After spending most of the day on the road to West Plains and back, I was determined to get at least a short ride going.
Of course it was past 4 PM when I got going. I had thought to do my usual 5+ mile ride but thought I shouldn't get so close to dark-thirty before getting home. So I just rode a few blocks past a couple nearby friends' houses and made it home before dark.
I was surprised at the mildness of today's Mid January weather. Just cool enough to wear a medium jacket.
While putting the trike back inside the garage, I noticed our emergency generators (again) that haven't been needed in months. Nor have they even been started and tested.
SO. I dragged THEM outside. One 5 KW and one 500 Watt -- both Heart Attack Yank-the-Cord starter types. The bigger machine took several yanks and several minutes, since it has both an electric run switch and a fuel shutoff valve, which I usually forget to open until I've done several fruitless pulls on the starter rope. Finally it coughed to life, and after massaging the choke for a few minutes while it warmed up, I plugged in a power saw and it seemed to run just fine.
The little guy, which usually won't power much more than a soldering iron or a very light motor, was a different story. Not only was it out of oil/gas fuel, but it was covered with dust from being ignored so long.
Even after putting in the fuel, which also works in the chainsaw, it took many yanks to get it going. Then it took an unusual amount of choking to get it warmed up, but finally it too performed as it should.
Ride Started: 4:18 PM Ride Ended: 4.36 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Battery Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp: 53 F Highest Temp: 53 F
Beginning Blood Glucose: 160 Ending BG: 150
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 2.03
Overall Average Speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.9 MPH 7.2 MPH 18.2 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time Moving Time Stopped Time
21 minutes 17 minutes 4 minutes
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