Short Ride but Good APRS Tracking
I've only been on the bike once since I got home from Ohio: Friday 25 May APRS Track
Jacque and I decided to ride together for a short hot 2.5 mile ride to the usual Post Office to stretch our legs and keep them limbered up. It was great riding except for the rocky dusty mile of unpaved road from Frost Road to our house.
This was the first time Jacque tried riding her new Catrike on our non-optimal road, and we're likely to not try it again. It was too rugged and hard on the trike as well as Jacque. But the fun riding on the better pavement ws worth it.
Unfortunately, while parked at the Post Office, the gusty wind knocked my bike down, snapping the headlamp off the helmet hanging on the handlebars and breaking the upper insulator on one of my J Pole antennas. Thank goodness for JB Weld Epoxy .....
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.7
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 70 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 80 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.580
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.6 MPH 06.5 MPH 30.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hours 34 mins 51 mins 42 secs 40 mins
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Miamisburg to Wright-Patterson Museum Track
I've been back a couple days now from my quasi-annual pilgrimage to the world's largest ham radio convention: Dayton Hamvention
I rode with Bill Mader, K8TE, who I've ridden with on such trips for several years. It was enjoyable meeting all sorts of ham radio nuts like ourselves, seeing everything from ancient electronic junk to the latest gee-whiz contraptions. The best part, for me, was riding my recumbent around the area of Dayton Ohio. The Bicycle Mobile Hams of America sponsors a group ride each year during Hamvention and I again participated in this ride on Saturday, May 20. Seeing all the different ham radio setups mounted on bicycles was a real kick, and hearing the short-wave static and "Quack-Quack" of various HF stations talking back and forth while riding deep in the woods was great.
Here's a high power Icom 706 in a pannier with the owner holding the Lithium-Ion battery to run it:
Here's Arnie KA0NCR with his little carry-on fold-a-bike:
Here's a Canadian ham visitor setting up his High-Frequency (HF) radio:
Here's a shot of a bike that has been ridden in 20 RAGBRAI Events:
Here's a gung-ho ham setting up his bike that he carries in the TRAILER of his GoldWing:
This is a nice trike just before its rider mounts up and rides away on the trail with us:
Another Canadian radio addict setting up his HF antenna before the BMHA ride:
And ANOTHER Canadian HF radio nut setting up:
Then, on Monday, Bill wanted to visit the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB. This was about 20 miles from our motel and I poked around with Google Maps and decided I would ride the distance on my bike while Bill drove on ahead to get at least a half day visit to the museum (as usual with most museums, you could easily spend a week there and still probably not see it all). I didn't have a decent mapping GPS (I'd left my Garmin 350 safely at home in the rush to pack and leave) nor a printer at the motel with which to print out the Google map and instructions, so I just made a pen-and-paper list of all the intersections and streets and which way to turn, etc, and referred to it often as I rode the unfamiliar area. The worst part was actually finding the FIRST street to get on to access the Great Miaimi River Trail which provide spectacular scenery as well as wonderful isolation from cars.
I wasted at least a full hour riding around in circles, unable to find the street named "Watertower Lane" that Google had listed as my "nearby" route starting point. I finally went into a grocery store where one very nice lady told me how to get to it. I followed her directions and within a few minutes was safely on my way, with street names that actually jived with my Google instructions. From there I just rode on with very little further confusion until I arrived in the parking lot at the Air Force Museum.
Trail Pictures from the Miami River and Mad River Trails:
The ride off the River Trail onto the surface streets to the nearby Air Force Museum was anticlimactic. Auto traffic was not overly thick and very tolerant of my presence, and the shoulders were mostly wide and rubble free.
I did not tour the inside of the Air Museum this time, though Bill and I did sit through the "Fighter Pilot" Imax movie. I spent almost an hour outside, though, in the Air Memorial Park with hundreds of memorials, statues, and plaques honoring the airmen who have served defending the USA.
It literally gave me chills to see all these monuments, from WWI, WWII, Korea, VietNam, and subsequent conflicts. The casualty rates for bomber crews in WWII were horrifying, far worse than the often-quoted life span of a Huey door-gunner in VietNam: 30 days, more or less. There is a special spirit in this memorial park.
I've been back a couple days now from my quasi-annual pilgrimage to the world's largest ham radio convention: Dayton Hamvention
I rode with Bill Mader, K8TE, who I've ridden with on such trips for several years. It was enjoyable meeting all sorts of ham radio nuts like ourselves, seeing everything from ancient electronic junk to the latest gee-whiz contraptions. The best part, for me, was riding my recumbent around the area of Dayton Ohio. The Bicycle Mobile Hams of America sponsors a group ride each year during Hamvention and I again participated in this ride on Saturday, May 20. Seeing all the different ham radio setups mounted on bicycles was a real kick, and hearing the short-wave static and "Quack-Quack" of various HF stations talking back and forth while riding deep in the woods was great.
Here's a high power Icom 706 in a pannier with the owner holding the Lithium-Ion battery to run it:
Here's Arnie KA0NCR with his little carry-on fold-a-bike:
Here's a Canadian ham visitor setting up his High-Frequency (HF) radio:
Here's a shot of a bike that has been ridden in 20 RAGBRAI Events:
Here's a gung-ho ham setting up his bike that he carries in the TRAILER of his GoldWing:
This is a nice trike just before its rider mounts up and rides away on the trail with us:
Another Canadian radio addict setting up his HF antenna before the BMHA ride:
And ANOTHER Canadian HF radio nut setting up:
Then, on Monday, Bill wanted to visit the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB. This was about 20 miles from our motel and I poked around with Google Maps and decided I would ride the distance on my bike while Bill drove on ahead to get at least a half day visit to the museum (as usual with most museums, you could easily spend a week there and still probably not see it all). I didn't have a decent mapping GPS (I'd left my Garmin 350 safely at home in the rush to pack and leave) nor a printer at the motel with which to print out the Google map and instructions, so I just made a pen-and-paper list of all the intersections and streets and which way to turn, etc, and referred to it often as I rode the unfamiliar area. The worst part was actually finding the FIRST street to get on to access the Great Miaimi River Trail which provide spectacular scenery as well as wonderful isolation from cars.
I wasted at least a full hour riding around in circles, unable to find the street named "Watertower Lane" that Google had listed as my "nearby" route starting point. I finally went into a grocery store where one very nice lady told me how to get to it. I followed her directions and within a few minutes was safely on my way, with street names that actually jived with my Google instructions. From there I just rode on with very little further confusion until I arrived in the parking lot at the Air Force Museum.
Trail Pictures from the Miami River and Mad River Trails:
Entry to the Miami River Trail: Spectacular (for a dry-land NM guy)
Here's a Family (Gaggle?) of Geese crossing the River Trail
A lovely Tree-Shaded section of the Trail
Some kind of Locks along the Little(?) Miami River
The ride off the River Trail onto the surface streets to the nearby Air Force Museum was anticlimactic. Auto traffic was not overly thick and very tolerant of my presence, and the shoulders were mostly wide and rubble free.
I did not tour the inside of the Air Museum this time, though Bill and I did sit through the "Fighter Pilot" Imax movie. I spent almost an hour outside, though, in the Air Memorial Park with hundreds of memorials, statues, and plaques honoring the airmen who have served defending the USA.
I took this self portrait in front of one particularly stirring monument:
It literally gave me chills to see all these monuments, from WWI, WWII, Korea, VietNam, and subsequent conflicts. The casualty rates for bomber crews in WWII were horrifying, far worse than the often-quoted life span of a Huey door-gunner in VietNam: 30 days, more or less. There is a special spirit in this memorial park.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Wednesday Bosque Ride with Jacque
Bosque Trail Tracking via GPS and APRS
Jacque and I drove a lot more miles than we rode on the HPV's (Human Powered Vehicles) but we had a good time anyway. Jacque needed some miles and non-stress experience on her new Catrike so we drove down to the river on the west side of Albuquerque and rode the Bosque Trail, which is fairly flat, easy riding except for some ruts and bumps on the south end where maintenance tends to be infrequent, and the best part: Almost NO intersections or cross junctions involving cars. We rode low and very slow, but managed to rack up over 11 miles by the time we got back to the Exploder.
It was another beautiful day, making us wish we had more time to spend cycling and less time being "busy".
We encountered some ducks at Tingley Beach who had gotten outside the fence onto the bike path and were waddling around looking for a hole in the fence to get back out of the pavement.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.7
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 80 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.10
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.9 MPH 06.2 MPH 16.5 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 50 mins 1 hours 46 mins 1 hour 4 mins
Jacque and I drove a lot more miles than we rode on the HPV's (Human Powered Vehicles) but we had a good time anyway. Jacque needed some miles and non-stress experience on her new Catrike so we drove down to the river on the west side of Albuquerque and rode the Bosque Trail, which is fairly flat, easy riding except for some ruts and bumps on the south end where maintenance tends to be infrequent, and the best part: Almost NO intersections or cross junctions involving cars. We rode low and very slow, but managed to rack up over 11 miles by the time we got back to the Exploder.
It was another beautiful day, making us wish we had more time to spend cycling and less time being "busy".
We encountered some ducks at Tingley Beach who had gotten outside the fence onto the bike path and were waddling around looking for a hole in the fence to get back out of the pavement.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.7
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 80 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.10
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
03.9 MPH 06.2 MPH 16.5 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 50 mins 1 hours 46 mins 1 hour 4 mins
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Radio Tower Troubles
A couple days ago I got tired of complaints from fellow ham radio operators that my received signal was sometimes strong, sometimes weak. I went out to the backyard tower and checked out the radios inside,and all seemed well. However, when I stepped outside to look up at the antennas to make sure they were still there after the last couple days of winds, I noticed the top section of my 2 meter VHF antenna was bent over. As I focused on it with my cataract-weary eyes, the breeze picked up and changed direction and the bent antenna section flopped over to the other direction. I realized it wasn't just bent, it was broken and wobbling. I started to climb the tower on the spur of the moment but the wind picked up even worse and I thought I'd best wait for a calmer day. Later in the evening the wind had slacked off so I climbed the tower to re-attach the wobbly antenna part. I did so, but noticed the guy wires at the point of contact with the upper part of the tower were frayed, with 2 or more of the 8 strands broken. I decided to take the first opportunity to repair or replace the guy cables to prevent the tower from actually falling down, as it did during a Thanksgiving windstorm about 8 years ago.
Today, Tuesday, the wind was only a very mild breeze, so I donned my climbing belt, gathered up tools, bolts,. and spare guy cables. I climbed the tower and installed the first new guy cable, thinking to install new ones one at a time before removing the old frayed ones. Bemoaning the effects of old age and quickly tiring, I took a break after tightening up the first cable and snarfed a snack. I then installed the second cable, noting the third and last one wasn't even frayed at the tower end and thus, I thought, could likely wait for "tomorrow". As I started to climb the tower to remove and drop the second frayed cable, though, I thought: "Dummy, you're climbing the tower one more time anyway, why not take the last (third) cable up and mount it? And so I did.
I was shocked, SHOCKED, and experienced a thrill of alarm when I noticed the third and last guy wire, the only one not yet replaced, was HANGING by ONE small strand of cable about 3 feet AWAY from the tower.
The loop around the tower leg was solid and looked good and previously that's all; I'd noticed. Here I was almost to the tower top, and my weight and all the tower was depending on a SINGLE small strand of cable to prevent collapse... and the breeze was picking up. I carefully installed the remaining 3rd guy and gingerly climbed down again to fasten the cable to the ground anchor. As I descended, I noticed a loose bolt and a MISSING bolt at one leg of the tower one section below where the guys were attached above. So I had to go hunt up another spare bolt; these Rohn tower hardware bolts are special and I wanted to get the proper bolt installed for a replacement. Everything all good, nothing fell apart while I was on the tower. Evidently Heavenly Father had gotten my attention with the broken antenna to wake me up to the risk of a faulty and damaged tower (which is 50 feet tall; 10 sections, by itself. With the antennas mounted on top it is almost 70 feet tall).
As a final shock, when I was rolling up the frayed cables to clean up the area underneath the tower, I found the SECOND guy cable I'd removed was ALSO frayed, albeit down to 2 strands (!), about 5 feet from the bottom end... I had not realized it was frayed anywhere but at the contact points on each end where the friction occurs when the tower rocks and vibrates under wind stress. Mercy. Now in addition to inspecting the ENDS of the guys where I used to think all the stress took place, I must now make sure I focus on the entire length of each guy to make sure they aren't separating in the middle. I'm unsure what causes such breaks in the cables. Maybe partial lightning damage? (Sigh)
Today, Tuesday, the wind was only a very mild breeze, so I donned my climbing belt, gathered up tools, bolts,. and spare guy cables. I climbed the tower and installed the first new guy cable, thinking to install new ones one at a time before removing the old frayed ones. Bemoaning the effects of old age and quickly tiring, I took a break after tightening up the first cable and snarfed a snack. I then installed the second cable, noting the third and last one wasn't even frayed at the tower end and thus, I thought, could likely wait for "tomorrow". As I started to climb the tower to remove and drop the second frayed cable, though, I thought: "Dummy, you're climbing the tower one more time anyway, why not take the last (third) cable up and mount it? And so I did.
I was shocked, SHOCKED, and experienced a thrill of alarm when I noticed the third and last guy wire, the only one not yet replaced, was HANGING by ONE small strand of cable about 3 feet AWAY from the tower.
As a final shock, when I was rolling up the frayed cables to clean up the area underneath the tower, I found the SECOND guy cable I'd removed was ALSO frayed, albeit down to 2 strands (!), about 5 feet from the bottom end... I had not realized it was frayed anywhere but at the contact points on each end where the friction occurs when the tower rocks and vibrates under wind stress. Mercy. Now in addition to inspecting the ENDS of the guys where I used to think all the stress took place, I must now make sure I focus on the entire length of each guy to make sure they aren't separating in the middle. I'm unsure what causes such breaks in the cables. Maybe partial lightning damage? (Sigh)
Sunday, May 6, 2012
ABQ Recumbent Group Ride!
Saturday's Group Ride Tracking
For those few who don't know, Albuquerque has an active recumbent riding club/group that meets for monthly rides around various areas year round, missing rides only when weather is absolutely impossible: usually snow or ice.
Yesterday, Sturday, we had neither snow or ice nor wind or rain.. just BEAUTIFUL weather.
The Hard-Cores of the group must have ridden about 36 miles or so. We met the group at mid-route at the El Pueblo Railrunner parking lot on Paseo near 2nd street and rode from there, and promptly got lost.
Jacque and I were toward the rear of the group, with this being Jacque's first real miles in a year or so, and chugging slow. As we got across the Rio Grande and into busy metro Corrales, the group was way ahead of us and out of sight. We saw a cyclist with a yellow shirt cross the horribly busy intersection onto southbound Corrales Road, and made the mistake of following him. We never saw him again. Luckily there was another ham in the recumbent ride (Kerry WA6BJH) who was in contact with us and finally realized we were headed the WRONG direction on Corrales Rd and waited for us at the Valero station just a block NORTH of where we turned SOUTH. By the time we got to him and he led us toward the direction the main group had gone, the main group was GONE. And no one else with radios in that group, nor did we have the cell number for any of the group. So we rode on for a couple more miles and decided to bag it and go back and wait for them to show up at the announced eventual group destination: Flying Star Restaurant in Corrales. Our son John had called during the ride and decided to meet us there, too. John's an active cyclist too but still enduring the (ouch) diamond frame (DF) upright mode.
Jacque's new Trike performed flawlessly for her and she's still in love with it:
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.5 MPH 06.2 MPH 16.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 36 mins 1 hours 54 mins 42 mins 33 secs
For those few who don't know, Albuquerque has an active recumbent riding club/group that meets for monthly rides around various areas year round, missing rides only when weather is absolutely impossible: usually snow or ice.
Yesterday, Sturday, we had neither snow or ice nor wind or rain.. just BEAUTIFUL weather.
The Hard-Cores of the group must have ridden about 36 miles or so. We met the group at mid-route at the El Pueblo Railrunner parking lot on Paseo near 2nd street and rode from there, and promptly got lost.
Jacque and I were toward the rear of the group, with this being Jacque's first real miles in a year or so, and chugging slow. As we got across the Rio Grande and into busy metro Corrales, the group was way ahead of us and out of sight. We saw a cyclist with a yellow shirt cross the horribly busy intersection onto southbound Corrales Road, and made the mistake of following him. We never saw him again. Luckily there was another ham in the recumbent ride (Kerry WA6BJH) who was in contact with us and finally realized we were headed the WRONG direction on Corrales Rd and waited for us at the Valero station just a block NORTH of where we turned SOUTH. By the time we got to him and he led us toward the direction the main group had gone, the main group was GONE. And no one else with radios in that group, nor did we have the cell number for any of the group. So we rode on for a couple more miles and decided to bag it and go back and wait for them to show up at the announced eventual group destination: Flying Star Restaurant in Corrales. Our son John had called during the ride and decided to meet us there, too. John's an active cyclist too but still enduring the (ouch) diamond frame (DF) upright mode.
Jacque's new Trike performed flawlessly for her and she's still in love with it:
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
04.5 MPH 06.2 MPH 16.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 36 mins 1 hours 54 mins 42 mins 33 secs
Friday, May 4, 2012
Jacque has a new Catrike!!
I'll post a picture of Jacque's new hot-rod human powered recumbent trike. She's stoked about it.
We did a 2-mile shakedown ride today, after she hurriedly mounted her dog-carrier and I mounted a water bottle clip on it. It's way cool.... and pricey.
We did a 2-mile shakedown ride today, after she hurriedly mounted her dog-carrier and I mounted a water bottle clip on it. It's way cool.... and pricey.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Now I'm not Pedaling the RV, I can lay down some miles on the bike...
Limited Tracking Coverage in the East Mountains
I got a call from our local UPS drop-point (One Stop Office in Tijeras) that I had a parcel to pick up.
Since I've been looking for excuses and time to start doing longer rides again I decided to bike the 10 miles to the business and back again.
What a beautiful day for it. The wind was gusting a bit but it only served to help cool me off from the wonderfully warm weather.
On the last ride, I made the mistake of riding naked (no sun block anywhere) and at first when I got home I thought I'd gotten away with it, until I noticed my arms turning lobster-red. A few layers of Aloe Vera Gel helped ease the pain. So, today, I lathered on the sunblock, and stopped about halfway to Tijeras to add some to the exposed "V" of my neck under my shirt.
What a wonderful feeling, cruising around under one's own power. I first rode down N-14 to Tijeras, occasionally having to pedal against the wind even going downhill, which is underwhelming in the enjoyment department. After picking up the small package at One Stop, I decided to take the long way home and ride east on Old Route 66 again to Sedillo Hill and thence up and around and across the I-40 overpass at Sedillo Hill and back north to Frost Road and then west again back home. I considered a really longer ride out to Edgewood or even Moriarty but the wind discouraged me - it's always seemings very strong in your face when you're trying to get westbound and home.
When I got back to the point of turning off the pavement onto our bumpy mile of dirt road, I realized I had earlier ridden right by the Post Office and that now, hours later, Jacque probably had not yet picked up the mail either. A quick cellphone call confirmed this, so I rode back to the PO and picked up the mail, adding about 5 more miles to the trip.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 73 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 27.22
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.5 MPH 08.4 MPH 33.4 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 12 mins 3 hours 14 mins 58 mins 14 secs
I got a call from our local UPS drop-point (One Stop Office in Tijeras) that I had a parcel to pick up.
Since I've been looking for excuses and time to start doing longer rides again I decided to bike the 10 miles to the business and back again.
What a beautiful day for it. The wind was gusting a bit but it only served to help cool me off from the wonderfully warm weather.
On the last ride, I made the mistake of riding naked (no sun block anywhere) and at first when I got home I thought I'd gotten away with it, until I noticed my arms turning lobster-red. A few layers of Aloe Vera Gel helped ease the pain. So, today, I lathered on the sunblock, and stopped about halfway to Tijeras to add some to the exposed "V" of my neck under my shirt.
What a wonderful feeling, cruising around under one's own power. I first rode down N-14 to Tijeras, occasionally having to pedal against the wind even going downhill, which is underwhelming in the enjoyment department. After picking up the small package at One Stop, I decided to take the long way home and ride east on Old Route 66 again to Sedillo Hill and thence up and around and across the I-40 overpass at Sedillo Hill and back north to Frost Road and then west again back home. I considered a really longer ride out to Edgewood or even Moriarty but the wind discouraged me - it's always seemings very strong in your face when you're trying to get westbound and home.
When I got back to the point of turning off the pavement onto our bumpy mile of dirt road, I realized I had earlier ridden right by the Post Office and that now, hours later, Jacque probably had not yet picked up the mail either. A quick cellphone call confirmed this, so I rode back to the PO and picked up the mail, adding about 5 more miles to the trip.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 73 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 27.22
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
06.5 MPH 08.4 MPH 33.4 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 12 mins 3 hours 14 mins 58 mins 14 secs
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
May Day, Short Ride, Beautimous Weather
East Mountain Tracking Needs Some Help
Today was my first bike ride since returning home from the round-the-midwest RV trip of the last 3 weeks. I had hoped to do at least a short ride yesterday, Monday, but ran out of time. All my retired friends have turned out to be all too correct when they warned me that I would find it even harder to find spare time after retirement than when I had a full time job. It doesn't make sense, but it's all too true.
Anyway, I initially thought to ride all the way to Albuquerque and back, close to a 40-miler all told, since I was supposed to meet Jacque at Two Wheel Drive so she could test drive a Catrike. She has taken a couple falls off her 2-wheel recumbent and is thirsting for a more stable trike instead.
Her recumbent lost its derailleur hanger in Illinois and I just got it repaired with parts off one of our "yard decoration" donor bikes yesterday evening.
Short Story Long, I left home too late this morning and only got a few miles down N-14 before she called on the cell phone and reminded me she had a hair appointment and - at my current location and speed - I wasn't going to make it in time for our rendezvous. So, being wimpy from lack of recent riding, I turned around and came home instead. Climbed "Marco Polo Hill" twice withing the space of about 20 minutes. Fortunately it's an easier climb going north (Home) than south, even though it looks scarier until you've ridden both directions.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 73 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 10.95
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.5 MPH 07.7 MPH 32.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 0 mins 1 hour 25 mins 34 mins 20 secs
Today was my first bike ride since returning home from the round-the-midwest RV trip of the last 3 weeks. I had hoped to do at least a short ride yesterday, Monday, but ran out of time. All my retired friends have turned out to be all too correct when they warned me that I would find it even harder to find spare time after retirement than when I had a full time job. It doesn't make sense, but it's all too true.
Anyway, I initially thought to ride all the way to Albuquerque and back, close to a 40-miler all told, since I was supposed to meet Jacque at Two Wheel Drive so she could test drive a Catrike. She has taken a couple falls off her 2-wheel recumbent and is thirsting for a more stable trike instead.
Her recumbent lost its derailleur hanger in Illinois and I just got it repaired with parts off one of our "yard decoration" donor bikes yesterday evening.
Short Story Long, I left home too late this morning and only got a few miles down N-14 before she called on the cell phone and reminded me she had a hair appointment and - at my current location and speed - I wasn't going to make it in time for our rendezvous. So, being wimpy from lack of recent riding, I turned around and came home instead. Climbed "Marco Polo Hill" twice withing the space of about 20 minutes. Fortunately it's an easier climb going north (Home) than south, even though it looks scarier until you've ridden both directions.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5 Ending Voltage: 12.5
Ride's Lowest Temperature: 66 degrees F -- Highest Temperature: 73 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 10.95
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
05.5 MPH 07.7 MPH 32.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 0 mins 1 hour 25 mins 34 mins 20 secs
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