Wow, A Sunny Saturday

Today's GPS/APRS/ Ham Radio Tracking

For some odd reason, I haven't done my trike ride the last couple days in spite of the weather being better.  Yeah, I've been busy, but that's no excuse for missing out on decent days for fun exercise.
Today was even warmer and sunnier but I still - for unknown reasons - wasn't quite in the mood to saddle up for a ride.
I decided to dig out the trike and take a ride anyway.  Very glad I did.
I stopped at a side street to stop and check my blood sugar and eat a snack as a result. 
An elderly couple walking by decided they wanted to stop and talk and look at my ride.
The silver haired wifey turned out to have had recent knee surgery and wished she could ride such machines so far.  Had a nice visit with her & her hubby before they walked on while I finished my mid-ride snack.
By the time I stopped for this snack I was feeling much better and more enthused about the trike ride
Another couple of vehicles gave me friendly beeps when they passed.  I guess more locals are getting used to encountering me on the roadways.


Ride Started:   2:43 PM      Ride Ended:  4:13 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  144      Ending BG: 70

Lowest Temp:  57 F    Highest Temp:    54 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.70

Distance Walked: .6 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  5.3 MPH                             7.5 MPH               20.1 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 15 mins                   54 minutes            22 minutes

What Happened to my Sunny Day?

Today's Route Track via GPS and Ham Radio APRS

Today dawned bright and beautiful, though cold, after a nasty cold breezy day yesterday.
As the day wore on, the sun continued, warming things up wonderfully.
About 3 PM Jacque enquired of me "Are you going to ride your trike today?"
I says "Of Course!"
She says "You better get with it then."
I agreed, though it was earlier than I usually get around to riding.
I'd actually gotten something done earlier today, stripping and sanding and painting 2 layers of new paint on another formerly grubby kitchen cabinet door.  The weather had been nice and sunny all day...
UNTIL I opened the door to go get the Catrike out of the garage.  It had turned almost DARK and cold, at the unacceptable hour of three in the afternoon.  A cool breeze had materialized from somewhere for some odd reason, but as noted previously, I have to take advantage of all possibles or I would miss too many days of pleasant exercise.
So I saddled up and took off anyway.  I had thought all day that today would be shirt-sleeve riding weather, but I put on a light but warm jacket with my yellow-reflective outer windbreaker on the outside, and decided to start out with my open-able hunter mittens, just in case.  I could always switch to cooler gloves later in the ride if it got too warm.
I did NOT regret the layers nor the gloves, though I did unzip both outer layers for the last few miles as I warmed up.
I have ridden this route, more or less, at least once before, and in spite of the cloudy conditions and dark enough to elicit headlamp in addition to the always-used blinky tail lamp, all was good with no "close encounters" whatever.
Unfortunately, when I turned to my homeward leg of the ride, I was needing to find a, er, facility.
A 7-11 gas station exists right at the road exit I had just turned into, so I parked and went inside.
Naturally, since I was about to explode and needed immediate relief, the bathroom door inside was close at hand...... but LOCKED.  Some other poor soul was inside and in no hurry to come out.
I waited as long as I could, maybe 15 seconds, and decided to go a little farther in hopes of finding a vacant bathroom.  The Texas County Medical Center was right next door, and a short few pedal strokes away, and Thank Heaven, they were still open, their facility was also close at hand, and Available.  God is Good, as always.  Feeling much better, I finished my ride with a big smile.
AND, wouldn't you know it.... as I rode around the corner on the last block toward home, the SUN came back out and the weather was suddenly clear again.
I can't really complain, since I didn't get rained on or too cold or run over.

Ride Started:   3:01 PM      Ride Ended:  4:37 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  115      Ending BG: 119 

Lowest Temp:  46 F    Highest Temp:    50 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   9.61

Distance Walked: .6 mile (Dogs!)
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  6.0 MPH                             7.3 MPH               25.4 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 35 mins                   1 hour 19 mins      16 minutes

Lousy Weather but Great Ride

Today's Overcast Traveling

I've been getting in my trike miles every other day or so, with the previous one occurring on Saturday.
Yesterday, Sunday, was actually and unusually quite sunny but I loafed too late into the afternoon.  Not liking darkness riding, I missed out.
Today dawned wet and miserable, with the wet basement's sump pump chugging on and off all day.
It looked like soup in the sky was going to last the whole  of the day.

I was a bit stunned when around noonish the SUN came out, and big patches of clear blue sky were apparent.  It lasted perhaps 20 minutes before it again clouded over.  Several more bouts of short bliss occurred without the chance of pedal-exercise.  Later in the afternoon the sun peeked out again and I wanted to chance a ride but decided to pray first to see if I could be warned about the spotty weather.
As I stepped outside, I was hit in the face with sudden rain.  Talk about fast answers to prayer.
Maybe a half hour later the sun had come out again and the blue spots in the sky looked great.
Even Jacque encouraged me to get going quick before I lost my window.
Unfortunately, by the time I got the trike out and saddled up, the sun had again faded.  I looked around at the darkened - again skies and didn't see any actual rain or mist landing on anything.
If triking didn't have such a good effect on my health, I would be less aggressive about riding in doubtful weather.  When I do a single ride once - in - a - while, my blood sugar drops for about 24 hours afterwards and I have to pump less insulin to keep it down.  I sleep better and feel better.  If another day or so fades away without riding, the good effects also fade.  Lately, the closer I get to riding almost every day, the good effects last longer.
SO, thus motivated, I took off in spite of the lack of sunshine. 

The roads were entirely wet, and running and standing water was plentiful, but I didn't get wet.  No raindrops hit me, miracle of miracles.  I have plastic fenders on all three wheels and today I really appreciated them. 
Only one thing occasionally bothered me:  The tendency of so many to drive their high powered cars in such shady conditions without any lights on.  I had both my red blinky tail light and my brightest setting on my headlight turned on, but at least half the cars I encountered had no lights on.  None came close to threatening me, but as I said, it bothers me.  But that's just me.

NO LIGHTS

I did my usual predictable route, hoping to find a familiar short-cut back to the house if it started to rain.  The temperature was not that cool, 50 to 53 degrees, and I didn't have to wear any cold weather gear at all.  The coolness of the ride was just warm enough to seemingly enervate me sufficient to pedal a little faster here and there, when no standing water was in the way.
Of course I got several funny looks, but I get those regardless of the weather...

Ride Started:   4:32 PM      Ride Ended:  5:20 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  14.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  115      Ending BG: 81 

Lowest Temp:  50 F    Highest Temp:    53 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.39

Distance Walked: .6 mile (Dogs!)
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  8.0 MPH                             8.3 MPH               23.2 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 48 minutes                         46 minutes            2 minutes

FREEZE Dried, er, Ride

Today's GPS/APRS/Ham Radio Track
I ALMOST regretted riding today.  I do believe it was the coldest I have experienced.

It was bright and sunny, with the usual cold February breeze, when I took off on my wished-for daily trike ride.  Usually I get warmed up after a mile or so and have to open up the outer layers, but it didn't work out that way today.  It was not the coldest weather I've experienced, but with the stiff breeze, I did not enjoy it like I had hoped.
By the time I realized it was not going to get any better, I was almost halfway through my route so it didn't make any sense to turn around.
Quite numb when I got back.  Still glad to have gotten the stretching and exercise but hoping for warmer weather to go with sunshine.

MERCY

Ride Started:   3:50 PM      Ride Ended:  4:52 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  90      Ending BG: 110 

Lowest Temp:  32 F    Highest Temp:    39 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.69

Distance Walked: .6 mile (Dogs!)
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  6.5 MPH                             7.1 MPH               18.8 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 2 mins                    57 minutes            6 minutes

Wednesday 19 Feb: Sunny and Cold

Wednesday's plotted route, radio didn't work

The skies were overcast but no precipitation today, so I went for two rides. 
I first just rode across the tracks and around the corner to pick up some cabinet hardware at our closest lumber yard (.78 mile). 

The second ride was in the afternoon as usual.
The weather has allowed me to ride almost every day several days in a row, which is unusual this winter.
I added "variety" to the afternoon ride by riding my usual route - in reverse.

Ride Started:   2:50 PM      Ride Ended:  4:05 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  125      Ending BG: 74 

Lowest Temp:  39 F    Highest Temp:    39 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.08

Distance Walked: .6 mile (Dogs!)
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  4.7 MPH                             7.2 MPH               23.7 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 16 mins                    51 minutes            26 minutes

Only February, Quit Hoping for Spring

Today's Plotted Route, Ham Radio didn't work

Jacque bought a fancy 10-needle embroidery machine today, and we spent most of the day on the road between Mountain Grove, Springfield, and Marshfield getting the money out of the bank, picking up the machine, etc, etc.  It was windy and cold much of the day's driving, and even snowed for a few minutes while we traversed Springfield.
It was a little after 4:00 PM when we finally got home, and though I was tired of riding around in the vehicle, I was in the mood to ride around on the trike if possible.
The skies had cleared a bit and I figured it wouldn't be that bad to pedal around a while to get the blood warmed up again.  Little did I know it was a tad colder than yesterday, which I thought was a bit too cold for much of the ride.
I soon realized, again, that 4:30-ish PM is not necessarily the most wonderful time for riding paved roadways around here:  Like most places, it seems to be the "Going Home" time and the vehicular traffic was pretty steady in all directions.
As usual, they all gave me lots of clearance and waited patiently when necessary to pass me when oncoming traffic was present, but I don't like to make cars wait unless absolutely necessary.  Oh Well. Such is Life in the Slow Lane.
I was cognizant enough that I wore 2 layers:  A sweatshirt jacket outside my warm flannel shirt Jacque made for me, and the thin cycling-yellow-visible windbreaker on top of that.
I was glad to have the layers, even though I had to open up the outer zipper for a few miles climbing hills to keep from getting too sweaty, which only makes the cold worser when things cool off again (i.e., downhill runs).
When I passed the never-active Mountain Grove Airport and approached the entrance to Business 60 on the west end of town, a city cop car passed me slowly and looked me over.  I saw him stop just past the intersection of 425 and Business 60, and wondered if he was wanting to quiz me about the triking addiction I suffer from.
Evidently not, since I passed right under his driver side window.  I suspect he was hoping to catch speeders zooming off Highway 60's 65 MPH limit onto the 45 MPH limit....
Something rather unusual happened both yesterday and today:  I actually made radio contact with other ham operators while riding.  Ham radio activity around here seems much less popular than back in  NM, and  I seldom hear any activity on the radio, much less actually talk to someone.
Yesterday, I was surprised to hear a mobile ham calling me on 146.52 simplex, a very short range frequency, meaning he was within a couple miles of me.  He had actually spotted my APRS beacon on 144.39 and switched his radio to 146.52 to call me.  He lived up in Kansas City, another 4 hours or so north of Mountain Grove, and we enjoyed yacking for a few minutes. before signing off.
Today, as always, my radio was scanning when I overheard two hams talking on 147.165, a repeater channel I had never heard before.  When the first guy signed off, I called the other guy to find out about this previously unknown repeater channel.  It turned out to be a close - to - me repeater, located at Norwood, only a few miles away.  Two ham radio contacts in 2 consecutive days, wow.  Something to help keep me awake on boring rides...
The skies had been faint with lots of cloud cover when I started this ride, but as I turned back toward town the sun had started peeking through and I stopped and switched my goggles from clear to shades.  In only a mile or so the sun had again faded and it was difficult to see through the sunglasses so I switched back again, and zipped up the windbreaker as well.
Always happy to get in a few more miles pedaling away.  It really helps with my blood glucose control and seems to clear up much of my brain fog as well.  Wonderful Stuff.

Ride Started:   4:20 PM      Ride Ended:  5:20 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  175      Ending BG: 124 

Lowest Temp:  39 F    Highest Temp:    39 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.59

Distance Walked: .6 mile (Dogs!)
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  6.6 MPH                             7.8 MPH               23.3 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 0 mins                    51 minutes            9 minutes

Today: Pea Soup Riding

Today's Soggy Route via GPS and Ham Radio APRS

Today dawned foggy, drizzly, and not too enjoyable.
It was warmer - according to the thermometer - but it was so wet and nasty it was hard to enjoy.
We awake at 5 AM for teaching our Early Morning Seminary class, and though it wasn't raining by definition, the fog was so thick and wet that it splattered us in the face and got us wet when we took the dogs for a walk before leaving the house.  No ice, thankfully, but water water everywhere, and fog so thick we could only see a couple dozen feet ahead.
The sun did not show its face today.  Actual rain was forecast for the afternoon, but around early afternoon the slushy mist had actually stopped, and though it was still very poor visibility, I didn't get wet walking twixt the house and the garage. 
SO, I decided to try another trike ride for the exercise and mood elevation etc.
If I wait for sunny warm days my pedaling will be limited indeed in this country......
I assured Jacque that if I did start getting wet or soaked at all I would turn around and head right back home.  But nothing of the sort happened.  I DID appreciate my fenders as I rolled along very wet streets....
Thank goodness the rain forecast didn't materialize and we only had the morning drippy fog.
No cars passed me when i was near shallow street puddles, so I didn't get soaked by that method or any other.
I only wore my thin bike-yellow-visible windbreaker since the temperature was bumping 50, and it's easy to get overheated when chugging along.  Toward the first mile, I unzipped most of the windbreaker, and for the last mile, I totally unzipped it and still got a bit warm as I headed for the house.
I usually get funny looks from the gentle brethren when I ride around town, but I got even funnier looks today for some reason.  Who wouldn't want to ride in such soup?
Many folks around here like to leave their dogs loose outside, and they often come roaring out from behind a fence as I go by.  So far none have actually tried to bite me, just try to get close and scare me.  Hopefully I don't encounter one I have trouble outrunning....
I took my usual boring route around the paved streets surrounding Mountain Grove since I wanted to be able to streak for home if the fog started leaking again.
All things turned out hunky dory, even without blue sky and sunshine.  I'll have to try this again..

Ride Started:   3:51 PM      Ride Ended:  5:01 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.5

Beginning Blood Glucose:  65      Ending BG: 126 

Lowest Temp:  50 F    Highest Temp:    53 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.71

Distance Walked: .6 mile (Dogs!)
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  5.6 MPH                             7.2 MPH               19.9 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 10 mins                    56 minutes            14 minutes

Still Too Cold, But at Least Not Rain/Snowing

Today's Thrilling Usual Route

I got a good trike ride - in spite of the wintry weather - a few days ago, but didn't work up enough energy to pop details in the blog.  Oh Well
The last few days have been FRIGID indeed, with single digits 2 nights ago and below 20 most of the day yesterday.  Our water line to the fridge icemaker froze up and took all day to thaw out.  Needing ice in this cold weather?  Call me crazy;  I'm certified.
The last couple days have "warmed up" - yesterday ALMOST up to freezing - and today it actually got into the  40's, really balmy by comparison.  The sun shone most of the day and I was determined to do a round-town ride.
After dutifully spending time building a fire in the little worthless stove in the garage, peeling old paint, sanding and re-painting another cabinet door for the kitchen, I poked my head outside and was alarmed at the darkening sky so early in the afternoon.  No precipitation was mucking up the sky, but it was looking like soup might take over the weather.  I decided to get with it and ride out before things got worse.
The temperature wasn't freezing but it sure felt cold.  I only had 2 layers of jacket and the half-mitt gloves.  I've learned not to dress too warmly since after the first mile or so excess layers are not comfy.  Sure enough, in spite of the cold breeze, I had to unzip the layers to let in some of that cool breeze.  Coming up the hill on the last leg home, I had to unzip even more.
Today I noticed - more than usual - that, after riding a bit, my brain fog tends to clear up, my mood improves, and even though the weather outside is frightful - the world seems a bit brighter.
In fact, the world DID get a bit brighter, as about halfway around town I noticed the dark threatening skies had cleared and the threatening darksome skies had blown away somewhere else.
How Nice.  Still cold, but nice.
Split a few more walnut and oak chunks for the stove, put another coat of paint on the door-in-process, and called it a day.

Ride Started:   2:13 PM      Ride Ended:  3:09 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  164      Ending BG: 86 

Lowest Temp:  47 F    Highest Temp:    50 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.71

Distance Walked: .6 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  7.1 MPH                             7.6 MPH               20.4 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 57 minutes                         53 minutes            4 minutes

Still Cold? So What

Tracking Courtesy of Ham Radio APRS and GPS\

Did we get this from Amazon today?

WOW.  We had bright sun again today, wonderful for  a Missouri February.
I was both surprised at the early morning sun AND the fact that in spite of the sunny outdoors, it was again only 25 degrees when we arose from our slumbers.
Jacque encouraged me by stating it sure looked like a great day for a trike ride.
Howsomever, I had remodeling tasks I wanted to make progress on before I escaped the house, so I spent the morning and early afternoon (1) building and maintaining a fire in the garage wood stove and (2) sanding our aged kitchen cabinet doors to prepare them for a new coat and color of paint.
I got the first coat on the back sides of 2 of the several doors remaining in wait.
I wanted to go a-triking, but by this time I was low on firewood in the garage.
We likely will seldom run low on available wood here in MO what with trees and woody weeds everywhere.  We still have a cord or more in the making lying in the yard from the last time the power company cut down several of our threatening trees several months ago.  I have cut up most of them into stove-length logs but they are 24-30 inches in diameter so they require the services of my arm operated splitter maul.  This is a very heavy steel wedge head splitter with a solid steel handle welded to it, making operation a bit of cardiovascular effort.  One or two log sections duly split will usually keep the stove alive for a day's worth.  Got that hauled inside and further split and stacked next to the stove.  Then I saddled up for the ride.
I hate to throw supposedly useful trash away, and I save and flatten our cardboard boxes for delivery to a local outfit that sells cardboard for recycling.
I hitched up the B.O.B. trailer that we usually haul the doggies in, bungeed the card board inside, and got ready to go.

By this time I was feeling a bit spacey like my blood sugar was low so I checked - luckily - before taking off.  It WAS too low to charge off on a ride, so I stuffed a couple cookies down  and reduced my pump's basal rate.   I was still a bit wobbly when I finally left but all was OK as the carbs kicked in.
The cardboard recycler is only a few blocks away so it didn't take long to get there.  I have never seen anyone present at this "operation" the several times I have dropped off cardboard deliveries and today was no exception.  Nobody was home but the several trailers of cardboard were open for more treasure.  I stowed the stuff and continued on with my ride, with empty trailer following me.
I didn't want to take it back home without continuing my ride.
Since I was already on State Street / 3rd Street, depending on which end of the street we're on, I headed west and rode out to Bell Crossing Road, which takes us past the bustling Mountain Grove Airport, which like the cardboard place, I've never found any action or people in place. But it's a good break stop if needed.
I was pleasantly surprised that my feet didn't trouble me while riding today.  Usually they get a bit tired, though not as tired as they do when walking or standing on them.  This time the feets were complaining before I left (I had been standing, sanding, walking, and splitting/hauling firewood) but exhibited no discomfort when pedaling along.  I climbed a couple of steeper than normal mild hills today, but the feet continued happily with no breaks.
I hadn't gone very far when I started feeling low on sugar again and pulled over on the side of the pavement to check my blood glucose.  I had barely gotten off the trike and pulling out the test kit when a car pulled up next to me and I heard a friendly voice ask "Are you OK, Mister?"  It turned out to be a couple of good friends from Church, aka Jack and Diane.  Assuring them I had things under control, they left and I finished the test.  Sure 'nuff, the glucose was too low again so I dug out 3 more cookies.  Very tasty and satisfying.  The rest of the trip was uneventful and thoroughly enjoyable.
I had started out with open finger warm weather cycling gloves, but after about the first mile I dug out the warm hunting gloves.  The supposed outside temperature was several degrees warmer today but the stiff breeze was numbing on the pinkies.
Arrived home safe and sound, added another coat of paint to the cabinet doors.
All is Well.  So Far.

Ride Started:   2:49 PM      Ride Ended:  4:00 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.6  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.6

Beginning Blood Glucose:  61      Ending BG: 95 

Lowest Temp:  46 F    Highest Temp:    52 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.02

Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  5.1 MPH                             7.5 MPH               20.1 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 10 mins                   48 minutes            23 minutes

Quite Cold but SUNNY

Today's Frigid GPS/Ham Radio Tracking

The Weather Outside has been Frightful, my dear.  Two days of sub freezing weather and almost total rain, fog, snow, ice, and lack of SUNSHINE.
Bleak Stuff, and not too inviting for pedaling around town on the trike or bike.
Today again was frightfully cold, with 25 degrees outside at about 5:30 AM, warming all the way up to 27 for most of the day.  But the sun was out much of the time, and I thought I ought to seize the day for a trike ride regardless of temperature.  In this area, if  I wait for warm sunny days I likely would be restricted to spring and summer days, many of which will be too HOT and humid.
THAT is too few days to even keep my legs limbered up, much less maintain some level of fitness and general relatively healthy blood sugar levels.
Jacque is a very tolerant spouse, and if I'm not unduly interrupting something or forgetting a prior engagement, she gladly tells me to GO and DO.
So I bundled up.  I wore a light warm pullover with the bright yellow windbreaker as the outer layer.
Digging deeper into my saddle bags, I dug out my fleece skull cap and my openable-mitt hunting gloves and took off.  My blood glucose had been a bit low before I left;  I had eaten a couple of cookies to get going, and I was still a bit loopy when I finally got rolling. 
After about the first half mile I was feeling fine and zooming well.
I did NOT regret the layers.  I did not get overheated intolerably and I stayed warm most of the ride except for the feets getting a little chilly from time to time.
I rode my usual route around the outer paved streets encircling the town, but took a short detour into a previously unexplored newer neighborhood.  The street turned out exactly as my dated GPS projected, and there was no outlet, just a couple turns around new looking homes leading to a dead-end circular driveway, where I came back out the same way I came.
I again encountered a couple riding two aged bikes:  One riding a bike and his female companion pulling a large child-carrier trailer.  I see them many times coming the other way on my rides, and I have never seen any children in the child-carry trailer.  I'm convinced they use it to haul produce and groceries, and may be their sole means of transportation.  I keep wanting to provide a photo of them, and sometime I'll take the opportunity to stop them and take a picture with their permission.
About the same time I encountered these fellow cyclists, I stopped at the intersection crossing Highway 95 just barely south of Highway 60, and was surprised at the TRAFFIC jamming the streets.  It was almost precisely 4:00 PM and evidently the time of school exiting.  I had to wait for wads of cars to pass and clear the intersection before I could dare cross the street.  I finally spotted a small opening and entered, crossing the street and waving wildly to draw attention to myself in hopes of the rushing crowd spotting and avoiding me.  Thankfully it worked and I got across and on to a side street with almost no traffic.
I usually wave and smile to all drivers passing me both ways, so most undoubtedly consider me a friendly nut.  That much I freely admit to....

Ride Started:   3:16 PM      Ride Ended:  4:19 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.6  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:  67      Ending BG: 62 

Lowest Temp:  39 F    Highest Temp:    42 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.65

Distance Walked: .75 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  6.3 MPH                             7.9 MPH               20.7 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 3 mins                     51 minutes            13 minutes

Monday Walmart Run

Easy Roundabout GPS Route to Walmart and Back

Monday was another relatively warm and sunny day, albeit with some clouds scudding overhead hustled along by high winds.
Enjoying another shirt-sleeve day, I got a few more layers of paint on kitchen cabinet doors, cut up more firewood sections from our huge downed trees, and thought about an excuse to take a ride on the trike.
Jacque said we were short on butter  so that was sufficient excuse for a shopping trike trip.
I left my windbreaker in the saddlebag,exchanged my winter hunting/riding mittens for open fingered triking gloves, and set out on another thrilling adventure.
The wind was surprisingly strong and a little on the cold side, but I remained in my shirt-sleeves throughout the trip and did not get over or under-heated.
I really needed an excuse to ride today since I had over eaten or under-pumped with my insulin and my blood sugar was an alarming 290 about a half hour before I left.
The exercise did me good, as the blood sugar had dropped to lower than desired by the time I got to Walmart, and I had to FORCE myself to eat a couple of my emergency chocolate chip cookies before I started home again.
Coming back toward home, I found the blustery wind mostly in my face and faced the cyclist's least favorite sensation:  Having to pedal hard going DOWNhill to maintain speed with the wind full in my face.  But somehow I lived through it.

Ride Started:   1:55 PM      Ride Ended:  3:08 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0   Lowest Voltage:  13.0

Beginning Blood Glucose:  290      Ending BG: 79 

Lowest Temp:  60 F    Highest Temp:    64 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   5.36

Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  4.1 MPH                             5.9 MPH               17.3 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 1 hour 13 mins                   55 minutes            19 minutes

Sunday Trikers !

Today's Short but Tiring GPS Track

We were THRILLED to awaken to another  sunny and relatively warm day today.  By the time we left for Church at 9:30 AM it was already above 40 degrees and promising, to say the least.
As we were coming home from church at noonish, Jacque declared that we should drag out the tandem trike and go for an afternoon ride.  What a nice concept!  She has been almost  house-bound for the last couple weeks suffering with bronchitis and the horrible coughing, and she was wanting
O-U-T.
So, after changing out of our church duds, and a nice snack and a bit of pre-ride relaxation, I dragged out the trike to see if it still worked.  It has been stored in the garage, next to my tools such as  sanders and table saws, and was completely coated with an unattractive layer of sawdust and what-not gunk.  So I dragged it outside and used my wonderful Air Compressor I inherited from Jacque's Dad several years ago, and did a fair job of revealing the color of the paint underneath all the dust.
Since we had not ridden this monster for quite a while, we agreed that we would resist any urge to do any sort of marathon, but just go a few blocks and get the fresh air and a bit of exercise.
Of course, since we have a cargo basket on the rear fender of this Tandem Terratrike, the doggies Tinkerbell and Lilly had to go for the ride too.
Mountain Grove has this cute town square about 2 blocks from our abode, so of course we rode there first.  The Sunday Square - Goers were suitably impressed when we rode by, evidently unaware of my strain in pedaling the heavy monster on even the slightest up-grade.  We passed several other appreciative citizens who were also outside enjoying the balmy day, and decided to turn back towards home when we got as far as the Senior Center.
One of our dear neighbors was outside letting her dog Cookie "do her business" as we rounded the last corner toward home, so we stopped for a welcome break visiting with both her and her pooch.
I was "Whupped" by the time we got home:

With a couple Excedrin later, am feeling not much pain.
Riding my single-seater trike is definitely less fatigue-inducing than the tandem, though admittedly not as much fun.....

Ride Started:   1:55 PM      Ride Ended:  2:47 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.1  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0   Lowest Voltage:  12.7

Beginning Blood Glucose:  115      Ending BG: 122 

Lowest Temp:  67 F    Highest Temp:    75 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   2.2

Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  2.5 MPH                             4.6 MPH               14.9 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 52 minutes                         29 minutes            23 minutes

Wow, Sunny Warm Day

Today's Repetitive GPS Tracking

Well, WARM is a relative term, but for February First, Bright sunshine and Blue Sky No Fog - It made it to the mid 50's and we rejoiced again for Global Warming.  I was again allowed by my sweet live in lover Jacque to take a trike ride around town to celebrate.
Exertion such as this really helps with my blood glucose / insulin control.  When I'm too sedentary, my glucose readings begin to climb and I have to increase my insulin pump dosages and I wonder if I'm becoming insulin resistant.  Bad Stuff. 
BUT, when I work up at least a minor sweat splitting or cutting firewood or downed trees (redundancy here), or having more fun riding the trike(s), my blood sugar drops deeply and I have to REDUCE my insulin dosage.  Thus, for me, the key is to stay active.  Yeah.  Sure.
Anyways, I haven't ridden in at least a couple weeks and of course it showed today when I started up the first very slight incline and had to rapidly go through my lower gears, and I was disappointed to have to creep upward more than usual in GRANDMA Gear, which no cyclist in his right mind would admit in public.  Just sayin'.
I also avoided adventure today by taking my usual well worn loop around the paved outer streets of this big metropolis.  Six miles maybe.  But it was great to get out again and feel the frigid air in my face.
Did I mention frigid?  The thermometer claimed 52 degrees but it felt cooler for some reason.
I wore only my light bright yellow windbreaker - which I thought would be sufficient once I got warmed up.  However, it took a long time for the warming to occur.  I realized before I took off that my fingers might possibly get cold so I wore my winter warm hunting gloves, which served me well until I was almost home when they got warm enough to open up the mitts for some cooling.
When I first started out, I had turned on to Clouse Street, with occasional passing cars.  I remembered I had not turned on my bright blinky red tail light.  As I pulled to the shoulder to turn it on, a pickup roared past me, altogether too close, not seeming to notice me until the last second.  Maybe the blinky light actually does do some good.
It was SO nice to have (relatively) dry air and streets to ride on, with no puddles, snow, or ice.  Not bad for February in Missouri.  Or most anywhere else outside the Great Southwest....

Ride Started:   3:14 PM      Ride Ended:  4:08 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9   Lowest Voltage:  12.8

Beginning Blood Glucose:  81      Ending BG: 75 (After eating a slice of Jacque's fruity bread without pumping insulin)

Lowest Temp:  50 F    Highest Temp:    57 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:   6.38

Distance Walked: .5 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  6.9 MPH                             7.6 MPH               21.7 MPH 

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 56 minutes                         50 minutes            5 minutes