This episode does not flatter me, but if I heard about someone else doing this, I'd have laughingly published it, so to be fair, I'll tell it on myself.
I haven't been able to get out and around on my trike the last several days. My favorite uncle died 3 weeks ago up in Utah and I spent a week flying up there for the funeral and visiting with my siblings and their families while there.
But I HAVE been getting exercise. Yesterday I dug out my chain saw to cut up more stove length wood from our downed tree-logs lying in the yard.
Since moving to Missouri, this dandy little Stihl chainsaw has proved difficult to start.
A month or so ago I had to take it to our friendly local small engine repairman to see if he could get it to start after I had worn myself ragged pulling and jerking and huffing and puffing on the starter cord to no avail. I hadn't even been able to get it to sputter or pop, much less start and run.
He drained the carburetor and put in fresh gas/oil mix, and got it started. Well, I should have tried the same thing before giving up on it. This little machine has previously been fairly easy to start, even when cold.
I only ran the saw an hour or so after paying to get it going. Now, yesterday, 2 weeks of cold damp weather later, I spent a half hour wearing myself out again trying to get it started, without even a pop out of it. It was around freezing and had been stored in our cold garage, so I took it inside the back door of the house in hopes of warming it up and making it easier to start. An hour so more later, I again began the useless yanking and pulling without any luck. I finally took it inside the garage and took off the outer cover and air filter and blew out the filter and carburetor with compressed air and tried again. No luck. Since the covers were still off the carburetor, I decided to see if raw propane from my hand-held blow torch might make it run. Sure enough, after I wedged the snout of the torch into the carburetor throat and yanked the cord, it started and ran for a minute or so, although weakly.
I removed the torch from the carb and - again - the critter wouldn't start. As I poked around, checking the throttle settings (Choke, Run/Idle, and Stop), I was horrified to see the Choke/Start position and the Kill/Stop position were exactly the REVERSE of what I had been trying to use.
In other words, when I was yanking uselessly away on the cord trying to start the monster, I had the throttle set in the KILL/Stop position. DUHHH....
Can you imagine? When I set the throttle to the correct position for CHOKE/START, it STARTED. The miracles of modern technology....
I was thus able to exhaust myself cutting up a mound of wood out by the driveway.
Feeling SO stupid is becoming increasingly common lately.
It reminds me of the old joke I heard maybe 50 years ago:
Once there were two fuddy-duddies who lived next door to each other.
One loved grass and had a big green lawn in his backyard, but the other had a huge swimming pool on his side of their adjoining yards.
One day the first looney was out mowing grass all afternoon, and as the day wore on, he kept cutting closer and closer to his neighbor's swimming pool. On his last pass, he got too close and stumbled into the full pool, lawnmower and all. The pool's owner, hearing the loud splash, ran out to see what had happened. Spotting his neighbor under the water, he laughed out loud as he saw the clueless fellow, underwater, pulling with all his might trying to start the mower's motor again.
Screaming with all the voice he could muster, he yelled at his stupid neighbor:
"Choke it, STUPID!! CHOKE IT !!
Friday, January 31, 2020
Thursday, January 16, 2020
More Cool Ridings
Today's Frigid Routing
Having trouble realizing it's been DAYS since my last trike ride. I rode just a couple miles a day or so ago in desperation to get a bit of exercise in spite of the less than stellar weather.
We've of course had a bit of snow, ice storms, high winds, 80-90% humidity in spite of below-freezing temperatures, daily dense fog, and whatnot.
Today was a tad breezy but the sun tried peeking through the foggy air and brightened things up a bit.
It was 31 degrees when we woke up at 5 AM to teach Seminary and it dropped to the high 20's as the daybreak wore on. After lunchtime it got up to 39-ish and I decided I better take time out from remodeling to go for some aerobic riding. Jacque allowed me to digress from my duties and off I went.
Nothing special, just another wobbly loop around the mecca of Mountain Grove, waving to all passersby, especially all the nice drivers who gave me wide clearance as they passed by on the left.
I actually encountered several other self-powered travelers today.
First I spotted a boom truck and wood-cutters trimming tall trees on a side street, and pulled in to ask them if they could schedule our place for a tree-trimming. I encountered a lady pulling a small basket with wheels similar to the typical homeless wanderer. She was quite friendly, complimented my trike, and informed me the tree trimmers were from the local Electric Company trimming trees too close to their power lines. Not available for other work, but she recommended "Long's Tree Service" instead. I thanked her and put this info in my Iphone in hopes I could remember it an hour later.
On the other side of town, on Oakland Street, I saw a weird contraption coming toward me:
A two-wheel bike pulling a two-wheel trailer. The operator was cordial and we exchanged greetings.
Another quarter mile up the street I encountered a bundled-up lady driving a 3-wheel electric wheelchair. She was also nice and friendly as we passed each other.
Ride Started: 3:24 PM Ride Ended: 4:33 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.4
Having trouble realizing it's been DAYS since my last trike ride. I rode just a couple miles a day or so ago in desperation to get a bit of exercise in spite of the less than stellar weather.
We've of course had a bit of snow, ice storms, high winds, 80-90% humidity in spite of below-freezing temperatures, daily dense fog, and whatnot.
Today was a tad breezy but the sun tried peeking through the foggy air and brightened things up a bit.
It was 31 degrees when we woke up at 5 AM to teach Seminary and it dropped to the high 20's as the daybreak wore on. After lunchtime it got up to 39-ish and I decided I better take time out from remodeling to go for some aerobic riding. Jacque allowed me to digress from my duties and off I went.
Nothing special, just another wobbly loop around the mecca of Mountain Grove, waving to all passersby, especially all the nice drivers who gave me wide clearance as they passed by on the left.
 |
| The Smile is Frozen In |
First I spotted a boom truck and wood-cutters trimming tall trees on a side street, and pulled in to ask them if they could schedule our place for a tree-trimming. I encountered a lady pulling a small basket with wheels similar to the typical homeless wanderer. She was quite friendly, complimented my trike, and informed me the tree trimmers were from the local Electric Company trimming trees too close to their power lines. Not available for other work, but she recommended "Long's Tree Service" instead. I thanked her and put this info in my Iphone in hopes I could remember it an hour later.
On the other side of town, on Oakland Street, I saw a weird contraption coming toward me:
A two-wheel bike pulling a two-wheel trailer. The operator was cordial and we exchanged greetings.
Another quarter mile up the street I encountered a bundled-up lady driving a 3-wheel electric wheelchair. She was also nice and friendly as we passed each other.
Ride Started: 3:24 PM Ride Ended: 4:33 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.4
Beginning Blood Glucose: 181 Ending BG: 93
Lowest Temp: 38 F Highest Temp: 45 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 6.69
Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.3 MPH 6.9 MPH 22.2 MPH
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.3 MPH 6.9 MPH 22.2 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 11 mins 1 hour 10 minutes
1 hour 11 mins 1 hour 10 minutes
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Last Day of Decent Weather
Thursday Route GPS Tracking
Just another ride .... before the nasty weather settled in.
It was cool but not freezing. In fact, the weather warmed up for the next 36 hours in spite of cloudy weather hiding the sun.
THEN the rains came Friday night, flooding the streets, yards, and of course our basement.
Saturday, this morning, we awoke to freezing temps after more than 2 days of 50-60 degree weather, which soon turned to ice. Guess I'll have to skip riding another several hours.
Ride Started: 1:54 PM Ride Ended: 2:59 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.4
Beginning Blood Glucose: 153 Ending BG: 98
Lowest Temp: 50 F Highest Temp: 52 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 6.71
Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.2 MPH 6.6 MPH 19.2 MPH
Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.2 MPH 6.6 MPH 19.2 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 5 mins 1 hour 5 minutes
1 hour 5 mins 1 hour 5 minutes
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Rode a Little Farther than I Planned to Went
Today's Ham Radio-GPS tracked route
Today was bright, breezy, and cool, and I needed the exercise as usual - so I saddled up the trike for another ride.
I hoped to vary a bit from my "normal" routes, so I took off around a different direction, though it started out as a route I had ridden before. Rode out to the airport, found a hangar actually open, and rode onto the runway far enough to peek inside and see a twin engine plane undergoing maintenance.
Turned back and rode north toward our Route 60 bypass. Intending to enter the main Highway 60 on the west end of town, I forgot which direction to turn for that entry and went west for a couple miles, gradually realizing I had not ridden this way before. The GPS showed a connection to the main route 60 dead ahead so I pedaled on, finally arriving at the intersection where a small entry/exit connects to Highway 60. Entering the main highway and turning back east, I was properly headed back toward the town of Mountain Grove. Highway 60 along this stretch has a wonderful wide shoulder which is largely smooth, paved, and only light gravel and road debris. It also can be a source of the dreaded truck tire wires from shredded pieces of truck tires, so we will see tomorrow if I picked up a slow leak by taking this enjoyable route. A couple of passing cars gave me a friendly short BEEP as they passed but no close encounters occurred.
I started out wrapped up for a cold ride, with a light jacket covered with my bike-yellow windbreaker, insulated skull cap, and warm hunting gloves. All was well until I got about halfway through the trip, when I had to open the finger caps on the gloves and unzip both jacket layers to cool off a bit.
I stopped for a couple of short breaks but didn't waste a whole lot of time.
Got home safe and sound again.
My riding has been cutting into my remodeling work significantly but it does a better job of keeping my blood sugar lower and general enthusiasm for life. Smile.
Remodeling progress thus far includes:
-Ripping up nasty old carpet, exposing rather nice wood flooring
-Ripping up worn tile flooring in kitchen, master bathroom, and dining area, replacing with new flooring
-Painting master bathroom walls, installing lower paneling on the walls. Still needs trim.
-Replacing old rotten leaking galvanized water line from the street to the house
-Replaced sump pump in basement that died under 4 inches of water during a recent rain
Ride Started: 3:04 PM Ride Ended: 4:25 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.9
Today was bright, breezy, and cool, and I needed the exercise as usual - so I saddled up the trike for another ride.
I hoped to vary a bit from my "normal" routes, so I took off around a different direction, though it started out as a route I had ridden before. Rode out to the airport, found a hangar actually open, and rode onto the runway far enough to peek inside and see a twin engine plane undergoing maintenance.
Turned back and rode north toward our Route 60 bypass. Intending to enter the main Highway 60 on the west end of town, I forgot which direction to turn for that entry and went west for a couple miles, gradually realizing I had not ridden this way before. The GPS showed a connection to the main route 60 dead ahead so I pedaled on, finally arriving at the intersection where a small entry/exit connects to Highway 60. Entering the main highway and turning back east, I was properly headed back toward the town of Mountain Grove. Highway 60 along this stretch has a wonderful wide shoulder which is largely smooth, paved, and only light gravel and road debris. It also can be a source of the dreaded truck tire wires from shredded pieces of truck tires, so we will see tomorrow if I picked up a slow leak by taking this enjoyable route. A couple of passing cars gave me a friendly short BEEP as they passed but no close encounters occurred.
I started out wrapped up for a cold ride, with a light jacket covered with my bike-yellow windbreaker, insulated skull cap, and warm hunting gloves. All was well until I got about halfway through the trip, when I had to open the finger caps on the gloves and unzip both jacket layers to cool off a bit.
I stopped for a couple of short breaks but didn't waste a whole lot of time.
Got home safe and sound again.
My riding has been cutting into my remodeling work significantly but it does a better job of keeping my blood sugar lower and general enthusiasm for life. Smile.
Remodeling progress thus far includes:
-Ripping up nasty old carpet, exposing rather nice wood flooring
-Ripping up worn tile flooring in kitchen, master bathroom, and dining area, replacing with new flooring
-Painting master bathroom walls, installing lower paneling on the walls. Still needs trim.
-Replacing old rotten leaking galvanized water line from the street to the house
-Replaced sump pump in basement that died under 4 inches of water during a recent rain
Ride Started: 3:04 PM Ride Ended: 4:25 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.9
Beginning Blood Glucose: 153 Ending BG: 198
Lowest Temp: 49 F Highest Temp: 58 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 9.50
Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.7 MPH 7.8 MPH 24.4 MPH
Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.7 MPH 7.8 MPH 24.4 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 24 mins 1 hour 13 mins 11 minutes
1 hour 24 mins 1 hour 13 mins 11 minutes
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Cold - But I Gotta Ride
Today's short and very cold route
The last 2 days I rode the trike - last year (?) - I slept quite well during those nights.
I have had trouble getting more than a few intermittent hours sleep ever since moving to Missouri, and I have ridden longer distances before without noticing any benefit to my lousy sleep.
BUT: Since the year 2020 began, with me not riding, I have had spotty sleeping again, as usual.
Thus my motivation for stopping my eternal remodeling for the day and getting on the trike again.
(I did add a second coat of paint to the master bathroom today).
As usual, by the time I got going, it was already 4:30 and sundown would be here in half an hour.
Thus I had to get rolling, so I did.
I rode down another couple of streets not explored before, and didn't get lost or dog bit, so life is still good.
It WAS very cold, though the sun had been bright all day today - with a chilling breeze.
The weather was bright with clear sunshine but the sun is way too low on the horizon to generate much heat this time of year.
The forecast called for a high of 42 and with the stiff breeze it was not very comfortable. I wore only a warming jacket at first, with my Jacque-built fleece skull cap, and hunting mittens. I quickly got chilled at about the first mile mark and ;pulled into the empty Senior Center parking lot to dig out another jacket layer. My visible-yellow windbreaker is very light but does a good job as an outer layer and it helped the situation immensely.
I need to find my "real" leather shoes, since my feet are getting a bit too cold with my Z-Coil tennis shoes which have mesh vents that are normally wonderful but allowing too much cold air leakage nowadays.
Made it home a few moments before the sun sank in the west and had time to split up a load of black walnut firewood for the shop stove.
Ride Started: 4:30 PM Ride Ended: 5:00 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.4
The last 2 days I rode the trike - last year (?) - I slept quite well during those nights.
I have had trouble getting more than a few intermittent hours sleep ever since moving to Missouri, and I have ridden longer distances before without noticing any benefit to my lousy sleep.
BUT: Since the year 2020 began, with me not riding, I have had spotty sleeping again, as usual.
Thus my motivation for stopping my eternal remodeling for the day and getting on the trike again.
(I did add a second coat of paint to the master bathroom today).
As usual, by the time I got going, it was already 4:30 and sundown would be here in half an hour.
Thus I had to get rolling, so I did.
I rode down another couple of streets not explored before, and didn't get lost or dog bit, so life is still good.
It WAS very cold, though the sun had been bright all day today - with a chilling breeze.
The weather was bright with clear sunshine but the sun is way too low on the horizon to generate much heat this time of year.
The forecast called for a high of 42 and with the stiff breeze it was not very comfortable. I wore only a warming jacket at first, with my Jacque-built fleece skull cap, and hunting mittens. I quickly got chilled at about the first mile mark and ;pulled into the empty Senior Center parking lot to dig out another jacket layer. My visible-yellow windbreaker is very light but does a good job as an outer layer and it helped the situation immensely.
I need to find my "real" leather shoes, since my feet are getting a bit too cold with my Z-Coil tennis shoes which have mesh vents that are normally wonderful but allowing too much cold air leakage nowadays.
Made it home a few moments before the sun sank in the west and had time to split up a load of black walnut firewood for the shop stove.
Ride Started: 4:30 PM Ride Ended: 5:00 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.4
Beginning Blood Glucose: 146 Ending BG: 144
Lowest Temp: 38 F Highest Temp: 42 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 3.82
Distance Walked: .7 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.6 MPH 7.3 MPH 16.7 MPH
Distance Walked: .7 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.6 MPH 7.3 MPH 16.7 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
35 minutes 31 minutes 4 minutes
35 minutes 31 minutes 4 minutes
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Frosty Rides Ending 2019
New Years Eve Route
In addition to making some mild progress on the house remodeling, I got 2 days in a row doing the trike ride thing.
It was cold both afternoons, at 40-something degrees, necessitating some layered clothing and the felt skull cap Jacque made me several years ago. I did NOT get overheated, nor did I freeze.
On Monday I got in a decent 5 miles. Tuesday, last night, I got rolling about 4:30 which meant it was already uncomfortably close to sundown. I meant to do the around-town 6 mile loop but about halfway there I realized it would be dark well before I got home. What with typical New Years Eve behavior in the offing for area drivers, I cut it short and came home instead. It was still great to feel the cold air in my face.
I found it interesting that the weather reported around 35 degrees for both afternoons but my on-board temp sensor recorded slightly over 40 degrees. I'll have to see if my calibration is anywhere near accurate....
Monday Evening Ride stats:
Ride Started: 4:06 PM Ride Ended: 4:55 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 Ending Battery Voltage: 13.0 Lowest Voltage: 13.0
In addition to making some mild progress on the house remodeling, I got 2 days in a row doing the trike ride thing.
It was cold both afternoons, at 40-something degrees, necessitating some layered clothing and the felt skull cap Jacque made me several years ago. I did NOT get overheated, nor did I freeze.
On Monday I got in a decent 5 miles. Tuesday, last night, I got rolling about 4:30 which meant it was already uncomfortably close to sundown. I meant to do the around-town 6 mile loop but about halfway there I realized it would be dark well before I got home. What with typical New Years Eve behavior in the offing for area drivers, I cut it short and came home instead. It was still great to feel the cold air in my face.
I found it interesting that the weather reported around 35 degrees for both afternoons but my on-board temp sensor recorded slightly over 40 degrees. I'll have to see if my calibration is anywhere near accurate....
Monday Evening Ride stats:
Ride Started: 4:06 PM Ride Ended: 4:55 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8 Ending Battery Voltage: 13.0 Lowest Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 37 F Highest Temp: 38 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.28
Distance Walked: .7 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.3 MPH 7.5 MPH 16.3 MPH
Distance Walked: .7 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.3 MPH 7.5 MPH 16.3 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
50 minutes 42 minutes 8 minutes
50 minutes 42 minutes 8 minutes
New Years Eve Stats:
Ride Started: 4:30 PM Ride Ended: 4:55 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 14.0 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.9
Beginning Battery Voltage: 14.0 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9 Lowest Voltage: 12.9
Beginning Blood Glucose: 86 Ending BG: 101
Lowest Temp: 39 F Highest Temp: 41 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 2.55
Distance Walked: .7 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.9 MPH 7.7 MPH 22.1 MPH
Distance Walked: .7 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.9 MPH 7.7 MPH 22.1 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
26 minutes 20 minutes 6 minutes
26 minutes 20 minutes 6 minutes
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