Today's Boring-as-Usual Tracking
We've been scuttling around, pulling weeds, working laundry, chasing puppies, etc, the usual too-busy-to-stay-healthy routine. Today was a lovely day, with a bit of gusty windy stuff, but balmy and just cool enough to be great Indian Summer weather.
So it got to be about 5:00 PM and the weather was STILL nice and the sun looked like it would take at least another hour and a half to go below Sandia Crest to put us in the dark. So I challenged Jacque for a trike ride and she was up for it.
By the time we got rolling it was 5:30-ish and still lots of daylight.
The gusty breezes that had been rattling things all day had almost totally calmed down and it was a fine, fine ride. We did the usual struggle uphill going west toward the Post Office on Frost Road, as usual regretting not having more endurance and power since we are not "in shape". When we arrived at the Post Office a nice older fellow (getting rare to bump into people older than I am) had a lot of questions about the trike and seemed very fearful about riding his own bike because of auto traffic. We discussed the additional safety factor available on the off-main-road biking paths in the area but he was still quite worried about actually doing more biking himself.
We too worry about vehicle traffic and the occasional too-close-encounter but fear even more the idea of losing our muscle tone and vigor. I neglected to tell the fellow about my being-run-over-by-an-SUV several years ago, which caused ME to think and rethink the joy of bicycling. I pretty much decided I'd prefer getting killed by a car than dying in front of our TV sitting on my butt doing nothing.
There IS risk involved in riding bikes on the streets, of course, and Bernalillo County manages to kill 2 or 3 cyclists a year in stupid accidents but I often wonder just how many cyclist-miles there are between fatal accidents? We kill a LOT more motorists in New Mexico, and auto accidents have killed more Americans EACH YEAR than armed combat in any year since the Civil War.... and no one ever suggests anyone should stop or avoid driving gas-burners. Every day literally hundreds of cyclists ride up and down the roads here in the East Mountains, many of them riding all the way from their homes in Albuquerque up the winding roads to Sandia Crest and back home again, and it seems to me the percentage of them getting injured or killed is actually pretty low... like I said, 2 or 3 a year.
Anyway, the nice fellow went on his fearful way and we went ours... on up the rest of the hill to our favorite snack/watering hole, the Shell Station at the intersection of North-14, Frost Road, and Sandia Crest Road. When we got there we again - as usual - got into extended conversations with a couple of people we bumped into while snarfing our snacks. Jacque and I commented about it on the way home.... How many times do other motorists stop us, enthused about our dogs, etc, when we're DRIVING a CAR? Very seldom. Yet everywhere we encounter other people while riding pedal-powered machines, we have instant friends though rarely we ever even know each others' names. When you're on a bike it just seems like you're more approachable, more of a curiosity, whatever. We LOVE it, even though most spandex-clad cyclists are much too busy or focused or whatever to exchange greetings when we pass. When stopped for a snack or a snort of water, most cyclists are friendly even if they consider themselves ultimate athletes. So the increased affability between fellow travelers is enjoyable. Although of course maybe one out of a hundred will turn out to be Grumpy Gus complaining about how we should be on the sidewalk (No such thing in most of our area!) instead of slowing the Royal Motorist down by riding in or near the road.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 66 F Highest Temp: 77 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 4.30
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.7 MPH 6.2 MPH 27.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 9 minutes 41 mins 32 secs 27 mins 28 secs
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Found a Cool Video This Morning
So, instead of riding a bike this morning like I should be, I'm surfing the Web. I stumbled onto a great video extolling many of the same reasons WE like to pedal power ourselves around:
Bicycling for Life
Maybe it's not too late to go for a ride. We haven't picked up the mail yet.....
Bicycling for Life
Maybe it's not too late to go for a ride. We haven't picked up the mail yet.....
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Conference Cruising
Today's Very Very Short Tracking
Today starts the LDS Church's General Conference, available worldwide via the Internet . We had sorta planned to drive to Albuquerque and ride our trike from UNM to the Balloon Fiesta Park and watch the balloons with the Albuquerque Recumbent Riders Group, but decided we weren't in the mood to get up at 5 AM and ride in freezing temperatures and preferred to ride later in the day when the temperatures would be milder. We thus watched the first session of conference and then jumped in the Exploder to drive down to the paved road and do our usual short-but-highly-aerobic Post Office Ride. It was still very cool outside, and the wind was whipping a bit, so we definitely avoided any overheating problems. Still, as usual, it was wonderful to be out and riding and working the legs and getting the circulatory system pumping. Jazzy, the new pappilon pup, immediately started whining and was not pacified until we stopped for water and Jacque took her out of the basket next to Tinkerbell and stuffed her into the front of Jacque's windbreaker. Then Jazzy snuggled in and quieted down. We normally ride on up to our favorite cold-snack place, the Shell Station at the top of the hill, but we decided we were cold enough already and turned back toward the car without benefit of Ice Cream or Lemonade.
It's certainly getting to the point we'll have to utilize our cold weather layers in future rides until Spring. On this ride I had on a heavy long sleeve shirt Jacque made me last winter and my velcro-front Day-Glo yellow/green Tee shirt and never got overheated except for a few hundred yards where I had to open up these 2 layers to let in some frigid air to cool off my armpits. I started out with my normal partial-finger riding gloves but when we stopped for water and Jazzy-stuffing I dug out my full-fingered riding gloves from the pannier which really improved conditions a lot :?)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp 55 F Highest Temp: 63 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 3.41
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.2 MPH 7.1 MPH 25.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
39 minutes 28 mins 49 secs 10 mins 11 secs
Today starts the LDS Church's General Conference, available worldwide via the Internet . We had sorta planned to drive to Albuquerque and ride our trike from UNM to the Balloon Fiesta Park and watch the balloons with the Albuquerque Recumbent Riders Group, but decided we weren't in the mood to get up at 5 AM and ride in freezing temperatures and preferred to ride later in the day when the temperatures would be milder. We thus watched the first session of conference and then jumped in the Exploder to drive down to the paved road and do our usual short-but-highly-aerobic Post Office Ride. It was still very cool outside, and the wind was whipping a bit, so we definitely avoided any overheating problems. Still, as usual, it was wonderful to be out and riding and working the legs and getting the circulatory system pumping. Jazzy, the new pappilon pup, immediately started whining and was not pacified until we stopped for water and Jacque took her out of the basket next to Tinkerbell and stuffed her into the front of Jacque's windbreaker. Then Jazzy snuggled in and quieted down. We normally ride on up to our favorite cold-snack place, the Shell Station at the top of the hill, but we decided we were cold enough already and turned back toward the car without benefit of Ice Cream or Lemonade.
It's certainly getting to the point we'll have to utilize our cold weather layers in future rides until Spring. On this ride I had on a heavy long sleeve shirt Jacque made me last winter and my velcro-front Day-Glo yellow/green Tee shirt and never got overheated except for a few hundred yards where I had to open up these 2 layers to let in some frigid air to cool off my armpits. I started out with my normal partial-finger riding gloves but when we stopped for water and Jazzy-stuffing I dug out my full-fingered riding gloves from the pannier which really improved conditions a lot :?)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2 Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp 55 F Highest Temp: 63 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 3.41
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.2 MPH 7.1 MPH 25.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
39 minutes 28 mins 49 secs 10 mins 11 secs
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Rode the Tractor Instead of the Trike Today
I planned to take a decent leg-powered ride today but thought I should put in some time on the old 1962 Ford 2000 Tractor to push some dirt and rocks around in efforts to repair some of the damage to our private goat-path road we have to maintain ourselves. Last month's gully-washer monsoon rains really did wash some gullies across and down our road. I thought to put in at least a couple hours first on the tractor and then hit the newly graded road with my recumbent 2-wheeler.
Trouble is, the road sucks up a LOT of time and effort. I worked till sundown and did NOT finish the work. It's almost a mile of ruts and rock and way too little sand and gravel. I must "rob" dirt and gravel from areas that have filled with gravel below the roadway, and much of the time I'm forced to use plain old dirt to fill ruts and holes in the road. Usually the 'borrowed' dirt and gravel is not close to the desired rut needing filling so it takes multiple trips to scoop up material with the front bucket and dump it into the roadway and then use the blade on the 3-point hitch in the rear to scrape it, level it, and push it back and forth to fill and refill the ruts and holes.
I don't think I've spent this much time in one session on the tractor: It's almost like riding a horse. It looks easy from afar (Riding a horse) but to make the most of it you have to put some leg effort into the ride. If you try to ride a horse by just sitting there on his back or in the saddle it will be a very rough ride unless you just plod along at a snail's pace. Trying to just sit there when trotting will beat your behind to death. Just sitting there while the horse is loping at a decent pace will likely result in your falling off, since it takes effort to match the movement of the horse while in motion. Standing partially in the stirrups and working your knees to rise and lower with the motion of the running horse results in not only greater speed and security but FUN being able to really eat up the miles..... but it does tire you out.
The tractor is not a smooth ride either. Mine has power assist steering but it takes a lot of arm strength to turn and control it while loaded and climbing. After an hour or so of continuous operation I got off to throw some rocks out of the material I was spreading and my knees were almost locked up..... and SORE. I need to learn to deliberately stop and dismount every half hour or so to stretch my old legs and get the circulation going again.
Anyway, I got a lot of good progress done on our goat-path. There are 5 households that use our road and currently we are the only ones financing or otherwise participating in its maintenance. We DO have one of them who only recently moved in and they are at least promising to help.
But it's certainly more fun riding the bike or trike....
Trouble is, the road sucks up a LOT of time and effort. I worked till sundown and did NOT finish the work. It's almost a mile of ruts and rock and way too little sand and gravel. I must "rob" dirt and gravel from areas that have filled with gravel below the roadway, and much of the time I'm forced to use plain old dirt to fill ruts and holes in the road. Usually the 'borrowed' dirt and gravel is not close to the desired rut needing filling so it takes multiple trips to scoop up material with the front bucket and dump it into the roadway and then use the blade on the 3-point hitch in the rear to scrape it, level it, and push it back and forth to fill and refill the ruts and holes.
I don't think I've spent this much time in one session on the tractor: It's almost like riding a horse. It looks easy from afar (Riding a horse) but to make the most of it you have to put some leg effort into the ride. If you try to ride a horse by just sitting there on his back or in the saddle it will be a very rough ride unless you just plod along at a snail's pace. Trying to just sit there when trotting will beat your behind to death. Just sitting there while the horse is loping at a decent pace will likely result in your falling off, since it takes effort to match the movement of the horse while in motion. Standing partially in the stirrups and working your knees to rise and lower with the motion of the running horse results in not only greater speed and security but FUN being able to really eat up the miles..... but it does tire you out.
The tractor is not a smooth ride either. Mine has power assist steering but it takes a lot of arm strength to turn and control it while loaded and climbing. After an hour or so of continuous operation I got off to throw some rocks out of the material I was spreading and my knees were almost locked up..... and SORE. I need to learn to deliberately stop and dismount every half hour or so to stretch my old legs and get the circulation going again.
Anyway, I got a lot of good progress done on our goat-path. There are 5 households that use our road and currently we are the only ones financing or otherwise participating in its maintenance. We DO have one of them who only recently moved in and they are at least promising to help.
But it's certainly more fun riding the bike or trike....
Monday, September 30, 2013
We Both Rode, but Separate Bikes Today
Today's Tracking Worked in Spite of a Power Outage
APRS tracking doesn't work well in the East Mountains unless my home Igate is operational. We discovered, after we got home from our ride, that the AC power had been off much of the time we were riding. Which is just a bit frustrating: Central NM Electric, our power co-op, has historically been a less than failure-proof operation. At least once or twice a year we suffer an hour or more of power disruption, seemingly at least an overnight loss of electric power once each year. We purchased an emergency gas-powered AC generator 13 years ago and have put many hours on it keeping our water and other electrical needs supplied when the power goes off.
This last month, however, has been especially frustrating. Every other day or so the power has been blinking off, sometimes for over an hour. Call the CNME office and they will tell you..... NOTHING. Supposedly they have NO method of recording WHAT the cause of a power outage was. They do have a Web page that shows "Current Outages" that merely shows an outline map and a little corner list of the counties served and how many customers are currently without power.... no explanations provided. BAH. Today, our power has blinked off at least THREE TIMES.... without explanations.
Initially ignorant of all that, we took off on a ride today. Jacque just got her Single Seat Catrike back from Two Wheel Drive with new tires and alignment so she was dying to put some miles on it. I saddled up my ancient home brew recumbent 2-wheeler and rode with her. She was carrying all the weight: Tinkerbell and Jazzy.
With the weather so much cooler recently I have to remind myself to slather on the sunscreen anyway.
As usual, it was GREAT to get out in the open air and rack up a few miles on the legs and wheels.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 77 F Highest Temp: 86 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.79
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.2 MPH 6.7 MPH 32.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 27 mins 1 hour 10 mins 1 hour 17 mins
APRS tracking doesn't work well in the East Mountains unless my home Igate is operational. We discovered, after we got home from our ride, that the AC power had been off much of the time we were riding. Which is just a bit frustrating: Central NM Electric, our power co-op, has historically been a less than failure-proof operation. At least once or twice a year we suffer an hour or more of power disruption, seemingly at least an overnight loss of electric power once each year. We purchased an emergency gas-powered AC generator 13 years ago and have put many hours on it keeping our water and other electrical needs supplied when the power goes off.
This last month, however, has been especially frustrating. Every other day or so the power has been blinking off, sometimes for over an hour. Call the CNME office and they will tell you..... NOTHING. Supposedly they have NO method of recording WHAT the cause of a power outage was. They do have a Web page that shows "Current Outages" that merely shows an outline map and a little corner list of the counties served and how many customers are currently without power.... no explanations provided. BAH. Today, our power has blinked off at least THREE TIMES.... without explanations.
Initially ignorant of all that, we took off on a ride today. Jacque just got her Single Seat Catrike back from Two Wheel Drive with new tires and alignment so she was dying to put some miles on it. I saddled up my ancient home brew recumbent 2-wheeler and rode with her. She was carrying all the weight: Tinkerbell and Jazzy.
With the weather so much cooler recently I have to remind myself to slather on the sunscreen anyway.
As usual, it was GREAT to get out in the open air and rack up a few miles on the legs and wheels.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 77 F Highest Temp: 86 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.79
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.2 MPH 6.7 MPH 32.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 27 mins 1 hour 10 mins 1 hour 17 mins
Friday, September 27, 2013
About Halfway Around Our Favorite Loop
Today's Tracking Worked Better
The last couple of Fridays we have neglected to do our 22-mile loop after cooking the noon meal for the Friday Forum of the LDS UNM students: 3 Fridays ago we left immediately afterwards for our Labor Day Weekend RV trip to Chama. Last Friday was wet and miserable plus we were still stuffy from our colds we caught the week before in Chama. Today? We decided we were going to ride at least part way through our traditional Friday afternoon ride.
Yesterday, we had brought Jacque's Catrike in to Two Wheel Drive for new front tires and alignment.... the tires had worn down to the cords after less than 200 miles of riding. They told her today it was ready to pick up, already, so we loaded the Recumbent Tandem Trike on the roof rack and made room in the cargo bay inside the Explorer for the Catrike. After I retrieved the trike, in the Bike Store Parking lot, I was shifting cargo around and loading the single-seat trike when a, er, "Urban Dude" pulled up in his ghetto cruiser and shouted out his window to me: "Hey! Nice Bike! I want to buy it from you!!" I laughed and replied "They're not for sale! We love them too much!"
He responded "I'm serious, man.... I'll give you 50 dollars cash right now!" I wasn't quite sure how to take that stupendous offer. The tandem recumbent trike is worth a couple thousand without any accessories, used though it is, and Jacque's Catrike is nearly new and cost almost $ 2K with no accessories. So I laughed and turned away and ignored him, in spite of wondering if he was trying to make me an offer I couldn't refuse or........ ?
Instead of starting our ride straight from the UNM campus, as we do normally, we decided to park down at the Bosque and just ride that wonderful trail several miles just to limber up our legs, since we have not built up any endurance to speak of yet. Plus, the weather was cloudy and threatening and we were not sure if we might have to turn around and make a wet run back to the vehicle.
Evidently as a result of the dicey weather, we saw only two other cyclists and a couple walkers where normally we encounter dozens of each. But the weather, though cool, was almost perfect for riding. Only after we returned and stopped pedaling did we realize how cold it had become since starting the ride. Neither of us had even worked up a sweat, in spite of the ride being a bit over 10 miles and coming back into fairly stiff headwinds.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.6
Lowest Temp 81 F Highest Temp: 90 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 20.97
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.2 MPH 7.1 MPH 20.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 4 mins 2 hours 57 mins 1 hour 6 mins
The last couple of Fridays we have neglected to do our 22-mile loop after cooking the noon meal for the Friday Forum of the LDS UNM students: 3 Fridays ago we left immediately afterwards for our Labor Day Weekend RV trip to Chama. Last Friday was wet and miserable plus we were still stuffy from our colds we caught the week before in Chama. Today? We decided we were going to ride at least part way through our traditional Friday afternoon ride.
Yesterday, we had brought Jacque's Catrike in to Two Wheel Drive for new front tires and alignment.... the tires had worn down to the cords after less than 200 miles of riding. They told her today it was ready to pick up, already, so we loaded the Recumbent Tandem Trike on the roof rack and made room in the cargo bay inside the Explorer for the Catrike. After I retrieved the trike, in the Bike Store Parking lot, I was shifting cargo around and loading the single-seat trike when a, er, "Urban Dude" pulled up in his ghetto cruiser and shouted out his window to me: "Hey! Nice Bike! I want to buy it from you!!" I laughed and replied "They're not for sale! We love them too much!"
He responded "I'm serious, man.... I'll give you 50 dollars cash right now!" I wasn't quite sure how to take that stupendous offer. The tandem recumbent trike is worth a couple thousand without any accessories, used though it is, and Jacque's Catrike is nearly new and cost almost $ 2K with no accessories. So I laughed and turned away and ignored him, in spite of wondering if he was trying to make me an offer I couldn't refuse or........ ?
Instead of starting our ride straight from the UNM campus, as we do normally, we decided to park down at the Bosque and just ride that wonderful trail several miles just to limber up our legs, since we have not built up any endurance to speak of yet. Plus, the weather was cloudy and threatening and we were not sure if we might have to turn around and make a wet run back to the vehicle.
Evidently as a result of the dicey weather, we saw only two other cyclists and a couple walkers where normally we encounter dozens of each. But the weather, though cool, was almost perfect for riding. Only after we returned and stopped pedaling did we realize how cold it had become since starting the ride. Neither of us had even worked up a sweat, in spite of the ride being a bit over 10 miles and coming back into fairly stiff headwinds.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.7 Ending Voltage: 12.6
Lowest Temp 81 F Highest Temp: 90 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 20.97
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.2 MPH 7.1 MPH 20.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 4 mins 2 hours 57 mins 1 hour 6 mins
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Weird. A MONTH without riding?
First, our excuses:
-We both came down with the deep-chest-congestion miseries immediately after getting home from our short Labor Day weekend excursion to Chama.
-Immediately after starting to recover from THAT, Jacque caught the dreaded Norovirus "Vomiting Virus" that knocked HER out of action, again, for at least 3 days.
-During all this time, we have had torrential RAINS almost daily that have been making the weather too cold and wet to consider riding. We're SO thankful for the rains, but these have been record breaking, almost taking the entire state of New Mexico out of the "Drought" category. Now, with a few days of rain-free sunlight, we are now grateful the rains have PAUSED for a while.
I had decided I needed to get in at least a short ride, TODAY, no matter what. As I was checking the tires and chain on the recumbent 2-wheeler I realized "Hey! Jacque's been feeling better for a few days now, maybe SHE wants to go for a trike ride together!" And, sure 'nuff, she did, and we did.
The recumbent Tandem Terratrike had been left alone and idle under the deck for so long all three tires were low. A few quick bursts of air from the big Craftsman compressor in the shed took care of all that.
Of course we quickly suffered the consequences of not riding for a while: Low Output Power from the legs. The short ride up to the Post Office is deceptively steep and hard even with regular miles piled up on the old legs, and we really felt sluggish and slow and guilty for not being more faithful in our exercise. We are guilty of the common lot of man in the Western world: Too busy to stay healthy.
This cooler fall weather was great today, and it was wonderful to ride without overheating or overcooling. The doggies Tink and Jazz - as usual - made several new friends at the Shell Station where we partook of our usual break and treats.
I noted, only after returning home to check our Internet Track, that it did not work well at all today. Only one position was reported by the GPS/APRS/Ham Radio setup, so that's another problem I need to investigate.....
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 4.29
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.3 MPH 6.5 MPH 27.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 18 mins 39 mins 38 mins 41 secs
-We both came down with the deep-chest-congestion miseries immediately after getting home from our short Labor Day weekend excursion to Chama.
-Immediately after starting to recover from THAT, Jacque caught the dreaded Norovirus "Vomiting Virus" that knocked HER out of action, again, for at least 3 days.
-During all this time, we have had torrential RAINS almost daily that have been making the weather too cold and wet to consider riding. We're SO thankful for the rains, but these have been record breaking, almost taking the entire state of New Mexico out of the "Drought" category. Now, with a few days of rain-free sunlight, we are now grateful the rains have PAUSED for a while.
I had decided I needed to get in at least a short ride, TODAY, no matter what. As I was checking the tires and chain on the recumbent 2-wheeler I realized "Hey! Jacque's been feeling better for a few days now, maybe SHE wants to go for a trike ride together!" And, sure 'nuff, she did, and we did.
The recumbent Tandem Terratrike had been left alone and idle under the deck for so long all three tires were low. A few quick bursts of air from the big Craftsman compressor in the shed took care of all that.
Of course we quickly suffered the consequences of not riding for a while: Low Output Power from the legs. The short ride up to the Post Office is deceptively steep and hard even with regular miles piled up on the old legs, and we really felt sluggish and slow and guilty for not being more faithful in our exercise. We are guilty of the common lot of man in the Western world: Too busy to stay healthy.
This cooler fall weather was great today, and it was wonderful to ride without overheating or overcooling. The doggies Tink and Jazz - as usual - made several new friends at the Shell Station where we partook of our usual break and treats.
I noted, only after returning home to check our Internet Track, that it did not work well at all today. Only one position was reported by the GPS/APRS/Ham Radio setup, so that's another problem I need to investigate.....
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 4.29
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.3 MPH 6.5 MPH 27.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 18 mins 39 mins 38 mins 41 secs
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