Monday Mojo

On the way back to the carrito tonight, I stopped at Carlisle (in the median, the southbound lanes were clear for once) to wait for a break in traffic.... and again, a nice guy in the lane nearest me stopped to wait for me to cross in front of him.  This is dangerous, since there are 3 (THREE) lanes on each side of the street, and invariably if a car stops in one lane for you, the guys in the other lane (or the cars behind the one stopped) will accelerate around the stopped car.  This time, there was only one pickup behind the sedan who stopped for me.  I hesitated, the guy in the pickup seemed to be waiting too, and no cars visible in the farthest lane.  So I crossed.  Just as I got past the "nice guy" who first stopped for me, out of nowhere came another vehicle in the far lane, just barely stopping in time.  I wasn't sure, but it might well have been the pickup I thought was being patient...... deciding not to be patient.  I'm making a commitment, henceforth, to just wave such "nice guys" on, urging them to keep going, and I'll just wait for a full lull in traffic, thank you very much.
BG before ride home:  191   BG after getting home, before dinner:  107
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.43 Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
8.9  Mph                             10.5 mph            20.6 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  49:57 mins                       42:33 mins          07:24 mins 

I usually go for a 2-mile noon walk, up San Mateo to Wildflower Park next to Honeywell and then back down to Wilshire and Jefferson.  I had to detour on Friday because the city had decided to flood the pathway during the noon hour, the time the park is most used on any given day:

Then, today, I failed to take a picture of the deep ruts and washouts in the formerly smooth graveled path.
These city workers simply turn on the sprinklers, let them fill up the path and streets, and go somewhere else for hours, never having anyone actually hang around to watch or control the water as it's wasted.  BAH.

Not much to report from this morning's commute to work.  It cooled off a bit more over the weekend (it snowed yesterday, Sunday, but nothing accumulated- but it was WINDY and COLD) and this morning's ride was the "I'm glad to be looking weird wearing my ski mask" variety.  I passed 3 walkers this morning walking on the wrong (left) side of the path.  BAH
Alex, who is one of my co workers and a fanatick cyclist riding his "fixie" (I.E., fixed speed, no shifting) bike, caught up to me and deigned to slow down (he's a relatively young fart) and rode with me the last 3 miles to work.  That was actually pretty cool, never done that before.  There are other co worker cyclists who have ridden with me a short ways after catching me but invariably they decide it's not that fun slowing down for an old geezer so off they go.
Awakening BG:  150  Post-Ride BG:  149
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
09.9  Mph                          11.8 mph             21.9 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
44:57 mins                          37:38 mins            07:19 mins

Friday, Finally

As usual, the weather guessers were quite a bit off in their dire forecasts for wind Friday.  The wind DID blow, but not all that bad.  There was just enough breeze  on the way back from work to keep me cooled down.  Funny how being a regular bike rider makes you realize how cooler weather is not a bad thing.... you realize in a few weeks the weather will be warmer and you'll have to deal with down-to-the-belly-button sweating... you can always add another layer to keep warm (then fight to rip it off when it starts sweating inside) but there are only so many layers you can take OFF when it's hot....
For some reason my BG was quite low late Friday afternoon, and eating my peanut butter 'N honey sandwich didn't do much for it...  Almost an hour later when I was ready to mount up, the BG was 76 and I wasn't feeling up to strength, so I snarfed a 29-carb oatmeal choc chip snack bar as I was headed out the door.  I still did not have normal strength on the ride back so I was slower than normal.  Yes, I had a slightly gusty cross breeze facing me for about 4 miles, but it was not as much of a factor slowing me down as the low BG was.
When I got back to the parking lot, a young guy maybe 12 years old watched me closely as I rode up and unsaddled all my junk and racked the bike onto the car.  I said "Hi" to him, half expecting the usual comments or questions about the funny bike, but he never said a word.
BG before ride home:  76   BG after getting to car, no snack yet:  107 (ate the power bar without bolusing)
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.45
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
9.1  Mph                             9.8 mph            21.4 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  47:20 mins                       43:10 mins          02:21 mins

Great weather now for bike riding.  I always turn on the early morning TV weather and then wind up ignoring most of what's forecast since they are so seldom right, and even when right, they usually over exaggerate the severity of whatever's supposed to happen.  Several times in the past I've decided not to ride the bike because it was forecast to rain, blow, etc., only to see a lovely sunny day transpire without me being on the bike.  BAH.
So now I normally watch the weather, (after all, I'm highly interested in it, even if it's inaccurate), but try to use my noggin for my daily ride/don't ride decision.  If the trees are leaning over dangerously from wind when I get close to my normal bike/car transfer parking place, I might decide to just drive on in.  If it's raining HARD I'll skip the bike ride.  A mild drizzle is no problem, nor is light snow.  But if the streets show signs of ice I've learned I probably should drive all the way to work.  Bike trails get no snow plowing and too little traffic to "burn off the ice".  This morning, as with the last 3 mornings, EXTREMELY high winds were forecast.  The last 2 days have seen only mild breezes, not enough for a realistic weather babe to even comment on.  I rode the bike.
Great ride. No funny or dangerous incidents.  Shucks.
Awakening BG:  122  Post-Ride BG:  107
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.43
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.6  Mph                          11.6 mph             22.5 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
42:03 mins                          38:35 mins            03:28 mins

TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday)

On my way through the north end of Baloon Fiesta Park this evening, I was startled to hear out of the blue:  "On your LEFT!"  He was already PASSING me by then, and I almost veered into him as he whooshed by.  It's a toss-up with hotshot speed kings.  You hear of cyclists getting offended by others calling out or the hard-to-hear but irritating bicycle bells, But I much prefer the risk of giving or getting offense to the risk of collisions.  In this case it would have been preferable for him to call out a few feet at least BEFORE he was directly next to me pouring on the coal.  Maybe he did and I just didn't hear him, who knows.
I like the on-the trail pictures and videos but am tiring of trying to do it one-handed with a cell phone trying to fall out of my grip.  So I'm cogitating about mounting one of our digital cameras on a home made helmet or handlebar bracket.  I doubt mounting one on the handlebars (or anywhere else on the bike) will provide anything but fuzzy vibrating pictures.  Plus, with the contraption mounted on my helmet, the camera can point where I turn my head, just like my helmet-mounted headlamp.
BG before ride home:  180   BG after getting home, no snack yet:  127
Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.45
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
9.4  Mph                            10.4 mph            20.6 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  47:20 mins                       43:10 mins          04:10 mins

Thursday Morning, Video at 11

Actually, with any luck videos will be available right here.

I took a string of videos of several wooden plank bridges I have to cross every day.
Keep in mind NONE of these were needed when the bike trail was on the West side of the diversion channel.
-Going west on the Hahn Arroyo diversion channel trail, the first bridge encountered is at the intersection of this e-W trail with the N-S North Diversion Channel trail, which is a nice smooth concrete surfaced bridge.  No problems wheeling across this at all, nor at the next bridge which crosses back over the N. Diversion Channel just north of the Montgomery underpass, which is also concrete and smooth.  THEN comes this series of multiple one-after-the-other bridges that literally rattle your teeth when crossing them and (when riding my stiffer upright DF bikes) often resulted in parts falling OFF the bike, such as bike bell, tail lights, fender brackets, etc.
Here's the first wooden bridge I cross:

Then, the second bridge, maybe 150 feet farther north:

 

Bridge #3 a hundred or so yards further:

 

Bridge #4;  getting the drift here??

 

Bridge #5:

 

Here's a typical passage through the bike trail detour crossing at Osuna and Chappel.

Note how the bike trail forces you up on the sidewalk for 50 yards or so, thence straight into the intersection.

Probably 75% of cyclists I meet here will run the red light if the traffic opens  up.  It's dangerous enough to cross with the light in my favor, there's no protective median in the middle for you to pause if the traffic is threatening on the far side, so the only time I run this light is when there are no cars in either side of the intersection to activate the light sensor:

  

Waiting for the Light at Osuna, lots of high speed traffic:

 

  ... Meeting other Cyclists on the Trail:

Awakening BG:  168  Post-Ride BG:  58
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.45
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
  09.3  Mph                          11.2 mph             20.6 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
47:47 mins                          39:50 mins            07:57 mins

City Bicycle Support

Last year the City of Albuquerque distributed who knows how many "free" bicycle vaults to various businesses around town and my company was one of them.  During the warmer  months of the year we used to have 6 or 7 cyclists riding almost daily, and it was a kick to see all those bikes chained to the rack, even though I often had to chain mine elsewhere, like along the outdoor employee patio railing.  Small inconvenience for the benefits of having so many riding bikes and all that.
At first, I thought the pie-shaped protective vaults were a good idea.  They appear to be molded fiberglass and the wedge - pie shape allows most "normal" bikes to be backed into the slot before locking the door:

These provide protection for your bike from sun, wind, rain, dust, theft (since you can't tell if a bike is inside), IF your bike will fit inside..... which of course, mine won't.  The recumbent is too long by half and even my normal mountain and road bikes won't fit because of the radio antennas I have mounted on them.
No worries, I'm not complaining.... one of the things that may make these things counterproductive is precisely one of their strengths:  You can't SEE any bikes inside.  No longer can you see how many rode to work on a given day;  most will be locked inside these lockers and at best one or two will be in the outside visible-to-the-public bike rack.  So I'm worrying that the lack of visual reinforcement may actually work to DIScourage bike ridership since it no longer provides the motivation of "Wow!  If all those people can ride to work, maybe I should too!"
With these hidey-hole lockers there is normally only a bike or two visible, and we can be dismissed as just a couple of bike fanatic loonies.

wednesday wild ride

Actually, it wasn't wild at all.  Just cold enough to keep me bundled up but a beautiful clear sunny day to go for a bike ride in the city/county.  Maybe one of these days I'll take a vacation day and just ride around all day, riding trails I haven't been on yet, stopping when I get tired/hungry, etc.
For years when I rode the North Diversion Channel Trail, I would encounter at least 2 separate Road Runner birds along the path.  For the last few months I haven't seen any, but the last 3 or 4 days have seen one popping out of the weeds along the trail just south of the Montgomery underpass.  I tried to get the cell / fuzzy camera out to take his picture but he couldn't be bothered to wait long enough for me.  I also tried again to get video of me crossing wooden plank-surfaced bridges so we'll see if that actually worked this time.
I find the video, not bad, on the fuzzy phone cam, but it sez TOO BIG to send via email.  Looking for a cable.. GRRR
I found a GREAT photo in my phone that I took on the bike:

Isn't that a great picture of my finger??  NO?  If you had X-Ray Vision you might be able to see Mr. Roadrunner right behind the finger... just call me While.  As in While E. Coyote....
There was a cyclist clobbered by a car this morning at Juan Tabo and Mountain Road.  The cyclist is in the hospital in critical condition.  Sure hope he recovers.  Very sad....
Morning Stats from the GPS:                       Total Miles:  7.45
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
  07.5  Mph                          10.5 mph             21.1 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
59:49 mins                          42:35 mins            17:13 mins

Weather is getting warmer

 It was warm enough to wear normal riding gloves and only the windbreaker, and I even got overheated with that before the commute was half done.
I tried to take a video of crossing a couple of our nasty bike bridges on the way back to the car tonight but it was already too dark.  I'll try it again during daylight sometime.

Evening stats from the GPS:    Total Distance Miles:  7.44
Overall average speed     Moving Avg      Max Speed
9.7  Mph                            11.0 mph            21.5 mph
Total Trip time                Moving Time     Stopped Time
  46:10 mins                       40:26 mins          05:44 mins