My, What a Wonderful Evening

Today's tracking
I've missed only a day here and there riding the bike for E&E: Exercise and Enjoyment, but I have trouble squeezing in the time to blog about all of them.  None have been spectacular, just the usual mostly enjoyable stuff.  I guess riding is more important than writing, since it involves more heavy breathing.
Neither of us went for a ride this Monday morning, which we regretted because it turned out beautiful in spite of a few threatening rainy-looking episodes.
After work it was still very calm and lovely out, so we decided to do a tandem ride.
What a FUN ride we had.  We usually ride the other direction up to the dog park between Louisiana and Wyoming but tonight we decided to ride west and do a portion of the Bosque Trail, which really turned out nice for us.
The weather was great.  The only less than wonderful part was the low level of the sun as it was setting - straight into our faces for 2 or 3 miles.  Thunderstorms darkened the sky just west of Albuquerque but did not come close enough to threaten us.
Of course, another non wonderful part is Lilly's penchant crying, whining, and actually SCREAMING while riding in the basket behind Jacque's head.  She is not a happy traveler, though she of course screams even louder if we are so low as to leave her behind.  She normally will only travel happily if she's (1) exhausted and asleep in someone's lap or (2) if she's snuggled in someone's lap being petted and scratched.
SOMEBODY has totally spoiled this doggie, and we cannot figure who it might have been.

The ride from the Mission Office to the Bosque Trail involves only a few mild climbs, none exceeding a few minutes time-wise.  We met all kinds of fellow cyclist-travelers along the way, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and generally immensely enjoyed ourselves.  No flats, no chain breaks, no close encounters with smog-belching cars - it was great.
Mind you, we enjoy our own smog-belching autos when not riding our people-powered vehicles....
There's still quite a bit of trash washed up from heavy rains and high water in the bike trails underneath Osuna and Paseo.  They're space just cattywampus enough that we cannot totally avoid running our precious tires over them, and we worry about sharp junk causing flats.  But, so far, so good.

Ride Started: 6:02 PM    Ride Ended:  8:20 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.2   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.9 
Lowest Temp  71 F      Highest Temp:  82 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  12.67
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   5.3 MPH                             7.0 MPH                   22.7 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours 22 mins                     1 hour 47 mins           34 minutes

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...

Today's real-ride Tracking

 Today was a Saturday, and an unusual one at that.  We had NOTHING planned for the day other than laundry and getting ready to go back to the Mission Office tomorrow after Church.  Thus my plan for a bike ride actually materialized today.
My renewed goal has been to ride every day at least for a short ride to improve my A1C levels to keep my doctor happy and keep me healthy longer.
Today's ride was twofold:  Exercise and checking the ham radio harness to make sure it still worked.  I have one just like it on the tandem Terratrike 
that recently stopped transmitting, and the spare harness I tried to install also would not transmit.  So now I know the harness works and no dark magic has done them both in, I can safely order another replacement.  I guess.
I did my favorite around-home 10 mile ride out east to Mountain Valley Road, loop around Entranosa, and Back-Home ride today.  As I turned north on Mountain Valley I noticed a new sign at the gate of a neighbor's house that I admired greatly, enough to stop and photograph:

This appears to be a wooden sign with Laser-Etched graphics.  I need to stop in and find out where he got the sign....
Our new neighbors-to-be, the Schmutz Family, has been working like beavers building their own house on vacant land they recently purchased.  Their property is just north of this sign maybe 1/2 mile or so, and as I saddled up and rode on I was passed by a slow-moving concrete truck.  Knowing the Schmutzes were still pouring foundations and floors, I suspected the truck might be headed to their place, and as I crept up the gradual grade in too-low gears, my suspicions were realized.  The truck had pulled intto their lot and was already pouring concrete.  This family seems to have no slackers amongst them;  they were ALL bending over the concrete forms, mucking concrete into various corners and generally working their tails off.  Girls, boys, young and younger, all worked with a will and were covered with concrete dust and splatters from head to toe. 
Here is Lydia, Roo, Dad Steve, Bobby, and a cousin or so.  The guy on top of the concrete chute is the boss-man barking orders to all to pull here, do that, grab a shovel, etc.

I wound up helping hold the concrete chute for a while, and of  course within a few minutes I too was splattered from head to toe with cement muck , in spite of my minimal participation in the project.
The pour finally ended and I was able to resume my less-cumbersome ride back home.
Before I got to the bike my emergency phone rang a couple of times with missionary emergencies including flat tires and CD players that stopped working.
A fine day for a ride, indeed, even if I didn't come home clean.  I rarely do anyway.

Ride Started: 10:08 AM    Ride Ended:  1:04 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.0   Ending Voltage: 13.2  Lowest:  12.9 (Solar Panel WORKS today)
Lowest Temp  71 F      Highest Temp:  87 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  10.67
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   4.4 MPH                             7.8 MPH                   29.9 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours 26 mins                     1 hour 22 mins           1 hour 4 minutes

Clocked by Radar; Ran a Red Light

Today's Scurrilous Tracking

I woke up about 18 minutos after 5 AM this morning, and while almost too late, I got up after a few seconds (Segundos) and was rolling by about 6:00, giving me time for a short ride.  My elevated A1C readings from the recent doc's visit motivate my to get UP and OUT and do SOMETHING....
I went through the nearby recently discovered neighborhood again and again noticed the mechanical speed trap / indicator, and again as I smoked by, it actually read my speed:

And, only another mile or so approaching the Osuna intersection, I was pleasantly surprised to find a green light staring me in the face:

And, as you may note, the light WAS green when I entered the intersection but quickly turned RED before I even got halfway through it.  Must be designed for cars, not bike speeds....
Then, as I rode east on Osuna, I caught the inevitable red light at the Chappel/Cement Truck Intersection.
As I exited Osuna and entered the bike path, I immediately encountered another rudeness from Albuquerque road construction crews:

I made a mild attempt to knock the offending sign over, but it was too stout for me to budge.
Which is probably just as well, it would most likely have blocked the path even worse had I succeeded in knocking it over.
Ride Started: 5:51 AM    Ride Ended:  6:38 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.3   Ending Voltage: 13.2  Lowest:  12.9
Lowest Temp  64 F      Highest Temp:  67 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  4.49
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   5.6 MPH                             6.6 MPH                   18.0 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
48 minutes                             40 minutes                 7 minutes

Biking to the Diabetic Doctor's Office

Today's Mid-Day Track

This ride was so short it's hard to justify riding about it.
I had a doctor's appointment at 10:30 AM and, since it's slightly less than a mile up the road, I rode the bike over there.  Only takes a minute or so longer to arrive and there's always an available parking spot for the trike, under the shade tree in the gravel front yard of the endocrinologist's office.
I got chewed up one side and down the other by the Physician's Assistant, who is a little Chinese lady who brooks no back-talk, much harder to get along with than her doctor who I normally see.
You may think that with "all" my bike and trike riding and walking the Doc would be praising me for the wonderful blood test results.
You (and I) would be sadly mistaken.  My A1C, a blood test that reveals my average blood sugars for the last 3 months, was 8.9, down a couple tenths from last visits 9.1, but not enough to satisfy Miss Genghis Khan.  All my other blood tests were in the wonderful range but she wants me  to straighten up, fly right, and do better.... OR ELSE.  Or Else What?  I feared to ask.
She's rattling off this list of this and that, and in my tiny brain I'm thinking..... MORE BICYCLING.
We'll see.
When I left the office and saddled up the tandem Terratrike I had ridden over there alone, a nice looking blondie walked over from her car, admiring the trike, and told me "You could pick someone UP with this!!"
I just smiled and rode away.... I like being happily married.
This area is strewn with orange barrels, road blocks, and trucks growling this way and that, but so far I've  been quite lucky in getting huge gaps in traffic with which to get going safely and get into the right lane, etc, etc.  So this trip was uneventful and short, but still fun.


Ride Started: 10:05 AM    Ride Ended:  11:37 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.1   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.9
Lowest Temp  71 F      Highest Temp:  82 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  1.96
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.8 MPH                             8.3 MPH                   16.0 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1hour 30+ minutes                17 minutes                 1 hour 13  minutes

Wednesday Wanderings

Today's Thrilling Tracks

Two nights ago, on Monday night, I was a bit surprised to notice a SKUNK just ahead of me and the walking-dogs, at about 10 PM.  The skunk, which I thought first might be a squirrel, was actually sidling along the walkway in front of me and the doggies and was seemingly wanting to avoid any conflict with us.  He MAY have been somebody's domesticated pet, since he didn't make a stance or a stink.  But I've seen coyotes out along the bike path and of course rabbits proliferate everywhere, especially commercial areas with grass lots.
I awoke this morning to "go down the hall", expecting to crawl right back in bed afterwards, but when I noticed the clock on the microwave said "5:00 AM", I realized it was a perfect time to go for a ride instead.
For this morning's joyride I selected to ride again up to Balloon Fiesta Park and back.
It was just a bit on the side of too cool this morning for most of the ride.  I was wearing only my front-velcro da-glow yellow tee shirt and it would have been nice to have a windbreaker for the most of the trip.
But, it was only coldest when zipping downhill, and most of the ride is fairly level.  So complaints are minimal.
I again seemed to encounter more fellow cyclists than usual, including a few going the same way as I (passing me with minimal effort).
As I passed the Balloon Festival Museum I noticed something new:  A huge lighted display in the viewing window on the north side of the building.  Quite spectacular but the fence kept me so far away it didn't show up well in the GoPro video.
My left hand brake caliper seems to have almost totally lost its stopping/gripping power.  I need to put new pads in it before I get in trouble.  The right hand brake still works well but there ARE times both grippers come in handy...

Ride Started: 5:31 AM    Ride Ended:  7:07 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.1   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.8
Lowest Temp  60 F      Highest Temp:  64 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  8.88
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.7 MPH                             7.1 MPH                   17.7 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 19 mins                      1 hour 15 mins              4  minutes

Monday Sundown Patrol - Foursome Version

This Evening's Tracker Results

Tonight we decided to ride together again to burn a few carbs and additionally strengthen Jacque's newfangled store-bought knee.
We turned out of our street on to Jefferson, as usual, but Lilly was crying her full-bladder cry and Jacque spotted nice grass just across the street from us:  Holman's parking lot.  This turned out to be a VERY nice roomy area to ride around, with almost no traffic after closing time.  We rode around to the back parking lot, still roomy and spacious, and let the girls actually run LOOSE on the huge grass lot in back of Holmans before taking off again.  Exploring a bit  further, we found a sidewalk EXIT ramp up onto the biker path, obviating the need to "swing wide" crossing 3 lanes of Jefferson to squeeze through the narrow bollards blocking entry to the bike trail from Jefferson.
My ham radio 3-band transceiver still will not transmit with the bike's motorcycle-style harness.  As best I can tell, the transmit button's harness has somehow opened up, but the new harness I had for a spare does not cure the problem.  I think I can bypass it and make it work with other wiring, but we'll soon see about that.  Meanwhile while time is short, riding is more important than radioing.
We then went riding down southward on the North Diversion Channel Trail, only making maybe a mile before we turned around at the Singer crossing.  It appears some kind of big project is underway on that bike intersection, with lots of steel and concrete in evidence.  It almost looks like they're going to build a ramp for cyclists to go OVER and above motorists below instead of having to wait on them on the same level so much of the time.

Ride Started: 6:46 PM    Ride Ended:  7:40 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.2   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  13.0
Lowest Temp  78 F      Highest Temp:  84 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  3.46
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   4.1 MPH                             5.5 MPH                   14.9 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
50 minutes                            37  minutes                     12  minutes

Monday Dawn Patrol

This Morning's Tricky Tracking
I awoke around 4:25 AM this morning, and sleepily went back to sleep, desiring that last 30 minutes of shut-eye.  When I next cracked the peepers to see what time it was, I had overslept to 5:14 and I got up and rode anyway.
It was definitely cooler this morning, almost cold in the low 60's, but it still beats the stick-a-fork-in-me heat later on in the day.
I decided to replicate the loop route I "found" a few days ago, going north on the North Diversion Trail to Paseo del Norte, then west on the trail paralleling Paseo for about 1/4 mile until turning back south on Las Lomitas, following it to Vista del Norte and continuing on back towards Osuna, which then takes only a half a mile or so until I get to the Chappel/North Diversion Trail danger-section.  This is an intersection heavily used by commuters, large vehicles including CONCRETE TRUCKS, where it is NOT laned or marked for cyclists but where they must go to get off Osuna onto the bike trail.  There is a small sign stating "Share the Road, Watch for Cyclists", but that is of small comfort sitting next to a rumbling Semi at the intersection and hoping he can see you and is in the mood to be careful.  Fortunately, most truck drivers using this intersection are more polite and forbearing than the average motorist late for work.


Ride Started: 5:37 AM    Ride Ended:  6:38 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.2   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.9
Lowest Temp  60 F      Highest Temp:  64 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  2.86
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.8 MPH                             8.1 MPH                   21.5 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
25 minutes                            21  mins                     2 hours 8  minutes

So, a Short Ride to the Duke City Hamfest

 Today's Tracking to the Pyramid Hotel
Friday, 12 August, was the opening day for the 2016 Duke City Hamfest.  At first I had not planned on attending until Saturday, but as Friday morning wore on with a distinct lack of emergencies or phone calls of any sort, I decided to saddle up the trike and ride over.  After all, it was only a few blocks, so even though the sun was getting warmer it was not a big undertaking.
On the way over I made the mistake of trying to get off the main road and take a route through the parking lots connected with various walking trails.  Not only did it slow me down, but the paved and graveled trails gave way to dirt, making the rear wheel slip under cranking torque.  A couple places were blocked so tight I had to dismount and "armstrong" the trike around the corners.  Coming back was much easier just riding the streets and watching for  cars; normal behavior.
I didn't even change out of my white shirt and tie.  Not a bad ride and the " bragging rights" are always enjoyable.
Ride Started: 10:49 AM    Ride Ended:  1:05 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.5   Ending Voltage: 13.2  Lowest:  13.1
Lowest Temp  78 F      Highest Temp:  84 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  2.86
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.8 MPH                             8.1 MPH                   21.5 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
25 minutes                            21  mins                     2 hours 8  minutes

Butt-Buster Afternoon Ride

I had a damaged missionary vehicle that needed delivery to the body shop today.  I google-mapped the route, discovered it was 3.9 miles of mostly bike route and maybe half a mile of back-streets with low traffic, and made plans.  The car I was delivering was one of the few we have with a trailer/bike hitch installed, so I bolted in the first bike rack in the spare pile, found a large DF (Diamond Frame Upright) bike, loaded it up, and took off.
I remembered to take a water jug and my helmet, but forgot my bike gloves, which I certainly missed.
When I dropped off the car and unstrapped the bike, one of the body craftsmen noticed and commented I was taking the exact same route HE takes EVERY DAY.  He's a true-blue bike commuter.  Cool.
Riding the bike was enjoyable to a point, but it didn't take long to realize WHY we love recumbents instead of the ever-standard upright versions.  Within minutes I had sore wrists, palms, grips, elbows, and..... Butt.
Upright bikes are hard on all these and I was hurting in seldom-sore places.  The "rolling lawn chair" is certainly a vast improvement in reducing bike discomfort.
Anyway, at slightly less than 4 miles, it wasn't rocket science, after all.
Before any much time had elapsed I arrived back home safe and sound.... and a bit tired.  Good feeling kind of tired.
No GPS, no camera, no electronics of any kind.... go figure.  My recumbent is too large to fit on a bike rack, so to get in a ride I rode what I did.  Recumbents do have disadvantages too, after all.  But not Many.

Lovely Evening Tandem Ride

Tonight's Tracker Tracking

We decided to ride together on the same tandem Terratrike I ride so much alone, to take the doggies again up to the dog park near Kinney Dam just west of Wyoming and east of Louisiana, and just north of Paseo del Norte.  It's about 3.8 miles using the bikeway route we take.
We got started a bit later than desired:  It was almost 7 PM when we started out.  So it would be a tight run to make it back before dark, which we did not accomplish.  We are equipped with headlamps, blinky tail lights, and reflective clothing and flags, so we got through the 15 minutes of near-darkness OK.
August weather has been very pleasant so far.  In addition to almost daily afternoon showers, we've had cooler days when sunny and even cooler when cloudy.  Tonight was no exception and the weather and temperatures were absolutely beautiful.  This dog-run ride is a very pleasant few miles, with very gradual climbs going out to the park and at least a couple miles of slight down-hill easy-rider coming back.

Ride Started: 6:54 PM    Ride Ended:  8:32 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.3   Ending Voltage: 13.1  Lowest:  13.0
Lowest Temp  75 F      Highest Temp:  78 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  7.79
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   5.7 MPH                             6.3 MPH                   19.8 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 22 mins                       1 hour 14 mins             8  minutes

I Go A-Exploring

Today's New Tracked Route

I decided to ride North on Jefferson this morning, since it was six-ish and I assumed the traffic would be sparse. WRONG
I made it up to the Journal Center intersection without incident, but since the traffic was SUPER heavy, I bailed off  Jefferson to get back to the bicycle trail.  Tiburon is marked as a "Bicycle Route" so I took that around.  I wound up on the El Pueblo frontage road which was wide enough for cars to get by me but no marked bike lane.  (Later the same day I spotted some cyclists riding on the BIKE path along the same route.  As per usual, it's not well marked so I missed the route during MY ride.)
Thankfully the traffic here WAS sparse, and I rode on over to the railroad crossing where the North Diversion Trail bike path intersects, and rode onward toward the Railrunner depot.  I noticed, again, a turnoff at Las Lomitas and decided to see how far I could get taking that route southward - back toward the general direction of the mission office where we work.  This passes through a huge newer neighborhood I had ridden through some years ago, and I knew there was a long paved ramp somewhere back toward the North Diversion Trail that I could use to get back if I needed to.
There are literally hundreds of new houses and apartments now iin this area, and the street I was on continued to go sorta in the right direction, so I kept following it around until I finally stopped and looked closely at my GPS display to see where to go next.  Turned out the street I was on eventually leads to Osuna, which is now wide and supposedly bike-friendly, and goes within a half a block of the office.
So I kept riding, without incident, enjoying a never-tried route and some wonderfully cooler August weather.

Ride Started: 5:37 AM    Ride Ended:  8:35 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.0   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.7
Lowest Temp  64 F      Highest Temp:  77 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  7.95
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.2 MPH                             7.5 MPH                   18.1 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 16 mins                       1 hour 3 mins             13  minutes 

Well, I Woke Up a Little After 5

Early Morning Tracking

I awoke groggily at 5:14 AM this morning, a bit later than I prefer to ride, and I tried to seriously consider just staying in the sack to get another 35 minutes of snoozing.  My mortality motivated me to get up and get going.  I continue to believe with more exercise my blood sugar can be better maintained and maybe I can survive a few extra years.  Or at least stay more  mobile the last few years of knocking around.
Cycling being my second favorite exercise form (None of your business about #1 favorite), off I go.
It rained quite a bit these last few days, including last night.  About 8 PM last night suddenly the AC power went off in the RV and when we looked outside the entire neighborhood was dark.  Most of our RV stuff runs off 12 Volt batteries anyway - continually being charged by outside (or internal) AC power - so we just turned off a few unneeded LED lights and continued watching a few Olympic events.
The outside AC power finally came back on and we went to  bed.
We didn't get to bed very early which helped my reluctance in getting up this morning.
As I rode down Jefferson I noticed a few puddles here and there but the streets were mostly dry.
After I turned off Jefferson onto the bike trail leading to the diversion channel it was only a few minutes easy riding to the actual North Diversion Channel Trail.  As I rode down the ramp underneath Osuna, I noticed quite a bit of debris on the bike ramp and thought at first someone had dumped some trash, but as I dodged a few piles of junk I realized it was scattered FLOTSAM from the diversion channel having been full during the recent rains.   Thankfully there didn't seem to be any tire puncturing junk in the piles since I was unable to ride around them all and totally avoid them.  The channel itself was running about 6 inches of water this morning, and this trail is NOT safe to ride during heavy rains, since the foul water line and junk extended well above the level of the bike underpass.
My trick knee seems to get better the more I ride the bike, as long as I don't overload it.  Hopefully more biking will build up strength in this knee instead of blowing it out.

Ride Started: 5:49 AM    Ride Ended:  6:50 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.0   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.8 (No battery charges for almost a week)
Lowest Temp  64 F      Highest Temp:  67 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  5.58
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.2 MPH                             6.8 MPH                   16.6 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
54 minutes                             49 minutes                 4  minutes 

Monday Evening Breakdown

Tracking Tracking Tracking

We took off tonight for a short ride which suddenly got even shorter when the Derailleur Shifter Cable Broke, locking it in the stiffest gear so that it was exceedingly difficult to pedal up the slight hill to get back to our starting point.  We made it, however, and I spent the next (Tuesday) evening after work repairing it.  Thankfully some of my cable pieces saved from the long cables used on my other 2-wheel recumbent fit the bill and - though it took almost 3 hours instead of the intended 30 minutes - I got it back together and working.  Only got a little over 2 miles tonight, much of it creeping along in the highest cassette gear. UGH

We Did It! A Real Ride

Tonight's Tracking
It rained a while earlier this afternoon, but seemed to be clearing up by 5 PM, so I talked Jacque into taking the Tandem Terratrike up to the Dog Park.  Tink and Lilly came too, of course, in the back basket.
It's very close to 4 miles away, and involves some mild incline-climbing, and we have to ride Jefferson for about half a mile and then ride the sidewalk/bike path up East on San Antonio, meaning we cross the frontage road on both sides of  I-25 and make a hard right onto the sidewalk/bike path at the base of the hill below Cracker Barrel Restaurant. 

This leads to an old seldom-maintained path roughly parallelling San Antonio up to Louisiana, where we turned north onto a fairly decent bike lane on that street.  Traffic is never too heavy on Louisiana this far north and it was a pleasant ride.
Coming back the other way, the mild hills we climbed turned into pleasant downhill coasting most of the way.
Jacque forgot to bring any pain pills for her new knee but she seemed to do OK.  Of course she was a bit sore by the time we got back but so far, cycling seems to really strengthen her and speed up her recovery and full use of the replaced knee.
As for my now-noticeable left trick knee, it gets tired when pedaling AND feels better after doing a few miles, with less "tricking" incidents.  Hoping MY knee doesn't wind up going under the knife......
I very much enjoy these type of rides because we used the trike to actually GO somewhere for a purpose, not just joy riding.  The dogs had a good time riding, a better time sniffing and pooping at the dog park, and we had a good time doing it.

Ride Started: 5:56 PM    Ride Ended:  7:47 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.1   Ending Voltage: 13.1  Lowest:  12.9
Lowest Temp  75 F      Highest Temp:  78 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  7.94
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   5.5 MPH                             6.2 MPH                   20.7 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 27 mins                        1 hour 17 mins           10  minutes 
Bingo

Friday Morning Dark Ride

Pre-Dawn Patrol Track

I woke up about 4:30 Friday morning and took the pedal powered trike out for a ride.
It's amazing at such an early hour how few cars are out and about.  I contemplated just how safe and unthreatening city streets are, even Jefferson, when there are no cars on them.
Then, as I crossed the first 2 nasty bone-shaker wooden planked bike bridges, I was thrilled to find the construction path-blocks have been entirely removed.  We can sail right under Osuna now without having to creep around the roadblocks which have been seemingly unnecessary for a month or more.
Unfortunately, on the way back, I noticed my left knee was starting to hurt, and I had to favor it most of the way home.  It's been a bit tricky since then and I've been deliberately staying off the bikes to give it a rest.

Ride Started: 5:04 AM    Ride Ended:  6:21 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.2   Ending Voltage: 13.2  Lowest:  12.5
Lowest Temp  71 F      Highest Temp:  75 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  8.54
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
   6.8 MPH                             7.2 MPH                   19.5 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 15mins                        1 hour 11 mins           4  minutes