Been tied up working on Jacque's Subaru, which overheated and stranded her several days ago.
The radiator seals blew out, so I bought another radiator and - after removing the old one - decided I should go ahead and replace the timing belt, water pump, etc, all now almost exposed with the radiator missing. Which, of course, ain't a simple operation. We just blew a kilobuck or so getting the Exploder repaired and now this. The weather has been non cooperative and thus a supposedly one-day job has taken several days. Today, Wednesday, Jacque drove the Exploder to Albuquerque for other shopping chores but also had a list of MORE subaru parts needed for the repair job.
Since I was unable to proceed without the parts, I decided to take a trike ride to stretch the legs and give my aching back a break. The usual 10 mile ride is repetitive but always enjoyable.
As I turned north on Mountain Valley from Frost this trip, I encountered a fairly large, fairly dead snake in the roadway. I rode carefully around him just in case there was any life left in him and was dismayed to see at first he looked like a large rattler but turned out to be a bull snake instead, which is a sad loss. You will note the absence of rattles on the tail and the narrow non-diamond shaped head. Bull snakes are wonderful pest controllers, eating rabbits, rats, gophers, and even RATTLESNAKES, which they attack and kill with impunity. Very sad to lose this big guy.
I'm turning 70 this week. To mark that auspicious occasion I'm planning to ride 70 miles on the trike.
This is not an original idea. I take my inspiration from Jacque's Uncle Max, who is 12 or so years my senior. A few years ago when he turned 85 he rode HIS bike, a carbon fiber hotshot, from his home in Prescott AZ to Flagstaff, to accomplish 85 miles for his 85th birthday. I figure since he could do such a thing at 85, perhaps I can imitate the stunt at 70.
My current plan is to ride directly from home, out to Frost Road, east to Edgewood, transition to Route 472 (a slight dogleg almost directly connects it to Frost), on eastward to Stanley. Then turn south on NM 41 to Moriarty, Estancia, and Willard, then turn west on Route 60 to Mountainair, a distance of 73-something miles. The elevation gains and losses look like it will not be a terribly hard hill-climbing route. So perhaps I'll make it AND survive the trip.
Those few of you who might be interested in following me live on the trip can check the APRS link
at https://aprs.fi/w5aox-6, the same link at the top of most of these blog entries.
Weather permitting, this grand attempt will occur sometime early Saturday, 20 May. Google bike maps predict it will take about 6 hours, which I think is wildly optimistic since that would require an average speed of 12 MPH, which I can accomplish at times on level ground, but my normal trips average 6 or 7 MPH on a good day. Of course most of my local rides involve hill-climbing but we'll see how it works out.
Ride Started: 12:36 PM Ride Ended: 2:46 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.4 Ending Voltage: 12.8 Lowest: 12.8
Beginning Blood Glucose: 170 Ending BG Reading: 81
Lowest Temp 53F Highest Temp: 82F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 10.58
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.9 MPH 6.8 MPH 28.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 8 mins 1 hour 37 mins 31 minutes
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