Drought is OVER

 Pre-Storm GPS Track

First thing yesterday I decided to go a-riding early, instead of my usual wait - until - the - last - minute - late - in - the - afternoon habit.
Our weather just took another weird flip:  From frost to balmy 60's overnight.

I saddled up and rode over to a friend's house that had recently been vacated due to a fire, to take another look at it.  The trip went without incident, and I took the slightly longer way home along Business 60.  The weather was warm and fairly balmy, but by the time I got home it had clouded up quite a bit.
It was a good thing I got those early miles in,  since it began to rain about 10 minutes after I got home safe and sound.  It soon turned into severe thunderstorm along with flood warnings.  It POURED.  The yard soon turned to slop and  mush and the garage floor flooded since it's barely above ground level.....  GACK.
I disconnected power cords and antenna cables after the first couple of thunderclaps, which may have saved us some damage.  Lightning crashed all over the place and several times EXTREMELY close by.  I am surprised we so far have not noticed any damage - and our wonderful Electric Co-op kept the power from even blinking during the storm.  So far.  Very unusual.
And it rained, more quietly, all night.   Still raining now this Friday afternoon as I type this baloney blog.  Several inches and many if not most roads are flooded and several motorists made the mistake of trying to drive through flooded low spots and washed off the road and folks are still looking for them.  Listening to the radio hoping for local news that the missing aren't missing any more.
I'm very happy "I" didn't get caught out in it pedaling around on the trike.....

Ride Started: 10:30 AM           Ride Ended:  11:40 AM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7
Lowest Temp: 68 F Highest Temp:   75 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  160   Ending BG: 102
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  6.41
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 3.6 MPH                             6.3 MPH            25.5 MPH ( Downhill steeply, obviously )
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  1 hour 48 mins               1 hour 1 min        47 minutes

Too Old for Cold

Frigid Fearless GPS Tracking 

I guess if it wasn't for our much maligned Big Box Store on the north end of town, I would get much less valuable exercise.  Picking up prescriptions and odd bits and pieces of this and that give me the most motivation for getting out and pedaling around on the recumbent Catrike.
The last few days have bobbled around with rain, bits of snow, wind - of course - and COLD.
Today we got another notification that we had a prescription a-waiting.  It showed a temperature of 27 degrees F this morning when we first got up, and warmed merrily up to maybe 33 degrees for most of the rest of the day.
I thought maybe I could wait for warmer afternoon temps to go for an errand - ride,
so I scooted dressers and stuff back from our bedroom wall and cleaned the area around what used to be the back window before we added Jacque's new sewing room.
That's only been a couple years or so since then, with the ex-window hole plugged with a square of new sheetrock, which for some reason doesn't match the rest of the wall - or room.
Such chores used to take maybe a few hours or even a day or so, but since I'm so old and "geet-up"  and slow now, I don't even THINK about tackling large or semi large projects.  I try to divide them up into what I hope I can get done in a few hours and then plan for next steps "Manana".
I mixed up some spackling compound and slopped it over the ragged looking joints, almost exhausting myself with what should be a short chore.  Snort.
I had to go back for more spackling powder, add water, and mix it up carefully to some sort of desired thickness, and actually ran out of the stuff just as I finished spreading it around.  I'd hoped to make more than "enough" mud and have sufficient to do it all and throw the excess away.   It looks like the stuff is going to work, and all I have to do now is wait for it to totally dry and harden and hopefully stay put in a few days when I start slapping paint on that wall.
Then - I still hoped to make the trike run across town to pick up stuff.
The temperature was still nasty, and the wind awful, but hey - I'm "tuff" (note the lower case assertion) and have ridden in worser weather sometime way back when, So I dragged out the trike and layered up and took off.
Again, unfortunately, it was nasty cold with brisk gusty winds making it even colder.  I "layered up" with a chest sweater, insulated coveralls over that, thick "arctic" wool socks inside leather work boots, a woolen skull cap, and mitten/gloves to keep the pinkies safe.
I did NOT get overheated.  The footsies even got a bit chilled as I pedaled, and I wasn't as fast as I usually go (Although 'fast' is not an appropriate term for my speeds).
While at the Big Box Store - I  checked my blood glucose before starting home.
It was dropping lower than wanted so I ate one of my backup cookies sitting on the trike next to the store's bike rack.  A new employee walked past, and stopped to ask about the trike.  What it cost, how to find one, etc.  I told him how I found mine on Ebay and that I had bought it for $700 used.
He allowed that he was interested in getting one, yada yada.  I hope he does.  I have yet to encounter another recumbent triker in this area, even though I have seen one or two of the so-called "Granny trikes" out and around.  (tall, sit upright, one steering wheel in front, two in the back supporting a basket for shopping)
Made it home safe and  sound, cutting a half mile or so off the normal return route.  Wanting to get out of the cold....
Hopefully these wonderful bright sunny days will warm up a bit soon.
Then I'll start complaining about the heat.
Of Course.

Ride Started: 2:24 PM           Ride Ended:  3:32 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.5
Lowest Temp: 32 F Highest Temp: 50 F !!
Beginning Blood Glucose:  190   Ending BG: 120
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  5.30
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 4.6 MPH                             6.1 MPH            19.1 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  1 hour 9 minutes                52 minutes       18 minutes

BABY, it's COLD Outside

 Short Shivering GPS Path

Today had a low temp in the 20's as the daylight savings first day of the week awoke.
The sun came out in short order but the temperature stayed treacherously low and the breeze was one of those that cut right through the clothing.  At least that's MY story.
I wanted to try at least a short trike ride in the morning, but I was short on time due to practicing song and guitar for our amateur quartet's upcoming command performance at one of our local senior centers.
Note to self:  Practice is supposed to make perfect..... Sigh.
Later this afternoon, it was still bitter cold but I have often ridden in colder temperatures.  When I was younger and braver, no doubt.
At my elderly stage in life exercise is almost critical in order to keep my blood circulating in some order and my diabetic blood sugar under better control.
So I bundled up and took a very short ride.
I had to walk the doggies first, in hopes of averting "accidents" while leaving them home alone - even for a few minutes.  I had a nice coat on but it was still COLD.
Getting the critters back inside where it was warm, I dug out my leather work boots (not terribly warm but great for blocking the cold wind), insulated mechanics coveralls, with a sweater to add a layer to my chest area.
Topping that fashionable dress with a knit skull cap and insulated mittens, I pedaled out into the sunset.  Literally.
Since it was after 6 PM and now freshly Daylight Savings Time, the sun was low on the horizon and at various angles during the ride was smack dab right into my eyes.   My extra large "visor" fashioned from the sidewall of an empty yellow 1-gallon plastic oil container worked nicely for several of those angles of attacking sunshine.
I almost aborted the trip  just as it began:  The street I normally take was rumbling with the approach of the usual screaming freight train, and the crossarms were in descent as I approached.  I turned right on another street parallel to the tracks and rode the opposite direction the train was going, hoping to meet the end of the train at the next intersection / crossing.
The train was still in full extent when I got to that crossing.  No other vehicular traffic was around so I waited at the junction for a few minutes to see if it was going to be one of those mile - long rigs or if would be reasonably short.
After a few more minutes I decided to just go back around the block and give up and go home.  Of course, as soon as I made the turn, the tail end of the train came chugging up and passed.  So I turned back around, expecting to cross as soon as the crossarms arose again.  THIS seemed to take forever, and looking up the track, another PARKED train was not moving but close enough to the junction to keep the crossarms locked down.  Again, I was about to give up again, but the parked train engineer must have sent a signal to make the crossarms obey, and I happily crossed the tracks. 
Which is a bit silly since that route only added maybe another quarter mile to my ride.  But hey, making a short ride even shorter is discouraging to an old fart like me.
At this time of day the streets were relatively empty and I encountered few cars as I rode back toward the official center of town, the inevitable town square so popular here in the midwest. 
It was still cold, even though by now I was breathing heavily.  I was very happy to make the final turn toward our little house and pull into the drive.
It's supposed to get even COLDER in the next few days.  Whee.
At least we so far are avoiding the flooding in California and the deep snows and worser cold in the New England area.  Thank You, Heavenly Father

Ride Started: 6:34 PM           Ride Ended:  6:47 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.6
Lowest Temp: 35 F Highest Temp: 35 F !!
Beginning Blood Glucose:  180   Ending BG: 125
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  1.68
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 6.0 MPH                             7.2 MPH            13.0 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  17 minutes                     14 minutes          3 minutes

Rollin...Rollin... Keepin On Rollin

15 Feb Ride GPS Map 

 Most Recent Triking Traverse

Greetings Fellow Travelers.  Just Checking In.
I have been fairly regular in my favorite exercise / mood elevation routine, in spite of noncompliant weather.
We've been enjoying early spring along with late winter, sort of normal I suppose.
Our trees are budding out and some leaves popping out, and our indestructible surprise lilies (some call them "naked ladies") are halfway grown already, in spite of severe cold nights occasionally trying to stunt their progress.
We have tapped several of our trees hoping for sap - hoping to get enough to boil down a bit of syrup.
We only have two maple trees, which are dripping juice  quite nicely, and several black walnut trees tapped.  The walnut trees are not doing anything at the moment.  We may be too early for sap-tapping or too late.  We'll see.  Rumor has it that walnut syrup is quite yummy and we are more than willing to try it out.
Several times in the last few weeks I have struggled with high winds slowing me down and chilling my butt and bones.  I have a poly windshield that has been  in storage in the attic since we moved here, and every time I gear down to crawl slowly into the wind I am reminded that I should re-install the windshield.  I finally dug it out, blew off the dust, washed and wiped it, only to find that it was NOT made for my Catrike but for our tandem Terratrike recumbent .
Thus I need to start shopping for one that will fit -- or maybe cobble up different brackets so it would fit.
My health seems stabilized, sort of, with my 40+ years of insulin dependent diabetes complicating things.
We are going today to test me for how much dementia I currently operate under.
I'm quite certain I will not fare well, and I can't quite remember why.

Yesterday's Ride Started: 10:11 AM           Ride Ended:  11:08 AM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7
Lowest Temp: 53 F Highest Temp: 64 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  130   Ending BG: 105
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  5.15
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 6.0 MPH                             7.3 MPH            26.1 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  53 minutes                       46 minutes           6 minutes