Sunday Rider

 Today's GPS/Ham Radio Tracking

I over-ate a few Sunday Treats today.  I didn't want to rely solely on the wonderful insulin pump,
so I dragged the trike out of the garage and went for a glucose-burning ride.
Thankfully, as usual, it worked.  And I only did a few miles.
I rode out toward our almost-defunct airport, but got distracted by the "Turn Here for Industrial Park"
sign.  I wound up on a few streets I don't remember seeing before.  Lots of old houses, occupied and abandoned.

Lots of friendly passing motorists, as well.  Most waved back at me.
Very happy to have pedaled around for a while.  I was able to feast on a scrumptious dinner Jacque
prepared shortly after my return.

Ride Started: 4:24 PM           Ride Ended: 4:52 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9
Lowest Temp: 75 F Highest Temp: 82 F
Beginning Blood Glucose: 190    Ending BG: 70
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 3.83
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
7.6 MPH                              8.2 MPH            17.7 MPH
Total Trip Time                    Moving Time      Stopped Time
 30 minutes                           28 minutes         2 minutes

More Pedaling and Shopping

 Today's Toodling Map via GPS & Ham Radio 

Jacque has had a lot of  nasty coughing and sneezing the last couple of days.  She doesn't meet the list of 
symptoms for CORONA virus but she's not enjoying the congestion at all.
A bit late today, Jacque  realized she was out of cough medicine, and I needed another excuse to go for a trike ride.
Wally World was the choice - mainly for distance.  I don't care about their supposed "low" prices, as they have stealthily priced many items HIGHER than the smaller local stores.  So off I went.
The temperatures have moderated as we approach Fall, and it wasn't that hot today.  For cycling shoes, I wore
 some Z-coil open sandals with compression socks, which provided support as well as cooling air for the feets.
More friendly waves for this old fart on his pedal-trike.  Fun Stuff.
When I got home with the treasure, I found out I was supposed to have gotten the powdered packages
instead of the liquid variety.  I need to learn to ask for more details and not jump to conclusions.... SIGH

Ride Started: 3:28 PM           Ride Ended: 4:50 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 13.0 Lowest Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp: 68 F Highest Temp: 68 F
Beginning Blood Glucose: 97    Ending BG: 58
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.91
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
5.4 MPH                              7.0 MPH            23.4 MPH
Total Trip Time                    Moving Time      Stopped Time
 1 hour 6 mins                       51 minutes         16 minutes

Rode the Trike to Fix the SUV

 Today's GPS/Ham Radio Tracking

I actually worked on two vehicles today:  Our 1997 Ford Exploder and our Bounder RV.
A few weeks ago while Jacque was driving us to Springfield, the cruise control just quit.
Punched the buttons several times, fiddled with the gas pedal, brake, etc, nothing worked.
We didn't think it was too much of a loss until several more miles were accomplished using the 
"manual" gas pedal.  We realized just how much we had gotten used to this small tidbit of 
automation, and how much more bother it was to have to pay more attention to the speedometer
and step on and off the accelerator all along the trip.  We had just spent a couple hundred bucks
getting the wheels aligned with our recently purchased new tires, and I was reluctant to send it
back to the shop for more expense.
Several trips later, however, I was about ready to break the bank again to get the buggy fixed.
I had poked around on the internet looking for a solution that maybe "I" could fix without the 
big shop bill but hadn't had much luck.  Today I decided I was either going to somehow fix it
myself or pay the big bucks to have the professionals do it.
This time I got lucky.  I found a YouTube video that claimed 90-something percent of Ford cruise control failures were due to the "cruise control switch" on the end of the brake fluid reservoir.
I found a couple on the internet for about EIGHT bucks, not including shipping, with a week delivery.
I called our local auto parts vendor and they had one in stock for 20-something dollars. 
A little over twice the online price, but too many local businesses are suffering in this warped economy,
plus twenty dollars was not that much to invest in the experiment to see if I could get it going myself.
(I used to be a master back-yard mechanic, but am getting to the point of paying someone else to do it)
The parts store was maybe a mile or so away, so I dragged the Catrike out of the garage and used the car repair for an excuse to take a ride.  
I had a good visit with a guy in the parking lot about the trike and all the gadgets I had on it, including the twin flagpoles/antennas on the back.
It was a tad cloudy and cool today:  I actually wore LONG pants instead of shorts today.
Made it home safe and sound, as usual, and SURPRISE !!  The replacement took about 15 minutes
AND it actually fixed the cruise control. Praise the Lord !

Ride Started: 10:00 AM           Ride Ended: 10:56 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Battery Voltage: 13.0 Lowest Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp: 60 F Highest Temp: 67 F
Beginning Blood Glucose: 97    Ending BG: 58
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 3.93
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
4.2 MPH                              6.5 MPH            20.5 MPH
Total Trip Time                    Moving Time      Stopped Time
 56 minutes                           37 minutes          19 minutes

Distance Walked: .6 mile

Got To Stretch these Old Legs

 Tuesday's Ride Route via GPS and Ham Radio

Just trying to keep up with various chores and problems around the house is exhausting, and I often fail to take my "daily" trike rides because I'm already fatigued from whatever I've been doing. 
However, when I ride the trike, even for fairly short rides, I enjoy a few added benefits:
- Sleeping better at Night
- Lower Blood Glucose
- Generally feeling better just because I rode somewhere
And, since Jacque encouraged me to get out there, I rode into the sunset.  Literally.   At least for a couple miles.
I first rode out west to the Mountain Grove International Airport. 
I rarely ever see anything but a crop duster or two here, and have never encountered any human activity.
The "airport" has shade trees and a mossy picnic table, so it was a good place to take a snack and rest break.
I loitered a bit longer than usual here but eventually got going again.

Ride Started: 5:16 PM Ride Ended: 6:29 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Battery Voltage: 13.0 Lowest Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 75 F Highest Temp: 78 F
Beginning Blood Glucose: 205    Ending BG: 82
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.78
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
4.7 MPH                              7.2 MPH            23.3 MPH
Total Trip Time                    Moving Time      Stopped Time
1 hour 13 mins                    48 minutes           26 minutes

Distance Walked: .6 mile

Wow, Found Another Route

 

Mountain Grove is not a big town. I think the population is around 4500 bodies, more or less. I was glancing at a map today and realized there was another "perimeter" road I had not yet ridden; Busch Road. Even adding that to my trike ride doesn't result in a lot of miles, but it helps to find another niggle in the Desired Daily Riding. Jacque had been canning all day and needed some stretching for her left leg so she saddled up her trike and rode a couple miles around the town square before returning home and encouraging me to keep riding, so I did. Going the Busch Road way involved some fairly steeo declines and climbs to get back up out of the canyons. It was pretty good. By the time I got to the (almost) center of town, I was ready for a break. So I pulled into a parking lot across from the Town and Country store, checked my blood glucose, and took off my shoes for a breeze break. My glucose was a tad low so I ate one of my cookies in my stash. By then I was "Restored" so I put the shoes back on and got riding again. I had planned to fire up the riding lawn mower and get some weeds and grass cut in our Missouri Jungle yard, but by the time I got home I was ready for a cool-off break and loafed around until it was too late to get any useful cutting done. Maybe Tomorrow

Ride Started: 4:15 PM Ride Ended: 5:34 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1 Ending Battery Voltage: 13.0 Lowest Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp: 75 F Highest Temp: 82 F
Beginning Blood Glucose: 140 Ending BG: 63
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.45
Distance Walked: .6 mile
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.9 MPH 6.6 MPH 22.6 MPH
Total Trip Time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 15 mins 1 hour 8 mins 8 minutesp

Cruisin' for Car Parts

 Today's Wednesday Ride

I'm still trike-riding every other day or so, but have been very lax about posting details about the staying-alive activity.

I rode yesterday for a few miles - after several days of NOT riding.... and the legs still worked, thank Goodness.

Today I needed to pick up some parts for the Ford Exploder, and wound up driving to the Car Parts store to get some hood struts for the Beast.  I replaced these a couple years ago and they have steadily gotten weaker to the point I've had to use a stick to prop the hood open when checking things under the hood.

SO, I drove the gas powered beast to the auto parts place and was SHOCKED to find the struts cost OVER 50 Bucks.  Everything has shot up in price in these weird times, with fewer and fewer stores even open for business any more, and with the lessening competition, prices on everything have gone up and up.  BUT I needed these parts;  I was tired of messing around with sticks and whatnot just to keep the hood open long enough to check the oil or whatever.  So I gritted my teeth and spent the money.

Trouble was, when I got home, the dern things wouldn't fit.  The top ball socket on the struts were too small, and it just wouldn't go together.

This time I decided to ride my trike up to the store for an exchange.  When I got there, the counter guy checked and double checked and could find no other listing that would work with this vehicle.  I spent a fair amount of time showing him the old one I'd brought with me:  The ball socket was too small.

He looked and looked and finally declared the part he'd sold me was the same for almost 6 years of Fords, and there was no other solution available.  When I looked at them again I realized the new ones had the same sockets as the old one:  A large ball socket on one end and a small one on the other end.  The only difference was that they were reversed:  The large and small sockets were on opposite ends from the old ones I'd pulled out.  I realized all I had to do was reverse the struts when installinng them.

I'd wasted the counterman's and my time by not looking closer before getting alarmed.  I hate to report this was NOT the first time I've done such a dumb thing.  OH Well.

Sure 'nuff when I got home the struts popped right in when I installed them the right way.

I DID get some good exercise out of the trike ride, which is about the only useful thing I can say about today's big accomplishment.

The Route 60 Choo-Choo Trains were busy today for some reason.  I got to wait 5 or 10 minutes for a train to clear the crossing just before getting home, and several MORE trains going both ways immediately followed.  Thank Goodness we've gotten able to sleep through most of the loud whistle-blowers when they blow through town several times almost each night.

Ride Started:    3:05 PM      Ride Ended:  4:20  PM

Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0   Lowest Voltage:  13.0
Lowest Temp:  80 F    Highest Temp:    82 F 

Beginning Blood Glucose:  111      Ending BG:  75

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles: 5.07
Distance Walked: .6 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  5.5 MPH                             7.5 MPH              20 MPH

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped  Time
 55 minutes                          40 minutes           15 minutes

                                           Missouri Sunset on the way home

 
Old Mill Building with tree growing OUT the fan window from INSIDE