I was pretty full of myself over that. My blood pressure came in very low and satisfactory, which surprised me since I was still overheated and puffing from the ride. Then I rode back toward Los Altos park to meet Jacque, who had driven in to ride her trike around town with me. By this time I was hungry, so we rode up to Eubank and a nearby Lota Burger where I pigged out on fries, cheeseburger, and onion rings. Yum
I was shocked to find, after stuffing myself thusly, my blood sugar was now only 77, hardly a good level to take off on another round of biking. So I went back into Lota Burger and got a small normally sugared Pepsi, not Diet as is usual. Shouldn't have done it. Although it souped me up for a little while, by the time we got back to the car my blood glucose had shot over 300+ and stayed there for a few hours while my insulin pump worked overtime.
It was certainly a great day for a ride in the country.... I'll have to try taking off at daybreak again sometime instead of my normal wait-tiill-it's-HOT afternoon takeoff time.
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 41.29
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
07.0 MPH 10.1 MPH 32.3 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
5 hours 51 mins 4 hours 5 mins 1 hour 45 mins
We rode the bikes around that area a bit. We left Sunday about noon, and we decided to "take the long way home" and drive down Highway 82 through Mayhill and Artesia and then north on Highway 285 through Roswell and home. On a whim we side-tracked over to Hagerman to look at the 3 generations of Devenport ancestors buried there.
Devenports get away with such behavior (Dropping in without advance warning) for some reason; it's just the way we were raised. Our wives, of course, are horrified at the thought of not planning such visits weeks in advance with appropriate advance letters, cards, calls, to make it official.
Anyway. We found Darel at home by himself and the first thing I did upon arrival was to back over his newspaper receptacle on its post, bending it horizontally and partially cracking the plastic news-box. Adding injury to myself as well as insult to Darel's property, we discovered the contact point for the pole-crunching exercise was my beloved recumbent bike, supposedly safely mounted on the hitch-platform on the rear of the RV.
I was able to man-handle Darel's newspaper-post back almost perfectly vertical again by heaving on it several times and then using stainless steel hose clamps to re-fasten the paper-box to the pole. But straightening out this fork.... no amount of muscle would budge it and I was afraid I'd break it if I used pry bars or other heavy duty tools to try to bend it pack to the correct angles.
SO. We stayed the night in Roswell and got home late Monday afternoon, and I spent most of the day Tuesday working on my bent 'bent.
After fruitlessly tearing up 2 other "parts bikes" to see if their front forks would work, which of course they didn't, I found a bike I'd paid $10 for at a yard sale had a fork that fit perfectly. I was only able to test it for about 100 yards down the road and back, but decided to ride it today for a long ride anyway.
I had a doctor's appointment in Albuquerque at 9 AM today, Wednesday, so I decided to try riding the 30-some-odd miles on the bike. Since it used to take me slightly over 2 1/2 hours for that trip to work, almost the same neighborhood, I awoke at 5:30 AM and scuttled about getting ready to leave. I was able to depart about 6:15 and made it there at 8:30, so I was pretty full of myself over that. My blood pressure came in very low and satisfactory, which surprised me since I was still overheated and puffing from the ride. Then I rode back toward Los Altos park to meet Jacque, who had driven in to ride her trike around town with me. By this time I was hungry, so we rode up to Eubank and a nearby Lota Burger where I pigged out on fries, cheeseburger, and onion rings. Yum
I was shocked to find, after stuffing myself thusly, my blood sugar was now only 77, hardly a good level to take off on another round of biking. So I went back into Lota Burger and got a small normally sugared Pepsi, not Diet as is usual. Shouldn't have done it. Although it souped me up for a little while, by the time we got back to the car my blood glucose had shot over 300+ and stayed there for a few hours while my insulin pump worked overtime.
It was certainly a great day for a ride in the country.... I'll have to try taking off at daybreak again sometime instead of my normal wait-tiill-it's-HOT afternoon takeoff time.
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 41.29
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
07.0 MPH 10.1 MPH 32.3 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
5 hours 51 mins 4 hours 5 mins 1 hour 45 mins
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Rode the Olde Diamondback Today
Today's Track
More later Maybe... just a quick Post Office run to mail an item today. My Recumbent was racked on the back of the RV and I didn't want to dismount it so I dug the old mountain bike out from under the deck. Different muscle groups or not used to that pedaling angle or something.... I seemed to go faster but was I BUSHED on arrival at both ends of the trip.
This was my 26-year-old DiamondBack mountain bike I bought new in 1986 in Los Alamos.... No shocks, No frame hinges, and the seat post has rusted permanently in place so only someone with my leg length can ride it. But it's still a solid reliable ride that climbs steep hills ... nice for short trips, anyway.
More later Maybe... just a quick Post Office run to mail an item today. My Recumbent was racked on the back of the RV and I didn't want to dismount it so I dug the old mountain bike out from under the deck. Different muscle groups or not used to that pedaling angle or something.... I seemed to go faster but was I BUSHED on arrival at both ends of the trip.
This was my 26-year-old DiamondBack mountain bike I bought new in 1986 in Los Alamos.... No shocks, No frame hinges, and the seat post has rusted permanently in place so only someone with my leg length can ride it. But it's still a solid reliable ride that climbs steep hills ... nice for short trips, anyway.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Joint Mail Run Saturday
Very Short Tracking Link Today
I was butchering wood and painting exterior wallboard and trim today when Jacque suddenly challenged me to ride to the Post Office with her. Mind you, that's not an easy ride, with a long uphill pull, and so soon after her yesterday's ride of 17 miles. She must not have thought I was tired enough already.
Oh, Well. Off we went. I'm jealous of her new 3-wheel ability to smoke down our ragged rocky dirt/rock/gravel road over which I have to creep ever so slowly and carefully to avoid going down, sideways, which has happened to me several times on the loose rocks, dirt, and gravel on our beloved private road. She can also cruise downhill very speedily but I always leave her way behind climbing hills, even though I'm slower than molasses in January.
We met quite a few other cyclists on the less traveled Frost Road bike path this trip....
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.9 -- Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 77 F Highest Temp: 80 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.54
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.6 MPH 6.9 MPH 26.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 31 mins 48 mins 9 secs 42 mins51 secs
I was butchering wood and painting exterior wallboard and trim today when Jacque suddenly challenged me to ride to the Post Office with her. Mind you, that's not an easy ride, with a long uphill pull, and so soon after her yesterday's ride of 17 miles. She must not have thought I was tired enough already.
Oh, Well. Off we went. I'm jealous of her new 3-wheel ability to smoke down our ragged rocky dirt/rock/gravel road over which I have to creep ever so slowly and carefully to avoid going down, sideways, which has happened to me several times on the loose rocks, dirt, and gravel on our beloved private road. She can also cruise downhill very speedily but I always leave her way behind climbing hills, even though I'm slower than molasses in January.
We met quite a few other cyclists on the less traveled Frost Road bike path this trip....
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.9 -- Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 77 F Highest Temp: 80 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.54
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.6 MPH 6.9 MPH 26.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 31 mins 48 mins 9 secs 42 mins51 secs
Friday, July 13, 2012
Friday's Great Around-Town Ride
Nice Tracking Today via Ham Radio APRS
Jacque just got her new Catrike out of the repair shop where we bought it mere weeks ago. Not only had the 2 front tires (it's a Tadpole variety) worn almost bald in about 10 short riding trips, but the super small super-thin tire on the right front had picked up a tiny teensie thorn that punctured the tube right next to the kevlar tire liner. These wheels are so small and shallow it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to pry the tire off in order to repair or replace the tube. My first attempt to repair the flat was successful but stressful, hoping it would be a long time between flats. On my second attempt at patching the tube, a couple days later, I could not get the tire back on the rim without multiple attempts, the last one with lots of soapy water trying to lubricate the job.... it was still extremely difficult.
When the tire went flat the third time we decided to let the shop we bought it from do the repair... they ruined the tire trying to get it off the rim. So we agreed to pay a few hundred extra to install larger wheels and tires on all 3 trike-tire positions. That took several weeks to accomplish, and now that Jacque has her trike back, she's absolutely delirious about it.
So, we were both anxious to put some miles on our human powered vehicles today. We left earlier than usual and decided to go ride around Albuquerque since we needed some shopping and errands done within the big city limits.
The city of Albuquerque has recently built a bicycle path overpass over Interstate 25 near Montgomery. We decided to park near Los Altos Park and ride the several miles across town to the west end of the new overpass and ride over I-25 just to see where the new bike path and overpass took riders, if it did not in fact dead-end somewhere as many of our bike paths do. The original bike path has sat as an unused mile that dead-ended right at the fenced shoulder of I-25 for years, and there is considerable local enthusiasm about the addition to the bike network. A few locals have actually ridden over the overpass and commented on it online and the city announced it was open for the public a couple weeks ago.
Consider our frustration when we finally arrived at the new path about 9 miles later and found the old path is still a dead-end: It lies about 100 yards from the new path on the other side of the diversion channel and does NOT have a connection to the new trail and overpass. When we rode back down to Jefferson to get on the new trail we found it was totally blocked off with "Jersey Bounce" concrete barriers as well as a locked gate just before the overpass ramp. City workers could be seen painting railings and barriers on the new section. So we rode back, without discovering where the new overpass and path go, if anywhere. BAH
This is surely the longest pedaling trek Jacque has ever undertaken. By the time we returned toward the parked car, it was well after noon and getting very hot and muggy. As long as we kept moving there was sufficient breeze to keep us from overheating but ..... I started worrying about Jacque as she has a trick knee and she didn't have her knee support brace with her. When we finally topped the hill at Sandia High School, I decided we needed to find a shady place for her and Tinkerbell to stop and rest and wait for me to ride back and bring the "rescue vehicle". It seemed to be a good idea, since although tired, Jacque was not hurting or discouraged from further longer trips... and excited about doing it again and continuing to build up her endurance for future rides.
About halfway through our ride, I noticed the front wheel brake was dragging slightly and making noise.
I finally stopped and looked closer at the wheel and was shocked, SHOCKED, to find the front quick-release spindle had come completely loose from vibration and the wheel was only held in place by gravity and the brakes which kept the tire from falling completely out of the fork during bumps, turns, and vibration. Simple to fix but scary to realized I'd again made the mistake of ignoring a small unusual noise on the bike.....
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9 -- Ending Voltage: 12.5
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 19.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.7 MPH 6.0 MPH 19.4 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
5 hours 19 mins 3 hours 18 mins 2 hours
Jacque just got her new Catrike out of the repair shop where we bought it mere weeks ago. Not only had the 2 front tires (it's a Tadpole variety) worn almost bald in about 10 short riding trips, but the super small super-thin tire on the right front had picked up a tiny teensie thorn that punctured the tube right next to the kevlar tire liner. These wheels are so small and shallow it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to pry the tire off in order to repair or replace the tube. My first attempt to repair the flat was successful but stressful, hoping it would be a long time between flats. On my second attempt at patching the tube, a couple days later, I could not get the tire back on the rim without multiple attempts, the last one with lots of soapy water trying to lubricate the job.... it was still extremely difficult.
When the tire went flat the third time we decided to let the shop we bought it from do the repair... they ruined the tire trying to get it off the rim. So we agreed to pay a few hundred extra to install larger wheels and tires on all 3 trike-tire positions. That took several weeks to accomplish, and now that Jacque has her trike back, she's absolutely delirious about it.
So, we were both anxious to put some miles on our human powered vehicles today. We left earlier than usual and decided to go ride around Albuquerque since we needed some shopping and errands done within the big city limits.
The city of Albuquerque has recently built a bicycle path overpass over Interstate 25 near Montgomery. We decided to park near Los Altos Park and ride the several miles across town to the west end of the new overpass and ride over I-25 just to see where the new bike path and overpass took riders, if it did not in fact dead-end somewhere as many of our bike paths do. The original bike path has sat as an unused mile that dead-ended right at the fenced shoulder of I-25 for years, and there is considerable local enthusiasm about the addition to the bike network. A few locals have actually ridden over the overpass and commented on it online and the city announced it was open for the public a couple weeks ago.
Consider our frustration when we finally arrived at the new path about 9 miles later and found the old path is still a dead-end: It lies about 100 yards from the new path on the other side of the diversion channel and does NOT have a connection to the new trail and overpass. When we rode back down to Jefferson to get on the new trail we found it was totally blocked off with "Jersey Bounce" concrete barriers as well as a locked gate just before the overpass ramp. City workers could be seen painting railings and barriers on the new section. So we rode back, without discovering where the new overpass and path go, if anywhere. BAH
This is surely the longest pedaling trek Jacque has ever undertaken. By the time we returned toward the parked car, it was well after noon and getting very hot and muggy. As long as we kept moving there was sufficient breeze to keep us from overheating but ..... I started worrying about Jacque as she has a trick knee and she didn't have her knee support brace with her. When we finally topped the hill at Sandia High School, I decided we needed to find a shady place for her and Tinkerbell to stop and rest and wait for me to ride back and bring the "rescue vehicle". It seemed to be a good idea, since although tired, Jacque was not hurting or discouraged from further longer trips... and excited about doing it again and continuing to build up her endurance for future rides.
About halfway through our ride, I noticed the front wheel brake was dragging slightly and making noise.
I finally stopped and looked closer at the wheel and was shocked, SHOCKED, to find the front quick-release spindle had come completely loose from vibration and the wheel was only held in place by gravity and the brakes which kept the tire from falling completely out of the fork during bumps, turns, and vibration. Simple to fix but scary to realized I'd again made the mistake of ignoring a small unusual noise on the bike.....
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9 -- Ending Voltage: 12.5
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 19.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.7 MPH 6.0 MPH 19.4 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
5 hours 19 mins 3 hours 18 mins 2 hours
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Things That Got Done Today
-No Bike Riding Today
-Worked at the Albuquerque Bishop's Storehouse from 8:30
-Repaired broken ground wire in Taurus APRS bag (it had recently stopped beaconing for unknown reasons)
-Cut Final Exterior 50 X 25" ceiling piece to complete sealing in the rafter section over the doorway to the Mud Room
-Painted ceiling piece to match rest of house to avoid having to try painting it upside down after installation
-Painted missed spots on deck wall where Jacque had been unable to move junk away from the wall
-Walked the Dogs just before sundown
-Worked at the Albuquerque Bishop's Storehouse from 8:30
-Repaired broken ground wire in Taurus APRS bag (it had recently stopped beaconing for unknown reasons)
-Cut Final Exterior 50 X 25" ceiling piece to complete sealing in the rafter section over the doorway to the Mud Room
-Painted ceiling piece to match rest of house to avoid having to try painting it upside down after installation
-Painted missed spots on deck wall where Jacque had been unable to move junk away from the wall
-Walked the Dogs just before sundown
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Well, Better. 14 Miles today
I wasn't sure where I wanted to ride today to (1) break up the monotony and (2) get some miles in for exercise, so I decided to ride up to Paa-Ko, the upper class side of the East Mountains, and inspect the streets and roadways in the neighborhood for mowing possibilities. A couple of the Paa-Ko residents had suggested I put my tractor to paid service by offering to mow the weedy road shoulders. I wanted to see up close and personal, first, to make sure said street shoulders weren't strewn with debris or large rocks that could damage my mowing blade on the tractor. It made for a nice bike ride, and I think I can name a price that could make me some money for my time and equipment. We'll see.
Beginning Battery Voltage: Unk -- Ending Voltage: Unk (Forgot to connect the tracker - DUH )
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 14.41
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.3 MPH 8.0 MPH 28.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 44 mins 1 hour 49 mins 36 mins 40 secs
Beginning Battery Voltage: Unk -- Ending Voltage: Unk (Forgot to connect the tracker - DUH )
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 14.41
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.3 MPH 8.0 MPH 28.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 44 mins 1 hour 49 mins 36 mins 40 secs
Tuesday, Nothing New
I saddled up for a good longish ride yesterday. I had sold an item on Ebay and boxed it up with a prepaid parcel post label and it weighed a whopping 20 pounds. I planned to take the heavyweight package to the post office and then ride into Albuquerque to deliver some used bike-wheel spokes to a friend who has a bent rear wheel resulting from a broken spoke, something I'm well familiar with.
I at first thought I'd tow my bike trailer to carry the heavy parcel but dreaded dragging that thing all the way into Albuquerque and back. I decided to try bungee-ing it onto my front cargo bracket and see if it would fit, and stay there while I slowly bounced down our mile of rocky dirt road to the pavement. 3 bungee cords later I took off. Mercy, does that extra weight alter the balance and manueverability of the bike. Especially on the rocks and gravel, it really complicated handling the bike. It's hard to believe the extra 20 pounds also slowed me down noticeably climbing the long hill toward the post office.
Finally I arrived at the P.O. and was mildly shocked they accepted my parcel without question or weighing-in or any comments at all. The slightly threatening cumulus clouds overhead seemed to be gathering in the direction of Albuquerque and Tijeras canyon, so I waited a bit while eating a snack and guzzling water in the P.O. parking lot. The clouds seemed to be getting even darker so I decided I didn't want to risk getting wet and turned around and rode home. Much to my disappointment, the rain never happened. It was cloudy and cooler all day... a perfect day for an Albuquerque bike ride. BAH
I did, however, make better progress on finishing trim on our roof over our deck. Jacque started painting the house exterior a couple weeks ago and has now petered out but I'm still completing some years-old unfinished business on house trim so it all can be painted at once.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 -- Ending Voltage: Unk
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.5 MPH 6.8 MPH 25.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 18 mins 51 mins 20 secs 26 mins 40 secs
I at first thought I'd tow my bike trailer to carry the heavy parcel but dreaded dragging that thing all the way into Albuquerque and back. I decided to try bungee-ing it onto my front cargo bracket and see if it would fit, and stay there while I slowly bounced down our mile of rocky dirt road to the pavement. 3 bungee cords later I took off. Mercy, does that extra weight alter the balance and manueverability of the bike. Especially on the rocks and gravel, it really complicated handling the bike. It's hard to believe the extra 20 pounds also slowed me down noticeably climbing the long hill toward the post office.
Finally I arrived at the P.O. and was mildly shocked they accepted my parcel without question or weighing-in or any comments at all. The slightly threatening cumulus clouds overhead seemed to be gathering in the direction of Albuquerque and Tijeras canyon, so I waited a bit while eating a snack and guzzling water in the P.O. parking lot. The clouds seemed to be getting even darker so I decided I didn't want to risk getting wet and turned around and rode home. Much to my disappointment, the rain never happened. It was cloudy and cooler all day... a perfect day for an Albuquerque bike ride. BAH
I did, however, make better progress on finishing trim on our roof over our deck. Jacque started painting the house exterior a couple weeks ago and has now petered out but I'm still completing some years-old unfinished business on house trim so it all can be painted at once.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 -- Ending Voltage: Unk
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.5 MPH 6.8 MPH 25.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 18 mins 51 mins 20 secs 26 mins 40 secs
Monday, July 9, 2012
A Cyclist's Life: Threw Rock at Dog, Got a Bloody Stump
Today's Short but Sweet Ride Track
I did the usual Monday-Morning-Guilt-Trip thing again today: It's been 6 days since I rode the bike and I decided to do the 5-something mile mail run this morning, hoped-fully before the sun got too hot.
All last week we received at least one rain-shower each day, and the results have been wonderful: The air smells terrific, the fire danger is down here in the East Mountains, things are starting to green up, our road is washing out again, etc. All good. we LOVE THE RAIN -
But though the recent temperatures have cooled somewhat, the increased humidity has made the temperatures more uncomfortable, and the "swamp cooler" we have on the roof has almost no effect except to make it seem even more humid in the house so we run it in blow-air mode only just to keep the air moving in the house, which helps. Riding the bike down the new ruts and rocks in our mile of unpaved private road to the pavement of Frost Road wasn't too bad and the ride up to the Post Office wasn't bad at all. Some clouds were a bit threatening but no rain fell on me during the short ride.
Oh, yeah - here's a photo of Jacque and I eating our pick-a-nick lunch on the edge of the rock cliff just below Kiwanis Cabin on Sandia Crest on our 4th of July hike:
Meanwhile,back to today's ride.... I am always at least mildly surprised at the difference in auto drivers from day to day. Most days, 99% of auto drivers are courteous almost to a fault, but most days at least one lunatick tries to see how close he/she can brush by me without actually knocking me sideways. Today was one of those days where everyone was just great, sometimes even crowding the oncoming cars in the other lane to give me a wide berth. (We had a notorious case a few years ago where a young woman was passing a group of cyclists on Old Hiway 66 near Tijeras and, upon cresting a small hill and finding an oncoming car in the other lane headed toward her, couldn't be bothered to slow down or wait for a gap in the clutch of cyclists: She just abruptly pulled back to the right, plowing into 2 cyclists,
killing the husband and maiming his wife on the other bike, and only after months of the police making excuses for her young age (and not-mentioned cuteness) was she charged with some kind of traffic offense which, as I recall, resulted in no jail or probation or monetary loss for her, perhaps a short suspension of her driver's license)
/Rant off. The mud at the bottom of our mile-long dirt road was dried enough to find a narrow path to get across without mud all over me or the bike, and the return home was not too bad, considering I always have to dismount and push the bike up at least a third of the rocky hill road. As I huffed and puffed into our yard and parked the recumbent, the neighbor's dog opened up on me. This is the typical dog-lover neighbor you tend to have in the East Mountains: Several dogs, shut up most of the day in the house, likely never walked or exercised, since their seemingly only joy in life is barking at us in our yard or inside our home almost 100 yards from our common fence-line. Only one was out yapping at me this time, and he was right in the corner railing at me for being in my own yard, so I picked up a few rocks to heave at him and walked around the juniper trees to get within throwing-range of him. I drew back my arm for the first throw and was shocked to feel immediate pain: I'd failed to respectfully note the lack of distance between me and a nearby 5 foot tall cactus plant and I'd slammed my rock-laden hand right into the midst of it. Talk about inadvertently cutting off your own nose to spite your face.... I managed to shut the noisy offending mutt up by going ahead and peppering his area with small rocks.. with my age and arthritis there is little chance I'd ever nail him... but you know the old saying: What goes around comes around. Now if only the neighbor's dogs could accidentally fall into some cactus whenever they start barking at us when they hear us walking inside our house... but poetic justice is for humans only, one supposes.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 -- Ending Voltage: 12.9
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 70 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.57
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.9 MPH 7.6 MPH 22.4 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 8 mins 44 mins 10 secs 25 mins8 secs
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Tuesday Thundershower Trip
Today's Soggy Track Courtesy of Ham Radio APRS
We had a nice rain shower YESTERDAY afternoon, so it would appear our long longed-for monsoon season has finally arrived. In Vietnam, monsoon meant it rained, continuously, day and night, for weeks on end. Back here in "the world", in New Mexico, monsoon season means it rains at least a little bit, almost every day, one day it's a soaker, next day it's a sprinkle, but rarely do rain showers last for more than an hour at a time. Often it starts during the 4th of July weekend, though rarely has it been so dry forr weeks on end as it has this year.
Anywho. Back to today. I quasi-planned to do a 20 or 30 miler today. As usual, however, by the time I got all done with putzing around, chores, shoveling cat poop, refilling the big and little dog water reservoirs, etc, it was well after noon. It was also a bit cloudy outside, with nice shade from the clouds, although when I went outside to look around, it didn't look threatening and - if it rained - it looked like I had plenty of time to make a decent bike ride. I decided to ride up to the Post Office since it would be a good turnaround / wimp-out point if the weather got too threatening. I arrived at the P.O., safe and sound, and retrieved the mail and socked it into my seat-back pannier. As I checked my blood sugar and found it was too low to make it through another several miles of exertion, I dug into my stash and started chowing down on some homemade trail mix (regular M&M's, Peanut M&M's, and almonds) as a pickup pulled in next to me in the parking lot and as the driver went inside, the passenger stared at me like I was a Martion, just bug-eyed, continuously, until I finished sturring my face and rode away. I was losing confidence I could make a decently long ride so I decided to just ride up the Sandia Crest road as far as I could and then turn around. Which was an unexpectedly enjoyable ride. I need to take a day sometime and attempt the entire huff-puff journey clear to the top of the Crest. Thousands of local cyclists do it, regularly, but I never have, although I attempted it a year or so ago when Jacque's Uncle Max brought his carbon fiber racer bike up from Prescott AZ and blew us off by riding it to the top of the Crest... at 80-something years of age. Show-Off Old Fart, anyway.
Anyway, riding that road is a bit more enjoyable, I think, because so many cyclists keep that road populated that the drivers seem to be used to cyclists and more tolerant of them. Just short of Doc Long Picnic Area , I started to run out of steam as the clouds continued to conglomerate. Of course the slightly steep grade is much more fun coming down than going "up".
Just as I crossed N-14 back onto Frost Road at a good clip, rain began to splatter me in the face. Then it started to get WET, and of course COLD. I turned off the Frost Road shoulder and diverted to the not-as-nice bicycle trail to lessen worries about passing vehicle. I was looking for some kind of shelter where I could take cover for a few minutes so the rain might thus slow down but didn't spot any. I passed a camper trailer for sale... it was a gooseneck so I wondered if I could fit under to take shelter. I rode past it about 300 yards and the rain just got colder and harder.... and my handlebar radios and electronics wer getting soaked. I pulled over and disconnected the electronics and stuck them inside my rear pannier and turned the bike around and rode furiously back toward the little goose-neck camper. Sure enough, by laying the tall bike over and bending myself over, I could take shelter under the goose-neck and I did. The rain poured down for probably another 10 minutes and then slowed to a mild sprinkle. I got out from under my impromptu shelter and looked around: A hole in the rain clouds was almost directly over me and it looked like it might be big enough for me to saddle up and ride again, and so I did.
I wish I'd taken pictures of me, soaking wet, etc, but didn't think to bring out the camera. Oh Well.
Arrived safely home even though there was a bit of lightning popping not far enough distant, with no further soaking.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 -- Ending Voltage: 12.9
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 59 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 80.6 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 8.27
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.7 MPH 7.0 MPH 33.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 15 mins 1 hour 11 mins 1 hour 5 mins
We had a nice rain shower YESTERDAY afternoon, so it would appear our long longed-for monsoon season has finally arrived. In Vietnam, monsoon meant it rained, continuously, day and night, for weeks on end. Back here in "the world", in New Mexico, monsoon season means it rains at least a little bit, almost every day, one day it's a soaker, next day it's a sprinkle, but rarely do rain showers last for more than an hour at a time. Often it starts during the 4th of July weekend, though rarely has it been so dry forr weeks on end as it has this year.
Anywho. Back to today. I quasi-planned to do a 20 or 30 miler today. As usual, however, by the time I got all done with putzing around, chores, shoveling cat poop, refilling the big and little dog water reservoirs, etc, it was well after noon. It was also a bit cloudy outside, with nice shade from the clouds, although when I went outside to look around, it didn't look threatening and - if it rained - it looked like I had plenty of time to make a decent bike ride. I decided to ride up to the Post Office since it would be a good turnaround / wimp-out point if the weather got too threatening. I arrived at the P.O., safe and sound, and retrieved the mail and socked it into my seat-back pannier. As I checked my blood sugar and found it was too low to make it through another several miles of exertion, I dug into my stash and started chowing down on some homemade trail mix (regular M&M's, Peanut M&M's, and almonds) as a pickup pulled in next to me in the parking lot and as the driver went inside, the passenger stared at me like I was a Martion, just bug-eyed, continuously, until I finished sturring my face and rode away. I was losing confidence I could make a decently long ride so I decided to just ride up the Sandia Crest road as far as I could and then turn around. Which was an unexpectedly enjoyable ride. I need to take a day sometime and attempt the entire huff-puff journey clear to the top of the Crest. Thousands of local cyclists do it, regularly, but I never have, although I attempted it a year or so ago when Jacque's Uncle Max brought his carbon fiber racer bike up from Prescott AZ and blew us off by riding it to the top of the Crest... at 80-something years of age. Show-Off Old Fart, anyway.
Anyway, riding that road is a bit more enjoyable, I think, because so many cyclists keep that road populated that the drivers seem to be used to cyclists and more tolerant of them. Just short of Doc Long Picnic Area , I started to run out of steam as the clouds continued to conglomerate. Of course the slightly steep grade is much more fun coming down than going "up".
Just as I crossed N-14 back onto Frost Road at a good clip, rain began to splatter me in the face. Then it started to get WET, and of course COLD. I turned off the Frost Road shoulder and diverted to the not-as-nice bicycle trail to lessen worries about passing vehicle. I was looking for some kind of shelter where I could take cover for a few minutes so the rain might thus slow down but didn't spot any. I passed a camper trailer for sale... it was a gooseneck so I wondered if I could fit under to take shelter. I rode past it about 300 yards and the rain just got colder and harder.... and my handlebar radios and electronics wer getting soaked. I pulled over and disconnected the electronics and stuck them inside my rear pannier and turned the bike around and rode furiously back toward the little goose-neck camper. Sure enough, by laying the tall bike over and bending myself over, I could take shelter under the goose-neck and I did. The rain poured down for probably another 10 minutes and then slowed to a mild sprinkle. I got out from under my impromptu shelter and looked around: A hole in the rain clouds was almost directly over me and it looked like it might be big enough for me to saddle up and ride again, and so I did.
I wish I'd taken pictures of me, soaking wet, etc, but didn't think to bring out the camera. Oh Well.
Arrived safely home even though there was a bit of lightning popping not far enough distant, with no further soaking.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 -- Ending Voltage: 12.9
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 59 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 80.6 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 8.27
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.7 MPH 7.0 MPH 33.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 15 mins 1 hour 11 mins 1 hour 5 mins
Monday, July 2, 2012
Monday Milquetoast Mail Ride
Today's Short Boring APRS Track
So, I wasn't able to alliterate all the title words with M's. At least nothing I could think of that made sense.
I spent most of last week pounding away on the house (Wanna Buy it?? It's For SALE) and thus didn't do any decent riding on the 2-wheeler Fun Machine. So today I decided to stress the legs and get in at least a ride to the mailbox and back.
Even though it was 10:36 AM by the time I got rolling, it wasn't overly hot.... UNLESS I stopped for a drink or a breath.
On my way across the parking lot, I suddenly noticed the wording on a sign on the parking lot of our beloved US Post Office:
So what the cat-hair is a sign proscribing bicycling doing at a taxpayer funded public facility?
Our government at work. It PROBABLY intends to prevent riding and rolling on the sidewalks,
but, Red Ryder, that isn't what the sign says. BAH
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.6 (Now THAT's Weird) -- Ending Voltage: 12.7
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 77 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 81 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.55
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.2 MPH 7.8 MPH 26.5 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 3 mins 42 mins 40 secs 21 mins 19 secs
So, I wasn't able to alliterate all the title words with M's. At least nothing I could think of that made sense.
I spent most of last week pounding away on the house (Wanna Buy it?? It's For SALE) and thus didn't do any decent riding on the 2-wheeler Fun Machine. So today I decided to stress the legs and get in at least a ride to the mailbox and back.
Even though it was 10:36 AM by the time I got rolling, it wasn't overly hot.... UNLESS I stopped for a drink or a breath.
On my way across the parking lot, I suddenly noticed the wording on a sign on the parking lot of our beloved US Post Office:
Our government at work. It PROBABLY intends to prevent riding and rolling on the sidewalks,
but, Red Ryder, that isn't what the sign says. BAH
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.6 (Now THAT's Weird) -- Ending Voltage: 12.7
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 77 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 81 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.55
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.2 MPH 7.8 MPH 26.5 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 3 mins 42 mins 40 secs 21 mins 19 secs
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