Short Ride, Short Tracking
Jacque was not tied up with early primary voting today so we celebrated Memorial Day with a trike ride.
For the first time in several days, it did not rain today (though it's not quite over yet as I type). So the wind was barely there, the air was cooled from the rains of the last few days, and the blue sky was welcoming without being scorching.
As usual we took "the girls" (Tink and Jazzy) along for the ride, and this time Jazzy really gave us fits. She's a "Yappy Pappy", always yapping or screaming in alarm when a strange noise is heard, such as the strange noise I make every time I come in the house.... BAH.
She's also easily bored, and likes to whine, whimper, and complain when in this sad status. During this ride evidently she was depressed the entire trip. She whined, whimpered, squealed, and grumped almost continually as we trundled down the road. We'd tell her to knock it off, Jacque put the muzzle on her tiny nose several times, spanked her, to pretty much no avail. If she stopped whining at all it was only for a few seconds at a time, maybe an entire minute or two..... I thought maybe she needed a potty stop at one point so we pulled over in the shade of the road shoulder and I took both the dogs for a short walk. Jazzy immediately squatted and did her business, leading me to think we might have solved the grump problem. WRONGO -
She was even WORSE after the break. She much prefers being able to snuggle in someone's lap while traveling, and that is not safe or even possible while pedaling away. We have a "papoose" belly pack harness that works to carry her in but on warm days that gets old in a hurry, even if she is much happier being up so close and personal. Maybe we can find a mesh belly harness for her that allows warm weather usage.... she was a holy terror today. Of course when we got back to the car she curled instantly up in Jacque's lap and went to sleep. That of course begs the question of how Tink can stand to ride so quietly like she does most of the time..... dogs are normally 15-minute wonders. Ours seem to be active and awake for short periods of time and then conk out and sleep long naps several times a day. Riding in the basket on the bike or trike they stay too alert and interested in all the noise, passing cars, rabbits, SQUIRRELS!, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, and bits of blowing paper. So however long the ride lasts, they suffer without proper doggy naps. So of course it's ALL OUR FAULT.
We did not make a long frog-strangler ride today. Not only were we tiring out early, but the evening dark clouds were gathering ahead of us and we both felt a few slight dripples of rain hit us in the face.
Trip Started: 3:45 PM Trip Ended: 5:11 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.6 Ending Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 76 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.19
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.8 MPH 6.7 MPH 28.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 22 min 46 mins 29 secs 36 mins 30 secs
Monday, May 26, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Tandem Ride With No Stoker
Today's Tracking Courtesy of Ham Radio and GPS
We awoke to a BEAUTIFUL day this morning, with clear cool sunny skies with only faint traces of clouds from yesterday's heavy rains.
The weather - guessers forecast more rain later for today so I determined to get out and get going while the sun shone. I got the tandem trike out, wanting to try it out solo since Jacque was working the early primary election polls and unavailable for fun. I've ridden it by myself before and it's a fun ride even without the stoker in the back seat. The only caution I have to observe is to never allow the rear drive wheel to touch rocks or gravel on the roadside while climbing hills, because without the weight of the stoker in the back seat, it will spin hopelessly. Stay on dry pavement and it runs fine.
Everything was loaded up and all I had to do was don my day-glo yellow tee shirt and get the radio cluster and water bottles and....
ALAS... when I opened the door to depart it had suddenly gotten totally dark and overcast .... I was thrilled for the impending rain but disappointed I had lost my sunny morning window for riding. I had to dismount the trike from the rooftop rack on the Explorer and put it back under the deck to get it out of the rain.
Since it was not yet raining, and I could quit and come inside any time I wanted, I fired up the tractor and spread wood chips over some of our persistent weeds and did a bit of yard work.
Within a few minutes it was raining steadily, and much appreciated, but I had to park the tractor and come inside. I had plenty of inside jobs I could do, too, so I stayed busy.
Late in the afternoon, about 4 PM, I was surprised to see the rain had stopped and the sun had come out again to almost clear skies. I took quick advantage of the sunny break, and dragged out the trike and again put it on the roof rack and the doggies and I set off. we got going and had a good but tiring ride. This trike is all steel and heavy, more than twice as heavy as my steel 2-seat 2-wheel recumbent. However, it has another couple of gears on the rear cassette, providing 27 theoretically possible gear combinations, and the shifters work on both front and rear, unlike the worn units on my 2-wheeler that need replacing. So even with the added weight and 2 dogs and lack of a stoker, it was a good ride. We rode to the Post Office and laughed at all the rubber-neckers who normally do double-takes as they pass by. One fellow on a motorcycle did such a double-take, looking back at us over his shoulder after he passed, I worried he was going to go off the road, but he managed to straighten it out.
After the Post Office run we (the dogs and I) decided to ride on east a ways and run up a bit more distance. I had hoped to do at least 10 miles today but ran out of steam too soon. BAH
Trip Started: 4:11 PM Trip Ended: 6:16 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 67 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.94
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.9 MPH 6.3 MPH 25.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 1 min 1 hour 15 mins 45 mins 56 secs
We awoke to a BEAUTIFUL day this morning, with clear cool sunny skies with only faint traces of clouds from yesterday's heavy rains.
The weather - guessers forecast more rain later for today so I determined to get out and get going while the sun shone. I got the tandem trike out, wanting to try it out solo since Jacque was working the early primary election polls and unavailable for fun. I've ridden it by myself before and it's a fun ride even without the stoker in the back seat. The only caution I have to observe is to never allow the rear drive wheel to touch rocks or gravel on the roadside while climbing hills, because without the weight of the stoker in the back seat, it will spin hopelessly. Stay on dry pavement and it runs fine.
Everything was loaded up and all I had to do was don my day-glo yellow tee shirt and get the radio cluster and water bottles and....
ALAS... when I opened the door to depart it had suddenly gotten totally dark and overcast .... I was thrilled for the impending rain but disappointed I had lost my sunny morning window for riding. I had to dismount the trike from the rooftop rack on the Explorer and put it back under the deck to get it out of the rain.
Since it was not yet raining, and I could quit and come inside any time I wanted, I fired up the tractor and spread wood chips over some of our persistent weeds and did a bit of yard work.
Within a few minutes it was raining steadily, and much appreciated, but I had to park the tractor and come inside. I had plenty of inside jobs I could do, too, so I stayed busy.
Late in the afternoon, about 4 PM, I was surprised to see the rain had stopped and the sun had come out again to almost clear skies. I took quick advantage of the sunny break, and dragged out the trike and again put it on the roof rack and the doggies and I set off. we got going and had a good but tiring ride. This trike is all steel and heavy, more than twice as heavy as my steel 2-seat 2-wheel recumbent. However, it has another couple of gears on the rear cassette, providing 27 theoretically possible gear combinations, and the shifters work on both front and rear, unlike the worn units on my 2-wheeler that need replacing. So even with the added weight and 2 dogs and lack of a stoker, it was a good ride. We rode to the Post Office and laughed at all the rubber-neckers who normally do double-takes as they pass by. One fellow on a motorcycle did such a double-take, looking back at us over his shoulder after he passed, I worried he was going to go off the road, but he managed to straighten it out.
 |
| The Post Office sign doesn't forbide trikes! |
Trip Started: 4:11 PM Trip Ended: 6:16 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 67 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.94
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.9 MPH 6.3 MPH 25.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 1 min 1 hour 15 mins 45 mins 56 secs
Friday, May 23, 2014
Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away
Today's Quite Short Tracking
Went for a short ride this morning, since as we all know, a short ride is better than no ride.... Right? Right?
It actually RAINED (You folks west of the Mississippi can look up the word) for a couple hours at least last night, leaving the mountains cool, moist, and smelling wonderful. Our goat-path road wasn't muddy, however, so I saddled up and took off.
Today Tink rode with me, since yesterday when I left her and Jazzy home by themselves while I rode, she put a nice pile of poop right next to the dining room table for all guests to see and take delight in.
So, to train her it's not nice to poopie in the housie, I'm taking her for a bike ride today. What's That, you say? Who is training who? What kind of a question is that ???
By the time we rode down the goat-path to the pavement of Frost Road, it was darkening in the overhead sky, but the dark clouds were far off to the east. Giving me hope we could complete our ride and return home without getting soaked. The temperatures were just cool enough to be great and the wind was not howling for once.
As we rode further east, the dark clouds were coming toward us and within short order they were overhead and threatening, yet no rain yet fell, so I determined to keep going. My turnaround loop at Mountain Valley was less than a mile ahead so I figured pretty soon I would be headed back toward the direction of home anyway.
Well, you can guess the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say.
Within several hundred more yards, the first drops splatted me in the face and inspired me to do a U-turn across the road and furiously pedal the other direction.
We only got slightly damp in spite of the rain increasing as we pushed the bike and lazy passenger-dog up the goat-path toward home the last mile. In case you weren't aware, we live up a steep climb of gravel goat-path road that I can struggle up about two-thirds the distance without dismounting the bike. There are 2 steep hills, however, that I would probably break a chain if I were strong enough to stay mounted and pedal all the way. Which, of course, is not the case.
And, of course, the rest of the rest of the story: It stopped raining shortly after we got home. BAH
Trip Started: 10:04 AM Trip Ended: 11:06 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 64 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.83
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.7 MPH 8.0 MPH 28.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 10 mins 58 mins 42 secs 12 mins 14 secs
Went for a short ride this morning, since as we all know, a short ride is better than no ride.... Right? Right?
It actually RAINED (You folks west of the Mississippi can look up the word) for a couple hours at least last night, leaving the mountains cool, moist, and smelling wonderful. Our goat-path road wasn't muddy, however, so I saddled up and took off.
Today Tink rode with me, since yesterday when I left her and Jazzy home by themselves while I rode, she put a nice pile of poop right next to the dining room table for all guests to see and take delight in.
So, to train her it's not nice to poopie in the housie, I'm taking her for a bike ride today. What's That, you say? Who is training who? What kind of a question is that ???
By the time we rode down the goat-path to the pavement of Frost Road, it was darkening in the overhead sky, but the dark clouds were far off to the east. Giving me hope we could complete our ride and return home without getting soaked. The temperatures were just cool enough to be great and the wind was not howling for once.
As we rode further east, the dark clouds were coming toward us and within short order they were overhead and threatening, yet no rain yet fell, so I determined to keep going. My turnaround loop at Mountain Valley was less than a mile ahead so I figured pretty soon I would be headed back toward the direction of home anyway.
Well, you can guess the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say.
Within several hundred more yards, the first drops splatted me in the face and inspired me to do a U-turn across the road and furiously pedal the other direction.
We only got slightly damp in spite of the rain increasing as we pushed the bike and lazy passenger-dog up the goat-path toward home the last mile. In case you weren't aware, we live up a steep climb of gravel goat-path road that I can struggle up about two-thirds the distance without dismounting the bike. There are 2 steep hills, however, that I would probably break a chain if I were strong enough to stay mounted and pedal all the way. Which, of course, is not the case.
And, of course, the rest of the rest of the story: It stopped raining shortly after we got home. BAH
Trip Started: 10:04 AM Trip Ended: 11:06 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 64 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.83
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.7 MPH 8.0 MPH 28.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 10 mins 58 mins 42 secs 12 mins 14 secs
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Sixty-Seven Plus
Today's APRS/GPS/Ham Radio Tracking
Uhh, that's as in YEARS, not Miles Per Hour....
I had an old fart birthday yesterday and was too busy to stay healthy so I failed to get in a bike ride. Today, however, I got going earlier, and thus was able to get in a few wonderful miles.
For some odd reason, probably due to Global Cooling, the windy spring weather here has continued far past March and April and continues almost daily into late May as we speak. However, if we didn't ride or go outside because of blustery winds, we'd NEVER get any exercise......
One thing about our hilly routes around here: We get headwinds and cross-winds in all directions but we also get relief at times by going through juniper forests blocking some of the wind as well as places like Gutierrez Canyon with box canyon walls that block much of the wind and have precious little traffic, making for a very ride of several miles until you break out at the top of the canyon.
I had mistakenly left home with only one water bottle and was getting low, so I stopped at Paul N5DBB's house for a water refill and a short but enjoyable visit, as usual. The howling winds actually helped push me UP the hill through Gutierrez Canyon, so that didn't hurt my feelings at all.
Trip Started: 11:24 AM Trip Ended: 1:45 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 78 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 14.12
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.0 MPH 8.6 MPH 33.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 21 mins 1 hour 39 mins 43 mins 10 secs
 |
| At Zuzax on Old Route 66 |
Uhh, that's as in YEARS, not Miles Per Hour....
I had an old fart birthday yesterday and was too busy to stay healthy so I failed to get in a bike ride. Today, however, I got going earlier, and thus was able to get in a few wonderful miles.
For some odd reason, probably due to Global Cooling, the windy spring weather here has continued far past March and April and continues almost daily into late May as we speak. However, if we didn't ride or go outside because of blustery winds, we'd NEVER get any exercise......
One thing about our hilly routes around here: We get headwinds and cross-winds in all directions but we also get relief at times by going through juniper forests blocking some of the wind as well as places like Gutierrez Canyon with box canyon walls that block much of the wind and have precious little traffic, making for a very ride of several miles until you break out at the top of the canyon.
I had mistakenly left home with only one water bottle and was getting low, so I stopped at Paul N5DBB's house for a water refill and a short but enjoyable visit, as usual. The howling winds actually helped push me UP the hill through Gutierrez Canyon, so that didn't hurt my feelings at all.
Trip Started: 11:24 AM Trip Ended: 1:45 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 78 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 14.12
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.0 MPH 8.6 MPH 33.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 21 mins 1 hour 39 mins 43 mins 10 secs
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Just Cruising the Neighborhood
Today's Roundabout Track via APRS and Ham Radio
Finally got in a ride today, the first since we arrived home from our recent RV trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Always seems a hassle finding time for a ride but one factor seems fairly consistent:
If I don't get started in the morning it's almost impossible to sneak one in later in the day.
I got a birthday check from my dear Mom-in-Law a couple days ago and decided I would use that for an excuse to ride the bike: Ride down to the ATM about 4 miles away and ride the rest of the loop down to Tijeras and east on Route 66 to Sedillo Hill and north & west back home.
Howsomever, when I got down to Frost Road and out of the trees, the wind was gusting so much to the east I decided to ride this route in the other direction, hoping that when I circled around and past North-14 and the Post Office the wind would be behind me. Which is a much more pleasant thing than having the wind in my face on the last tired leg of a ride.
Of course, after the first half mile or so, the wind seemed to turn and hit me in the face. I didn't worry too much since the normal direction for winds is west to east, and often turns that way in the afternoon no matter what was happening in the earlier part of the day. Sure enough, by the time I got down to Old Route 66 and headed east towards Tijeras, the wind had seemingly swung around to its normal course and - of course - acted as a headwind THIS direction too.
Which only serves to confirm the old adage about "when on a bicycle, the wind is ALWAYS in your face no matter which way you ride."
Jacque left home early today to work the early voting booths for the upcoming June Primary election, and that edifice is in "downtown Tijeras", right off Old 66, so I decided I would stop by there as I passed and use a short visit with her as a rest break. The wind was still gusting, so much so that when I pulled up in front of Tijeras City Hall, I saw the "Vote Here!" billboard had blown over in the parking lot. Being the good citizen, I dutifully erected the sign and unfolded it, orienting it carefully so the wind would blow through the A-frame of the sign and not directly at the solid face of it. After only a few minutes of resting and flirting with Jacque (there were no voters present), I returned to the parking lot and was horrified to find not only the "Vote Here!" sign had blown down again, but so had my fully loaded bike! The crash had broken my handlebar radio/GPS mounts, bent the rear view mirror catty-wampus, and dumped my helmet onto the pavement where it was gently rocking and rolling across the parking lot with the wind. I ride prepared, so I righted the bike and dug out my pannier tool-bags for some zip-ties and electrical tape to lash my stuff back together. Unfortunately I could find neither tape nor zip-ties. I obviously "borrowed" them for some other project and forgot to re-stock the pannier with these handy items. A cyclist needs a spare tube, tools, etc, and having zip ties and electrical tape can cover a lot of emergency repairs. I also like to carry a few stainless steel hose clamps for odd repairs and quickie attachings.
I had only ONE too-small zip tie in my bag, but I had a small length of Velcro tape that I was able to cobble together sufficiently to get the electronics package back on the mount so I could view the GPS and what-not.
After that small mishap, I rode onward to the junction of Old 66 and North-14 at Tijeras and then north - upward and onward - the several miles to Frost Road. Realizing that I was about to pass the company where my daughter Sarah just started employ, I decided to take ANOTHER short break to drop in and say HI to her.
I'm always mildly surprised how gradual the climb is from Tijeras to the Sandi Crest turnoff where I turn right, instead, to get home. I avoided it for years, thinking it was too steep, yet rode the OTHER direction many times. Turns out the northbound route is much easier than the southbound route, even though it LOOKS difficult.
When I got to the Post Office, I again was irritated at the signs they have posted on both sides of the parking lot:
No burro-crats have ever challenged me about riding my bike into the parking lot, sometimes up on the sidewalk, usually parking in an auto space, but "Official" signs like this really get my goat.
Trip Started: 11:02 AM Trip Ended: 2:21 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 60 F Highest Temp: 82 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 18.8
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.0 MPH 8.7 MPH 37.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 6 mins 2 hours 9 mins 57 mins 38 secs
Finally got in a ride today, the first since we arrived home from our recent RV trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Always seems a hassle finding time for a ride but one factor seems fairly consistent:
If I don't get started in the morning it's almost impossible to sneak one in later in the day.
I got a birthday check from my dear Mom-in-Law a couple days ago and decided I would use that for an excuse to ride the bike: Ride down to the ATM about 4 miles away and ride the rest of the loop down to Tijeras and east on Route 66 to Sedillo Hill and north & west back home.
Howsomever, when I got down to Frost Road and out of the trees, the wind was gusting so much to the east I decided to ride this route in the other direction, hoping that when I circled around and past North-14 and the Post Office the wind would be behind me. Which is a much more pleasant thing than having the wind in my face on the last tired leg of a ride.
Of course, after the first half mile or so, the wind seemed to turn and hit me in the face. I didn't worry too much since the normal direction for winds is west to east, and often turns that way in the afternoon no matter what was happening in the earlier part of the day. Sure enough, by the time I got down to Old Route 66 and headed east towards Tijeras, the wind had seemingly swung around to its normal course and - of course - acted as a headwind THIS direction too.
Which only serves to confirm the old adage about "when on a bicycle, the wind is ALWAYS in your face no matter which way you ride."
Jacque left home early today to work the early voting booths for the upcoming June Primary election, and that edifice is in "downtown Tijeras", right off Old 66, so I decided I would stop by there as I passed and use a short visit with her as a rest break. The wind was still gusting, so much so that when I pulled up in front of Tijeras City Hall, I saw the "Vote Here!" billboard had blown over in the parking lot. Being the good citizen, I dutifully erected the sign and unfolded it, orienting it carefully so the wind would blow through the A-frame of the sign and not directly at the solid face of it. After only a few minutes of resting and flirting with Jacque (there were no voters present), I returned to the parking lot and was horrified to find not only the "Vote Here!" sign had blown down again, but so had my fully loaded bike! The crash had broken my handlebar radio/GPS mounts, bent the rear view mirror catty-wampus, and dumped my helmet onto the pavement where it was gently rocking and rolling across the parking lot with the wind. I ride prepared, so I righted the bike and dug out my pannier tool-bags for some zip-ties and electrical tape to lash my stuff back together. Unfortunately I could find neither tape nor zip-ties. I obviously "borrowed" them for some other project and forgot to re-stock the pannier with these handy items. A cyclist needs a spare tube, tools, etc, and having zip ties and electrical tape can cover a lot of emergency repairs. I also like to carry a few stainless steel hose clamps for odd repairs and quickie attachings.
I had only ONE too-small zip tie in my bag, but I had a small length of Velcro tape that I was able to cobble together sufficiently to get the electronics package back on the mount so I could view the GPS and what-not.
After that small mishap, I rode onward to the junction of Old 66 and North-14 at Tijeras and then north - upward and onward - the several miles to Frost Road. Realizing that I was about to pass the company where my daughter Sarah just started employ, I decided to take ANOTHER short break to drop in and say HI to her.
I'm always mildly surprised how gradual the climb is from Tijeras to the Sandi Crest turnoff where I turn right, instead, to get home. I avoided it for years, thinking it was too steep, yet rode the OTHER direction many times. Turns out the northbound route is much easier than the southbound route, even though it LOOKS difficult.
When I got to the Post Office, I again was irritated at the signs they have posted on both sides of the parking lot:
Trip Started: 11:02 AM Trip Ended: 2:21 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 60 F Highest Temp: 82 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 18.8
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.0 MPH 8.7 MPH 37.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 6 mins 2 hours 9 mins 57 mins 38 secs
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Cycling Las Vegas
Today's Nevada APRS/Ham Radio Tracking
We're camped in the Kings Row RV Park near the Las Vegas strip waiting for Donny & Marie to show up and entertain us tomorrow night. Since it is difficult to use the 34 foot RV for a commuter car, we want to just leave it parked in this slot until we leave the morning after the show. I had been wondering if there were any nearby biking trails and wasn't having much luck, as the internet access is a tad slow here. When I finally did dredge up a map of the area, I was mildly surprised to see tne Boulder Highway, just outside our RV camp, has super wide bike lanes for many miles of its length. So while Jacque napped (she's trying to shake a chest cold) I unloaded the tandem Terratrike and took a test ride. I wanted to find a nearby Walgreens or Walmart and get a few items.
These area bike lanes aren't bad at all, though they take some getting used to. The typical bike lane is BETWEEN the main traffic and the super wide bus lane, so normally riders don't hug the curb at all. Boulder Highway traffic is pretty thick and high speed so I worried a bit at first but I had less trouble than I normally do in Albuquerque.
When you approach intersections out here, all of a sudden the bike lane disappears from the middle of the road and reappears curbside, providing priority to the city buses for traversing the intersections.
I found a Walgreens within a couple miles but I realized I had no means of locking the trike so I had to dodge through the typical "Say Mister Can You Help Me" pretty girls accosting people in parking lots and dodge in and rush out to hopefully prevent someone from absconding with my expensive toy trike. Another cyclist exiting the store pointed out a Walmart about another half mile down the road but I decided to return to the RV and try catching a city bus so I can get another bike chain/lock combination. While in Prescott I was saddened to find our bright blinky tail light on the trike had been liberated by person(s) unknown. So I'm now doubly cautious about trying to leave anything unlocked and alone for any length of time.
The weater is a bit warmer than Albuquerque, being Las Vegas and all, but not into the triple digit category yet. Streets thus far encountered on the trike seem fairly level, with very minor occasional grades. SO - a good place to ride.
Later, Jacque and I rode the metro bus to Walmart. It was so slow as we stopped and started every few hundred yards, and I wondered to myself if it might not have taken any more time to just ride the trike, which we would have done but for Jacque's cold. Sure enough, a helmet-less cyclist passed us several times as the bus poked along.....
Trip Started: 2:58 PM Trip Ended: 4:02 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 77 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.05
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
7.4 MPH 8.0 MPH 15.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
40 mins 59 secs 37 mins 44 secs 3 mins 15 secs
We're camped in the Kings Row RV Park near the Las Vegas strip waiting for Donny & Marie to show up and entertain us tomorrow night. Since it is difficult to use the 34 foot RV for a commuter car, we want to just leave it parked in this slot until we leave the morning after the show. I had been wondering if there were any nearby biking trails and wasn't having much luck, as the internet access is a tad slow here. When I finally did dredge up a map of the area, I was mildly surprised to see tne Boulder Highway, just outside our RV camp, has super wide bike lanes for many miles of its length. So while Jacque napped (she's trying to shake a chest cold) I unloaded the tandem Terratrike and took a test ride. I wanted to find a nearby Walgreens or Walmart and get a few items.
These area bike lanes aren't bad at all, though they take some getting used to. The typical bike lane is BETWEEN the main traffic and the super wide bus lane, so normally riders don't hug the curb at all. Boulder Highway traffic is pretty thick and high speed so I worried a bit at first but I had less trouble than I normally do in Albuquerque.
When you approach intersections out here, all of a sudden the bike lane disappears from the middle of the road and reappears curbside, providing priority to the city buses for traversing the intersections.
I found a Walgreens within a couple miles but I realized I had no means of locking the trike so I had to dodge through the typical "Say Mister Can You Help Me" pretty girls accosting people in parking lots and dodge in and rush out to hopefully prevent someone from absconding with my expensive toy trike. Another cyclist exiting the store pointed out a Walmart about another half mile down the road but I decided to return to the RV and try catching a city bus so I can get another bike chain/lock combination. While in Prescott I was saddened to find our bright blinky tail light on the trike had been liberated by person(s) unknown. So I'm now doubly cautious about trying to leave anything unlocked and alone for any length of time.
The weater is a bit warmer than Albuquerque, being Las Vegas and all, but not into the triple digit category yet. Streets thus far encountered on the trike seem fairly level, with very minor occasional grades. SO - a good place to ride.
Later, Jacque and I rode the metro bus to Walmart. It was so slow as we stopped and started every few hundred yards, and I wondered to myself if it might not have taken any more time to just ride the trike, which we would have done but for Jacque's cold. Sure enough, a helmet-less cyclist passed us several times as the bus poked along.....
Trip Started: 2:58 PM Trip Ended: 4:02 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 77 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.05
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
7.4 MPH 8.0 MPH 15.9 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
40 mins 59 secs 37 mins 44 secs 3 mins 15 secs
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Cycling the Grand Canyon
Friday-Saturday Grand Canyon Tracking
Yesterday we left home in the RV for a few days' outing. We hitched up our ugly little 4 X 8 foot trailer to haul our tandem recumbent Terratrike along with us in case we found opportunity to ride it anywhere during our RV trip.We made it almost 100 yards before the first problem occurred.
We stopped at our shed with the big air compressor to check and top off the tires before the big trip. The tires were fine and required little in the way of additional air but when I went to get back inside I was horrified to find the RV electric step actuator no longer worked. Looking underneath I discovered the actuator arm was broken. It took me 15 minutes or more to chain the steps in the up position, since when they're in the down position they are too low and protrude out the side of the RV making it unsafe to drive. We stopped at Rocky Mountain RV first on our way into Albuquerque but they did not have a replacement assembly or repair parts for it. They called Central Trailer Supply, who DID have the assembly, and sent us on over there. Central Trailer Supply is downtown Central in heavy - traffic Albuquerque but luckily we found a large empty spot to park the rig. Central not only had the whole assembly new (Price 300 bucks PLUS) but they had a repair kit for the bargain price of 65 bucks. I was able to crawl under the RV in their lot and replace and repair the offending parts. Thankfully. It's NOT a good idea to try getting such disaster repaired on the VERY MORNING you're trying to leave on a trip but we lucked out finding a part on such short notice.
Sadly, then we went to Sam's Club to fill up the huge expensive thirsty RV gas tank. As the pump rapidly ran up the gallons and the total cost (at the bargain price of $3.23 per gallon) I was horrified to see gasoline spilling out from under the middle of the beast where the filler neck tubing connects to the gas tank. I stopped the pump before filling up completely and decided this was much too dangerous. When Jacque came out of the store she was not thrilled to hear we had ANOTHER problem to delay us. Rocky Mountain Power had worked on that same gas tank last November so we drove over there to see if they could have a mechanic take a look at it to see if it might be under warranty. They actually got a tech to look at it in short order, but he seemed to make slow progress. We arrived about noonish and by 3:00 PM the shop informed us the filler neck hose was cracked; it required a new one; there was too much gas in the tank and it couldn't be worked on until drained; the shop was closing soon and they wouldn't be able to work on it more until tomorrow; etc, etc. They offered to let us stay the night in their fenced yard but we decided to just take it back home for the night, albeit reluctantly. On our way back east through town I decided I would just have to do this one myself too. I decided I could:
-Pull into the empty lot behind Checker Auto Parts
-Use the RV leveling jacks to raise the RV on one side to make the gas in the tank go to the side opposite of the filler neck
And so I did. For about twenty bucks and twenty minutes I had it ready to roll again. A quick trip to the gas station to re-fill the tank proved it was no longer leaking (HURRAY). So we hit the road again.
We started late this way and drove late into the night trying to make up for lost time and wound up staying the night in Norma's RV Park in Joseph City AZ. Got up this morning and made more uneventful miles until we reached the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon way north of Flagstaff.
We had not made reservations anywhere and the web sites for area campsites said they were all full. Jacque wanted to "just ask, anyway" so we drove up to the crowded Trailer Village camp - and, with 3 RV's waiting in front of us, were informed we could have their last spot. What a great place, tall pines, and sweeping views. PLUS - Get This - The area has BIKE trails that run through our camp. Since it was like 5 PM locally, rather than spend precious daylight setting up the RV, we immediately unloaded the trike and took off for a ride. This is my first time ever at the Grand Canyon and Jacque's first trip since about 1965. Great stuff, and riding the bike trail puts us up close and personal to the rim and has many views not available to auto drivers unless they park and walk.
After a great peaceful night's rest at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village, we did another trike-ride in the other direction, this time riding west up to Hermits Rest, Kolb Artist Studio, and the amazing Hopi Lodge and
El Tovar structures designed by Mary Colter and financed and built by the Fred Harvey company and the Santa Fe Railroad. Fantastic views of the Canyon were again in all directions. We encountered a murderously steep climb the last quarter-mile into the main parking lot but we made it.
Gotta come back to this wonderland before we die so we can spend at least a few days exploring. I watched the hikers going through one of the rock tunnels on the trail to the bottom with some envy....
There is STRONG Ham Radio coverage at these Canyon locations. A digipeater ID'ing as "CANYON" relayed my gps-aprs position reports solidly to the internet and there is a very strong ham repeater on 147.32 WB6JAA. The only trouble is..... no one seems to be listening to it. I heard some weak signals on 146.520 simplex while riding the rim but wasn't able to make contact with anyone. Oh Well. At least the automatic digipeater provides useful service.
Friday evening Trip Started: 5:00 PM Trip Ended: 6:15 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.2 (weird)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 6.28
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.1 MPH 5.6 MPH 17.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 32 mins 1 hour 7 mins 25 minutes
Saturday morning Trip Started: 8:27 AM Trip Ended: 11:11 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.7 Ending Voltage: 13.2
Lowest Temp 52 F Highest Temp: 72 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
2.3 MPH 4.5 MPH 21.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 29 mins 1 hour 17 mins 1 hour 11 minutes
Yesterday we left home in the RV for a few days' outing. We hitched up our ugly little 4 X 8 foot trailer to haul our tandem recumbent Terratrike along with us in case we found opportunity to ride it anywhere during our RV trip.We made it almost 100 yards before the first problem occurred.
We stopped at our shed with the big air compressor to check and top off the tires before the big trip. The tires were fine and required little in the way of additional air but when I went to get back inside I was horrified to find the RV electric step actuator no longer worked. Looking underneath I discovered the actuator arm was broken. It took me 15 minutes or more to chain the steps in the up position, since when they're in the down position they are too low and protrude out the side of the RV making it unsafe to drive. We stopped at Rocky Mountain RV first on our way into Albuquerque but they did not have a replacement assembly or repair parts for it. They called Central Trailer Supply, who DID have the assembly, and sent us on over there. Central Trailer Supply is downtown Central in heavy - traffic Albuquerque but luckily we found a large empty spot to park the rig. Central not only had the whole assembly new (Price 300 bucks PLUS) but they had a repair kit for the bargain price of 65 bucks. I was able to crawl under the RV in their lot and replace and repair the offending parts. Thankfully. It's NOT a good idea to try getting such disaster repaired on the VERY MORNING you're trying to leave on a trip but we lucked out finding a part on such short notice.
Sadly, then we went to Sam's Club to fill up the huge expensive thirsty RV gas tank. As the pump rapidly ran up the gallons and the total cost (at the bargain price of $3.23 per gallon) I was horrified to see gasoline spilling out from under the middle of the beast where the filler neck tubing connects to the gas tank. I stopped the pump before filling up completely and decided this was much too dangerous. When Jacque came out of the store she was not thrilled to hear we had ANOTHER problem to delay us. Rocky Mountain Power had worked on that same gas tank last November so we drove over there to see if they could have a mechanic take a look at it to see if it might be under warranty. They actually got a tech to look at it in short order, but he seemed to make slow progress. We arrived about noonish and by 3:00 PM the shop informed us the filler neck hose was cracked; it required a new one; there was too much gas in the tank and it couldn't be worked on until drained; the shop was closing soon and they wouldn't be able to work on it more until tomorrow; etc, etc. They offered to let us stay the night in their fenced yard but we decided to just take it back home for the night, albeit reluctantly. On our way back east through town I decided I would just have to do this one myself too. I decided I could:
-Pull into the empty lot behind Checker Auto Parts
-Use the RV leveling jacks to raise the RV on one side to make the gas in the tank go to the side opposite of the filler neck
And so I did. For about twenty bucks and twenty minutes I had it ready to roll again. A quick trip to the gas station to re-fill the tank proved it was no longer leaking (HURRAY). So we hit the road again.
We started late this way and drove late into the night trying to make up for lost time and wound up staying the night in Norma's RV Park in Joseph City AZ. Got up this morning and made more uneventful miles until we reached the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon way north of Flagstaff.
We had not made reservations anywhere and the web sites for area campsites said they were all full. Jacque wanted to "just ask, anyway" so we drove up to the crowded Trailer Village camp - and, with 3 RV's waiting in front of us, were informed we could have their last spot. What a great place, tall pines, and sweeping views. PLUS - Get This - The area has BIKE trails that run through our camp. Since it was like 5 PM locally, rather than spend precious daylight setting up the RV, we immediately unloaded the trike and took off for a ride. This is my first time ever at the Grand Canyon and Jacque's first trip since about 1965. Great stuff, and riding the bike trail puts us up close and personal to the rim and has many views not available to auto drivers unless they park and walk.
After a great peaceful night's rest at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village, we did another trike-ride in the other direction, this time riding west up to Hermits Rest, Kolb Artist Studio, and the amazing Hopi Lodge and
El Tovar structures designed by Mary Colter and financed and built by the Fred Harvey company and the Santa Fe Railroad. Fantastic views of the Canyon were again in all directions. We encountered a murderously steep climb the last quarter-mile into the main parking lot but we made it.
Gotta come back to this wonderland before we die so we can spend at least a few days exploring. I watched the hikers going through one of the rock tunnels on the trail to the bottom with some envy....
There is STRONG Ham Radio coverage at these Canyon locations. A digipeater ID'ing as "CANYON" relayed my gps-aprs position reports solidly to the internet and there is a very strong ham repeater on 147.32 WB6JAA. The only trouble is..... no one seems to be listening to it. I heard some weak signals on 146.520 simplex while riding the rim but wasn't able to make contact with anyone. Oh Well. At least the automatic digipeater provides useful service.
Friday evening Trip Started: 5:00 PM Trip Ended: 6:15 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.2 (weird)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 6.28
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.1 MPH 5.6 MPH 17.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 32 mins 1 hour 7 mins 25 minutes
Saturday morning Trip Started: 8:27 AM Trip Ended: 11:11 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.7 Ending Voltage: 13.2
Lowest Temp 52 F Highest Temp: 72 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.85
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
2.3 MPH 4.5 MPH 21.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 29 mins 1 hour 17 mins 1 hour 11 minutes
Monday, May 5, 2014
Overnight Global Warming
Today's Twomile Tracking via Ham Radio, GPS, APRS
Since it's Monday and the first day of a new week, no reason not to go on at least a short trike ride to start out properly, right? RIGHT?
Since we had lots on our plates today, and felt we couldn't afford a longer more leisurely ride, we did our usual To-the-Post-Office-and-Back stressful ride. Stressful going west TOWARD the Post Office and much more fun screaming down the largely downhill eastbound return trip AWAY from the P.O.
What wonderful warmth all of a sudden! We were sleeping under 2 quilts and building fires every morning in the wood stove to take the chill off the house, and often in the evenings, until 2 days ago when SUDDENLY the weather changed and we are sorely tempted to get up on the roof and limber up the swamp cooler again. Now we must run our bedroom ceiling fan all night and the A/C in the cars during the daytime. Occasionally the breeze while riding the trike is still a bit brisk but we now get overheated rather quickly on the people-pedal-powered machine.
When we got to the Triangle Bicycle Break Station, known to most as the Triangle Shell Gasoline Station, we did our usual soda and rest break. As usual the doggies, who are no help whatsoever while pedaling the trike, won all the praise and glory and attention while they begged and rummaged for crumbs under the outside break table.
Just as we were saddling up to leave, a spandex-clad Serious Cyclist rode up from the highway of North-14 and - admiring our dogs and trike in that order - obviously wanted to talk and visit a while. We asked him where he was from and where he was going and he casually answered "Santa Fe, going to Corrales". Santa Fe is 40+ miles to the north on the Turquoise Trail Byway of North-14 and Corrales is at least that far westerly from here. He didn't even appear to be breaking a sweat. There Ought to Be a Law.
Turns out his wife was in her car next to us and had business earlier in the morning in Santa Fe and carried him and his bike there where he took off toward us while his wife went on to her meeting, catching up to him in the car right there at the Shell Station. Enjoyed a great visit with them. He's of course a Serious Cycle Jockey and they own a tandem 2-wheeler they put lots of miles on. He rode coast to coast a couple of years ago, with his wife driving the sag wagon RV behind. Nice Folks. Great Stuff. Jealousy.
Trip Started: 10:29 AM Trip Ended: 12:03 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.2 (? Weird)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 4.32
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
2.9 MPH 6.2 MPH 34.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 30 mins 41 mins 59 secs 48 minutes
Since it's Monday and the first day of a new week, no reason not to go on at least a short trike ride to start out properly, right? RIGHT?
Since we had lots on our plates today, and felt we couldn't afford a longer more leisurely ride, we did our usual To-the-Post-Office-and-Back stressful ride. Stressful going west TOWARD the Post Office and much more fun screaming down the largely downhill eastbound return trip AWAY from the P.O.
What wonderful warmth all of a sudden! We were sleeping under 2 quilts and building fires every morning in the wood stove to take the chill off the house, and often in the evenings, until 2 days ago when SUDDENLY the weather changed and we are sorely tempted to get up on the roof and limber up the swamp cooler again. Now we must run our bedroom ceiling fan all night and the A/C in the cars during the daytime. Occasionally the breeze while riding the trike is still a bit brisk but we now get overheated rather quickly on the people-pedal-powered machine.
When we got to the Triangle Bicycle Break Station, known to most as the Triangle Shell Gasoline Station, we did our usual soda and rest break. As usual the doggies, who are no help whatsoever while pedaling the trike, won all the praise and glory and attention while they begged and rummaged for crumbs under the outside break table.
Just as we were saddling up to leave, a spandex-clad Serious Cyclist rode up from the highway of North-14 and - admiring our dogs and trike in that order - obviously wanted to talk and visit a while. We asked him where he was from and where he was going and he casually answered "Santa Fe, going to Corrales". Santa Fe is 40+ miles to the north on the Turquoise Trail Byway of North-14 and Corrales is at least that far westerly from here. He didn't even appear to be breaking a sweat. There Ought to Be a Law.
Turns out his wife was in her car next to us and had business earlier in the morning in Santa Fe and carried him and his bike there where he took off toward us while his wife went on to her meeting, catching up to him in the car right there at the Shell Station. Enjoyed a great visit with them. He's of course a Serious Cycle Jockey and they own a tandem 2-wheeler they put lots of miles on. He rode coast to coast a couple of years ago, with his wife driving the sag wagon RV behind. Nice Folks. Great Stuff. Jealousy.
Trip Started: 10:29 AM Trip Ended: 12:03 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.2 (? Weird)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 4.32
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
2.9 MPH 6.2 MPH 34.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 30 mins 41 mins 59 secs 48 minutes
Friday, May 2, 2014
Another Short Ride on a BEAUTIFUL Day
Today's Pretty Good APRS and Ham Radio Tracking
Jacque took off for Edgewood this morning to comfort a recuperating dear friend who recently underwent surgery. I'd hoped initially to do at least a short ride to get the blood warmed up and circulating starting by about 9:00 AM but of course it was a bit later before I got going.
Rode up the westbound killer hill to the Post Office and then rode east along Frost Road for a ways, feeling guilty all the way.....
Guilty because I left our young pooch Jazzy home alone. The little one is undergoing her first heat cycle and is making little messes everywhere and has to wear a diaper:
Which makes it very uncomfortable for her to ride in the doggy belly harness. Since I planned not to be gone more than an hour or so I left her home and she didn't complain, though she gets really lonely without human attention every few minutes and likely fussed while I was out enjoying the fresh air.
I again noticed the 2 prominent signs at our Post Office declaring:
"No Skateboards, Rollerblades, or Bicycles Allowed on Postal Property". I suppose I'm violating several laws nowadays by riding my bike at my age, riding into the postal parking lot like I owned the place, picking up my mail, tossing my trash in the post office trash cans, etc, etc. I'm sure they're just trying to scare kids away who might use the parking lot for EXERCISE such as biking and rollerblading. How terrible. I've posted pictures of these signs before and no officials ever called me to apologize. I thought I'd post them again but forgot, of course, like I do many of the great ideas that pop into my small mind. I think the signs should proclaim that such activities have priority and petroleum-powered vehicles are obligated to look through their windshields and yield the right of way to such. Which normally happens without any government instructional signage.
And, talk about Fresh Air. The recent howling winds we've endured produced some Los Angeles-style brown haze even after the winds died down the last couple of days, and we've even had air quality warnings to stay indoors. Which of course we mostly ignore. When we had the horrible ash and smoke pollution from nearby (and distant) forest fires a couple years ago, I just wore cheap painters masks and rode anyway, and never suffered any ill effects I know of. (Cough; Ahem.)
Today's weather guessers got it right for once: A very warm and beautiful day. The air was almost crystal clear. I should have planned better and taken a longer ride, but I'm demonstrating ham radio at our East Mountain Self-Reliance Fair tomorrow and need to do some gathering of STUFF and organizing.
Trip Started: 10:10 AM Trip Ended: 11:29 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 71 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 8.14
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.0 MPH 8.5 MPH 25.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 22 mins 57 mins 46 secs 14 minutes
Jacque took off for Edgewood this morning to comfort a recuperating dear friend who recently underwent surgery. I'd hoped initially to do at least a short ride to get the blood warmed up and circulating starting by about 9:00 AM but of course it was a bit later before I got going.
Rode up the westbound killer hill to the Post Office and then rode east along Frost Road for a ways, feeling guilty all the way.....
Guilty because I left our young pooch Jazzy home alone. The little one is undergoing her first heat cycle and is making little messes everywhere and has to wear a diaper:
Which makes it very uncomfortable for her to ride in the doggy belly harness. Since I planned not to be gone more than an hour or so I left her home and she didn't complain, though she gets really lonely without human attention every few minutes and likely fussed while I was out enjoying the fresh air.
I again noticed the 2 prominent signs at our Post Office declaring:
"No Skateboards, Rollerblades, or Bicycles Allowed on Postal Property". I suppose I'm violating several laws nowadays by riding my bike at my age, riding into the postal parking lot like I owned the place, picking up my mail, tossing my trash in the post office trash cans, etc, etc. I'm sure they're just trying to scare kids away who might use the parking lot for EXERCISE such as biking and rollerblading. How terrible. I've posted pictures of these signs before and no officials ever called me to apologize. I thought I'd post them again but forgot, of course, like I do many of the great ideas that pop into my small mind. I think the signs should proclaim that such activities have priority and petroleum-powered vehicles are obligated to look through their windshields and yield the right of way to such. Which normally happens without any government instructional signage.
And, talk about Fresh Air. The recent howling winds we've endured produced some Los Angeles-style brown haze even after the winds died down the last couple of days, and we've even had air quality warnings to stay indoors. Which of course we mostly ignore. When we had the horrible ash and smoke pollution from nearby (and distant) forest fires a couple years ago, I just wore cheap painters masks and rode anyway, and never suffered any ill effects I know of. (Cough; Ahem.)
Today's weather guessers got it right for once: A very warm and beautiful day. The air was almost crystal clear. I should have planned better and taken a longer ride, but I'm demonstrating ham radio at our East Mountain Self-Reliance Fair tomorrow and need to do some gathering of STUFF and organizing.
Trip Started: 10:10 AM Trip Ended: 11:29 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 71 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 8.14
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.0 MPH 8.5 MPH 25.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 22 mins 57 mins 46 secs 14 minutes
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Yeah, So We Rode Where it's Warmer
Today's Good Coverage Tracking
Jacque had an appointment for lab blood work this morning, so at the last minute, I of course suggested a new plan: We'd go together, with the Tandem Terratrike on the roof of the Ford Exploder, and go for a ride in flatter and warmer Albuquerque (It was 31 degrees this morning, a couple degrees warmer than the previous 2 mornings).
So we did.
Instead of riding our favorite route, up and down the Bosque Trail along the Rio Grande, we decided to see if the much ballyhooed bike bridge across I-25 near Osuna was open and ridable.
Since I-25 is nigh unto impassable due to the ongoing Paseo Cloverleaf Project, and all available nearby streets that COULD be used to get AROUND all the mess are ALSO under construction (A New Mexico Tribute to Highway Planning), we took the long way around, going west on Montgomery to Edith Street and Edith north to Alameda. Taking Alameda this way leads us to a relatively roomy and safe place to park the car and catch the bike trail running by and through it: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Park.
As we approached the entry to Balloon Fiesta Park, we noticed a new section of bike path where none had previously been, running parallel to Alameda on the south side of the road. We decided we would first ride over to Osuna and attempt to cross the new wonderful bridge, then come back, and time permitting, explore the new Alameda bike path,
There was no problem riding down from the Park to the Osuna trail and heading east on Osuna UNTIL we got to the Jefferson trail crossing.
We had complained about narrow bollards on the newly repaved Bosque Trail last year, resulting in very quick response and nice sufficient widening of the new bollards so our (and hopefully others') wider people-powered machines could get through. Obviously this widening did NOT occur city-wide. The width on the OTHER side of this gap is even MORE impassable, at about 10" LESS width.
We were able to barely squeeze through by pushing the middle bollard on my left HARD while scrunching through the gap. On the way back through the other direction a half hour later this strategy did NOT work, and we scraped our paint badly going through.
We DID find the marvelous new enclosed bike bridge ready and ridable and..... leading to NOWHERE. Well, sorta. It ends in the small cul-de-sac between TD's Showclub and Alameda Animal Kennels. There's also a sports bar there, so one must suppose one of these places is a destination for walkers and cyclists worth a million or more dollars' worth of new bridge. We took a break in the shade of some trees in one of the parking lots and since there were no public facilities available I walked around the corner into a tree-lined alley shielded from public view to "water the shrubbery". Much to my embarrassment a huge beer truck pulled into the alley behind me before I was totally presentable. When I turned around to sheepishly face the truck driver it turned out to be a rather pretty FEMALE truck driver, adding to my loss of dignity. BAH
We walked the doggies, saddled back up, and rode the bridge and trail the several miles back to Alameda and turned west on the new (to us) bike trail. Not bad, not bad at all, UNTIL we tried to cross a paved street at the intersection:
Jacque didn't dismount just to take these pictures, she HAD too in order for us to be able to flop the trike back and forth to gain entry into the crossing.
As we trundled the trike back around the other direction, we noticed a much narrower paved foot or bike-path on farther, but no reasonable way to pass this obstacle unless on foot only..... BAH
Trip Started: 11:24 AM Trip Ended: 2:04 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 70 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 9.93
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.9 MPH 6.5 MPH 20.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 34 mins 1 hours 31 mins 1 hour 2 minutes
Jacque had an appointment for lab blood work this morning, so at the last minute, I of course suggested a new plan: We'd go together, with the Tandem Terratrike on the roof of the Ford Exploder, and go for a ride in flatter and warmer Albuquerque (It was 31 degrees this morning, a couple degrees warmer than the previous 2 mornings).
So we did.
Instead of riding our favorite route, up and down the Bosque Trail along the Rio Grande, we decided to see if the much ballyhooed bike bridge across I-25 near Osuna was open and ridable.
Since I-25 is nigh unto impassable due to the ongoing Paseo Cloverleaf Project, and all available nearby streets that COULD be used to get AROUND all the mess are ALSO under construction (A New Mexico Tribute to Highway Planning), we took the long way around, going west on Montgomery to Edith Street and Edith north to Alameda. Taking Alameda this way leads us to a relatively roomy and safe place to park the car and catch the bike trail running by and through it: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Park.
As we approached the entry to Balloon Fiesta Park, we noticed a new section of bike path where none had previously been, running parallel to Alameda on the south side of the road. We decided we would first ride over to Osuna and attempt to cross the new wonderful bridge, then come back, and time permitting, explore the new Alameda bike path,
There was no problem riding down from the Park to the Osuna trail and heading east on Osuna UNTIL we got to the Jefferson trail crossing.
 |
| ABQ's Infernal Bollards |
We were able to barely squeeze through by pushing the middle bollard on my left HARD while scrunching through the gap. On the way back through the other direction a half hour later this strategy did NOT work, and we scraped our paint badly going through.
We DID find the marvelous new enclosed bike bridge ready and ridable and..... leading to NOWHERE. Well, sorta. It ends in the small cul-de-sac between TD's Showclub and Alameda Animal Kennels. There's also a sports bar there, so one must suppose one of these places is a destination for walkers and cyclists worth a million or more dollars' worth of new bridge. We took a break in the shade of some trees in one of the parking lots and since there were no public facilities available I walked around the corner into a tree-lined alley shielded from public view to "water the shrubbery". Much to my embarrassment a huge beer truck pulled into the alley behind me before I was totally presentable. When I turned around to sheepishly face the truck driver it turned out to be a rather pretty FEMALE truck driver, adding to my loss of dignity. BAH
We walked the doggies, saddled back up, and rode the bridge and trail the several miles back to Alameda and turned west on the new (to us) bike trail. Not bad, not bad at all, UNTIL we tried to cross a paved street at the intersection:
 |
| Uh Oh, a very narrow street entry with a SHARP turn |
 |
| Not sure we can squeeze this thing through here |
 |
| A bit of jockeying.... |
 |
| More Jockeying back and forth... |
 | |
| FINALLY got lined up enough to get through |
This turning entry took about 8 iterations to get through without having to heave the trike over the curb. Next time we'll ride out in the street so we can more safely cross the intersection.
We spotted something we could not pass by peacefully: A Sonic Drive-In. They were thrilled to see us and the doggies and even threw in an order of onion rings free, just because they thought our dogs were so cute. First time I know of they've actually saved us any money.
Then, about half a mile farther down the trail, the wonderful new trail just ENDED in a light pole abutment:
 |
| Typical Bike Path: Ends for No Good Reason |
Trip Started: 11:24 AM Trip Ended: 2:04 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1 Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp 57 F Highest Temp: 70 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 9.93
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.9 MPH 6.5 MPH 20.0 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 34 mins 1 hours 31 mins 1 hour 2 minutes
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