Monday, July 6, 2015

Triking with Gorgeous Granddaughter

We arrived in Athens Friday afternoon.  Athens, Tennessee, not Greece, thank Heavens.  This in spite of heavy rains, multiple freeway accidents clogging the roads, and super-crowded rest areas at every stop because of the holiday travel of so many with similar ideas:  Get Outa Town.
The rains have continued such that I'm not at all sure we'll be able to drive out of the grassy almost water-logged area we're parked at next to the kids' garage.  With all the downpour and soggy grass and dripping skies the poor tandem trike just sat out there in the rain on top of the rack on the Ford Exploder.
Yesterday, Sunday, rained part of the day and then cleared off late in the evening as the sun was setting.  I took the liberty of unloading the trike and taking it for a short spin around the block just for a short leg-stretcher.  The sole grandkid available, our granddaughter, must be bored outa her gourd because she instantly took a fancy to the trike and wanted to go for a ride, NOW.  Trouble was, it was almost dark by then, and though we could have gone out maybe a mile and back before total darkness, we decided to wait until Monday, today.  Especially  since the forecast was calling for a dry Monday.
Kate and I actually got out and took our ride, and she turns out to be a real trooper in the stoker seat.
Even though she was still too short (she's all of 10 years old) to properly reach the pedals, and we had to move the stoker seat as far forward as possible and add a couple layers of pillows to help, she really poured on the power back there climbing hills.
Grandpa had to stop and catch his breath multiple times climbing most of the hills, but no complaints from little Engine Number Two.  Whether fast or slow, climbing hills at ZERO MPH or coasting downhill at speeds approaching 30, she loved it and kept the pedals spinning.
We rode into metropolitan Niota, just a little over 2 miles away, but up hill and down dale in these Tennessee backwoods, making it a fairly intense heart-rate bender for Grandpa.  Kate immediately became a chief attention-grabber the moment we arrived in the Big City (Pop. 781).  First a couple of twentysomething girls benchwarming at the back of a warehouse spotted us and their eyes bugged out.  Then we turned the corner and spotted the cyclist's delight:  a Gas Station selling Snacks.  My  blood glucose was still too high so I settled for a small Diet Coke while Kate snarfed an ice cream sandwich.  She inhaled it like she was a linebacker on the football team.  She may eat like a horse but she more resembles the pretty princess in the Frozen Movie.
We had Tinkerbell the Wonder Dog along with us and between the two of them they attracted lots of attention.  2 or 3 ladies at the snack station had to comment to her about "her" dog and her cuteness and several drivers passing us rolled down their windows and called out cheers and compliments, most never having seen such a contraption before.  We topped a small hill on the outskirts of Niota on the way back to Kate's home and a fellow was waiting there for us, camera in hand.  He had passed us and pulled into a vacant driveway so he could "Take our Picture so his Wife could See it".  He had the usual twenty questions about "Did we Build the Trike?", where we were from, and where we were going.
This country is normally humid anyway, at least to a New Mexico Grandpa, but with all the recent rains it really gets muggy and dreadful.  The hot shower after we got back was more wonderful than usual....
And THIS was waiting for me when I got out of the shower....
Sneaker, the Cat, likes the Smelly Driver's Seat

Ride Started: 9:51 AM    Ride Ended:  11:35 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.7   Ending Voltage: 13.2  Lowest:  12.9
Lowest Temp  74 F      Highest Temp:  78 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  5.03
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  3.0 MPH                              5.7 MPH                  29.1 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 41 minutes                  52 minutes                 48  minutes

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