Half Day Goof-Off

As hoped, it was quite a bit warmer for the ride back to the car tonight. I heard the irritating "poppity-pop" of a motor bike coming up behind me and it turned out to be one of the bicycles with a gas engine mounted on the back wheel, sort of like a chainsaw with wheels.  I really don't get it.  If you don't want the exercise, why not just drive a motorcycle?  He wasn't going very fast - I've seen several but they seem to maybe make 20 MPH or so.  So they're not as dangerous as kids on motorbikes but it's kinda odd to smell the exhaust and see the little puffs of blue 2-cycle smoke on the trail as they go by.
As usual I encountered the usual odd lot of walkers and dog trotters, always guessing which way they will jump when I call out to them.
The last walkers were walking hand in hand, on the WRONG (Left) side of the path.  As I passed them on their right, my irritation was replaced by the enjoyment of seeing their 4-year-old son on a wee bicycle with training wheels.  He was 30 or more feet out in front of Mom & Dad, and instead of whizzing by him I slowed to match his speed and told him as he looked up at me with big eyes:
"That's a really cool bike!  I really like your bike..... Bye"
I don't know what he thought, but it tickled his parents.

BG before ride home:  223   BG after getting home, no snack yet: unk 
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
10.2  Mph                            11.8 mph            23.2 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  43:36 mins                       37:53 mins          05:44 mins 

I had signed up to take the whole day off work today to replace the camshaft sensor in Jacque's Exploder.
However, I started at 8 AM and had it repaired and running by 10 AM.   While I was poking around outside in broad daylight, I checked the air in my bike tires (~40 PSI) added just a bleep of air to them (~45 PSI).
I cleaned up and saddled up and went on in to work, arriving about 1:30 PM.  The aired-up tires ride much harder and thus rattle my brains more when crossing Albuquerque's @@#$#%%&!!! wooden plank surfaced bridges.  Thought I was going to break something.
It's my daughter's birthday today so I am taking her and her fiance to dinner so I won't be able to make up much comp time today.  Hopefully I'll be able to work an hour or two a day over for comp time so I won't have to eat half a vacation day.
Today was clear and beautiful with a blue sky and no clouds but it turned off COOL even though I was riding during mid-day instead of the cooler morning hour.  It was so warm I took off without a jacket of any kind, except my day-glow green vest with reflective stripes.  Thankfully I had a long sleeved shirt on Jacque made for me, so I was able to button up the sleeves to cut down on the cold air refrigerating my arms.  Also hopefully this evening the air will be at least a little warmer so I won't freeze in spite of being coat-less.  I normally don't wear a coat or jacket for the evening ride anyway, normally getting too hot unless it's been REALLY cold all day, which is rare in these parts.  The wind was blowing south, and strongly, and of course I was headed north.  Huff Puff.  Crawl along in lower gears.... BAH
I ordered a "sport camera" a few days ago for recording live shots while I ride around, but it hasn't arrived yet.  I got the extended memory card for it in the inbox yesterday so hopefully it will arrive soon and I can begin playing with my latest toy.

Starting BG:  171      Post-Ride BG:  97
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43 Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.0  Mph                          10.3 mph             19.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
55:37 mins                          43:07 mins            12:30 mins

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Weather?

Coming back to the car from work tonight I spotted one of my favorite irritations:  A guy on a motorcycle riding the bicycle path.  When I approached, he rode down into the drainage channel and waited for me to pass.  I stopped and dug out the cell phone and enabled the movie camera function and waited for him to come back up on the trail.  He wouldn't do it;  perhaps he realized what I was up to.  I finally started rolling and took the following video of him down in the channel:

I need to find a video toaster so I can edit out the upside-down portions of the video, wonderfully focused shots of my fingers and handlebars, pavement underneath the bike, etc.  Right after I passed this guy he started up the motorcycle again and rode up on the bicycle path and put-putted back and forth several times before disappearing down the trail.  BAH
I spent part of Sunday measuring my battery current consumption with my old and new GPS/Radio combinations.  I was a bit shocked to find the new GPS consumes battery juice at about TWICE the rate of the old Magellan:
Device measured                                                               Current Drain (amps)
Magellan GPS (old, monochrome, very little mapping)         .090
Garmin 350 GPS (great GPS, good color maps)                 .16
TH-D7 Ham Radio HT, receive only, no GPS                    .16
TH-D7 transmitting, 5 Watts high power, no GPS             1.60
TH-D7 transmitting, 5 Watts high power, with Garmin  on 3.20 (Ouch)
TH-D7 transmitting, 5 Watts high power, with Magellan    1.48
So no wonder my batteries go flat when I talk a lot on voice on the radio.  The Tracker / Locator beacon function only occurs every 30 seconds and transmits for about half a second each time so that doesn't eat the battery too terribly.  But yacking on voice.... Mercy. This certainly proves I would need much heavier batteries (or a hub generator, which is not only expensive but I fear would slow me down)  for  a bike trip lasting longer than 2 hours, UNLESS I turned off the voice function and just let the beacon run by itself.  BAH
BG before ride home:  223   BG after getting home, no snack yet: 136 
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
09.9  Mph                            11.2 mph            22.0 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  45:00 mins                       39:52 mins          05:08 mins                                                   


I was surprised at the scarcity of riders this morning.  Yes, the wind was gusty yesterday and it rained & snowed a little in the area (in the East Mountains we were surprised to find at least an inch of snow on the ground, with the temperature barely freezing at 31 degrees).  However, it was relatively sunny and clear in Albuquerque when I drove in this morning so of course I rode the bike.  It was coated with a couple inches of snow and slush when I left home but it was almost dried off when I got to my parking space.  Of course there was still a bit of ice and moisture in my webbed recumbent seat but it wasn't bad and seemed to  dry up in only a mile or so of pedaling warmth.  I passed maybe 3 other cyclists and ONE runner (who evidently stays slim and shapely by jogging even when it's a bit cold), compared to the usual 10 or more cyclists and dog walkers I usually see.
Awakening BG:  155      Post-Ride BG:  82
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43 Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.1  Mph                          11.5 mph             20.9 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:05 mins                          38:49 mins            05:10 mins

Stop the Monday Madness

The wind was howling pretty good this afternoon, and had only changed direction slightly by 5:00...
Jacque was in town and called to offer me a ride to the car.  I wussed and rode with her.  Hopefully the storm will calm down a bit by tomorrow.

 It was surprisingly warm this morning when I got up:  40 degrees outside, which meant I didn't have to build a fire in the wood stove and was thus able to leave for work about 20 minutes earlier than when I mess with the ashes, lighting the fire, stoking it up so it will still be warm with coals by the time I've got my lunch constructed and ready to go, etc.  It was quite dark and cloudy but very little wind [yet].  The forecast for today calls for chances of snow or rain this afternoon.  Might be a good thing even though it might mess up my go-home bike ride... we surely need the moisture.

Awakening BG:  120      Post-Ride BG:  102
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.1  Mph                          11.6 mph             20.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:03 mins                          38:37 mins            05:26 mins

Another Day in Paradise

BG before ride home:  109   BG after getting home, no snack yet: 146 
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.42
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
11.2  Mph                            12.2 mph            21.8 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  39:53 mins                       36:32 mins          03:21 mins

 This morning was the first morning in months that I didn't build a fire in the wood stove when I woke up:  It was 37 degrees outside and 63 inside.  A bit on the cool side but Jacque's going to make a trip to town and I wanted to see if the house would warm enough from the sunshine to make it without a fire in the stove today.   As a result of not spending time shoveling ashes and making fire, I got to work almost half an hour earlier. Woo Hoo.
Spotted another couple of new cyclists this morning, warm weather and high gas prices ($3.30 and climbing) sure inspire more and more to ride bikes....  Also passed a walker pulling what appeared to be a briefcase on wheels so I took her for a new foot commuter.
Still investigating and reviewing various helmet/sport cameras.  The one in the catalog I spotted earlier is available all over the internet for 10 to 20 dollars less, INCLUDING shipping.  Just wanna find one that others have already tried out and highly recommend....

Awakening BG:  221(!)  Post-Ride BG:  62
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.5  Mph                          11.1 mph             20.2 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
46:55 mins                          40.10 mins            06:45 mins

Love this Global Warming

Several new cyclists and some who rode last year but now returning with the warm weather showed up on the trails tonight.  A slight head and cross wind slowed me down but when you ride all the time you compare everything to the worst days and today was a great day to ride a bike.
When I approached the street crossing at Washington a little blue car accelerated noisily to zoom out in front of me so he wouldn't have to slow down or wait for me to cross.  Nice guy.  NOT
BG before ride home:  109   BG after getting home, no snack yet: 146 
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
08.9  Mph                            10.3 mph            20.3 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  50:21 mins                       43:31 mins          06:50 mins 

Beautiful morning ride today.  It was 39 degrees at HOME (6800 feet elevation) when I got up about 4:40 AM.
By the time I got to the parking spot and on the bike I decided it was warm enough NOT to wear my face mask, and was I glad.  Barely cool enough to even call it cool.  I still had a hand warmer in each mitten, a fleece skull cap under the bike helmet, a next-to-skin thermal turtleneck on the torso, then a thick sweatsuit-like jacket, and the windbreaker on the outside of all that.
I was well overheated before I got very far, and stopped to unzip both jackets.  Another mile and I had to stop and remove the skull cap... really started to get toasty.  By the time I got to work I regretted having ANY cold weather layers on.  Forecasts call for high winds and a cold front to return in the next day or so, but it will have to get a lot colder than 40 degrees before I layer up like this again.  Since this is NM, it gets warm then it gets cold... we can have the weirdest extremes here.  We've had the driest summer on record and the wettest summer on record.... in the same summer.  Same with record breaking cold and heat... in the same month.
Been having trouble keeping the Blood Glucose down to reasonable levels the last couple days.  That's one of the main reasons to ride the bike.... to keep that burned down to acceptable levels.  Sometimes it just doesn't behave the way I think it should.  We had chili soup and a  fried tortilla for dinner last night, and it was probably more than I should have gobbled.
I got one of these "bargain electronics" catalogs yesterday.  I picked it up to throw it in the wood stove and decided to peek inside first and found a few interesting items.  That means this catalog is staying around for at least a few more days.  One of the most promising pages has 2 or 3 "Digital Sport Cameras" that can be used with a head band to take videos and pictures while in motion..... ding ding ding.  Just what I'm currently interested in.  If I had a camera like that on my helmet with an easy way to trigger the shutter, I would get a lot more cool photos of people and oddities I see in  my travels.  And the prices are less than 100 bucks, closer to 50 bucks.  We'll see.....
Awakening BG:  212(!)  Post-Ride BG:  71
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.4  Mph                          11.4 mph             20.7 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
47:29 mins                          39.06 mins            08:23 mins

Whoo, Hooo, Wednesday

The ride home provided some eye candy along the path:  2 Teen girls walking with one baggy pants guy.... gals decked out in fishnet stockings and low cut tank tops sashaying along.  Maybe they were walking to a party somewhere .. somehow I doubt it.  I stayed on the bike path and passed them safely with no neck strain.
Obviously the weather is getting much warmer.

BG before ride home:  298   BG after getting home, no snack yet:  Unknown, didn't test.  BG at 10:20 PM before bed, after chili supper: 
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
11.3  Mph                            12.2 mph            23.0 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  39:30 mins                       36:34 mins          02:56 mins

Awakening BG:  270(!)  Post-Ride BG:  123
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.5  Mph                          10.9 mph             20.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
47:02 mins                          40:49 mins            06:13 mins

Tuesday Twaddling

Very pleasant temperatures riding back from work this evening.  I stopped to unzip my removable sleeves from my windbreaker  and realized I was so heated up I just took it entirely off and rode the rest of the way in shirtsleeves.  Many joggers are starting to appear, with gas prices going the way they are (currently $3.25 and rising) we'll soon be seeing big numbers of new and returning cyclists on the trails.
BG before ride home:  219   BG after getting home, before dinner:  76
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.35
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
9.4  Mph                             11.1 mph            21.7 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  46:54 mins                       39:43 mins          07:11 mins

Great ride this morning, although I seemed to run out of gas about halfway through.  My insulin pump ran out of insulin maybe 10 minutes earlier.  I tend to think if I'm exercising I can get along without insulin but it just ain't so for me.  I struggled with the few slight hills on the commute this morning.
There's a grade school somewhere close to the bike trail (Comanche) and Washington Street.  There are almost always at least a handful of kids walking to school, loaded down with books and backpacks.  I often have to wait for them to clear the bike crossing, since like cars they seem unaware they are blocking bike traffic.  This morning a little girl spotted me crossing in front of her and started yelling how cool the bike was, etc, etc.  The younger kids normally shout out to me how nice the bike is, with all the blinkies and GPS and radio paraphernalia on it, while the older people tease me by calling me Inspector Gadget.  Guilty-
Awakening BG:  177  Post-Ride BG:  203 (Insulin pump ran dry during the ride)
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
08.7  Mph                          10.2 mph             18.8 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
51:04 mins                          43:38 mins            07:26 mins