Too Hot, Then it Rains

Today's Travel Tracking via GPS and Ham Radio

I had high hopes of making a 10 mile triketrip this morning, but didn't quite achieve it.
I should have gotten underway earlier in the morning, but I tend to procrastinate or even put things off until the last minute....
I first thought of taking a ride about 8:30 AM or so but by the time I got going it was a little after noon and the sun was high.
I rode around back streets until I was up to 3rd Street, or Business Route 60, the main east-west path through Mountain Grove, then continued east to the western-most exit for Mountain Grove off Highway 60, then rode the shoulder of 60 back toward the second exit to Mountain Grove.  I exited 60 at that point to take the frontage road around town just south of Route 60, a reverse route of a circuit I've done several times now.  Riding to the eastern-most exit of 60 to Mountain Grove would have added welcome miles, but the only time I've tried that route I discovered that exit has NO shoulder for at least 2 miles before getting into town.  Since that traffic runs 50 to 70 MPH, it was NOT fun that time, watching vehicles zoom up behind me.  They all gave me plenty of clearance, but nobody can expect that good behavior from 100% of drivers 100% of the time.
Speaking of good behavior, when I exited 60 and entered the center turn lane to turn left on the frontage road by McDonalds, a very busy road for some reason, a very nice fellow in a F350-size Ford truck pulling a trailer behind him unnecessarily stopped as he spotted me, and blocked traffic behind him, beckoning me to take my turn in front of him.  What a nice guy.  This behavior is not unusual around here.  Reckless speedsters are here but they are thankfully in the minority and rarely encountered.
I was taking one of several rest breaks in the shade of a nice tree, one of "God's Air Conditioners", when I felt a single drop of moisture go splat on the back of my head.  It had turned mildly cloudy but I thought I should get going in case it turned out to be real rain.

JUST before it started to RAIN

Before I could get the helmet and shoes back on, it DID commence raining, and within a few minutes it had turned into a downpour.  I passed a couple of homes with carports or other overhangs before deciding the NEXT shelter I spotted I was going to take advantage of.  The rain slowed a bit, so I kept going, only to get stuck in a TERRIFIC downpour, and frantically pedaling with real motivation, I pulled across the street under the front door overhang at the Senior Center.  It was empty and closed but the expansive overhang provided great protection from the rain.  My radio and GPS were fairly wet by now.  I dragged out my large Zip-Lok bag and covered them up but it may have been too late.
The radio was still working but the GPS was not responding to finger commands.
The rains intensified, pounded down like Noah-Build-An-Ark..... then blue sky appeared overhead and the rain just as suddenly stopped.  I waited a few minutes to make sure I wasn't going to get soaked again, then rode home thankful for my fenders on all 3 wheels.

Ride Started:  12:22 PM      Ride Ended:  2:03 PM
Beginning Blood Glucose:    186     Ending BG: 126

Lowest Temp:  71 F    Highest Temp:  82 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  7.84
Distance Walked: 1/4 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   7.6   MPH                           8.1  MPH            16 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 1 hour 38 mins                  1 hour 14 mins      24 minutes

Feet Better, God is Great

Today's GPS/Ham Radio Tracking

Being overdue for a trike ride (almost 24 hours now!), I saddled up and took to the streets and byways earlier in the day in hopes of beating the soon-to-be-summer heat.

'Twas a beautiful day, and I hoped to get in about 10 miles, but made around the 8 mile mark.
Cruising around this area is very pleasant, with very light traffic on the back roads, but crossing main streets in the middle of town can occasionally be daunting.  I had to wait close to 5 minutes at a couple of intersections when I got back to Mountain Grove, but that's really nothing to complain about.
Speaking of complaining, I surely am losing some of my main complaints:  My feet, so sore for months after overdoing it moving here from NM, are slowly getting better and stronger.  I had to stop a couple times during this ride for a shade-and-massage break for the tired feet, but when I got back to the house I was pleasantly shocked to notice that I had very little pain or soreness in my feet and legs.  Normally after riding, they are hot and sore and take half an hour or more to cool off, but not this morning.  Heavenly Father most certainly has been answering my prayers for relief.  Maybe I can actually get some useful work done soon...
Another thing also mildly surprised me.  My blood glucose was 160 before I started riding.  I snarfed a couple of cookies at 15 grams of carbs each, assuming I would burn the carbs off during the ride without applying more insulin.  I obviously miscalculated, since the ending blood glucose was a bit higher than desired.  Oh Well....

Ride Started:  8:22 AM      Ride Ended:  10:01 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9 Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:    160     Ending BG: 185

Lowest Temp:  61 F    Highest Temp:  78 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  8.64
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   5.2   MPH                           6.1  MPH            19.6 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 1 hour 39 mins                  1 hour 25 mins      14 minutes

Short Ride, Found Treasure

Today's Zig-Zag GPS Tracking

Well, today being Thursday and no riding since Monday, I came up with a decent excuse to ride at least a little bit today:  Cleaning out our ever-replenishing corrugated cardboard stack.  I flatten all such boxes and put them in a pile in the garage until there's enough to load up in the trailer for a trip to our local recycler.  Since moving in here, we've contributed quite a few loads, but we continue to build up pile after pile with incoming packages and whatnot.  We've never gotten any money for these piles of cardboard.  One reason is there's never anyone present at the recycling center.  Still, since i hate to throw anything away, I'm happy to donate to their pile.
Today, instead of using the bigger trailer towed by our Ford Exploder, I hooked up the little single-wheel B.O.B. trailer and loaded it up with cardboard and delivered it via foot-power.

My gimpy feet started hurting worse and earlier than usual, so I came right back to the house for (a) disconnecting  the trailer, and (b) taking a rest break.  After 20 or 30 minutes of loafing I resumed my trip, expecting to get in another 5 miles or so.
As I rounded a corner entering Morris Street, I saw a pile of second hand windows and casings with a hand lettered \sign next to them saying "FREE".  This distracted me sufficiently to turn me around for home to retrieve that good ole bigger trailer and Ford Exploder to take advantage of this treasure.
I say "treasure" with a bit of tongue in cheek since most of the windows have rotted wooden casings and broken panes, but it also included a couple of aluminum frame windows with glass intact.   Since our house needs some additional storm windows and the garage has several broken panes, I consider it well worth hauling the entire pile for the benefit of the few useful pieces.

Jacque went with me on this errand to help load our dusty goods.  Since my footsies were still complaining, I forsook the original goal of five miles and am loafing with feet cooling in the air even as this epistle is written.

Ride Started:  12:09 PM      Ride Ended:  1:47 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.95  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0 Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:    292     Ending BG: 195

Lowest Temp:  67 F    Highest Temp:  75 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  3.22
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   2.0   MPH                           5.3  MPH            15.5 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 1 hour 38 mins                  36 minutes           1 hr 2 minutes

Sunny Monday, Stay Tuned for Storms

Today's GPS Tracking

My aging sore feet have been doing much better lately, so I looked forward even more to a trike ride today.  Today's sunny atmosphere, of course, comes with the price of increased temperatures.  With our many storms recently also comes humidity.  Thus I aimed to get going early today before it got too hot.
Of course, I goofed off much too long and wound up riding out shortly before noonish, which for some reason had already warmed the day somewhat.  STILL a great day to ride...
I took a reverse path today almost mirroring a ride I've done a couple times before, out of the small town of Mountain Grove and a few miles of country roads.  What few motorists I encounter invariably give me a wide berth when passing and often yells of encouragement.
I didn't stop in anyone's driveway today so I suppose that's why I got no offers of drink or "carbs", as happened to Jacque and me last week.  Not a problem.... since I carry my own water (2 plastic bottles) and carbs, both homemade and storeboughten.
I did make several stops, and consumed most of one bottle of water, as well as a couple Excedrin tablets.
A couple rides ago I realized with all the heat and humidity, my windshield/fairing was doing me no favors.  I almost never achieve speeds that gain any benefit from it directing air around my feet, and with the heat I definitely NEED that air cooling my feet instead of avoiding them.
This is the second ride I've taken without the fairing, and I do confess I don't miss it.
I've also been trying several styles of shoes that increase foot exposure to the cooling air.  The best ones, so far, are what I call Ho Chi Minh Combat Boots.  They closely resemble the shoes made by hand in Vietnam from cast-off jeep and truck tires  The natives, both North and South, cut up such tires into foot-size shapes and added straps to hold them on your feet, and they functioned quite well.
Many of the Viet Cong were noted for wearing these things into battle, and the South Vietnamese both wore them AND sold them to GI's such as me, where we mainly used them as shower shoes.
The ones I have look a lot like such shoes but are NOT made of old tires.
They not only allow lots of air flow around my toes but are easy to slip off for rest breaks.

Rest breaks of which I took several today.
When I got back home, my feet were of course tired and burning, but the great news is that they now cool off and stop hurting after several minutes of rest.
Now all I have to do is get busy and do something productive instead of just pure fun....
Our southern and midwestern states have been getting pounded with unusual amounts of severe weather recently.  Current forecasts include more in the next couple days...

Ride Started:  11:12 PM      Ride Ended:  12:27 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.9   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9 Lowest Voltage:  12.9

Beginning Blood Glucose:    195     Ending BG: 88

Lowest Temp:  75 F    Highest Temp:  82 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  5.31
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   4.4   MPH                           5.8  MPH            19.6 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 1 hour 12 mins                  55 minutes           17 minutes

Jim & Jacque, Riding Their Trikes

Today's Tracking, Both Trikes

Today's excuse for riding the trike was a shopping list we wanted to fill at WalMart.  It's just north of us across US 60 about 2 miles each way, so normally it's not a mondo ride.  Jacque was going to drive over for the shopping but when I suggested riding our trikes she readily agreed.
We always attract a fair amount of attention riding these things and today was no exception.  We were crawling uphill past one house with kids in the front yard, and pulled over for a rest break in the shade before we got there.  One young fellow spotted us and was gesticulating while we rested, then got on his own bike to follow us around the block.  He hung back until we started coasting down a hill, whereupon he decided to scoot around us and speed ahead as we started up the other side of the hill.  I foolishly poured on the coal and passed HIM about halfway up the hill.  He was a bit surprised that an old goat could outrun him.  Who knows, maybe he held back to have mercy on me instead.

These videos can be watched by clicking on the "YouTube" line

Camden then allowed us to continue on to WalMart unmolested since he was such a good kid.

My feet were complaining mightily by the time we got to the store.  Surely my foolishness catching up to Camden on his 2-wheeler had nothing to do with overheated feet.  SIGH

Jacque found me a pair of mesh swimming shoes to wear on the trike on the trip home, and the additional airflow around my toes helped a lot.  

We stopped in the shade on Oakla"nd Street in a less than prosperous neighborhood for a rest break.
A less-than-wealthy couple came to their front door and accosted us:  "Those look like FUN!  Why don't you come in and rest a spell?"  We told them we were just taking advantage of their tree's shade on the side of the street and they murmured something together and the nice young (compared to ME) fellow came outside with a couple of cinnamon rolls, asking would we like some "Carbs".  I tried to turn him down but he persisted, and Jacque accepted them with good grace.  We thanked them and rode on.  

In only about a hundred more feet or so, I realized I was getting a bit dizzy from low blood sugar:  I'd neglected to set my insulin pump's basal rate temporarily lower for the exertion of the cycling.  So I snatched one of the pastries I'd tried to refuse and quickly snarfed it down.  It hit the spot, and my blood glucose still tested low 20 minutes later when we got home.

This kind of behavior of total strangers or friends we meet in this area is not at all unusual.  Most folks seem to have "never met a stranger", and it is one of the many  blessings of living in the Bible Belt.

Beautiful but warm sunny riding weather today.  Here at 5 PM as I post this, the forecast calls for possible severe storms overnight.  Who knows, maybe we can spend some time in the basement again tonight...

Ride Started:  1:37 PM      Ride Ended:  3:46 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9 Lowest Voltage:  12.8

Beginning Blood Glucose:       83  Ending BG: 85

Lowest Temp:  75 F    Highest Temp:  84 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  5.38
Distance Walked: 1/4 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   2.6   MPH                           4.8  MPH            14.8 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 2 hours 2 mins                  1 hour 7 mins        55 minutes

Too Hot to Plow?

It got over 87 degrees at the house this afternoon but I was feeling froggy so I saddled up the trike for a ride. 
I was shocked only a couple blocks from our house to see tree damage left over from my birthday evening tornado swarm.  This greeted me as I turned on to Clouse Street:

A Y-shaped tall tree stump

Part of tree lying across the street

Remaining Tree Damage across Clouse St.

After popping these pics  I'd only gone about one easy mile when my feet overheated and I began losing interest in breaking any distance records today.  After a short foot massage I took a short loop back to the house with its wonderful shade and air conditioning.
Rather than keep pushing and enduring additional pain, I wimped out.  My feet are doing much better but some days are better than others....

Ride Started:  3:13 AM        Ride Ended:  3:44 PM

Beginning Blood Glucose:  188     Ending BG: 143
Lowest Temp:  81 F    Highest Temp:  86 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  2.22
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   4.3   MPH                           6.6  MPH            19.6 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 31 minutes                         20 minutes          10 minutes

Ah One, And Ah Two

Jim's GPS Track Today

Today's Tandem Tracking to the Senior Center

Today's thrilling adventures include my morning trip to the Chiropractor and the subsequent tandem trip with Jacque for lunch at the Senior Center.... again.
With my elderly back problems, that seem to aggravate the elderly feet problems,, I have been getting "adjustments" every 2 or 3 weeks.  I'm not sure how much it helps everything but I do feel a bit more "spry" after getting banged around in the office.  When I gt home Jacque mentioned she had spotted "Taco Plates" on the menu today at the Senior Center.  I told her I was willing to go, if we could take the Tandem Terratrike for transportation, to which she readily agreed.

Both trips were short and sweet, but of course still fun.
A sad note from my marathon 11-miler yesterday..... evidently somewhere along the way I lost a set of keys out of one of my side pockets. A more intelligent fellow would have learned by now not to keep keys in side pockets while sitting back riding a recumbent.... since this was not the first time it's happened.
Anyway, later this afternoon I DROVE over to Ace Hardware to get a replacement set of keys cut.  When I was paying the nice lady at the checkout, she asked "Are you the ones we see riding that tandem trike around town??"  I had to admit guilt.
Between trike rides yesterday morning and early this morning, we had a severe storm front rip through our area.  Several tornadoes were reported.  We had no damage in our immediate area but about 15 miles to the northwest, Hartville (our county seat) suffered tornado touchdowns.  A semi truck and trailer was blown over on the highway and the local grocery store in Hartville was destroyed.    Our old house was built in 1926 and has not yet suffered tornado damage, though high winds have already brought down one of our trees.  Hopefully it can make a few dozen more years without direct tornado contact.  As of this posting, severe tornado warnings are blaring on the TV for areas 50-60 miles NW of here.  We might spend time in the basement before the night is over.

Ride Started:  9:26 AM        Ride Ended:  12:30 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  14.0  Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0 Lowest Voltage:  12.8
Beginning Blood Glucose:  188     Ending BG: 143
Lowest Temp:  61 F    Highest Temp:  82 F
Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  4.41
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
   3.9   MPH                           5.2  MPH            17.8 MPH
Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
 3 hours 4 mins                  1 hour                   1 hour  55 mins