Today's cross town tracking link
Today was one of those with partially fulfilled plans. I had a doctor's appointment at 8:30 AM and Jacque wanted to do her usual water aerobics, so the plan originally was to take my bike in on her back-rack on the Exploder and I would drop her off at the swimming hole/water aerobics facility, go to my appointment, take the Exploder back to Jacque and then ride my bike back home from there.
First problem encountered: The receptionist coolly told me she had sent me a voice mail and didn"t I get it?
When I told her no, she explained my appointment had been cancelled and I needed to re schedule it. Another doctor in the same clinic had an opening at 11 AM today, 2 1/2 hours later than I'd planned.
So I drove back to Jacque's swimming hole, unsaddled the bike and made ready, and left her a text message that I was riding to the doc's and would ride all the way home from there. I was running a bit late for such a ride and almost gave up and turned around but decided to give it my best shot and maybe I could make it with only a few minutes later than my newly scheduled appointment. Darned if I didn't roll in right on the money. My blood glucose checked in at 70 (GREAT for me ~) and my blood pressure was 100-something over 80, the nurse claimed it was great. The new doc thought most of my recent lab readings were good except for my A1c (7.9) and my frequent overrides of my pump's bolus wizard. He reset a couple of points on my insulin pump and sent me on my way.
It had warmed up considerably when I got out of the doc office so I bundled up my blue windbreaker jacket and my solid yellow thin windbreaker and strapped the pack on the back of the bike with one of my bungee cords. When I stopped several miles later I discovered the bungee cord dangling off the back of the pannier, EMPTY. My 2 jackets fell off somewhere along the way and I never noticed. BAH
Did I mention I bought a tractor? Jacque spotted a used RV she was interested in - we're still "discussing" that possibility - but as we were making ready to leave, the owner asked us if we knew anyone who might want to buy a tractor. Ya gotta realize how terrible our 1 mile of dirt and rock road is..... I jumped at the idea. A blue Ford 2000 tractor, unknown year, with a 6 foot brush hog on the back, a front end loader bucket on the front, a 2-bladed plow off to the side, and a scraper blade..... I asked him if he had a trailer with which to haul the tractor and he showed it to me, on the other side of the barn containing the tractor.
He gave us a package price for tractor, implements, and trailer and I jumped. Didn't even try to get his asking price down. I should take possession of my new prize tomorrow. I will familiarize myself with its operation by grading and repairing our terrible road and then I plan to advertise my services for field weed cutting, snow plowing, garden plowing, and yard and road maintenance. Wish me well.....
Anyway, instead of riding the bike all the 30-something miles home, I called Jacque to come rescue me so I could make an afternoon appointment with a ham friend on time.
Problem: Not working full time, very little time to get anything done even so. Frustrating.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 41 degrees F Highest Temperature: 59 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 15.48
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.3 Mph 10.0 mph 14.6 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
UNK UNK UNK
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Another Saturday Bosque Trail Ride
Spotty Tracking Results Today...
Jacque got a bit of the cabin fever today, even though we went out for a nice date last night. I suggested a bike ride "Down on the Bosque", meaning Albuquerque's wonderful multi-use trail running essentially from Alameda Boulevard to the South Valley down south of Albuquerque Raceway, the collection of salvage and junkyards, around looping back to Bridge via South Broadway. It was well after lunch when we finally arrived at the Albuquerque Bio Park and saddled up to ride. They have started running the Tingley Park Choo-Choo kiddie train, to our delight, except today the "engineer" chugged up to the loading dock at the Bio Park and stopped with his "caboose" parked across the bike path such that we had to wait to cross the rails so we could go through the gate just on the other side of the tracks and ride the pathway. Today they were in no hurry whatsoever, let me tell you. Tinkerbell was with us, and riding in her precious basket on the back of Jacque's recumbent, head peering over her shoulder prettily, and almost everyone entering and exiting the train had to stop and comment and squeal with delight and give her the usual "OOOooohhh, how CUTE!" treatment. One lovely but skeptical lady had the nerve to ask Jacque if iti was "SAFE" for Tink to ride up so high and wouldn't she fall out and get hurt.... Jacque promptly turned around in her bike, snatched the Glory Girl out of the basket, and demonstrated the harness and very short 6" leash-clip that suspends Tink in mid-air if she somehow manages to fall our of the riding basket. This seemed to mollify Miss BusyBody and thus she went away happily.
I could only stand waiting like this for about 15 minutes, much as I adore her adoring crowds almost as much as she does, so I got off and walked the bike around the back of the caboose, across the tracks, through the gate, and onto the trail. I amused myself by making several 100-yard runs up and down the path waiting for Jacque to get through. She finally got tired of waiting, too, and walked HER dog-laden bike around the caboose and through the gate, and of course as soon as she cleared the gate, the silly train began to move.
The train is actually powered by a little putt-putt gasoline engine, not steam or electric, so we easily out-ran it as we all headed south, us on the path only a few feet distant from the train on the tracks across the fence from us.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 63 degrees F Highest Temperature: 66 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.03
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.3 Mph 6.7 mph 14.6 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 33 mins 1 hour 38 mins 55 mins, 52 secs
Jacque got a bit of the cabin fever today, even though we went out for a nice date last night. I suggested a bike ride "Down on the Bosque", meaning Albuquerque's wonderful multi-use trail running essentially from Alameda Boulevard to the South Valley down south of Albuquerque Raceway, the collection of salvage and junkyards, around looping back to Bridge via South Broadway. It was well after lunch when we finally arrived at the Albuquerque Bio Park and saddled up to ride. They have started running the Tingley Park Choo-Choo kiddie train, to our delight, except today the "engineer" chugged up to the loading dock at the Bio Park and stopped with his "caboose" parked across the bike path such that we had to wait to cross the rails so we could go through the gate just on the other side of the tracks and ride the pathway. Today they were in no hurry whatsoever, let me tell you. Tinkerbell was with us, and riding in her precious basket on the back of Jacque's recumbent, head peering over her shoulder prettily, and almost everyone entering and exiting the train had to stop and comment and squeal with delight and give her the usual "OOOooohhh, how CUTE!" treatment. One lovely but skeptical lady had the nerve to ask Jacque if iti was "SAFE" for Tink to ride up so high and wouldn't she fall out and get hurt.... Jacque promptly turned around in her bike, snatched the Glory Girl out of the basket, and demonstrated the harness and very short 6" leash-clip that suspends Tink in mid-air if she somehow manages to fall our of the riding basket. This seemed to mollify Miss BusyBody and thus she went away happily.
I could only stand waiting like this for about 15 minutes, much as I adore her adoring crowds almost as much as she does, so I got off and walked the bike around the back of the caboose, across the tracks, through the gate, and onto the trail. I amused myself by making several 100-yard runs up and down the path waiting for Jacque to get through. She finally got tired of waiting, too, and walked HER dog-laden bike around the caboose and through the gate, and of course as soon as she cleared the gate, the silly train began to move.
The train is actually powered by a little putt-putt gasoline engine, not steam or electric, so we easily out-ran it as we all headed south, us on the path only a few feet distant from the train on the tracks across the fence from us.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 63 degrees F Highest Temperature: 66 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.03
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.3 Mph 6.7 mph 14.6 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 33 mins 1 hour 38 mins 55 mins, 52 secs
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
First Ride from ABQ to Home: Surprisingly Enjoyable
Great tracking with APRS today...
What a wuss I turn out to be. For the last several years, since beginning regular bicycle-commuting, I have avoided the dreaded trip home from Albuquerque, east on Route 66, thence North on NM-14 from Tijeras to Frost Road and then the last 2-something miles east on Frost Road to home. I at first feared making the OTHER trip direction from home to ABQ but - once tried - it's become rather a favorite trip for me. So why haven't I tried coming back the other direction? Lots of hills, that's why.... going TO Albuquerque from here has about 4 miles of very steep climbing, all at the first, and then pretty much a downhill ride most of the way through Tijeras Canyon into town. I've thought for years that "Someday" I needed to make the return trip, at least once, so I could at least say I did it, at least, once.
Well, today I was scheduled for some lab blood work for my next week's doctor appointment. I decided that in spite of the windy warning weather reports, I would ride TO town with Jacque, since I was supposed to not eat anything prior to the lab tests, which makes it a bit difficult to ride the bike 20 miles TO the lab, don'tcha know. She was to do her regularly scheduled water aerobics and I would get my blood work done, chow down and break my fast, and ride home on the bike... weather permitting. Going to ABQ through the canyon was a bit worrisome because I could feel the wind buffeting us as we drove through the canyon. However, I kept watching the treetops and bushes along the highway and could see little evidence of high winds... I could see no swaying of the vegetation at all. So I unsaddled the bike and all my STUFF at the old Anna Kaseman hospital/lab and sent Jacque on her way. In no time at all I was done with the lab and outside eating my oatmeal/chocolate chip bar, a tactic designed to get me to the nearest Circle K so I could get some serious junk food stuffed into me for the 20-mile trip home up the canyon. Since there are TWO Circle K's on the corner of Constitution and Wyoming, only half a block from the lab, I fared OK in the food department. Constitution has a nice bike lane all the way to Tramway, and I only needed to ride to Moon, turn south and engage Easterday which leads to the bike overpass crossing I-40 at the Los Altos Golf Course, and then the bike path parallels I-40 up to Tramway and Old Route 66, which then takes me to Tijeras and home. What wind there was turned out to be a bit cold, BUT more importantly, it was a TAIL-wind, which lessened my grief considerably going east through the Canyon. I made quite a few rest stops this trip, including at least half an hour at the Tijeras Subway Sandwich Shoppe. I enjoyed their chocolate chip cookie but was underwhelmed with their "new" Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. I gave it a good try, needing to carb up for the uphill ride going north, but had to throw about half of it away. I didn't like the spicy sauce on the meat for some reason. I WAS pleasantly surprised when I started climbing NM-14 north out of Tijeras: Those long hills I've been avoiding turn out to be much less steep than expected. I ALMOST rode on farther east on 66 to Sedillo Hill and back home via Vallecitos Road, but Jacque expected me to pick up the mail at Sandia Park Post Office AND I still needed to do this route at least ONCE, so I rode due north, and am very glad I did. These northbound hills are long-ish but not bad at all. So I will be riding that route more in the future, now that I've "swallowed the frog" and found it tasted like bacon, so to speak. Just sayin'
Advice to car drivers who think nothing of squeezing close by a cyclist in the right hand lane..... you might check your paint job when you get home. Rumor has it that SOME idiot cyclists actually SPIT on cars that come too close .... Just Sayin'. If you find a gobbet eating away your shiny paint on the right side of your car and the DNA matches mine, I have no idea how that could happen.....
Pre-Ride BG: 71 Post-Ride BG: 164 (with lots of snacks in between)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.6 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 44 degrees F Highest Temperature: 55 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 20.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.7 Mph 7.1 mph 33.4 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 36 mins 3 hours 1 mins 1 hour 34 mins
What a wuss I turn out to be. For the last several years, since beginning regular bicycle-commuting, I have avoided the dreaded trip home from Albuquerque, east on Route 66, thence North on NM-14 from Tijeras to Frost Road and then the last 2-something miles east on Frost Road to home. I at first feared making the OTHER trip direction from home to ABQ but - once tried - it's become rather a favorite trip for me. So why haven't I tried coming back the other direction? Lots of hills, that's why.... going TO Albuquerque from here has about 4 miles of very steep climbing, all at the first, and then pretty much a downhill ride most of the way through Tijeras Canyon into town. I've thought for years that "Someday" I needed to make the return trip, at least once, so I could at least say I did it, at least, once.
Well, today I was scheduled for some lab blood work for my next week's doctor appointment. I decided that in spite of the windy warning weather reports, I would ride TO town with Jacque, since I was supposed to not eat anything prior to the lab tests, which makes it a bit difficult to ride the bike 20 miles TO the lab, don'tcha know. She was to do her regularly scheduled water aerobics and I would get my blood work done, chow down and break my fast, and ride home on the bike... weather permitting. Going to ABQ through the canyon was a bit worrisome because I could feel the wind buffeting us as we drove through the canyon. However, I kept watching the treetops and bushes along the highway and could see little evidence of high winds... I could see no swaying of the vegetation at all. So I unsaddled the bike and all my STUFF at the old Anna Kaseman hospital/lab and sent Jacque on her way. In no time at all I was done with the lab and outside eating my oatmeal/chocolate chip bar, a tactic designed to get me to the nearest Circle K so I could get some serious junk food stuffed into me for the 20-mile trip home up the canyon. Since there are TWO Circle K's on the corner of Constitution and Wyoming, only half a block from the lab, I fared OK in the food department. Constitution has a nice bike lane all the way to Tramway, and I only needed to ride to Moon, turn south and engage Easterday which leads to the bike overpass crossing I-40 at the Los Altos Golf Course, and then the bike path parallels I-40 up to Tramway and Old Route 66, which then takes me to Tijeras and home. What wind there was turned out to be a bit cold, BUT more importantly, it was a TAIL-wind, which lessened my grief considerably going east through the Canyon. I made quite a few rest stops this trip, including at least half an hour at the Tijeras Subway Sandwich Shoppe. I enjoyed their chocolate chip cookie but was underwhelmed with their "new" Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. I gave it a good try, needing to carb up for the uphill ride going north, but had to throw about half of it away. I didn't like the spicy sauce on the meat for some reason. I WAS pleasantly surprised when I started climbing NM-14 north out of Tijeras: Those long hills I've been avoiding turn out to be much less steep than expected. I ALMOST rode on farther east on 66 to Sedillo Hill and back home via Vallecitos Road, but Jacque expected me to pick up the mail at Sandia Park Post Office AND I still needed to do this route at least ONCE, so I rode due north, and am very glad I did. These northbound hills are long-ish but not bad at all. So I will be riding that route more in the future, now that I've "swallowed the frog" and found it tasted like bacon, so to speak. Just sayin'
Advice to car drivers who think nothing of squeezing close by a cyclist in the right hand lane..... you might check your paint job when you get home. Rumor has it that SOME idiot cyclists actually SPIT on cars that come too close .... Just Sayin'. If you find a gobbet eating away your shiny paint on the right side of your car and the DNA matches mine, I have no idea how that could happen.....
Pre-Ride BG: 71 Post-Ride BG: 164 (with lots of snacks in between)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.6 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 44 degrees F Highest Temperature: 55 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 20.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.7 Mph 7.1 mph 33.4 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 36 mins 3 hours 1 mins 1 hour 34 mins
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wow, a Sunday Ride Home from Church
Today's trip tracked very well methinks
Jacque was a delegate for today's Republican pre-primary meeting at Sandia Casino and needed to leave Church early enough to get there in time. I decided I'd rather stay for the entire meeting block and ride the bike home from church: Catch a ride with the bike on the Jacque-Mobile's rack, which would get me to church non tired and non sweaty and non stinky, unlike the trip home on the bike. Jacque was worried about today's weather report: Wind and snow coming in for later in the afternoon. I figured What the Heck, we get out of church meetings at noon, that should give me enough time to get home on the bike before any really bad weather shows up. So I unloaded the bike at Church, chained and locked it to a handicapper parking sign in the parking lot, and lug my pannier, helmet, and bike electronics cluster inside to the coat rack area where I stowed it on the upper shelf. I had snacks in the pannier and 2 full water bottles in the clips on the bike. I wore a regular jacket (instead of a dress coat) on the outside of my white shirt and tie so I wouldn't mess up my good coat folding it into a bundle to Bungee across my handlebars for the trip home, and wore thick wool socks inside my western boots so as to look dressy but keep the toes warm for the ride home (it's still winter time here in the great American Southwest). Enjoyed church, and of course got "the treatment" from my friends who spotted the bike and thought I was nutso. "12 miles? You're Crazy!" Along with other encouraging comments.
So, after church, I saddled everything up, ate my power promoting snack of 6 chocolate donuts, velcro'ed my dress pants into the insides of my tall boot shanks, and rode away. After all the funny comments I half expected some kind of audience as I got ready to roll but I was ignored, not a bad thing to happen when you're crazy.
I immediately noticed that dressy cowboy boots are not well designed for biking. The rounded smooth soles did not grip the pedals well and I had to sorta balance differently and keep a certain position and tension on the pedals to keep from losing them, especially when starting off. I also was worried about getting the nefarious black chain grease on my right pants leg in spite of the tall boot shanks they were tucked into, but I made it home OK with no grease stripes I could find, an unusual happenstance for me after riding the bike for any distance. But it added to the normal fatigue of riding up hill and down dale.
I was bugged again today about the motorist attitude: Almost all will attempt to give me at least a little room when they overtake and pass me, but almost NEVER does anyone slow down, wait for oncoming traffic to clear, and then use the then-clear other lane to pass me without crowding me in my own. If oncoming traffic blocks entry in or across the middle line, then they just crowd right by me, anything but slow down and wait for a few seconds. BAH
The wind was a bit extra strength speed and cold wise but it was still good to be out and biking. I had to stop and rest a couple times climbing the long last pull up Sedillo Hill but it still wasn't bad.
When I finally arrived at the turnoff to our 1-mile of nasty muddy dirt rutted rocky excuse for a road, I really didn't appreciate wearing my dress boots, undamaged thus far by the trip. The mud wallow at the bottom of the gully through which our road traverses is a good 3" deep at the deepest but underneath this muddy water is also the firmest surface over which to travel. I tried to walk the bike a bit around the puddle but the mud was even deeper so I just walked my pretty boots through the puddle, replacing the nice shine with a brown scum of mud. Which took me some few minutes to wash off gently when I got to the house.
Pre-Ride BG: 100 Post-Ride BG: 153 (with lots of snacks in between)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 44 degrees F Highest Temperature: 52 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 12.3
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.5 Mph 7.8 mph 33.9 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 51 mins 1 hours 37 mins 14 mins 21 secs
Jacque was a delegate for today's Republican pre-primary meeting at Sandia Casino and needed to leave Church early enough to get there in time. I decided I'd rather stay for the entire meeting block and ride the bike home from church: Catch a ride with the bike on the Jacque-Mobile's rack, which would get me to church non tired and non sweaty and non stinky, unlike the trip home on the bike. Jacque was worried about today's weather report: Wind and snow coming in for later in the afternoon. I figured What the Heck, we get out of church meetings at noon, that should give me enough time to get home on the bike before any really bad weather shows up. So I unloaded the bike at Church, chained and locked it to a handicapper parking sign in the parking lot, and lug my pannier, helmet, and bike electronics cluster inside to the coat rack area where I stowed it on the upper shelf. I had snacks in the pannier and 2 full water bottles in the clips on the bike. I wore a regular jacket (instead of a dress coat) on the outside of my white shirt and tie so I wouldn't mess up my good coat folding it into a bundle to Bungee across my handlebars for the trip home, and wore thick wool socks inside my western boots so as to look dressy but keep the toes warm for the ride home (it's still winter time here in the great American Southwest). Enjoyed church, and of course got "the treatment" from my friends who spotted the bike and thought I was nutso. "12 miles? You're Crazy!" Along with other encouraging comments.
So, after church, I saddled everything up, ate my power promoting snack of 6 chocolate donuts, velcro'ed my dress pants into the insides of my tall boot shanks, and rode away. After all the funny comments I half expected some kind of audience as I got ready to roll but I was ignored, not a bad thing to happen when you're crazy.
I immediately noticed that dressy cowboy boots are not well designed for biking. The rounded smooth soles did not grip the pedals well and I had to sorta balance differently and keep a certain position and tension on the pedals to keep from losing them, especially when starting off. I also was worried about getting the nefarious black chain grease on my right pants leg in spite of the tall boot shanks they were tucked into, but I made it home OK with no grease stripes I could find, an unusual happenstance for me after riding the bike for any distance. But it added to the normal fatigue of riding up hill and down dale.
I was bugged again today about the motorist attitude: Almost all will attempt to give me at least a little room when they overtake and pass me, but almost NEVER does anyone slow down, wait for oncoming traffic to clear, and then use the then-clear other lane to pass me without crowding me in my own. If oncoming traffic blocks entry in or across the middle line, then they just crowd right by me, anything but slow down and wait for a few seconds. BAH
The wind was a bit extra strength speed and cold wise but it was still good to be out and biking. I had to stop and rest a couple times climbing the long last pull up Sedillo Hill but it still wasn't bad.
When I finally arrived at the turnoff to our 1-mile of nasty muddy dirt rutted rocky excuse for a road, I really didn't appreciate wearing my dress boots, undamaged thus far by the trip. The mud wallow at the bottom of the gully through which our road traverses is a good 3" deep at the deepest but underneath this muddy water is also the firmest surface over which to travel. I tried to walk the bike a bit around the puddle but the mud was even deeper so I just walked my pretty boots through the puddle, replacing the nice shine with a brown scum of mud. Which took me some few minutes to wash off gently when I got to the house.
Pre-Ride BG: 100 Post-Ride BG: 153 (with lots of snacks in between)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 44 degrees F Highest Temperature: 52 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 12.3
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.5 Mph 7.8 mph 33.9 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 51 mins 1 hours 37 mins 14 mins 21 secs
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Short but Satisfactory Saturday Ride
Today's Spotty Tijeras Canyon Tracking
Good Grief. No rides since Tuesday? No wonder I wasn't a speed racer today. Jacque has been drooling over a recumbent trike she spotted in a local bike store and wanted to go do a test ride on one today, so I got the bright idear of riding my recumbent into town through Tijeras Canyon and meeting her there.
Trouble is, we got off so late I would have had trouble getting to the bike store in time to watch Jacque ride or ride with her, so I encouraged her to go ahead and drive on in so she could make the bike store before it closed.
She really liked the trike, and we're now calculating various methods of being able to pay for it: Sell her existing 2-wheel 'bent, sell her long-arm quilting machine, etc, etc.
Me? I found our most recent snows have again turned our 1-mile "dirt" drive into soggy mud in too many places.
I hate getting mud and muck on the tires and brakes and chain so I tried my best to gingerly ride or push the bike over the miniscule dry or solid wet parts of the road, and when I got down to the bottom of the draw through which it goes just before getting to the paved Frost Road, I picked up the bike and CARRIED it across the mud surrounding the big puddle engulfing the road. Of course, where I carried it was soft, wet, and slick, so I nearly fell down bike and all but made it eventually across the slime with only a few pounds of gooey mud all over my shoes. Since I then had to push the bike up the last 25 yards to the pavement, I stomped and kicked as best I could to get most of the glop off my shoes before riding off toward the setting sun and Albuquerque.
The paved Frost Road was fine.... until I got to the top of the long hill where I have to turn south on Nort-14 to get to Tijeras, old Route 66, and thence on into Albuquerque proper. Again, the recent snows attracted the pesky snow plows and trucks, which freely dispense red cinders and salt all over creation, which of course then gets splattered up onto the road shoulders, and even worse on the bike trail mere feet from the roadway. It wasn't too bad until I started the half-mile climb up "Marco Polo Hill" (so named for Marco Polo's Pizza which went out of business years ago and no longer exists, but a small hand painted sign still "marks the hill".) The cinders and mess were worse on this long climb, and unfortunately for me, there were small banks and mounds of ice and snow covering the entire bike trail about halfway up.
I nearly went down trying to ride across the first slab of snow so I stopped and dismounted and pushed the bike past the second slab, using my muddy clod-hoppers to kick snow out of the way so the next cyclist would find at least a 12" wide path through the mess.
Then it was mostly downhill all the way to Tijeras, riding underneath I-40 and intersecting old Route 66 which then takes me into Tijeras. I had started feeling woozy about halfway down the hill to Tijeras and had stopped and eaten a chocolate-chip oatmeal energy bar (Fiber Ones are my favorite) but still felt a bit shaky by the time I got to Tijeras so I stopped in at the Tijeras Subway Sandwich shoppe for a potty and snack break. Blood sugar tested out at 60 when I arrived, so I regretfully (HAR) purchased a pair of warm chocolate chip cookies and snarfed them down, then rode on west on Rt. 66 to ABQ. No problems on this leg of the trip: Shoulders mostly clear and no mud nor ice nor snow at all. Intercepted Jacque at Constitution and Wyoming and racked the bike on the back of her Exploder and we came home.
Notes:
Total Miles racked up today on the GPS: 24
Note for Diabetic Cyclists: When the bike starts acting weird and wobbly and hard to control, check your blood sugar. If it ain't too low check your tire pressures. My blood sugar almost always is lower than my tire pressure by then... that's why I carry lots of snacks.
Weather: A bit cool but not bad; bit of a nasty headwind going westbound on old 66.
Starting Battery Voltage: 12.6 Ending Voltage: 12.2
Lowest Temperature: 41 degrees F, Highest Temperature: 55 F
Good Grief. No rides since Tuesday? No wonder I wasn't a speed racer today. Jacque has been drooling over a recumbent trike she spotted in a local bike store and wanted to go do a test ride on one today, so I got the bright idear of riding my recumbent into town through Tijeras Canyon and meeting her there.
Trouble is, we got off so late I would have had trouble getting to the bike store in time to watch Jacque ride or ride with her, so I encouraged her to go ahead and drive on in so she could make the bike store before it closed.
She really liked the trike, and we're now calculating various methods of being able to pay for it: Sell her existing 2-wheel 'bent, sell her long-arm quilting machine, etc, etc.
Me? I found our most recent snows have again turned our 1-mile "dirt" drive into soggy mud in too many places.
I hate getting mud and muck on the tires and brakes and chain so I tried my best to gingerly ride or push the bike over the miniscule dry or solid wet parts of the road, and when I got down to the bottom of the draw through which it goes just before getting to the paved Frost Road, I picked up the bike and CARRIED it across the mud surrounding the big puddle engulfing the road. Of course, where I carried it was soft, wet, and slick, so I nearly fell down bike and all but made it eventually across the slime with only a few pounds of gooey mud all over my shoes. Since I then had to push the bike up the last 25 yards to the pavement, I stomped and kicked as best I could to get most of the glop off my shoes before riding off toward the setting sun and Albuquerque.
The paved Frost Road was fine.... until I got to the top of the long hill where I have to turn south on Nort-14 to get to Tijeras, old Route 66, and thence on into Albuquerque proper. Again, the recent snows attracted the pesky snow plows and trucks, which freely dispense red cinders and salt all over creation, which of course then gets splattered up onto the road shoulders, and even worse on the bike trail mere feet from the roadway. It wasn't too bad until I started the half-mile climb up "Marco Polo Hill" (so named for Marco Polo's Pizza which went out of business years ago and no longer exists, but a small hand painted sign still "marks the hill".) The cinders and mess were worse on this long climb, and unfortunately for me, there were small banks and mounds of ice and snow covering the entire bike trail about halfway up.
I nearly went down trying to ride across the first slab of snow so I stopped and dismounted and pushed the bike past the second slab, using my muddy clod-hoppers to kick snow out of the way so the next cyclist would find at least a 12" wide path through the mess.
Then it was mostly downhill all the way to Tijeras, riding underneath I-40 and intersecting old Route 66 which then takes me into Tijeras. I had started feeling woozy about halfway down the hill to Tijeras and had stopped and eaten a chocolate-chip oatmeal energy bar (Fiber Ones are my favorite) but still felt a bit shaky by the time I got to Tijeras so I stopped in at the Tijeras Subway Sandwich shoppe for a potty and snack break. Blood sugar tested out at 60 when I arrived, so I regretfully (HAR) purchased a pair of warm chocolate chip cookies and snarfed them down, then rode on west on Rt. 66 to ABQ. No problems on this leg of the trip: Shoulders mostly clear and no mud nor ice nor snow at all. Intercepted Jacque at Constitution and Wyoming and racked the bike on the back of her Exploder and we came home.
Notes:
Total Miles racked up today on the GPS: 24
Note for Diabetic Cyclists: When the bike starts acting weird and wobbly and hard to control, check your blood sugar. If it ain't too low check your tire pressures. My blood sugar almost always is lower than my tire pressure by then... that's why I carry lots of snacks.
Weather: A bit cool but not bad; bit of a nasty headwind going westbound on old 66.
Starting Battery Voltage: 12.6 Ending Voltage: 12.2
Lowest Temperature: 41 degrees F, Highest Temperature: 55 F
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
35-Mile Loop Tuesday
I'm not including my tracker link from yesterday since it only worked for maybe 4 miles before it stopped for some reason. Need to check the radio, antenna, etc.
Anywho, the secret is now out. The reason I rode to Golden on Monday was to purchase a Turquoise bracelet Jacque had spotted at the Henderson Store, the only surviving commercial enterprise in the tiny ghost town.
Naturally, when I arrived on Monday the place was CLOSED. Sign in the window says "Open Tuesday - Friday". So I ate my snack and came home.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was of course Valentine's Day, the reason for trying to purchase the shiny silver and turquoise bracelet for my sweetie. Since Jacque left in the early morning for her sewing club and planned to be gone until at least noon, I decided I would AGAIN ride up to Golden and hope to catch the store open this time.
They were, and commented they'd seen me ride up the day before. Grrrrr. But, then, when I went to pay for the pricey item, all I had with me was plastic, and they only accepted cash or check. The nice lady told me "I'm not going to have you ride all this way for nothing", so she handed me the boxed beauty and a receipt and told me to send her a check when I got home. Very nice. The Henderson Store , open since 1918, now has an eclectic collection of authentic Southwest Indian Jewelry and other items, and is well worth a visit the next time you take the Scenic Turquoise Trail (NM route 14 from Tijeras to Santa Fe), which also goes through the scenic villages of Madrid and Cerrillos.
On my way back south towards home, I decided to turn left on NM 344, which circles around through Cedar Grove and intersects with Frost Road north of Edgewood. Within a couple miles I encountered the fabled Heartbreak Hill which I've heard other cyclists mention:
I snapped this after the first little rise just at the base of an alarmingly steep climb. Note the bicycle sign.
The sign should contain the warning "Not for the Elderly nor Faint of Heart!"
It must have been at least a solid mile or more of very steep climbing. I made it perhaps a third of a mile before I ran out of gear rings, oxygen, and energy. I had to push the bike the last 2/3 of the climb and it was a HARD slog just walking the bike. I sincerely doubt I'll ever try riding that direction again. I might try coming the other direction, but even then the DOWNhill would be harrowing and dangerous: It surely would wear out a set of brake pads, and the curves are much too sharp to just coast without smoking the brakes. I saw a logging truck stopped about 1/4 of the way down, taking a break so HIS brakes could cool off, and creeping very slowly past me when he did resume his downhill crawl.
Finally I made it to the top and was able to remount the bike and pedal and coast the other side of "South Mountain". As I approached Cedar Grove the wind started picking up and got colder.
I'm noting that out in these country roadways, I can hear cars coming some minutes earlier than I can see them. Cyclists often comment on their "connection" with the area they ride through and it's an interesting sensation. You just don't get the same feeling cruising through an area inside a car, all sealed up inside the cocoon of steel and plastic. Another interesting sensation is that of climbing hills. You see it coming up, and there is the dread of having to horse it up the hill, working your way through the various combinations of front and rear gear rings, hoping to make it to the top without getting to the dreaded "granny gear". As you approach the last part of the climb, you think the last part of the hill will be the worst, but it rarely is. Usually, instead, you find the hill leveling off as you approach the top, and usually are able to catch a couple or a few higher speed gears before you reach the top. And finally topping the hill: Cyclist nirvana, meaning you made it without having to get off and push. A real thrill when you can do it.
I finally got back down far enough south on 344 to intersect and turn back on to my home stretch of Frost Road Which seems to have eternal headwinds. At least this time I wasn't being blown into oncoming traffic and was able to complete the trip home. Final Mileage - 35 miles. Another sensation: The soreness of stiff legs and sheer exhaustion, followed slowly by the realization you're going to live for another ride.
Reaction of the sweet wifey to the blinky shiney wrist decoration: A Very Happy Valentines Day.
Pre-Ride BG: 156 Post-Ride BG: 136 (with lots of snacks in between)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Start-Ride Temperature: 32 degrees F Arrival Temperature: 40 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 35.58
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.9 Mph 8.6 mph 28.4 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
5 hours 10 mins 4 hours 9 mins 1 hour
Anywho, the secret is now out. The reason I rode to Golden on Monday was to purchase a Turquoise bracelet Jacque had spotted at the Henderson Store, the only surviving commercial enterprise in the tiny ghost town.
Naturally, when I arrived on Monday the place was CLOSED. Sign in the window says "Open Tuesday - Friday". So I ate my snack and came home.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was of course Valentine's Day, the reason for trying to purchase the shiny silver and turquoise bracelet for my sweetie. Since Jacque left in the early morning for her sewing club and planned to be gone until at least noon, I decided I would AGAIN ride up to Golden and hope to catch the store open this time.
They were, and commented they'd seen me ride up the day before. Grrrrr. But, then, when I went to pay for the pricey item, all I had with me was plastic, and they only accepted cash or check. The nice lady told me "I'm not going to have you ride all this way for nothing", so she handed me the boxed beauty and a receipt and told me to send her a check when I got home. Very nice. The Henderson Store , open since 1918, now has an eclectic collection of authentic Southwest Indian Jewelry and other items, and is well worth a visit the next time you take the Scenic Turquoise Trail (NM route 14 from Tijeras to Santa Fe), which also goes through the scenic villages of Madrid and Cerrillos.
On my way back south towards home, I decided to turn left on NM 344, which circles around through Cedar Grove and intersects with Frost Road north of Edgewood. Within a couple miles I encountered the fabled Heartbreak Hill which I've heard other cyclists mention:
The sign should contain the warning "Not for the Elderly nor Faint of Heart!"
It must have been at least a solid mile or more of very steep climbing. I made it perhaps a third of a mile before I ran out of gear rings, oxygen, and energy. I had to push the bike the last 2/3 of the climb and it was a HARD slog just walking the bike. I sincerely doubt I'll ever try riding that direction again. I might try coming the other direction, but even then the DOWNhill would be harrowing and dangerous: It surely would wear out a set of brake pads, and the curves are much too sharp to just coast without smoking the brakes. I saw a logging truck stopped about 1/4 of the way down, taking a break so HIS brakes could cool off, and creeping very slowly past me when he did resume his downhill crawl.
Finally I made it to the top and was able to remount the bike and pedal and coast the other side of "South Mountain". As I approached Cedar Grove the wind started picking up and got colder.
I'm noting that out in these country roadways, I can hear cars coming some minutes earlier than I can see them. Cyclists often comment on their "connection" with the area they ride through and it's an interesting sensation. You just don't get the same feeling cruising through an area inside a car, all sealed up inside the cocoon of steel and plastic. Another interesting sensation is that of climbing hills. You see it coming up, and there is the dread of having to horse it up the hill, working your way through the various combinations of front and rear gear rings, hoping to make it to the top without getting to the dreaded "granny gear". As you approach the last part of the climb, you think the last part of the hill will be the worst, but it rarely is. Usually, instead, you find the hill leveling off as you approach the top, and usually are able to catch a couple or a few higher speed gears before you reach the top. And finally topping the hill: Cyclist nirvana, meaning you made it without having to get off and push. A real thrill when you can do it.
I finally got back down far enough south on 344 to intersect and turn back on to my home stretch of Frost Road Which seems to have eternal headwinds. At least this time I wasn't being blown into oncoming traffic and was able to complete the trip home. Final Mileage - 35 miles. Another sensation: The soreness of stiff legs and sheer exhaustion, followed slowly by the realization you're going to live for another ride.
Reaction of the sweet wifey to the blinky shiney wrist decoration: A Very Happy Valentines Day.
Pre-Ride BG: 156 Post-Ride BG: 136 (with lots of snacks in between)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Start-Ride Temperature: 32 degrees F Arrival Temperature: 40 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 35.58
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.9 Mph 8.6 mph 28.4 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
5 hours 10 mins 4 hours 9 mins 1 hour
Monday, February 13, 2012
Monday, a Golden Day
The APRS Tracker worked well until I dropped downhill to Golden
I decided to ride up North-14 to Golden today.... I've been thinking about a day ride to Madrid but that is just over 20 miles away and Golden was "only" 14 miles so to get my feet wet....... I went.
It snowed last night and part of this morning so I didn't take off due to ice and snow on the road shoulders until 2:30 PM or so this afternoon. The radar weather map didn't show much of anything, but it was a bit cloudy and cool as shown by the recorded temperatures. I removed my temperature sensor from the main circuit board inside the Argent OpenTracker Plus.... it was keeping warm inside there, not only protected from the outside air but warmed by the nearby electronics. Today's recorded temps more accurately reflect what the air temperature really was. It started out partially cloudy, then wobbled back and forth from cloudy (with even a few flakes of snow just north of Paa-Ko Golf Course, faint sunshine, and on the trip back .... cloudy windy and cold.
I was pleasantly surprised with this ride. The hills weren't that bad and the traffic was both sparse and largely considerate of the looney bike rider they encountered.
Pre-Ride BG: 115 Post-Ride BG: 94
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Start-Ride Temperature: 32 degrees F Arrival Temperature: 32 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 28.17
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
07.8 Mph 9.1 mph 26.1 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 37 mins 3 hours 5 mins 31 mins 38 secs
I decided to ride up North-14 to Golden today.... I've been thinking about a day ride to Madrid but that is just over 20 miles away and Golden was "only" 14 miles so to get my feet wet....... I went.
It snowed last night and part of this morning so I didn't take off due to ice and snow on the road shoulders until 2:30 PM or so this afternoon. The radar weather map didn't show much of anything, but it was a bit cloudy and cool as shown by the recorded temperatures. I removed my temperature sensor from the main circuit board inside the Argent OpenTracker Plus.... it was keeping warm inside there, not only protected from the outside air but warmed by the nearby electronics. Today's recorded temps more accurately reflect what the air temperature really was. It started out partially cloudy, then wobbled back and forth from cloudy (with even a few flakes of snow just north of Paa-Ko Golf Course, faint sunshine, and on the trip back .... cloudy windy and cold.
I was pleasantly surprised with this ride. The hills weren't that bad and the traffic was both sparse and largely considerate of the looney bike rider they encountered.
Pre-Ride BG: 115 Post-Ride BG: 94
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.3
Start-Ride Temperature: 32 degrees F Arrival Temperature: 32 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 28.17
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
07.8 Mph 9.1 mph 26.1 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 37 mins 3 hours 5 mins 31 mins 38 secs
Friday, February 10, 2012
Long Ride on a Very Bad Blustery Day
Yesterday I decided I'd take the day off from cutting firewood since I finally got all the scrap wood in the yard cut to stove lengths and piled... perhaps even enough to last until we stop having to BURN so much firewood this season.
I've been thinking a ride straight east from our house, on Frost Road, clear out to where it ends at Stanley, might be a good ride. It turns out to be almost exactly 20 miles (slightly over) one way to Stanley on a much less traveled road than, say, North-14 or NM-344 or Route 66.
I left about 10:30 AM and it wasn't too bad, although a bit cold. The sun was clear and trying to warm things up but the wind kept cooling me off. Although the wind was breaking mostly across my back, I worried about having to fight it face-on for the return leg. Sometimes the wind will shift direction later in the day and I hoped for that - but fully realizing I might have a real struggle coming back.
I fully began to realize the struggles before me even before I got to Stanley to turn back west for home.
I stopped at the side of the road for a water/potty/snack break (don't worry, the only viewers were a few cows) and found I could not stand the bike up by itself with the high winds, so I propped it against a stop sign:
... But I finished my snack break and rode on to Stanley, a "town" with a post office, volunteer fire department, and a good sized church that serves a vast area of sparsely populated territory surrounding it.
When I turned back west on 472 for the fearsome ride home, I was surprised I was able to roll along fairly steadily, albeit in my lower gears. It's always a depressing sensation to have to pedal, HARD, going down hill just to keep barely moving. The wind seemed to be howling from the direction of nearby South Mountain, and I hoped the wind would ease off the farther west I rode, but that was not the case. It continued to worsen until I could barely keep the bike upright - being blown off balance, left and right, swept one moment into the oncoming lane and barely avoiding slamming off the shoulder to the weeds and rocks on the right a second later,.
When I got within 100 yards of the 344/472 junction at Cedar Grove due north of Edgewood, I'd had enough. I could barely push the bike walking alongside it from the force of the wind, and had trouble standing up. I walked and struggled with the bike the last 100 yards to the intersection, leaned the bike next to a very solid stand-pipe sicking out of the ground near the road, and called my sexy rescue babe Jacque. While waiting for her, the wind continued to worsen, and I put on my polar fleece skullcap, my ski mittens, all my outer layers, and did not regret for a moment having carried all that "Stuff" with me.
Planned mileage today: Just over 40. Accomplished mileage: Slightly over 32, 14 of which was facing nearly gale force wind. And COLD. It was colder by 4 PM than it was when I left at 10:30 in the morning.
I've been thinking a ride straight east from our house, on Frost Road, clear out to where it ends at Stanley, might be a good ride. It turns out to be almost exactly 20 miles (slightly over) one way to Stanley on a much less traveled road than, say, North-14 or NM-344 or Route 66.
I left about 10:30 AM and it wasn't too bad, although a bit cold. The sun was clear and trying to warm things up but the wind kept cooling me off. Although the wind was breaking mostly across my back, I worried about having to fight it face-on for the return leg. Sometimes the wind will shift direction later in the day and I hoped for that - but fully realizing I might have a real struggle coming back.
I fully began to realize the struggles before me even before I got to Stanley to turn back west for home.
I stopped at the side of the road for a water/potty/snack break (don't worry, the only viewers were a few cows) and found I could not stand the bike up by itself with the high winds, so I propped it against a stop sign:
When I turned back west on 472 for the fearsome ride home, I was surprised I was able to roll along fairly steadily, albeit in my lower gears. It's always a depressing sensation to have to pedal, HARD, going down hill just to keep barely moving. The wind seemed to be howling from the direction of nearby South Mountain, and I hoped the wind would ease off the farther west I rode, but that was not the case. It continued to worsen until I could barely keep the bike upright - being blown off balance, left and right, swept one moment into the oncoming lane and barely avoiding slamming off the shoulder to the weeds and rocks on the right a second later,.
When I got within 100 yards of the 344/472 junction at Cedar Grove due north of Edgewood, I'd had enough. I could barely push the bike walking alongside it from the force of the wind, and had trouble standing up. I walked and struggled with the bike the last 100 yards to the intersection, leaned the bike next to a very solid stand-pipe sicking out of the ground near the road, and called my sexy rescue babe Jacque. While waiting for her, the wind continued to worsen, and I put on my polar fleece skullcap, my ski mittens, all my outer layers, and did not regret for a moment having carried all that "Stuff" with me.
Planned mileage today: Just over 40. Accomplished mileage: Slightly over 32, 14 of which was facing nearly gale force wind. And COLD. It was colder by 4 PM than it was when I left at 10:30 in the morning.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Terrific 23-Mile Tuesday
Today I got a great roundabout APRS-Track
Jacque (my normal rescue / SAG driver) was in town all morning and I'd halfway planned to ride the bike from home into ABQ to meet here and catch a ride back home. I didn't get rolling soon enough to make it into town before she was already halfway home so I decided to just ride up to the Post Office and then down to the local Mountain Video store to return our latest rental: Tuskegee Airmen, In Their Own Words.
Jacque and I had decided via cell phone to meet at the video store where I would lash the bike on the rack on her rear bumper and catch a ride home, back up the hill. After arriving before she did I decided I was up for a longer ride and decided to do a roundabout on down to Tijeras and Old Route 66 east to Sedillo Hill and then circle back home via Vallecitos Road and Frost Road.
I'm always amazed at my lack of intimacy with various local routes like 66 that I've ridden in other areas. 66 is popular with local cyclists since it allows them to travel through the East Mountains without having to deal with the incessant high speed traffic up on Interstate 40. As noted before, it does have its drawbacks. One major gripe I noticed even more today was the inescapable layers, often rough and corregated in surface structure, of cinders and salt and sandy gravel used to "salt" the roads during snow and ice storms. I'm unsure if street sweepers are ever deployed out here, but the heavy vehicular traffic tends to scatter the grunge off to the sides of the pavement: Right where chicken-cyclists like myself prefer to ride, on the shoulder, so vehicles coming up from behind can pass safely unmolested by my unwelcome presence. Stuff like this, along with various tire-deadly bits of steel, wire, metal, rocks, and the inevitable broken glass booze bottles, seems to just stay there seemingly forever.
Almost every day some loser refuses to wait to pass or cross into the other lane to give me any clearance, and today included another incident. As I was southbound on North-14, I was riding in the right lane of the 4-lane road where no shoulder existed. I saw the large crew-cab F-150 style hi-rise pickup coming up behind, and instead of moving to the left lane to pass me, like 999 out of 1000 normal drivers, she began "Beep-beeping" her horn, as if to warn me to get off the road. I persisted in my path forward, instead of stopping or slowing enough to jump the curb and courteously vacating the road for the benefit of Miss Road Hawg, so she went ahead and passed me... missing me by a few inches. I again refuse to record my un-Christian words that popped out as she brushed by me.
I was plagued today by a reluctant front ring gear shifter.
It eventually refused to shift into the highest speed ring gear at all, rendering level and downhill pedalling quite unpleasant.
I stopped today for snacks and refreshment at Subway in Tijeras and the Sedillo Hill Route 66 gas/convenience station. I arrived home about 5:43 PM, about 4+ hours after leaving. Lengthy breaks at Subway and Sedillo explain some of the length of today's excursion.
Pre-Ride BG: 125 Post-Ride BG: 92
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.2
Start-Ride Temperature: 44 degrees F Arrival Temperature: 55 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 23.57
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.2 Mph 7.7 mph 33.6 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 30 mins 3 hours 4 mins 1 hour 6 mins
Jacque (my normal rescue / SAG driver) was in town all morning and I'd halfway planned to ride the bike from home into ABQ to meet here and catch a ride back home. I didn't get rolling soon enough to make it into town before she was already halfway home so I decided to just ride up to the Post Office and then down to the local Mountain Video store to return our latest rental: Tuskegee Airmen, In Their Own Words.
Jacque and I had decided via cell phone to meet at the video store where I would lash the bike on the rack on her rear bumper and catch a ride home, back up the hill. After arriving before she did I decided I was up for a longer ride and decided to do a roundabout on down to Tijeras and Old Route 66 east to Sedillo Hill and then circle back home via Vallecitos Road and Frost Road.
I'm always amazed at my lack of intimacy with various local routes like 66 that I've ridden in other areas. 66 is popular with local cyclists since it allows them to travel through the East Mountains without having to deal with the incessant high speed traffic up on Interstate 40. As noted before, it does have its drawbacks. One major gripe I noticed even more today was the inescapable layers, often rough and corregated in surface structure, of cinders and salt and sandy gravel used to "salt" the roads during snow and ice storms. I'm unsure if street sweepers are ever deployed out here, but the heavy vehicular traffic tends to scatter the grunge off to the sides of the pavement: Right where chicken-cyclists like myself prefer to ride, on the shoulder, so vehicles coming up from behind can pass safely unmolested by my unwelcome presence. Stuff like this, along with various tire-deadly bits of steel, wire, metal, rocks, and the inevitable broken glass booze bottles, seems to just stay there seemingly forever.
Almost every day some loser refuses to wait to pass or cross into the other lane to give me any clearance, and today included another incident. As I was southbound on North-14, I was riding in the right lane of the 4-lane road where no shoulder existed. I saw the large crew-cab F-150 style hi-rise pickup coming up behind, and instead of moving to the left lane to pass me, like 999 out of 1000 normal drivers, she began "Beep-beeping" her horn, as if to warn me to get off the road. I persisted in my path forward, instead of stopping or slowing enough to jump the curb and courteously vacating the road for the benefit of Miss Road Hawg, so she went ahead and passed me... missing me by a few inches. I again refuse to record my un-Christian words that popped out as she brushed by me.
I was plagued today by a reluctant front ring gear shifter.
It eventually refused to shift into the highest speed ring gear at all, rendering level and downhill pedalling quite unpleasant.
I stopped today for snacks and refreshment at Subway in Tijeras and the Sedillo Hill Route 66 gas/convenience station. I arrived home about 5:43 PM, about 4+ hours after leaving. Lengthy breaks at Subway and Sedillo explain some of the length of today's excursion.
Pre-Ride BG: 125 Post-Ride BG: 92
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.2
Start-Ride Temperature: 44 degrees F Arrival Temperature: 55 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 23.57
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.2 Mph 7.7 mph 33.6 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 30 mins 3 hours 4 mins 1 hour 6 mins
Monday, February 6, 2012
Another Monday: Good Workout; Short Ride
Today's Roundabout APRS Route
I guess I'm getting too distracted. I'm shocked I've gone several days without a bike ride.
I again rode into Albuquerque with Jacque in her Ford Exploder and, while she performed water aerobics at the Alvarado Park pool, I took off on the bike.
I was chagrined to find I'd forgotten to bring my main bike-mobile GPS and ham walkie-talkie assembly with us, so I instead plugged in the little backup GPS puck (Garmin 18) and took off for the Wendy's junk food drive-in just a few hundred yards away on Eubank. I was hungry and hadn't had a carb-pumper meal or snack yet so I ordered a chicken sandwich. When the waitress asked if I cared for green chili and cheese I of course answered in the affirmative. I always tip well when I "eat out" like this while biking but I always suspect many of the onlookers think I'm homeless, seeing all the "Stuff" I carry on the bike. While gobbling my sandwich, it occurred to me I had a backup walkie talkie still in Jacque's exploder inside my other backpack, so after chowing down I rode back over and picked it up. It's a Kenwood TH-F6A, which uses the same microphone and power connections as the TH-D7A that I'd left behind, so I plugged in my helmet earpiece and microphone and rode merrily on, now able to use precious oxygen talking to my ham radio buddies while pedaling along. They responded in kind: I talked to Gary KH6JTM, Tom NM5TW, Scotty NM5SW, and Tim Tim KD5YMT. Great fun.
I decided to ride the closest bike trail up towards Tramway. I'd hoped to ride to a big box hardware store to stock up on brad nails for my air-powered nail gun but no bike paths I could find led close to any, and they were all on heavily trafficked streets such as Eubank and Juan Tabo. So I just decided to ride up the trail to Tramway and then ride Tramway a while and come back. Simple ride plan, but unfortunately it's noticeably UPHILL going east from anywhere in the city to Tramway, and my average speed failed to accomplish the anticipated distance. I got ALMOST to Tramway when Jacque called, 1.5 hours into my ride, and announced she was done and ready to go. So I turned my fanny around and rode back, freezing much of the way since the return trip was almost entirely DOWN-hill. I had to stop and re-zip up my jacket to keep some of the frigid air out. But it's always great to take a jaunt on the bike whether the air is cold, hot, or even the all-too-rare in between.
Starting BG: 209 Ending BG: 275 (didn't pump enough insulin for the sandwich)
Starting Battery Voltage: 12.8 Volts Ending Voltage: 12.7 Volts
Starting Temperature: 41 Degrees F Ending Temperature: 66 Degrees F
I guess I'm getting too distracted. I'm shocked I've gone several days without a bike ride.
I again rode into Albuquerque with Jacque in her Ford Exploder and, while she performed water aerobics at the Alvarado Park pool, I took off on the bike.
I was chagrined to find I'd forgotten to bring my main bike-mobile GPS and ham walkie-talkie assembly with us, so I instead plugged in the little backup GPS puck (Garmin 18) and took off for the Wendy's junk food drive-in just a few hundred yards away on Eubank. I was hungry and hadn't had a carb-pumper meal or snack yet so I ordered a chicken sandwich. When the waitress asked if I cared for green chili and cheese I of course answered in the affirmative. I always tip well when I "eat out" like this while biking but I always suspect many of the onlookers think I'm homeless, seeing all the "Stuff" I carry on the bike. While gobbling my sandwich, it occurred to me I had a backup walkie talkie still in Jacque's exploder inside my other backpack, so after chowing down I rode back over and picked it up. It's a Kenwood TH-F6A, which uses the same microphone and power connections as the TH-D7A that I'd left behind, so I plugged in my helmet earpiece and microphone and rode merrily on, now able to use precious oxygen talking to my ham radio buddies while pedaling along. They responded in kind: I talked to Gary KH6JTM, Tom NM5TW, Scotty NM5SW, and Tim Tim KD5YMT. Great fun.
I decided to ride the closest bike trail up towards Tramway. I'd hoped to ride to a big box hardware store to stock up on brad nails for my air-powered nail gun but no bike paths I could find led close to any, and they were all on heavily trafficked streets such as Eubank and Juan Tabo. So I just decided to ride up the trail to Tramway and then ride Tramway a while and come back. Simple ride plan, but unfortunately it's noticeably UPHILL going east from anywhere in the city to Tramway, and my average speed failed to accomplish the anticipated distance. I got ALMOST to Tramway when Jacque called, 1.5 hours into my ride, and announced she was done and ready to go. So I turned my fanny around and rode back, freezing much of the way since the return trip was almost entirely DOWN-hill. I had to stop and re-zip up my jacket to keep some of the frigid air out. But it's always great to take a jaunt on the bike whether the air is cold, hot, or even the all-too-rare in between.
Starting BG: 209 Ending BG: 275 (didn't pump enough insulin for the sandwich)
Starting Battery Voltage: 12.8 Volts Ending Voltage: 12.7 Volts
Starting Temperature: 41 Degrees F Ending Temperature: 66 Degrees F
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