Annual Birthday Trek

Today's Trike Travel Tracking

Well, today I turned 72 years of aged.  As the saying goes, if I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.  Ha Ha.
The last 2 birthdays I have been able to celebrate by riding my trike a mile for each year of age I'd attained.  This year, with the foot problems I've been having, I thought I'd be lucky to achieve 7.2 miles.  My feet, however, have been improving to the point I was able to achieve a squeak over 11 miles.  I just rode around the outskirts of Mountain Grove until the GPS indicated my minimum 7.2 miles and then returned home, assuming by then I would have achieved 10 miles.  When I rode back into the yard, the GPS indicated only 9-something miles, so I thought I'd let it go at that.
Once inside the house I realized I had not delivered a couple of birthday cards Jacque had laid out for her side of the fam, so I rode back the short trip across the tracks to the Post Office.  Of course when I got there I realized I had ridden away withOUT the cards I'd so carefully set on the side in the garage when I backed the trike outside again.  Thus I racked up another short trip back to the house and then successfully placing the cards in the OUT box at the Post Office.  Thankfully, again, this is a very short trip, totaling only 1.88 miles for the dual trip.  At least it put me over 10 miles for my gonzo birthday ride.
I had to take off earlier this morning because of severe weather warnings for thunderstorms and possible tornado warnings forecast for the afternoon.
The weather for most of the ride was cloudy and cool, with not a drop of rain hitting me in spite of the surrounding clouds.  Actually great for riding.
Halfway through the ride I was approaching the Senior Center in the middle  of town and noticed the parking lot was full, which usually indicates good food on the menu - for cheap senior prices ($3.50 each ).  I called Jacque and she drove over and ate lunch with me.  As usual here in the South/Midwest, there was an old-timers live band consisting of two guitar pickers and a female singer accompanist, and they played some good old dancing tunes, to which Jacque and I danced with "gay abandon".
Then I saddled up the trike again to finish my birthday ride.
Later, after returning home, we had to make a high speed run to Springfield to pick up a VA prescription refill.  The rains were pouring and the winds were howling and the radio was warning "Take Cover, Take Cover" as we drove through the threatened area along Route 60.  We slowed quite a bit due to high winds and poor visibility but made it there find and dandy.
On the way back home we passed a few wrecks facilitated by the nasty weather, as well as some visible wind shear/tornado damage, with some large trees uprooted adjacent to the highway and a tall Taco Bell sign  that had been completely stripped of it's outer signage, leaving a few strings of backlights still glowing.
All's well that ends well.....

Ride Started:  10:19 AM        Ride Ended:  2:27 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  14.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9 Lowest Voltage:  12.4
Beginning Blood Glucose:  140     Ending BG: 128
Lowest Temp:  61 F    Highest Temp:  71 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  11.69
Distance Walked: 1/4 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   3.2   MPH                           5.7  MPH            18.8 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 3 hours 34 mins                  2 hours 42 mins   1 hour  37 mins

Monday: Double Trouble

Today's Tandem Trike Tracking

I came up with the smallest of excuses for a trike ride this morning:  I was out of 9 Volt batteries, which power most of my voltmeters nowadays.  I told Jacque I was thinking of riding to Walmart whereupon she suggested "Why don't we ride the Tandem Trike over there?  So we did.
Riding the tandem isn't as easy as the single seaters, even with both of us pedaling.  It's just that much heavier.  But it's still a fun ride.

Approaching Mountain Grove Square

Missouri Highway 95 runs right by our house and north directly to WalMart, but with all that through traffic I always like to take outer city streets as much as possible to bypass 95 until we get to the intersection of 95 and Highway 60.  Then it's only a few hundred yards across the overpass to Walmart's entries.  This store has a bike rack to lock to, though it's not bolted down.  It still provides protection against theft due to it's size and length.

We only had to stop and rest/massage my feet 3 times:  Once on the way north and twice on the way home.  While at Walmart we bought a couple of cold Gatorade bottles, which have helped us in the past with cramping problems.  Mine seemed to actually help a bit with my tired feet as well.

Severe weather warnings are in place for this evening, with flooding and possible tornado warnings, so we enjoyed the daylight during this ride.

Ride Started:  12:22 PM        Ride Ended:  2:01 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.9  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.2 Lowest Voltage:  12.8
Beginning Blood Glucose:  307     Ending BG: 81
Lowest Temp:  71 F    Highest Temp:  78 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  5.23
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   3.2   MPH                           5.0  MPH            16.4 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 1 hour 39 mins                  1 hour 2 mins         37 minutes

Training for the Big Time..

Today's Tracking, Short Though it is

After spending most of the day in Springfield, none of it by bike or trike, we finally arrived home about 3:30 PM.  My aged and normally sore feet had not presented much discomfort all day, in spite of being clad in socks and shoes all day.  Thus I was all primed for a few miles of triking to stretch the legs.  I also want to do at least a few miles each day, in hopes of increasing my stamina and endurance.  Yes, I'm a year older than I was a year ago, but I violently dislike the seemingly sudden onset of OLD AGE, or the symptoms thereof.
For some reason, my feet began feeling discomfort almost as soon as we got home from the trip to Springfield.  I'd already committed myself to an afternoon ride, so I took off anyway.  Even with pain in the feets, riding around under your own steam with the breeze in your face is always enjoyable.
The curious looks and waves from passers-by don't hurt either.
We've had beautiful weather the last few days and today was no exception.  High 70's or low 80's and enough of a breeze to help.  The forecasts for this weekend are more onerous, with thunderstorms and associated possibilities.  We'll see.

Ride Started:  5:23 PM        Ride Ended:  5:42 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.8 Lowest Voltage:  12.8
Beginning Blood Glucose:  172     Ending BG: 51
Lowest Temp:  75 F    Highest Temp:  78 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  2.13
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   6.9   MPH                           7.4  MPH            17.9 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 19 minutes                         17 minutes            2 minutes

Summertime, Summertime

Today's Very Short Tracking

Good Grief.  All I do is short trips lately, and too many days off between even these.
This being a small town, nothing is very far away.   I've been  needing some electrical stuff for adding AC outlets in our 93 year old house, so I decided to take the trike across town to buy some.
Since Jacque was gone to Branson with the only vehicle in the family, it was an easy choice.
We now live in the southern Midwest, at 1400 or so feet of elevation (compared to 6800 feet in NM), but we are surprised at how fickle the weather is here...… at least as unpredictable as back in the dry Southwest.  We've had cold temperatures and cloudy soggy days, even here to mid-May, and today all of a sudden it's 84 degrees outside before noon.  By the time I got situated to run to the store, it was 4:00-ish and still 80 degrees.  No worries about frostbite today, mates.

We have thunderstorm warnings for the next couple days into the weekend, along with possible tornado and flooding warnings to go with it.  But today was nothing but blue clear sky, as George Strait puts it so well.
The trip was short and uneventful, as usual.
My 72nd birthday is coming up shortly and for the last couple years I've prided myself on riding a mile for each year of age on my birthday.  I always look forward to these so called mega events but with my leg and feet issues I don't think I'm going to even try for the full 72 miles, much as I'd like to.  Even 72 kilometers would be about 45 miles which is also a tad much.  My feet have been getting better but I fear much abuse might take me back to the last 5 months of almost continuous neuropathy pain, which largely came about due to my insistence on lifting heavy loads associated with moving our household goods and continuing in spite of increasing foot pain and fatigue, trying to keep up with the young bucks who were helping us load and unload on both ends of the move.
So  my current wimpy strategy for this birthday will still include a celebratory trike ride.
In the neighborhood of 7.2 miles.... a piddly TENTH of a mile for each year of survival thus far.
We'll see.

Ride Started:  4:10 PM        Ride Ended:  4:32 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7 Lowest Voltage:  12.7
Beginning Blood Glucose:  311     Ending BG: 125
Lowest Temp:  78 F    Highest Temp:  84 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  1.91
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   4.8   MPH                           7.0  MPH            25.3 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 24 minutes                         16 minutes            8 minutes

Thank Goodness It's Friday

Today's Tracking via Ham Radio and APRS/GPS

After a few hours of stripping and sanding cabinet doors, my lover Jacque kindly allowed me to take a break by riding my Trike somewhere around town.  Dear Readers, you already realize that such rides exhaust me but elevate my mood something fabulous.
Today was no exception, despite the lower miles accomplished that I'm accustomed to.
Part of today's ride I'd done before:  Clouse Road out to the airport, but this time I turned right at the airport and rode back north toward Business Route 60.  this stretch of the road was nothing to brag about, with no shoulders and lots of damage and pot-holes.  Since I go so slow it didn't slow me down that much, and what little traffic I encountered was invariably polite and gave me lots of room, sometimes hanging back several hundred feet even when there was no oncoming traffic to worry about in passing me.
My aging feet got tired and sore during this ride, as usual, but unusually less so.  I only stopped twice to rest the footsies, and one of these stops was to check my blood sugar.
Today started out very cool (45 degrees outside) and cloudy.  Jacque and I spent at least a couple hours burning & scraping several layers of paint off our aged kitchen cabinet doors.

By early afternoon the weather had mostly cleared with nice sunshine and a few spotty clouds.
Having missed a few days of riding, both from drizzly weather and laziness, I was anxious to take advantage of this lovely, though cool, afternoon.

We find we may well be the only recumbent trike owners/riders in Mountain Grove.  Almosyt every time we ride someone stops or approaches us and tells us they've never seen anything like it.
I had my GoPro video cam running today but had shut it off when, just before getting to the airport, I noticed a red car stopped about a quarter mile ahead of me and seemingly waiting for me to pass.  As I approached, I saw the window down and a lady hanging out of the car taping a video of me, as usual exclaiming her surprise at such a contraption.  Only after passing her did I realize my own camera was not on - thus missing the opportunity to return the favor by posting a video of HER.  Ah Well.
Quite an enjoyable outing this time - though a bit cool.  Funny to have cold weather so close to the middle of May in Missouri.  Back in NM it snowed last night, which is not unusual for that country.
Evidently weird weather occurs everywhere, and we are very thankful that all the recent flooding has not affected us.  We are that thankful that there are no major rivers to overflow near us, though there sre all kinds of small creeks here and there.

Ride Started:  3:16 PM        Ride Ended:  4:18 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.8 Lowest Voltage:  12.7
Beginning Blood Glucose:  215     Ending BG: 131
Lowest Temp:  57 F    Highest Temp:  71 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  5.86
Distance Walked: 1/4 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   5.6   MPH                           6.6  MPH            23.6 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
1 hour 2 mins                        53 minutes            9 minutes

Dedicated to Susie

Dedicated to my darling dotter Susie, who called me on the phone today while I was cruising the backwoods on my trike.  My phone battery was getting low so we had to hang up before either of us really wanted to.  She claims she reads this blog, so there you go.  Much Love to Susie..... as well as the rest of my wonderful kiddos, all of whom are nigh unto middle age and non deserving of the "kiddo" label.
My sore feet have been slowly getting better, Praise Be to God.  I'm not exactly sure what is helping the most, but here is my current strategy:
I no longer soak my feet in cool water when they are painful.  I read an article recently that stated inflammation is actually a body response to injury and normally helps burn out impurities and infections in the body.   This, in addition to my podiatrist warning me not to soak feet, convinced me to try other methods.  When my feet start to hurt, which they still often do after short periods of walking or other pressure, I stop and rest and massage my feet with Absorbine Veterinary Liniment Gel.  This is good stuff, although labeled "for animal use only".  Since I am an animal by definition I don't worry, especially since it cools and calms my feet for a short period, and leaves no goo or residue as do other lotions.  I've found that just resting with my feet up, after 20 or 30 minutes the pain pretty much fades.  If the pain is especially bothersome, I use a TENS unit on my arm to "tickle" the arm with the electric pulses, which helps distract my mind from the feet.  You're correct, dear reader:  I'm Nuts.  It's Mainly the Pain in My Brain  Or something.
Howsomever, it has been almost a month now with no cool water soaking and my feet are back to their normal bony size with no swelling.  I have been able to sleep for a few hours horizontally in bed instead of all night in the living room in the recliner, a vast improvement in my sleep habits.  I often experience marvelous periods of no pain at all in the feet, where for the last several months my feet have been sizzling in CONTINUOUS pain.  I'm very encouraged at present, with the hope and prayer that I can eventually regain enough strength and stamina to do more than a few minutes of work at a time.
That said, I have not been triking nearly as much as I'd like to.  We're continually in process of remodeling our 1926-vintage  house, with Jacque doing a majority of the work.  I do the heavy lifting and wood butchering in short bursts, but she spends hours at a time sanding and scraping layers of paint and repainting kitchen cabinets, walls, and doors.  So there is never a shortage of tasks needing to be done.  Just a shortage of energy.
I'm thankful Jacque is tolerant and encouraging of my biking/triking addiction. 
Today after a short stint of wood cutting, sanding and painting a new shelf for the kitchen, I saddled up the trike and took off.

I tried going a different route than I've done before and found a backwoods loop that had no major traffic but led me back to Mountain Grove after a few short miles.  Rather hilly, as far as Missouri hills go, but not that bad at all.  My feet got tired, but I only stopped a couple times for a few minutes to rest them.  When I got home, of course they were sore again.  A half hour of rest after a dose of Absorbine and they're doing pretty well, thank you.

Ride Started:  6:30 PM        Ride Ended:  7:23 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.2  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0 Lowest Voltage:  12.9
Beginning Blood Glucose:  256     Ending BG: 122
Lowest Temp:  71 F    Highest Temp:  71 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  4.52
Distance Walked: 1/4 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   5.1   MPH                           6.2  MPH            19.8 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 53 minutes                        43 minutes            9 minutes

Triking in Traffic

Today's Roundabout GPS Journey

My neuropathic feet seem to be ever so slowly recovering from the last several months of almost constant pain.  Until a couple weeks ago the only relief I could get was by soaking my feet in cool water, numbing them and retarding the pain.  When the feet warmed again, the pain would return with a vengeance.  Prescription meds don't seem to help, but my podiatrist keeps warning me NOT to soak them in cool water.  I've tried to convince him that if HIS feet hurt as bad as mine he too would soak his feet in water.
I recently read that inflammation is the body's response to infection and injury, and wondered if my continual efforts to reduce my pain of inflammation by cool soakings might be working against me.
Now, instead of soaking feet in cool water, I use Absorbine Veterinary Liniment on them, which soothes the pain somewhat and allows me to rest my feet by elevating them a while.  The pain still takes almost half an hour or more to fade, but the cool water treatment wasn't much faster and cool water relief didn't last as long.  With the current regime of pain management I am able to get more sleep in bed now, compared to spending all night dozing intermittently in a recliner with my feet soaking in water.
With that lengthy intro, I have not been riding quite as much recently, do to soggy weather and work requirements with home remodeling.
Yesterday an unintended diversion occurred.  Going down into the basement to retrieve something I don't remember, I was shocked, SHOCKED, to find the basement 6 inches deep in water covering the floor.  Yes, we live in Missouri, where wet basements are not uncommon, and our automatic sump pump usually cycles on and off enough to keep the floor relatively dry.  This time we had had a couple of nights of downpour and tornado warnings, but the sump pump had died and only emitted a faint groaning when plugged and unplugged.  So our day was set for us:  Fix the PUMP and dry out the basement!
Our local Ace Hardware had the basics of what we lacked:  Tall Rubber Boot Waders, a hand-drill-operated pump, and a choice of 2 sizes of replacement Sump Pumps.  1/3 or 1/2 horsepower.
Having not yet seen the size of our current pump, submerged under a foot of murky water in the lowest basement corner, I chose the cheaper 1/3 HP pump.  We hooked up the little drill operated pump with a garden hose to pump out enough water to be able to wrestle with the defunct sump pump.  That process was slow, with hundreds of gallons of water being sucked out slowly through a narrow garden hose.  My cheap drill worked great and ran continuously for several hours without stopping, but the brushes inside were sparking and the poor underpowered motor was screaming loudly when the water finally got down to about 2 inches deep, allowing access via rubber boots and all.  I got the cord and pipe disconnected and was surprised how heavy it all was when I lifted it out and carried it up the stairs.
 without even opening the box containing the new pump, the weight difference foretold that the old pump was much larger and heavier-duty than the 1/3 HP pump.... so we made a return trip to the hardware store and exchanged the smaller unit for the 1/2 HP version, the largest one they had.  It still was much smaller physically and lighter than the old pump I worried it might not do the job.
However, after some mucking around matching the new pump to the old vertical pipes leading topside to the lower part of the back yard, it did work, and after about another 20 minutes of powerful pumping, the water was largely gone and the pump slowed down and began its cycling on and off as the basement walls and floor continued to slowly seep surrounding ground water inside.
This morning a more pleasant sight greeted us as we peeked into the basement.... a few widening dry spots on the floor and no standing water.  Having not ridden the trike in several days, I drug it out of the garage to take a bill - pay envelope over to the Post Office.  I told Jacque I was going to see if my feet would allow more riding after that, and Hallelujah, they did indeed.
Don't get me wrong. the feet still got tired and sore and I had to stop about 3 times in the 6-mile round trip to rest and massage them, but I made it all the way across town from the P.O. to Walmart and back home again with noticeably less pain and agony.  Almost 6 miles today.  Maybe by my birthday at the end of the month I can again do my yearly birthday ride of 1 mile for each year I've survived.  That number gets bigger as I get older and uglier but again I have trouble complaining too much:  Jacque's Uncle Max got me into this questionable habit by riding 85 miles(!) on his 85th birthday.  He's turning into a hard act to follow.

Ride Started:  12:17 PM        Ride Ended:  2:21 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9 Lowest Voltage:  12.9
Beginning Blood Glucose:  145     Ending BG: 111
Lowest Temp:  64 F    Highest Temp:  71 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  5.93
Distance Walked: 1/4 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   3.0   MPH                           5.2  MPH            14.8 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 1 hour 58 mins                   1 hour 8 mins         49 minutes