Only ONE Position relayed via APRS and Ham Radio
My newly-found riding buddy Kate's parents told us about a new "Rails to Trails" project here in the Athens TN area, so Kate and I decided to go try it out today.
It turns out not a paved trail nor is it superbly maintained. We found it relatively flat, which was nice, but the gravel-rocks are an inch or larger on average and very rough to ride on, especially with the wider-stance recumbent trike.We never got more than 4 gears above our lowest Granny Gear and the scenery was lovely with deep forest on all sides but it got..... boring. And quickly. Tall weeds lurk in the median as well, getting crushed in the trike's front wheels and gears.
Perhaps if the gravel was rollered flat it would help. The folks working this evidently are largely volunteer and there are vehicular ruts in the gravel that make it smoother on each side, with the rocks ground into flatter formations on the sides but the median is rough, with larger rocks worrying the wheels and tires. A more normal two-wheel bike would make an easier ride on this rough surface. Narrow street or racing tires would not fare well.
Our only excitement was meeting two ladies walking the trail together and exchanging greetings with the usual "Oh, Look at the Puppy" surprised exclamation as they walked on past us. We didn't even see any squirrels or deer, common enough critters in this Garden of Eden country.
Kate is cool. She's growing up way too fast at age 10 already, but she loves the trike, tolerates her Grandpa well, pedals long and strong, and even laughs at my jokes. If she wasn't already scheduled up with OTHER grandparents for the summer we would kidnap her and take her home with us. Maybe next time, if she hasn't turned into too much of a teenager by then....
Ran off without the GPS this ride, and the tracker only made it through the radio void once.
We rode 2.2 miles total, all on a very rough but fairly level surface. Good workout but humidity was a killer today.
No comments:
Post a Comment