Bosque Bliss

Today's Tracking via APRS, GPS, and Ham Radio

Yesterday, Friday, was drizzly and wet until late afternoon, precluding an earlier bike ride.  By the time it finally cleared off late in the afternoon we had too much else going on to do anything healthy like taking off on the bike.
Today, Saturday, was a different story, with beautiful blue skies this morning, prompting us to skip breakfast and rush off to Albuquerque with the Tandem Terratrike Recumbent on the roof rack for a ride down New Mexico's favorite bike venue:  The Bosque Trail.
We arrived at our favorite parking place at the huge parking lot at the Albuquerque Bio Park and got rolling on the trike almost right on the dot at 10:00. 
The weather was just absolutely delightful.  The breeze was cool yet it was sunny and warm enough to just be comfortable to the max.
I used to resist the idea of driving such a distance to ride around on the trike but it seems the hills are getting steeper out here in the East Mountains and we always have to ride in or near the traffic, with only a few miles of available bike pathways out here.  Plus the Bosque Trail is mostly flat, the scenery riding along the Rio Grande Irrigation ditches is fabulous.  The scenery down on the South Valley end with all the warehouses and junkyards is not what you would call beautiful but it IS striking. 
At the junction of Rio Bravo and the bosque trail we stopped in the shade for a rest break and met several other recumbent trikes who stopped to say hello and swap lies, er, stories.

The yellow panel sticking up vertically is Jacque's new shade attachment for her and the doggies.  When rolling it simply is bent over their heads and fastened forward so it forms a curve roof over their heads.  It sometimes acts a bit like a sail in strong winds but at the breathtaking speeds we normally achieve (see average of 5-7 MPH) it is definitely not a problem.
Our last trike destination was Old Town, which is an easy 2-something mile ride along Mountain Road (now co-named 'Bicycle Boulevard' with max 18 MPH limit). We dined at Tio Chava's and had a great taco plate (me) and a chicken salad in a fried tortilla shell for Jacque (who is on the South Beach diet currently and thus I got to eat her fried tortilla shell.... drool drool.  By then it was getting late in the afternoon so we saddled up and came home.  The doggies had their usual crush of admirers on every hand everywhere we turned....

Ride Started:  10:02 AM    Ride Ended:  3:12 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.2       Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp  64 F      Highest Temp:  82 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  21.19
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  3.8 MPH                               7.5 MPH                    24.3 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
5 Hours 35 mins                    2 Hours 49 mins         2 hours 45 mins