Just Another Ten Miles

Today's Impressive Tracking via APRS and Ham Radio

Son John is still here but still having trouble acclimatizing hisself to the higher altitude here after living in Washington State the last couple of years.  So my invitation to ride with me was demurred, and I took off by myself, as usual.
I didn't ride yesterday but I did spend some time finally getting around to installing a small solar panel on the 2-wheel recumbent in hopes of it being able to keep my electronics running longer by keeping the charge level at least a bit higher on the battery pack.
The current system, where I remove the pannier containing the battery and charge it after every ride, allows several hours of operation without external power.  I'd like to set it up so it could run all day - at least on sunny days.

View from the Front

The panel is a 8 watt unit, glass surface mounted on a chrome metal plate.  I mounted it with a foam pad between it and the bike rack underneath, and it still rattles a bit when bouncing along our goat path mile of road between the pavement and the house.  I'll probably figure out a better shock-mount for it.  For now, so far so good.

View from the Driver's Seat

 The bike sat outside in the sun most of the day, parked but with all the electronics plugged into the solar panel and operating.  The voltage was maintained at a steady 13.1 volts all day.  Of course it started sagging a bit when I was riding it because (1) it was late with less sunshine available and (2) I was transmitting occasionally with the voice ham radio (Kenwood TH-F6A).  I'll have to ride earlier in the day with total sunshine to see how it does then.....

Dang, I forgot to smile.  I LIKE biking..

I again took off about an hour before dark, meaning it was almost totally dark by the time I got back home.  As winter wears on, it will get darker earlier and this behavior of mine will have to be modified.  I don't ride after dark unless necessary for whatever reason, even though I have decent lighting on board.
On the way around the loop, on the return leg, there is  a downhill run almost a mile long, and a very nice family with lots of kids lives there.  Almost every day one or more of the family is outside when I cruise by at the highest speeds of the entire ride (downhill with a tailwind!), and today was no exception.  I always wave and holler at them when I pass, and I always get a big wave back.  FunStuff.

Ride Started: 3:19 PM    Ride Ended:  4:56 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.2   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest: 12.7
Lowest Temp  46 F      Highest Temp:  57 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  10.28
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  7.0 MPH                               8.8 MPH                     27.9 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
 1 hour 28 mins                      1 hour 10 mins           17 minutes