Twas the Freezing DAY before Christmas

 Very Short GPS Tracking

Well - It turns out that my sniffles from last week actually WERE the dreaded COVID killer disease.
Of course Jacque caught the sore throat from me and has a slightly worse case.  She went to the Doc and was diagnosed officially with the Plague....
Thanks to Mr. Lets Go Brandon and Mr. Fauci, we had already received all available vaccines and boosters to prevent us from catching it.  Oh, that's right - if we DO catch it, it will be mild instead of deadly.  I guess so far we qualify for the mild category.  Not too much fun being isolated for 2 weeks including this week of Christmas.  We had planned to have a couple of neighbors over for a Jacque Christmas Feast but not this time.  Our isolation period expires before New Years so we'll see what kind of trouble we can get into after that.

                                                           Trike Tracks in the Snow ?

Our record breaking cold spell has pretty much kept us indoors and without trike rides.  Zero and below temperatures, with wind chills into the minus THIRTIES.  I did NOT sign up for this.
Yesterday the SUN actually came out and lit up the sky quite nicely, though it didn't seem to do much for the air temperature.  Jacque had finished a library book and needed to return it.  Yesterday, Christmas Eve.
So nothing was open, not even the Library.  But that facility does have a book return slot on the outside of the door, so I decided I could return the book via a very short Trike Ride (6 blocks or so).
It only took me a half hour or so to layer up, unlock the trike, pull it out into the snowy sunshine, velcro my insulated pants legs into my boot tops, try a couple of snow mittens back and forth to find the warmest ones, etc.  I had super thick Arctic socks inside my boots, etc, etc.
So finally I was able to get my multi layered carcass into the trike seat and take off.  
I wondered if I would get stuck in the mild snow patches I had to cross getting out of the yard but didn't have any problem.
The streets were another story.  About half the roadway had packed snow from vehicle traffic.
I quickly noticed the Catrike was not too predictable on the slicker spots so I had to tread lightly and pay attention when traversing them.
Thankfully there was almost NO traffic to deal with - and when I saw any cars at all, I simply waited until they were all past.  I made it to the drop box and deposited the expired book and then got back slowly and safely.  
Trouble was, I thought I was going to FREEZE.  In spite of all my layers I was NOT comfy at all,
and my fingers were freezing in spite of the bulky mittens and I frantically kept rubbing them together inside the mittens - hoping to get home before frostbite set in.
Made it home finally with all digits intact, but with slightly bruised ego.
Unhappy that there are SOME conditions I don't want to repeat....

Ride Started: 2:19 PM           Ride Ended:  2:39 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.4
Lowest Temp: 22 F Highest Temp: 30 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  170   Ending BG: 125
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  1.32
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 3.8 MPH                             5.2 MPH            9.6 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  21 minutes                     15  minutes         5 minutes

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Sunday Coolness GPS Track 

Is it even legal to ride on Sunday??  Non-accusatory comments welcome...
I hadn't ridden for a few days due to a drizzly-nose cold, flu, RSV, COVID, who knows.
No fever nor weird problems so it must not be drastical.  Still woke up this morning, after all.
Today was another of those wonderful bright sunny days where the temperature took a long time to get above freezing.  Our local weather beacon claims it made it to 42 degrees today but that may have been in a sheltered area with the sun shining on it....
We loafed around the house, napping to build up our strength, don'tcha know.
I had a handwritten letter to mail, and hoping to get it to its destination before Christmas, I decided I wanted it to go out first thing tomorrow (Monday) morning.  That means it should be in the post office first thing....  A very short distance away but a qualified reason to take a short trike ride if there ever was one.
Still suffering from minor drizzlies, I layered up for the big venture.  Grizzly "Warm Sox", boots, puffy vest, insulated coverhauls, skull cap. mittens..... Almost forgot to take the letter with me.
I first tucked the coverall legs into the tops of my leather boots but after only a block or so they had popped out, letting that dreaded frigid air in, so I pulled over and applied my handy velcro strips to hold them tight.  No problem after that.
I did NOT get  overheated for some reason.
I was happy to find the Post Office lobby open and found it easy to drop the letter in the box and proceed onward.  I was feeling so "comfy" I thought about taking a few miles the long way home but the niggling sore throat convinced me otherwise.
On the way back I heard some chatter in a yard as I rode by.  I didn't look to see who or how many, but was rewarded with a young voice calling "HEY!!" - obviously having spotted me.  I waved wildly backwards, again without looking.  I was close to home and was motivated to get there.

Ride Started: 3:03 PM           Ride Ended:  3:18 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.5
Lowest Temp: 42 F Highest Temp: 50 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  175   Ending BG: 105
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  1.34
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 4.5 MPH                             7.0 MPH           14.5  MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  18 minutes                     12  minutes         6  minutes

Almost Too Cold

 5 Dec GPS Track

7 Dec Wednesday Track

Partial GPS / Ham Radio Tracking

Weather here is a constant subject of discussion and wonder.  We would normally call December midwinter, but the weather has been warmish (no freezing lately) and humid.  Lots of fog...
Even at temps  above 40 degrees, the breeze can feel rather chilly and slowly chill to the bone.
As most of us know.  High humidity makes both heat AND cold feel worse.
As usuual, I try to ride anyway.  I, as usual, tend to get into blue funks when I miss decent exercise for more than a day or two.  I "rest" from work on Sundays, mostly, and the other  6 days of the week are most always occupied with hammering, drilling, squatting to put  things down and up, etc, which seems to NOT provide good circulation.  Or something.
I again did my  duty yesterday riding to our local Big Box Store to pick up some needed items.
I mis -guessed the comfort level of the 45-ish temperature reading on our outside, and wore only one thin layer over my shirt (yellow/black lightweight windbreaker) and normal socks and shoes.
I had some stuff to deliver to our Love Center and a package to take to UPS, so I towed the B.O.B. trailer behind.  I detoured slightly to make the first dropoff, then rode the mile or so up to the UPS store.  Unfortunately, they turned me away since I didn't have a proper label on it.

On the way TO my desired destinations it was COLD and soaked into my feet and torso.
On the way back. the wind wasn't in my face AND the sun peeked out a little, warming me to the point I had to unzip my windbreaker.  My cold feet didn't thaw out too much but weren't hurting quite so bad.  Rounding the corner at Hovis, I was stopped for several minutes waiting for a HUGE string of school buses rounding the same corner, most with several students still inside.  This burg is a fairly small one, with less than 5K population.
I couldn't fathom why we have so many school buses, especially since more than half the town is within walking distance of everything else, including schools.  Just proving I'm an Old Man, I suppose.  When I was a grade schooler in Bluewater yo so many years ago, most of us walked a half mile or so to school and back.  But then again we didn't have paved streets either....

Ride Started: 2:07 PM           Ride Ended:  3:40 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7
Lowest Temp: 53 F Highest Temp: 57 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  185   Ending BG: 105
Stats from the GPS: Total Miies:  6.0
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 4.7 MPH                             6.5 MPH           18.9  MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  1 hour 17 minutes           55  minutes         22  minutes

Winter Wandering

22 Nov GPS Track

3 Dec Saturday GPS Tracking

Missouri weather has been UP and DOWN with Bitter cold one and Balmy the next.
I learned long ago that if I wait for acceptable weather I would seldom get any outdoor exercise.
So I've ridden with both types of temperatures and conditions this week.
Yesterday was a bitter cold one.  I thought I'd take a short ride in the cold to deliver a letter to the Post Office.
So I saddled up.  Extra layers, open/closed grip mittens, arctic socks, head quilted skull cover (courtesy of Jacque many moons ago) - and off I went.
When I got up off the trike at the P.O., a fellow approached me asking about the trike.  I noticed this guy had a stump on one arm instead of a hand.  He explained that he had earlier been a bicycle rider, but had lost his hand in an accident and thus was curious about the trike, how it was steered, was it comfortable to ride, etc.  He wants to get one for himself, and hopefully he will.
While undertaking this very short jaunt, I decided it wasn't too cold for a longer trip, so I detoured around our Christmasy  Town Square and pedaled around to my usual boring loop around to the North side of town where I normally trudge over Highway 60 to our local Big Box Store to pick up some 9 volt batteries, something of course in dire need at home.

When I got near to that crossing of Route 60, I decided the traffic was a bit heavy for my taste,, so I stopped instead at the store immediately near me and pay a slightly higher price for the desired chemical energy sources.
This ingenious decision allowed me to take the return route with less cars  and trucks to dodge.
I normally encounter mostly friendly faces as I pedal my admittedly unusual contraption, but recently  I've taken to trying to smile widely to all oncoming faces, whether behind a windshield or not, and waving to everyone whether they wave  back or not.  Unsurprisingly, most smile and wave back.
For some odd reason this adds to the enjoyment of the ride.

Ride Started: 12: PM           Ride Ended:  1:36 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9
Lowest Temp: 35 F Highest Temp: 50 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  175   Ending BG: 125
Stats from the GPS: Total Miies:  4.66
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 5.2 MPH                             7.8 MPH           22.1  MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  54 minutes                      35  minutes         8  minutes

Invigoration

 7 November GPS Track

9 November Tracking 

10 November GPS boring track 

12 November Very Brief Track

14 Nov Monday

As usual, we've gone back and forth between lovely balmy Indian Summer days and frigid sunny days and.... You get the picture.
Short rides, mildly longer rides, but no mediocre rides.... it's fun and refreshing just to get out and spin the pedals a few hundred times, even when it's bitter cold.
On Thursday, 10 Nov, I did a slightly unusual run:
I hitched up the B.O.B. trailer, strapped my balky chainsaw in, and took it to the repair shop.
It lately developed the nasty habit of starting nicely but then ROARING full throttle, out of control, and being impossible to stop without burying the blade into a large log and binding it into a stall.
I have multiple logs, branches, and what-not that need to be cut into firewood lengths.  BAH.
I got the chainsaw back for less than $50 in repair.  Life is Good.