Wow, Long Distance

Spotty Tracking Today
We awoke again, this morning, to thundering rain showers pounding the roof.  It startle me awake but I promptly went back to sleep while Jacque could not get back to sleep because of the racket.  So she got up before the alarm went off and I slept blissfully until about 6:30 AM, by which time the storm had stopped pounding.
All well and good, but it was soaked and soggy outside, with heavy fog.  I looked several times at the live weather radar on the internet and could see nothing storm-wise except for cloud cover.
I stepped outside several times early in the morning, and though it wasn't raining, the mist and fog was so thick it "splished" on the face while walking around and promised to soak me if I dared to saddle up the pedal-powered trike.
By noon, the sun still was in hiding but the sloshy fog had thinned out to the point it felt almost dry outside, so I loaded the trike into the trailer to ferry it through the mud down to the paved road.
By the time I got to the parking spot alongside the pavement of Frost Road, there was a wee speck of sunshine in evidence, but threatening clouds in almost every direction.  Desperate to get in at least a short ride, I decided to ride my usual shortie 9-10 mile loop and turn around early if I go hit by rain.
All this because the weather forecasts for the next few days indicate frequent showers.
At first it certainly looked like I might hit rain and have to retreat:

Interestingly, the threatening clouds seemed to drift to the north and away from me as I rode east.  I did actually get a little rain on my head... as I was riding along in the clear, with NO clouds overhead!
Evidently a few drops had blown quite a ways sideways from surrounding clouds, allowing me to feel a few of them.  As I noticed the raindrops hitting me, I looked overhead to see where they were coming from, and could see no nearby clouds.  Only in New Mexico??
I usually talk on my ham radio while riding, to two or three hams who might answer me when they hear me on the trike.  Today I heard a weak signal on 146.52 MHz, the national simplex 2 meter calling frequency.  I tried calling back but got no response, so I remotely switched the remote base station at home over to 146.52 and tried again, talking through the remote radio.  This time I got a response, from a ham who was working on his antenna in Santa Fe.  As I finished talking to him, I heard a call from KG5LRB George, who was ON HIS BIKE somewhere up in Santa Fe.  This happened at 1:36 in the afternoon and I record it since it's so unusual to actually talk to another ham radio nut on  a bicycle.  It's happened less than a dozen times for me during the last 20 years of riding bikes with ham radios a-squawking.
The I exchanged greetings and salutations with 2 or 3 other hams on the same frequency, so 146.52 was more fun than usual today.
As I cruised along, I became convinced that I might actually make my full 9-something-mile route without getting rained on.  The closer I got to home, the more the dark clouds seemed to be coming at me over the Sandias.  I thought this time I might get wet before I got back to the Exploder-and-trailer combination.
Amazingly enough, I made it back and got the trike back into the trailer just as a few sprinkles started coming down.  It still did not actually rain, though storm clouds continued to gather and threaten.
A few moments ago, as I was typing this, KOB radio issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Sandoval and Bernalillo counties.

Ride Started: 1:10 PM    Ride Ended:  2:35 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.9  Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.4
Beginning Blood Glucose:  95   Ending BG Reading: 67
Lowest Temp  67F      Highest Temp:  78F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  9.32
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
6.3 MPH                                 8.2 MPH                    30.5 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
1 hour 22 mins                        1 hour 8 mins            14 minutes

Sunny Monday, WhooHoo

Monday's Surprisingly Good Tracking

Well, yesterday was another of New Mexico's 300-Plus days of sunshine, in spite of the recent monsoonal rains several days (and inches) in a row.  Thus, another great day for  a ride.
It was so great I rode about 5 miles farther than I normally do.
The wind was again a bit gusty, but on recumbents wind presents less of a problem than when sitting upright in higher profile on the "normal" upright DF (Diamond Frame) bike.
My three new tires have been doing well, thank you for asking, and not requiring added air since first installing them.  Air leaks slowly no matter what, given sufficient time, but so far so good.
It's always great to be out with the wind in my face, under my own steam, with sufficient snacks and water on board to satisfy the occasional bursts of thirst or hunger.  Since it was so late in the morning (and early in the afternoon) there wasn't very much shade to take breaks under, but I did find a few shallow shady spots along the way.
The extra five miles cost me an extra half hour in total riding time, but the only bad thing about spending extra time on the bikes is the time lost doing productive work elsewhere, leading to (at least) faint guilt pangs.
With the sunny weather starting to dry out the mud in the road, I need to get out there with  shovel and wheelbarrow to fill in some of the new cuts and pot-holes therein.

Ride Started: 12:05 PM    Ride Ended:  2:34 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.8  Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.9 
Beginning Blood Glucose:  222   Ending BG Reading: 74 
Lowest Temp  67F      Highest Temp:  78F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  15.67 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
6.3 MPH                                 7.4 MPH                    33.1 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
2 hours 28 mins                     2 hours 7 mins           21 minutes

Sunday Rider

Today's Tracking via GPS and Ham Radio

The soggy weather recently has made me a bit desperate for riding time.  Since today was sunny (After the unusual morning fog burned off) I again took a quick ride between LDS General Conference sessions right after the first session ended at noon.  Amazingly the weather was still sunny - though a bit windy - but that was small sacrifice.
Since it rained AGAIN last night, enough to endanger the arroyo crossing we must pass through to get up to the house, everything was again soggy with many puddles, including my normal parking spot down by the pavement.  I gingerly parked in sufficient gravel so that I could walk without too much mud pickup and ride the trike out to the relatively dry pavement.
I didn't want to run short on time, and I thought at first I'd just ride up to the Post Office to retrieve 2 days' worth of mail, but that is around 3 miles total round trip and I wanted to get in at least 10 miles somehow. 
Thus I first rode east on Frost Road, watching the GPS to see when I reached the 3 mile mark. 3 miled out plus 3 miles back and then 2 miles west to the Post Office and back and Presto, 10 miles more or less.
The weather and sun were perfect, traffic was not too heavy, and the breeze was occasionally stiff but not terrible.  Trouble is, by the time I got back to the vehicle at the 6 mile (or so) mark, I only had 20 minutes left and no way of making it to the Post Office and back in time.  So I terminated the ride early and DROVE the short hop to the P.O. and back home.
Whatever.  Didn't get in a marathon ride, but at least got the blood pumping and the blood glucose lowered.....

Ride Started: 12:17 PM    Ride Ended:  1:24 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.0  Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  12.9 
Beginning Blood Glucose:  245   Ending BG Reading: 57 
Lowest Temp  64F      Highest Temp:  71F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  6.06 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
5.7 MPH                                 7.5 MPH                    28.1 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
1 hour 4 mins                          48 minutes                 16 minutes

Riding Between Storms

Today's Tracking via GPS and Ham Radio

Greetings, Earthlings, from Soggy Sandia Park.  We have received over 2 inches of rain in the last several days.  Several nights have awakened us with tremendous roaring rainfall and crashing thunderclaps.  Then during the days when the sun normally shines it has been cold, clammy, soggy, and dark with fog and clouds.
Living in New Mexico leaves me unfamiliar with such lengthy spells of stormy weather, and our goat-path road from the main roadway to our house is muddy and sloppy, and thus I have been unable to ride for 4 straight days.  We actually have been building fires each morning in the wood stove for the last week to take the damp chill out of the house.
This Saturday morning the sun actually came up on time and provided some warmth for the day and motivation to get out and ride around the neighborhood again.  It was still too cool do do without a fire in the wood stove, but by noon the sun was still shining sufficiently enough to ride.
Today is the first day of LDS General Conference for Fall 2017, so we watched the first session on Roku TV from home.  There was a 2 hour gap between the morning and afternoon sessions so I figured I could squeeze in my normal 9+ mile loop ride.  I barely made it back in time, but it was worth it to get out and get the blood warmed up again.
Nothing of note occurred except another wonderful ride.  There were several spots where driveway gravel and mud blocked the road shoulder / bike lane but the traffic was light and it was easy to ride out in the main roadway for a few feet to get around them.

Ride Started: 12:33 PM    Ride Ended:  1:52 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.7  Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  13.0 
Beginning Blood Glucose:  248   Ending BG Reading: 67 
Lowest Temp  64F      Highest Temp:  71F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  9.32 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
7.2 MPH                                8.6 MPH                  28.3 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
1 hour 17 mins                      1 hour  3 mins          12 minutes

Bicycle Exploring

Today's Variegated Tracking

As usual, it has been several days since I've made time to get out and get some enjoyable exercise riding the Catrike.
On Friday last, I actually saddled up and rode .......   Maybe a hundred feet.  As soon as I got up on the pavement out of the parking spot, I noticed an unfamiliar grumble noise coming from the rear.  As I slowed down to see if I could find anything amiss, I realized the rear tire was almost completely flat.  BAH.
I loaded it back up into the trailer and took it home to repair the flat, where the big Craftsman compressor awaits such duties.  Upon disassembly of the tire I found a tiny pinhole in the tube, but no corresponding nail or thorn to blame the puncture on.  I patched the tube but hung it up in the storage shed for emergency use only, since I have new unpatched tubes on hand.  Since this tire was almost bald, (though still intact with no cracks or rips or flaking) I opted to install a new tire along with the tube.  Got it all put back together and then was out of time for riding, and today I finally got to try out the system.
The weather was not at all promising this morning.  It was cold and damp and socked in with fog and mist, and walking around outside resulted in getting at least mildly wet since the fog was "splishing" as I walked around in it.  Around noonish the soggy mist had mostly burned off and the clouds opened enough to allow some blue sky and sunshine to penetrate.  As I piddled around loading things up, I worried the weather would cut loose with rain, but it held off and I was finally able to get rolling.a little after noonish.
I planned to do a twenty-miler roundabout but the weather looked so unpredictable I stayed closer to home instead.  I did take some twists and turns I had not done before, so that added a bit to the mileage and a lot to the enjoyment factor.
The chain has been getting noisier recently and even more so today, so when I got home I spent another half hour oiling and wiping the chain and idlers and gears.  We'll see if the next ride comes with less chain rattle.
One of the unexplored streets led to a steep downhill which I chose to turn around from rather than coast down and have to fight my way back uphill.
As I passed the halfway point of the route I was struck with a sudden blast of cold damp air and realized a large mass of blackish clouds was gathering not far distant.  Thus re-motivated, I pedaled with renewed effort in order to hopefully get back to the Ford Exploder before it started to rain.
By the time I got back and loaded the trike back into the trailer it had actually cleared up a bit more, so I made it home in fine style.  In about 15 minutes it really started to rain, so life is good.

Ride Started: 12:39 PM    Ride Ended:  2:48 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.1  Ending Voltage: 12.9  Lowest:  12.3 
Beginning Blood Glucose:  129   Ending BG Reading: 88 
Lowest Temp  52F      Highest Temp:  75F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  12.08 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
5.6 MPH                                7.4 MPH                  29.0 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
2 hours 9 mins                      1 hour  38 mins          30 minutes

Easy Rider (To Coin a Phrase)

Today's tracking via APRS, GPS, and Ham Radio

I wanted to do a slightly longer ride this morning but I have to be ready to leave for Albuquerque early in the afternoon so I stuck to my favorite 10-mile loop.  I actually road an additional couple hundred yards east on Entranosa's unpaved stretch but it didn't add much to the total mileage.
Fall weather today was just about perfect, leading to today's title of Easy Riding.  No strain, no pain, no close encounters of any kind.... fantastic riding weather.
About the only negative thing I noticed was a couple of bolts holding one of my pannier brackets was a bit loose, and when I got back and broke out the tools, it was obvious that the vibration of bouncing around on the rocks and roads had loosened them.  They're now tightened, and hopefully will last another hundred miles or so.
My blood sugar was a bit higher than expected today.  The huge meal we ate last night celebrating Jacque's 39th birthday was still rattling around inside me evidently.

Ride Started: 9:36 AM    Ride Ended:  11:06 AM PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.8  Ending Voltage: 12.9  Lowest:  12.9 
Beginning Blood Glucose:  249   Ending BG Reading: 133 
Lowest Temp  67F      Highest Temp:  78F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  9.63 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
6.7 MPH                                7.3 MPH                  26.8 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
1 hour 26 mins                      1 hour  16 mins           10 minutes

Riding after Dark-Thirty

Today's Surprisingly Poor Tracking via APRS and Ham Radio

I decided to ride late this evening.  I thought I had time to get around my favorite loop before it got completely dark, but of course this is mid-September and the days are getting ever shorter..... and the sun set about 7 PM, just about the halfway point of my ride.  There was still plenty of light.... for a little while.
I have a good headlamp on my helmet and bright blinkies on my behind-side, but it is worrisome encountering cars coming up behind me, hoping they will give me sufficient clearance even though all they can see is my red blinkies flashing.
Thankfully, and surprisingly, the going-home traffic had dropped off noticeably, so that was a small comfort.  The road has fair shoulders, but they are encroached upon  by weeds and detritus, so I actually pulled over once or twice to allow cars to pass before I resumed riding.
Made it home OK, but I must be more careful of the time.  I don't mind so much riding in the dark, but dealing with car traffic in the dark..... those days are behind me.

Ride Started: 6:22 PM    Ride Ended:  7:41 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:   13.8  Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest:  13.0 
Beginning Blood Glucose:  162   Ending BG Reading: 51 
Lowest Temp  67F      Highest Temp:  71F   
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  9.33 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
7.1 MPH                                8.5 MPH                  30.9 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
1 hour 18 mins                      1 hour  6 mins           12 minutes