Saturday, November 30, 2013

A Bit of a Cool Ride

Today's APRS/GPS/Ham Radio Tracking
Today is likely our last opportunity to ride together for at least several days, since I'm having cataract surgery in my right eye on Monday.  We knew it was a bit cold outside - our wood stove has been doing yeoman duty most of the morning - but the thermometer claimed it was in the 50's so we thought we'd do OK.  And, we did..... BUT....
Everything out here in the sticks is a mess unless it's covered or paved.  The recent snowfall, with the subsequent several days of thawing and freezing, has produced MUD everywhere there should be dirt.  Even the best graveled parts of our goat-path mile of private road are squishy and sloppy.  The parking spot down by the pavement of Frost Road was sloppy and nothing but muck too... so we decided to drive down the road a ways to see if we could find another place to park and unload the Tandem TerraTrike .  About a mile down the road we did indeed find someone else's turnoff to a gravel road with a wide shoulder that we could park on.  As we were unloading the Trike off the roof rack, sure enough someone pulled up and stopped next to us.  We thought they might complain about us parking on their road but to our surprise they just wanted to visit for a minute and commented that "They always see us riding on our cool trike with our super-cute doggies", which is language we can live with.
We tried a route we've not ridden before, and it wasn't bad.  Frost Road has a fairly wide shoulder and isn't bad riding, but it has a lot of fast traffic.  Taking detours on other paved roads results in the loss of the marked bike shoulder/lane but we lose almost all traffic, with rarely a car to encounter.  The temperature wasn't terribly cold but it seemed to just soak into us.  The sun was visible but partially shaded with light clouds so it didn't help much.
By the time we got back to the car Jacque's feet were horribly numb.  It took several minutes for the Ford's heater to thaw her out.
Still, as usual, we were glad to have gotten out and gotten the blood circulating.

Beginning Battery Voltage:  14.0        Ending Voltage: 13.2
Lowest Temp  48 F      Highest Temp:  59 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  5.3
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
 8.86 MPH                                8.8 MPH                    25 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 9 minutes                    54 mins                     15 mins 50 secs

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Yeah, We Drove Somewhere to Ride... So What.

Today's tracking
We've been mostly stuck in the house since the snow started flying last Friday... almost 4 days now. 
Our roads out here in the East Mountains are mostly dry.... but no shoulders clear from snow nor are the few miles of bike paths at ALL clear.  Plus it's still cold, though if the roads were clear we'd just bundle up with layers and ride.
Howsomever, we decided it was time for a ride down the famed Bosque Trail - even though it is close to 30 miles from home. It lies along the Rio Grande, the lowest elevation and thus usually warmest in Albuquerque, and has only the mildest of grades to surmount.
We were so anxious to go that we took off without even checking the tires on the trike.  Luckily, they were all nice and fully inflated... which is nice since I just replaced a pinholed tube a couple weeks ago.
Even in Albuquerque "down on the Bosque" it was a bit on the cool side; only about 8 degrees warmer than at home.  The roads AND bike trails and surrounding terrain were ALL entirely clear of snow and ice, however, so it was well worth the trip and the gas etc.
The last time we rode this trail we went south from Central down to the South Valley and back, but this time we rode north.  I was grinding my brain trying to visualize a loop route we could accomplish without  too much stress, out of shape as we are, but could only recall a 20+ mile loop which was a bit much for this trip.
So we just rode up to Paseo Del Norte, stopped for a potty and water break, and came back.  It was a great ride, no stress, no nasties from fellow riders, no motorists encountered on this wonderful trail:  What's not to like?  We still did some respectable miles.  By the time we got back to the transport gas-burner cage vehicle it was cooling off rapidly although the sun was not fully set.
The little doggies always ride in the crate behind Jacque on the trike, and the only exercise they get is when we let them down on the leash or when they go berserk and start jumping around and snarling and barking at OTHER dogs we encounter.  We are doing all the pedaling and they mostly just stare out at the passing scenery... yet they collapse into our laps and lapse into semi-comas as though they had just run the Alaskan Iditarod pulling a loaded sled.  We hypothesize they get so tired because they stay awake while riding instead of snoozing most of the day like they do when safely at home.  Poor babies.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.2        Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp  51 F      Highest Temp:  60 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  14.82
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
 6.9 MPH                                8.8 MPH                    18.5 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours 8 minutes                  1 hour 41 mins           26 mins 58 secs

Monday, November 18, 2013

If We Waited for Perfect Weather We'd Never Ride

Typical Trike Tracking Today Thankfully

Jacque is the one who initiated today's ride, even though as usual we are "Too Busy to Stay Healthy".  Her trick knee starts getting even trickier when we don't ride for several days.  She had a batch of sourdough bread started so I was surprised when she insisted that we take off, NOW, for a trike ride.
It was only about 45 degrees outside and cloudy, so we knew we should not be overheated.  Thus, going west and uphill, I rode without a windbreaker, and only 2 layers of shirting.  I actually got warm enough almost to the Post Office that I had to unsnap my shirt sleeve cuffs.  When we stopped, however, it got COLD, right away.  My blood glucose checked at 127 while there, which in my case means I'm dropping quickly and should eat something to keep moving.  I normally do best when starting a ride for my BG to be at the 200 plus or minus mark, plus I have to back off my pump's basal level to less than 50% of normal to avoid having to stop every twenty minutes for a snack.  I had forgotten the basal change earlier so I adjusted that while I ate my peanut butter cookies.  While waiting for me to snarf my snack, we were treated to a few passers-by who as usual squeal with delight when they spot our cute but grumpy little dogs.  Today they embarrased us in front of almost everyone we met who would say "How Cute!!" and then be immediately treated to a display of snarling, snapping, impolite doggies.
When we got to the TOP of the hill at the Shell Snack Station, it REALLY got cold, especially since I ordered a nice ice filled small Diet Coke.  I should have done with a Hot Chocolate, but I wasn't in the mood.... at first.
We also met a couple of hard-core cyclists we met at the same place LAST Monday.  We joked when we parted that maybe we would meet again NEXT Monday.
As I neared the bottom of my Coke, I got so chilled that I walked over to the parked trike and retrieved my rarely-worn windbreaker jacket.  Since going toward home is more downhill than up, I knew it would be rather cold streaking that-a-way.
I thought, as we approached the slight hills going back, that climbing them would warm me up enough to force me to stop and peel off the jacket, but I didn't get one bit overheated - and was highly happy with the jacket being in place.
My Lithium-Ion Battery  that I worried might have destroyed itself using a non-standard charger seemed to work fine today.  I had previously taken it out of the pannier in the workshop, and it was showing ZERO volts output, a non-inspiring condition.  I used the voltmeter to test the output right at the blade terminals of the battery and it was now showing 13+ volts available, so I removed the short power cable and tested it thoroughly, and could find no opens or problems with it.  When I reconnected the wiring harness firmly the entire system was now displaying 13+ volts.  I plugged my favorite battery "tester" (An old Tensor lamp wired directly for 12 Volt operation) into the pack and it lit with full brilliance for almost a minute without fading so I disconnected it, reinserted it into the pannier, and hoped it would work for the next ride..... and it did.  Thank God.  I really love the lightness and power output of this battery and would have willingly blown the necessary $100+ bucks to replace it had it actually been permanently dead.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.2        Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp  51 F      Highest Temp:  55 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  4.32
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  2.5 MPH                                6.0 MPH                    28.5 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 43 minutes                  43 mins  19 secs         59 mins 41 secs

Friday, November 15, 2013

Frigid Friday

Tracking Link Courtesy of GPS, APRS, and Ham Radio
Jacque went to Albuquerque today to attend a  friend undergoing a surgical procedure, so I stayed busy without her anyway.
As noted yesterday, her Subaru has been howling louder and louder, especially since she returned from her recent trip to California.  I undertook to prioritize replacing the alternator in her absence.  Yesterday I had localized the source of the noise to the alternator.  I used the old "stick to the ear" method of poking around the various belt driven pumps, pulleys, and such, and though the noise seemed to be present all over the front of anything connected to the engine, it seemed loudest at the alternator housing.
I'm quite impressed with Subarus thus far.  This turned out to be the ultimate fabled almost nonexistent "15-minute Job".  The bolts holding the alternator were all exposed on the top and upper part of the engine, the serpentine belt was short and easily replaced, and only required 2 wrenches:  12 mm and 10 mm.  And, when the old alternator was removed, spinning it by hand resulted in a growly snarl from the bearings, proving I had indeed picked the correct suspect.  When the car was started after all was bolted back together, it purred nicely, without the growl and howl we'd almost gotten used to.
Then - Since my hands were already grimy - I decided to shorten the problematic chain on my 2-wheel recumbent.  That also didn't take too long, maybe 20 minutes..... and I now was itching to take it for a "spin" to try it out.  Since I now had a defunct alternator to return for a $45 core charge, I decided I'd try biking it over to Edgewood to the Autozone store there.  The alternator inside the back bike basket left just enough room for Jazzie, our wiggly little new Papillon puppy, so we were all good.
Of course, just as I saddled up, it began to rain.  Er, that is, sprinkle.  Which wouldn't have mattered had it been 70 degrees or more, but at 40-something degrees and upcoming high winds, I backed out and went back in the house, my doggie and I.
Within 5 minutes it had dried up and the skies opened up to a bit of blue sky, so I took off again. 
THIS time, just as we rolled maybe 20 feet, the battery went dead again... killing the GPS and the tracker.  The Li-Ion battery had been on charge all night on a different charger and had checked at 14 volts with a meter but had immediately died and now exhibited ZERO volts.  This battery has an automatic low-voltage shutoff so it must have triggered.  I pulled the backup battery off the charger and it made the rest of the trip without incident.  I am now carefully monitoring the Li-Ion battery while gently charging in hopes it will come to life and take a charge again..... but I fear I have nuked this expensive battery.  We'll see.
I had almost gotten to the bottom of our 1-mile of unpaved goat-path road and the pavement when Jacque called saying she was on her way home.  So I decided to forgo the trip to Edgewood and just ride a mile or two to go through the gears and see how many now worked with the shortened chain.  It worked, and didn't seem to jump out of gear like it had prior to removing 3 links from the chain, but it still will not go into the lowest "Grandma Gear" nor did it ever shift into the smallest cassette gear on the rear for high-speed cruising.  It's always been a bit of  'throwing the dice' getting it into that highest gear.... but we just took it a couple miles and took it back home, with the idea of triking with Jacque after she got home. 
Howsomever, when she finally got home, the wind was howling and she was exhausted from arising at 5:30-ish and was no longer in the mood to try riding.  So I think instead, as the sun fades beyond the mountain, we will pop up some popcorn and watch Monk on TV for the evening.

Beginning Battery Voltage:  12.5        Ending Voltage: 11.7 (Nicad backup)
Lowest Temp  55 F      Highest Temp:  63 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  3.33
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  2.3 MPH                                6.2 MPH                    18.2 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 26 minutes                  32 mins  16 secs         54 mins 3 secs

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Trike Trolling Again

Trike Track Today
Jacque made the strong suggestion to get out and about on the trike today since it's been a week or so since she has been able to ride, and her trick knees work much better with less pain when she rides more or less regularly.  So out the door we went.
Except.....  The battery was dead in the Explorer when I tried to start it today.... dead after sitting idle for 3 or 4 days unattended.  Batteries should last longer than that.  So I start Jacque's Subaru to jump-start the Explorer (The Explorer has the only trike rack available).  It sounded very whiney when the engine started, so I opened the hood to see if I could detect which belt-driven doohickey might be making all that noise.  Since she just returned in it from a trip to California, it has been noticably worse.  It most certainly seemed to be the alternator making a horrible extra-bad whine.  So.  I used it to jump-start the Explorer and added a Subaru alternator to our list of needful things. 
We went on our typical mail-run trike ride with no interesting disasters;  just the usual small cluster of admirers for the dogs and the trike.  As well as the fact my battery started dying within the first 100 yards of riding, which seemed to act like a loose wire until I remembered this Lithium self protecting battery shuts itself off when its voltage drops too low.... I switched to my backup AA Ni-Cad pack, which hasn't been charged in over a month, meaning it was very low on juice too but didn't drop out even below 11 volts, so the system worked... mostly.  I let the GPS and APRS tracker run but turned off  the voice radio to conserve power.
When we arrived back at the Explorer we decided to go on out to the Autozone store in Edgewood to get the aforementioned alternator.  Of course they didn't have one in  stock, but while we were there I had them test my Explorer battery, and wouldn't ya know, it tested bad with a dead cell.  It was an Autozone Duralast battery with a few prorated months left on it so I was able to buy the currently $140 priced battery for sixty-something.  While I was removing the old battery for the trade-in, the positive battery clamp disintegrated, ka-ploop.  So I had to buy a new battery clamp; which of course I already had at least 3 of at home, but home was 12 miles away and we needed the battery NOW so we could continue driving.
As is often the case, troubles seem to come in groups.
Went on into Albuquerque, the SECOND autozone we stopped at was out of stock ("We sold 4 Subaru alternators so far today!") so we went to the store on Eubank which still had one and forked over the 200 bucks for the alternator and serpentine belt to go with it.... I'll get 45  or so bucks for the old alternator when I bring it in.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  12.9        Ending Voltage: 12.7 (First batt, then it died)
Beginning Battery Voltage:  10.6        Ending Voltage: 9.3 (Nicad backup)
Lowest Temp  48 F      Highest Temp:  63 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  4.14
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  2.8 MPH                                5.8 MPH                    29.6 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 30 minutes                  42 mins  36 secs         47 mins 25 secs

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

2 of 3 Days thus far this Week

Today's Mail Ride Tracking
Tink, the Travel Dog, and I went for another ride today.  We didn't have time to take a long ride and I had received notice that I had a package at the Post Office so that's where we rode.  Not very far mileage wise but 'up there' exertion-wise.  "Issues" arise every time I ride this home-built recumbent:
-I've had repeated shifting problems and cannot access more than 10 or so of my supposedly available "21 gears" (3 up front and 7 in the rear cassette)
-Since I put on the milk crate dog carrier and side-mount the pannier containing all my "Stuff", the bike is hard to stand up even with it's 2-legged Kickstand.  Today while I was inside the Post Office, it fell over when Tinkerbell shifted her weight (she's strapped in with a harness).  Tink and most of the bike were OK, but it shattered my handlebar mounted rear-view mirror.

The shifting problems really started to flare up when we started back up the steep goat-path hill to the house.  I had to stop and dismount to see if I could figure out why it was so unreliable in the lower "Grandma Gears" needed to climb hills with my weak legs.  The derailleur bracket was a little out of line so I took out my wrench and adjusted that.  I noticed the chain was sagging, with a lot of slack, in these lower gears.  I wondered if the chain might be too long, and shifted everything to the widest ring gear, and the chain looked fairly tight.  But when I pulled on it to see if there was any slack, I found I could stretch it several inches.... the derailleur still had enough range left.  So I've decided to remove 2 or 3 links and see if that helps the shifting situation any.  I walked the bike to the top of the first hill and was able to resume riding under less stress, and parked the bike on my work-slab at home so I'll hopefully remember to shorten the chain before I take off on another ride.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  12.9        Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp  48 F      Highest Temp:  63 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  5.49
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  3.9 MPH                                7.2 MPH                    25.5 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 24 minutes                  45 mins  33 secs         38 mins 28 secs

Monday, November 11, 2013

Wait Until Dark..... Almost

Tracking Courtesy of GPS, APRS, and Ham Radio
Over the weekend I was not able to play ride-the-bike, even though I sure wanted to.... I was playing home plumber and installing a new sink, lavatory set, and replacing nasty PVC pipes connecting it all.  Much too busy to stay healthy and all that, you know.
Now, today, I had an early appointment to get my head examined.
More precisely, I got an eye exam... preparatory to my next cataract surgery.  I got a new lens to remove and repair cataracts in my left eye almost a year ago.  My right eye was still mostly functional back in those days so I opted to get the left repaired and leave the right eye alone for the time being.  The last few months have sapped my patience with the deteriorating cataract in the right eye, with increasing blurred spots in my field of view, double and triple vision in the daytime and nothing but blinding stars that are supposed to be oncoming headlights at night.  So I called in 2 weeks ago and asked to be set up for the second eye repair.
The Doc gave me the good news and the bad news:  The bad eye was most certainly very very bad, but he could still find no traces of diabetic retinopathy, the eyes' retinas were in good shape as well as the blood vessels.  So all I had to do is wait for the next appointment, measuring my eyes for surgery, and go home for now half-blind with my eyes dilated from the exam.  The el cheapo shades they gave me worked well and I was able to make it home and get inside out of the near-blinding sunshine and watch a few Veterans Day War Movies until my eyes started working again and I was able to step outside again.  I of course have been hankering for a bike ride, and it being too late to get much productive done, I decided to go ahead and saddle up for at least a short ride before it got completely dark.  I had installed a spanking new deluxe dog carrier on the back of my homebrew 2-wheel recumbent, consisting of a heavy duty black plastic milk crate mounted with stainless steel hose clamps, the universal mounting method for projects large and small.
Tinkerbell, the Primo Princess Doggie, had been on about a 400-yard test ride on Saturday, but she needed to test it again on a REAL ride.
It was just cool enough to ALMOST preclude my having to unbutton the front of my 2 shirt layers to let some air in around my armpits.
We rode east on Frost Road until we got to Mountain Valley, where we normally turn south.  Since we had never tried to ride north on that road before, we did so today... Tink and I.
That pavement was a nice gradual uphill pull until we ran out of pavement at about the 3-mile mark.  As I turned around to park for a water and peanut-butter-cookie break, I was horrified to see a too-large, very healthy looking coyote standing in the bushes right at the edge of the road, looking not at all alarmed at my intrusion.
Upon  a second and third glance, while looking for a large rock or stick I could use for a defensive weapon, I noticed he was wearing a COLLAR.... and realized he was just someone's pet wandering around loose and who LOOKED a lot like a wolf or coyote mix.  Even domestic dogs that size can certainly be dangerous, but he showed no aggression and I slowly calmed down and relaxed, calmly urging Tink to repress her instincts to yap ferociously and stir up the other dog's attack responses.  She was unusually good, for some reason, and didn't even snarl at him.  We sat and shared the 4 cookies I brought for the snack.  Okay, Okay, so "shared" means I ate the cookies and Tink got a small pinch of a bite-crumb from each one.
For the ride back to the house, it got a bit cool.... enough that I had to re-snap all my front shirt buttons back up and re-Velcro my day-glow 
green/yellow tee shirt and still did not get overheated.  The sun had set but there was still plenty of light out and we arrived home with full vision.. and out of breath climbing the unpaved last mile of goat-path to the house.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0        Ending Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp  48 F      Highest Temp:  69 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  11.08
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  6.2 MPH                                8.3 MPH                    26.7 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 46 minutes                  1 hour 19 mins          20 mins 31 secs

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Wait... Green Slime Doesn't Last Forever?

 No bike or trike riding yesterday, Monday.  This week is typically weird and so busy we will be lucky to get in ONE day of triking, though hopefully I'll get out on the recumbent solo 2-wheeler.
Yesterday Jacque notified me the Tandem Terratrike had a flat tire on the left front.  BAH. Humbug.  At the time I was too busy loading junk metal on my flatbed trailer to bother with the trike.
After hauling 1600+ pounds of various engine blocks, steel junk, etc, that had been littering the yard and trees for years, to the Acme Salvage Recycler in Albuquerque, and receiving a grand total of $156 in exchange, I took on the Trike Flat.  We have not had ANY flats for several months now in spite of noticing and removing many goat-head stickers from the tires.  All 3 tires have tubes with Green Slime in them which seems to have slowed down our previous fix-a-flat-every-other-time-we-ride routine.  I aired up the tire 3 or 4 times and could find no trace of a leak, but each time I waited several minutes.  After inflating it to 55-60 PSI, it would be down to 40 or 45 PSI after such a short interval - NOT great confidence for a long ride in the country.  So I took it apart.
When I removed the wheel and opened up the air valve on the tube to let out the air, instead of the slimy green glue that normally comes out, I was surprised at the lumpy globs of green that came out instead:
 If you look closely on the bracket by the steering knuckle you can see a weird green 'booger' that plopped out of the valve stem when I opened it up.
 And here's some on my hands:  Clumpy instead of gooey.
My first experience with green slime was running over a green patch of goat heads on the sidewalk not far from work and hearing the dreaded "HiiisssssssSSSS" as the air started ripping through one of the thorn-holes.  Then, suddenly, a small dot of green appeared at the puncture site and the hissing stopped.  I had lost maybe a tenth of my tire's pressure but the green stuff had stopped the leak and I was able to ride back to work 2 or 3 miles' worth without further incident.
I had aired up THIS tire several times and listened and looked for leaks but nothing was detected.  However, when I over-inflated the tube now, outside the tire where I could examine it, I found the following:
ONE Green Leaky Pinhole

TWO Green Leaky Pinholes
  Nay, I also found ANOTHER leaky green pinhole, for a total of FOUR small pinholes that were NOT sealing shut with the green stuff.
It occurred to me that green slime may well not tolerate being frozen, and these tires have been outside in the weather for a year or so, with high summer temps and VERY cold winter temps.  The Green Slime had lost its stickiness and congealed into little non-sticky clumps, and what liquid was still there was not sticky at all.  Oh Well.
Since we carry new spare tubes, I just plucked the new spare out of the pannier and installed it, throwing the multi-punctured one away.
At ten bucks or so per tube, we have stopped trying to patch them and just throw them away instead.  For one thing, even a SINGLE hole is almost impossible to patch with slime inside the tube:  It migrates out and around the puncture, in spite of best efforts at cleaning, and pollutes the rubber cement when trying to glue on the repair patch.  Not worth it....  And I just ordered another thorn resistant, slime filled tube from Amazon.  I prefer to support my local bike shops but none of them seem to carry thorn resistant (extra  thick on the tire side) tubes.  
Then, for Truth in Advertising, I had to laugh at myself when I tried to reinstall the brake caliper AFTER reinstalling the wheel and fender:
Look Closely:  Shouldn't the Brake Disc be on the INSIDE?
So, I was blessed with the privilege of taking it all back apart and reinstalling the wheel the CORRECT direction so the brakes would still work.  BAH
 

Friday, November 1, 2013

Friday Makes FIVE days in a row... (The Muppet Count Cackles.......)

Longer than Normal Tracking Today


We got REALLY chilled during our ride yesterday.  We wanted to do a full work-week's worth of riding, but after the last 2 rides with less than optimal temperatures, we just weren't in the mood to ride in the cold again, even though we will have to more and more as the winter sets in.
For today, though, our solution was simple and effective:  Since we have to haul the trike down a mile to the nearest paved road, we just drove it 25 MORE miles so we could ride the fabled Albuquerque Bosque Trail, where the breeze was minimal and the temperatures about 15 degrees or more warmer at 5200 feet than around home at 6800 feet elevation.
And a beautiful day indeed, it was.  We went south on the Bosque Trail from Central Avenue and decided to ride the southern end of the trail, around the South Valley loop.  The weather was just cool enough to be enjoyable, and the slight changes in elevation North and south on the trail are easily dealt with and non stressful. 

Even though the trail is so relatively flat, it requires steady pedaling to maintain speed and was just downright enjoyable.
It was also a bit longer than we expected.  I thought we might break 10 miles but we actually broke 16, and we were very satisfied with our exertion levels.
A year ago this route was almost un-rideable with pavement heaves, tree roots, cracks and potholes marring its surface most of the way south of Tingley Beach.  A repair and repaving project early this year has resulted in a very nice surface and a pleasure to ride on.
When we got to the southernmost part of the loop, the trail runs somewhat parallel to Broadway, which is extremely loaded with heavy traffic including lots of tractor-trailer rigs.  When we got to Rio Bravo and turned back west away from Broadway, it was a great relief to enjoy the relative silence again riding next to the Rio Grande irrigation ditches instead of the roaring highway. 
My blood glucose dropped a couple times on this ride; once to 50, and each time I snarfed a 29 carb oatmeal power bar.  So with a bit of crude math:
2 X 29 = 58 total carbs burned
16 miles ridden divided by 58 = 
I guess I was making .28 miles per carb.  More or less.  Mileage is unreliable and variable and unpredictable....

Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.2        Ending Voltage: 12.8
Lowest Temp  63 F      Highest Temp:  73 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  16.34
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  5.6 MPH                                7.1 MPH                    21.2 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours 53 minutes                2 hours 17 mins          36 mins 31 secs