Today's Tijeras Tracking
So it's been 9 days since I rode anywhere under my own steam. Been too busy to stay healthy, as they say. Since today there wasn't much else to distract me, I hitched up the dog BOB trailer, saddled myself up, and got in a few miles.
And paid for it....
9 days is certainly too long between exercise sessions. Yes, I've tired myself out heaving Air Conditioners and tools up and down the roof of the RV, split a few hundred pounds of firewood for our hosts etc, but unsustained non-aerobic tiredness does not produce the same results as a good bike ride. Measureable results such as lowered blood glucose for 24 hours or more, for instance.
Today I decided we (the doggies and I) would ride down to the sleepy village of Tijeras and back.
It was a nice cool but often sunny day, and the weather forecast calls for possible rain or even SNOW over the weekend. So perhaps I was able to beat the weather. However, the ride beat ME since I am so out of shape.
It's not all downhill from Sedillo Hill to Tijeras, so I was a bit winded by the time I pulled in to the Tijeras City Hall. I chose there to stop and rest and walk the dogs and turn around since there is very little traffic there, the parking lot is huge behind the fire station building, and thus lots of room to both park and walk the dogs. Several local passers-by admired the dogs, of course, and I was able to get some circulation back into my feet by walking around with them.
If I thought the somewhat downhill ride to Tijeras was tiresome, it got rather worser on the way back to Sedillo Hill. The grades are not terrible, but they do drag on, and I had to stop several times to stand up, get some circulation back in the feet, and even took my shoes off at one point and massaged my feet to get some relief. My diabetes is slowly catching up to me and no doubt aggravating neuropathy in my feet. I guess they's just fall off or rot if I didn't exercise them at all..... BAH
I got back to the RV just in time to take the gas-burning Explorer to pick up Jacque from her friend's house where they'd been sewing and hoo-hawing all day, thence to Grandson Jonathan's house where we are currently babysitting him with great gusto. He went to bed peaceably a half hour or so ago but has not succumbed to the Sand-Man as of yet. He keeps humming the Star Wars grand entry soundtrack amongst other noises. This little apple did not fall far from the tree, as his dear Mommy was much the same when she was a wee toddler too.
Ride Started: 12:24 PM Ride Ended: 3:48 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.4 Ending Voltage: 12.7 Lowest: 12.7
Beginning Blood Glucose: 187 Ending BG: 62
(Ate before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 60 F Highest Temp: 67 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 14.48
Distance Walked: .8 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.2 MPH 6.3 MPH 27.1 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 24 mins 2 hours 17 mins 1 hour 7 minutes
Friday, October 12, 2018
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
RV = Repair Vehicle?
We are currently encamped at Sedillo Hill near Edgewood NM. We would have moved on by now in our travels but the transmission started acting strangely as we entered New Mexico and got worse as we approached the East Mountains just shy of Albuquerque. When slowing for a stop, the engine would shudder and die, and we soon realized the torque converter was staying locked instead of unlocking at low speeds. We limped into our wonderful friends' yard and found the Ford shop (our Bounder is built on a Ford F53 truck chassis) would not be able to entertain our problems until almost 2 weeks away.
THEN, while enjoying our friends' hospitality (and driveway), on a warm afternoon several days ago, when we turned the air conditioner on, instead of cold air, all we got was a terrific growling noise. The A/C had been balky and I had lubed the bearings on the fan motor several times over the last couple years, and apparently now had burned out completely. Calling around to various suppliers revealed another heavy outlay would be required. An RV, with its relatively thin walls, cannot survive warm days without Air Conditioning. Or at least its Occupants cannot, including yours truly.
I was able to man-handle the removal and installation by myself, with the help of tools, of course.
The entire roof mount assembly must weigh over 100 pounds which I could barely lift except one end at a time. I used one of our stout cargo-straps to lower the dead unit over the side of the RV and down to the ground, very slowly and carefully. Using a dolly I was able to maneuver it across the yard. The Central Trailer Supply where I purchased the replacement had several "exact replacement" units in the warehouse and the worker used an electric forklift to load it into my SUV. Back at the defunct RV again, I unboxed the expensive gadget. It was mounted on a small wooden pallet. I borrowed my friend's extension ladder and extended it as far as possible to lean against the roof of the RV to provide a sloping ramp. I again used another cargo strap to armstrong the new unit up to the roof: VERY slowly with a lot of grunting and groaning and hoping not to lose my grip. It all worked, I finally hoisted it over the edge onto the rooftop, and no cuts or abrasions to either the A/C unit or ME.
I was dismayed, after all this effort, to find this "exact replacement" had no bolts or screws or anything else to facilitate installation, AND the existing hardware from the previous unit did NOT fit.
The electrical hookup and connector were the same, thankfully, and I was able to turn it on and find that it blew HARD and COLD, just like it should. But bolting it down...... had to wait for morning to go back to the supply house. BAH
I refuse to disclose the exact amount of damage to my checking account, but this incidence does remind me of the similarities between RV owners and Boat owners: B.O.A.T. often stands for Break Out Another Thousand. We await the expense of the transmission repair with great trepidation.
I have already crawled underneath and around the engine and transmission compartments looking for vacuum leaks and loose wires. I have found and repaired several chewed vacuum hoses, rat-chewed wires, etc, and still the problems persist. I sure hope the Ford Shoppe can use their analyzer skills to solve the problem, hopefully without a rebuilt or new transmission.
The weather is approaching winter conditions with overnight temperatures dropping to the low 40's and requiring heater usage. We hope to be able to abscond to southern Arizona before it really deteriorates to dangerous freezing temperatures.
THEN, while enjoying our friends' hospitality (and driveway), on a warm afternoon several days ago, when we turned the air conditioner on, instead of cold air, all we got was a terrific growling noise. The A/C had been balky and I had lubed the bearings on the fan motor several times over the last couple years, and apparently now had burned out completely. Calling around to various suppliers revealed another heavy outlay would be required. An RV, with its relatively thin walls, cannot survive warm days without Air Conditioning. Or at least its Occupants cannot, including yours truly.
I was able to man-handle the removal and installation by myself, with the help of tools, of course.
The entire roof mount assembly must weigh over 100 pounds which I could barely lift except one end at a time. I used one of our stout cargo-straps to lower the dead unit over the side of the RV and down to the ground, very slowly and carefully. Using a dolly I was able to maneuver it across the yard. The Central Trailer Supply where I purchased the replacement had several "exact replacement" units in the warehouse and the worker used an electric forklift to load it into my SUV. Back at the defunct RV again, I unboxed the expensive gadget. It was mounted on a small wooden pallet. I borrowed my friend's extension ladder and extended it as far as possible to lean against the roof of the RV to provide a sloping ramp. I again used another cargo strap to armstrong the new unit up to the roof: VERY slowly with a lot of grunting and groaning and hoping not to lose my grip. It all worked, I finally hoisted it over the edge onto the rooftop, and no cuts or abrasions to either the A/C unit or ME.
I was dismayed, after all this effort, to find this "exact replacement" had no bolts or screws or anything else to facilitate installation, AND the existing hardware from the previous unit did NOT fit.
The electrical hookup and connector were the same, thankfully, and I was able to turn it on and find that it blew HARD and COLD, just like it should. But bolting it down...... had to wait for morning to go back to the supply house. BAH
I refuse to disclose the exact amount of damage to my checking account, but this incidence does remind me of the similarities between RV owners and Boat owners: B.O.A.T. often stands for Break Out Another Thousand. We await the expense of the transmission repair with great trepidation.
I have already crawled underneath and around the engine and transmission compartments looking for vacuum leaks and loose wires. I have found and repaired several chewed vacuum hoses, rat-chewed wires, etc, and still the problems persist. I sure hope the Ford Shoppe can use their analyzer skills to solve the problem, hopefully without a rebuilt or new transmission.
The weather is approaching winter conditions with overnight temperatures dropping to the low 40's and requiring heater usage. We hope to be able to abscond to southern Arizona before it really deteriorates to dangerous freezing temperatures.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Stretch Them Tired Legs
Today's Tracking via Ham Radio and GPS
It doesn't take too many days off before I lose my mocho, as fellow cyclists well know.
I've failed to motivate myself to ride the last few days, but today I had a birthday card to mail, so I used that for an excuse to saddle up and go.
Since the Edgewood Post Office is over 5 miles away, and right on Old Route 66, it was a fairly obvious choice.
Trouble is, Route 66 rarely gets the maintenance attention since it was deleted off federal maps with the onslaught of the small-town-killing Interstate highway system. There are parts of 66 through Tijeras Canyon that have really nice wide smooth pavement, but here close to Edgewood NM, not so much.
The hill going upward toward Edgewood from the Barton Valley is particularly bad, with "new" pavement that seems rougher than the old asphalt that it now covers. Even driving over it in a car is rough, but on the trike it was really bad. Add that to the fact the shoulder completely disappears with leftover asphalt rubble blobs, and it is close to half a mile of bounce and jostle.... I made it both ways, so I should stop whining about it.
It actually rained pretty hard yesterday, Tuesday, and the roads today were a bit water soaked yet. Which made for a cooler day in spite of the bright sunshine.
My rubbery legs, however, did begin to "speak" to me. They survived, though, with a couple extra water breaks, and that's the important part of the good news.
Ride Started: 12:01 PM Ride Ended: 2:19 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.7 Lowest: 12.7
Beginning Blood Glucose: 134 Ending BG: 116
(Ate before riding; insulin pump basal rate 30% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 75 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.96
Distance Walked: .7 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.2 MPH 6.8 MPH 33.35 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 18 mins 1 hour 45 mins 33 minutes
It doesn't take too many days off before I lose my mocho, as fellow cyclists well know.
I've failed to motivate myself to ride the last few days, but today I had a birthday card to mail, so I used that for an excuse to saddle up and go.
Since the Edgewood Post Office is over 5 miles away, and right on Old Route 66, it was a fairly obvious choice.
Trouble is, Route 66 rarely gets the maintenance attention since it was deleted off federal maps with the onslaught of the small-town-killing Interstate highway system. There are parts of 66 through Tijeras Canyon that have really nice wide smooth pavement, but here close to Edgewood NM, not so much.
The hill going upward toward Edgewood from the Barton Valley is particularly bad, with "new" pavement that seems rougher than the old asphalt that it now covers. Even driving over it in a car is rough, but on the trike it was really bad. Add that to the fact the shoulder completely disappears with leftover asphalt rubble blobs, and it is close to half a mile of bounce and jostle.... I made it both ways, so I should stop whining about it.
It actually rained pretty hard yesterday, Tuesday, and the roads today were a bit water soaked yet. Which made for a cooler day in spite of the bright sunshine.
My rubbery legs, however, did begin to "speak" to me. They survived, though, with a couple extra water breaks, and that's the important part of the good news.
Ride Started: 12:01 PM Ride Ended: 2:19 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.7 Lowest: 12.7
Beginning Blood Glucose: 134 Ending BG: 116
(Ate before riding; insulin pump basal rate 30% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 67 F Highest Temp: 75 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 11.96
Distance Walked: .7 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.2 MPH 6.8 MPH 33.35 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 18 mins 1 hour 45 mins 33 minutes
Saturday, September 29, 2018
It's Saturday, Must be New Mexico
We arrived back in NM Thursday afternoon, after departing Amarillo about 9 AM the same day.
The weather has been nice & dry here. The Tennessee Daughter Jess tells us it has rained buckets there since we left, so the relative aridity has been nice.
And here it is Saturday and I'm itching to ride so I finally saddled up to take a bit of a ride. Aren't you proud of me, dear reader? Never Mind......
It was 44 degrees this morning, and it felt COLD, especially as compared to sub tropical Tennessee.
I slathered up with sun-block since the atmosphere is clearer and at 6500+ feet altitude the insolation is higher than we've experienced in the last few months.
But, by the time I finally got saddled up to ride away, it was already in the 60's and I did not have to layer up with the windbreaker I carry in the big pannier next to the LiFePO4 electronics battery and a bunch of other stuff I dare not leave home without.
I decided to ride over and see my closest grandson Jonathan, which is only a few miles from where our RV is currently parked. Route 66 is the linking passage between us and has a fairly wide shoulder most of the way. From our perch on Sedillo Hill to the Barton Valley where young Jon resides with his parents is mostly downhill so that direction was a fairly easy ride and even required some mild braking action to maintain stability. I thought to myself "We'll see how much fun it's going to be coming UP that hill on the way back."
Had a great visit with Jonathan and parents, even being fed a tasty Orange Cinnamon Roll. Jon is only 3+ years old but is a big talker now. He used to be a very strict Mama's Boy but today he came outside - ALONE with Grandpa - to look at Grandpa's Trike He Rode In On. He even sat in Grandpa's lap in the trike seat but decided he DIDN'T want to actually go for a ride. Fun Guy.
After a few more howdy-doos, I saddled up and rode back up hill to "home".... the parked RV.
The uphill ride was less of a struggle than I had anticipated. Guess I haven't 'lost my legs' yet.
Ride Started: 8:32 AM Ride Ended: 10:29 AM
Beginning Blood Glucose: 146 Ending BG: 77 (Orange Roll Consumed at Grandson's)
(Ate Breakfast before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.94
Distance Walked: .7 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.5 MPH 6.0 MPH 31.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hours 57 mins 1 hour 8 mins 48 minutes
The weather has been nice & dry here. The Tennessee Daughter Jess tells us it has rained buckets there since we left, so the relative aridity has been nice.
And here it is Saturday and I'm itching to ride so I finally saddled up to take a bit of a ride. Aren't you proud of me, dear reader? Never Mind......
It was 44 degrees this morning, and it felt COLD, especially as compared to sub tropical Tennessee.
I slathered up with sun-block since the atmosphere is clearer and at 6500+ feet altitude the insolation is higher than we've experienced in the last few months.
But, by the time I finally got saddled up to ride away, it was already in the 60's and I did not have to layer up with the windbreaker I carry in the big pannier next to the LiFePO4 electronics battery and a bunch of other stuff I dare not leave home without.
I decided to ride over and see my closest grandson Jonathan, which is only a few miles from where our RV is currently parked. Route 66 is the linking passage between us and has a fairly wide shoulder most of the way. From our perch on Sedillo Hill to the Barton Valley where young Jon resides with his parents is mostly downhill so that direction was a fairly easy ride and even required some mild braking action to maintain stability. I thought to myself "We'll see how much fun it's going to be coming UP that hill on the way back."
Had a great visit with Jonathan and parents, even being fed a tasty Orange Cinnamon Roll. Jon is only 3+ years old but is a big talker now. He used to be a very strict Mama's Boy but today he came outside - ALONE with Grandpa - to look at Grandpa's Trike He Rode In On. He even sat in Grandpa's lap in the trike seat but decided he DIDN'T want to actually go for a ride. Fun Guy.
After a few more howdy-doos, I saddled up and rode back up hill to "home".... the parked RV.
The uphill ride was less of a struggle than I had anticipated. Guess I haven't 'lost my legs' yet.
Ride Started: 8:32 AM Ride Ended: 10:29 AM
Beginning Blood Glucose: 146 Ending BG: 77 (Orange Roll Consumed at Grandson's)
(Ate Breakfast before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.94
Distance Walked: .7 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.5 MPH 6.0 MPH 31.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hours 57 mins 1 hour 8 mins 48 minutes
Friday, September 14, 2018
Going to the Dawgs
Today's Tracking Courtesy of McMinn County Radio Club
We took the day off yesterday. At least I did. Jacque busted her chops, or at least her right arm and shoulder, at her therapy clinic yesterday while I ran some errands, like trash, stamps, birthday cards, gas, ice, and such-like RV essentials.
Today we were back in the saddles again. Jacque normally takes both doggies in her dual rear baskets, but today I wanted to share in the glory. Thus I hitched up my trike trailer and took the noisy one (Lilly) with me.
Actually, both dogs have recently been noisy on trike rides. Even though they love to come with us and throw squall-eyed fits when we leave them behind, they get restless and grumpy being restricted to passenger status on the trikes. But they're fun anyway, and we don't find "accidents" on the floor when they're riding with us instead of stuck at home in the RV.
Today we retraced our ride from last time: 5 miles to the Eureka Rail-Trail entry. BUT, this time we did not actually ride the entirety of the trail. Jacque got there before I did (she left 20 minutes before I did) and rode the half-mile triangular loop around the entry park. I merely used the public facility (i.e., OutHouse) before turning around for the ride home. On the way, we were forced to stop for a yard sale (Because there was a sign for a yard sale) where we enjoyed a short visit with strangers and spent a few bucks.
I finally encountered a roadneck, er, redneck, this trip. I was headed slowly up a short hill on a stretch of road with no shoulders and this black primered pickup came up behind me just as a car in the oncoming lane was fast approaching. Never touching his brake, primo-pickup roared around me, barely missing a head-on collision with the oncoming car. My so called Christian Attitude was strained during this episode, but thankfully he didn't endanger me as much as he did himself and the oncoming car.
Tennessee weather is slowly cooling, though the humidity index remains high even when it's "low".
Today wasn't too bad, even though it was a couple degrees warmer than the last 2 days.
One red truck turned out on the roadway, heading toward me, slowing down as though to talk to me.
NOPE. All he was doing was filming Lilly and me with his cell phone. HAH
Ride Started: 10:46 AM Ride Ended: 1:17 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.0 Lowest: 12.5
Beginning Blood Glucose: 188 Ending BG: 132 (Cookies Consumed along the Way)
(Ate Breakfast before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 75 F Highest Temp: 82 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 10.84
Distance Walked: .3 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.3 MPH 6.9 MPH 29.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 31 mins 1 hour 33 mins 57 minutes
We took the day off yesterday. At least I did. Jacque busted her chops, or at least her right arm and shoulder, at her therapy clinic yesterday while I ran some errands, like trash, stamps, birthday cards, gas, ice, and such-like RV essentials.
Today we were back in the saddles again. Jacque normally takes both doggies in her dual rear baskets, but today I wanted to share in the glory. Thus I hitched up my trike trailer and took the noisy one (Lilly) with me.
Actually, both dogs have recently been noisy on trike rides. Even though they love to come with us and throw squall-eyed fits when we leave them behind, they get restless and grumpy being restricted to passenger status on the trikes. But they're fun anyway, and we don't find "accidents" on the floor when they're riding with us instead of stuck at home in the RV.
Today we retraced our ride from last time: 5 miles to the Eureka Rail-Trail entry. BUT, this time we did not actually ride the entirety of the trail. Jacque got there before I did (she left 20 minutes before I did) and rode the half-mile triangular loop around the entry park. I merely used the public facility (i.e., OutHouse) before turning around for the ride home. On the way, we were forced to stop for a yard sale (Because there was a sign for a yard sale) where we enjoyed a short visit with strangers and spent a few bucks.
I finally encountered a roadneck, er, redneck, this trip. I was headed slowly up a short hill on a stretch of road with no shoulders and this black primered pickup came up behind me just as a car in the oncoming lane was fast approaching. Never touching his brake, primo-pickup roared around me, barely missing a head-on collision with the oncoming car. My so called Christian Attitude was strained during this episode, but thankfully he didn't endanger me as much as he did himself and the oncoming car.
Tennessee weather is slowly cooling, though the humidity index remains high even when it's "low".
Today wasn't too bad, even though it was a couple degrees warmer than the last 2 days.
One red truck turned out on the roadway, heading toward me, slowing down as though to talk to me.
NOPE. All he was doing was filming Lilly and me with his cell phone. HAH
Ride Started: 10:46 AM Ride Ended: 1:17 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 13.0 Lowest: 12.5
Beginning Blood Glucose: 188 Ending BG: 132 (Cookies Consumed along the Way)
(Ate Breakfast before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 75 F Highest Temp: 82 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 10.84
Distance Walked: .3 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.3 MPH 6.9 MPH 29.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 31 mins 1 hour 33 mins 57 minutes
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Eureka! Overdid it Today
Today's Extensive Tracking courtesy of Tennessee Ham Radio
I ALMOST took a day off riding today, but Jacque decided to ride and I can't let her go do her own thing, right? So we both rode. Rode hard and put away wet, to coin a phrase....
The Athens Eureka Trail is a project in process, with about 4 miles of completed rail-to-trail accomplished with a fine gravel surface. A few years ago when I first rode it solo, the trail was very rough, with weeds growing high straight through the 2-3" rock gravel surface. I rode a couple miles of it then and gave up.
A week ago I rode a few miles of it again, long enough to lose my cell phone, and happily recovered it when Jacque and I returned to look for it and encountered a lovely couple who had it in hand and were frantically calling every number in it trying to track us down.
Where we are now encamped with our RV it is only a few miles of country road to the Eureka trailhead so we decided to ride all the way instead of trucking the trikes and then riding them.
The ensuing mileage turned out to be a bit more than we had bargained for, and we wound up wishing we HAD trucked the trikes so we could end the ride, cool off, and replenish our consumed carbs. But we had ridden out thus far and thus..... had to ride all the way back again.
We started out innocently enough, along a low traffic road, but then we encountered TN 307, which turned out to have a LOT of fairly high speed traffic on it, with no shoulders or bike lane. Howsomever, the drivers we encountered coming up behind us were unfailingly courteous, several times creeping along behind us while we chugged up hills with no room for them to pass. In New Mexico I have encountered several near-disasters where impatient drivers passed us at high speed with ONCOMING traffic and nowhere to dodge each other, but here in backwoods TN drivers seem to be able to tolerate mild delays and they bunched up behind us, never honking or giving any one-finger salutes, and passing only when sufficient room was encountered. I pulled off at all possible places where I had a solid surface to stop the trike off the road, but still blocked traffic for quite a ways. When we finally arrived at the trailhead, we had gone almost 5 miles up hill and down dale and likely should have just turned around and called it a good 10 mile ride. But we wanted to ride on the Real Eureka Trail, so we did.
Now, as noted before, it has been lengthened and upgraded, with a crusher-fine sandy road surface, few weeds, lots of big tree leaves, but quite level and shaded much of the route. It runs from Athens TN toward Englewood TN along an old rail line. The only remaining traces of railway are a few rotted railroad ties strewn among the trees along the path, a few concrete rail mile markers, and a sign or two:
Here at "Mashburn Station", the only evidence of a rail station I could see was the sign itself. There's a home here next to an old falling-down barn familiar to much of backwoods Tennessee, but nothing resembling railroad stuff. Whatever, at this point the end of the trail is only a bit over a mile away. Eventually the trail is to be extended "Clear to Englewood", but that is only a couple more miles of trail. Hopefully more of the abandoned railway will eventually be converted to TTT (Tennessee Triking Trail).
One of the nicest things about this trail - and many of the midwest trail projects - is the number of God's Air Conditioners (Tall trees providing wonderful shade) along the way.
Jacque turned around about 2 miles short of the end of the trail, but I wanted to finally actually ride the entire length, though short. So I kept going and, as a result, Jacque got miles ahead of me on the return ride "home".
There's a few rather steep hills just as you get close to the Sherwood Estate, and we both had to stop a few extra times for breathers even though we were very close to the "finish line".
Almost 20 miles today, with Jacque making at least 16. She's getting stronger already and isn't as easy to catch up to and pass any more. Hopefully her newly repaired shoulder will get just as strong soon.
Ride Started: 9:19 AM Ride Ended: 1:23 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9 Ending Voltage: 12.9 Lowest: 12.2
Beginning Blood Glucose: 140 Ending BG: 48
(No Breakfast before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 71 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 19.56
Distance Walked: .8 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.8 MPH 6.3 MPH 26.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 5 mins 3 hours 5 mins 59 minutes
I ALMOST took a day off riding today, but Jacque decided to ride and I can't let her go do her own thing, right? So we both rode. Rode hard and put away wet, to coin a phrase....
The Athens Eureka Trail is a project in process, with about 4 miles of completed rail-to-trail accomplished with a fine gravel surface. A few years ago when I first rode it solo, the trail was very rough, with weeds growing high straight through the 2-3" rock gravel surface. I rode a couple miles of it then and gave up.
A week ago I rode a few miles of it again, long enough to lose my cell phone, and happily recovered it when Jacque and I returned to look for it and encountered a lovely couple who had it in hand and were frantically calling every number in it trying to track us down.
Where we are now encamped with our RV it is only a few miles of country road to the Eureka trailhead so we decided to ride all the way instead of trucking the trikes and then riding them.
The ensuing mileage turned out to be a bit more than we had bargained for, and we wound up wishing we HAD trucked the trikes so we could end the ride, cool off, and replenish our consumed carbs. But we had ridden out thus far and thus..... had to ride all the way back again.
We started out innocently enough, along a low traffic road, but then we encountered TN 307, which turned out to have a LOT of fairly high speed traffic on it, with no shoulders or bike lane. Howsomever, the drivers we encountered coming up behind us were unfailingly courteous, several times creeping along behind us while we chugged up hills with no room for them to pass. In New Mexico I have encountered several near-disasters where impatient drivers passed us at high speed with ONCOMING traffic and nowhere to dodge each other, but here in backwoods TN drivers seem to be able to tolerate mild delays and they bunched up behind us, never honking or giving any one-finger salutes, and passing only when sufficient room was encountered. I pulled off at all possible places where I had a solid surface to stop the trike off the road, but still blocked traffic for quite a ways. When we finally arrived at the trailhead, we had gone almost 5 miles up hill and down dale and likely should have just turned around and called it a good 10 mile ride. But we wanted to ride on the Real Eureka Trail, so we did.
Now, as noted before, it has been lengthened and upgraded, with a crusher-fine sandy road surface, few weeds, lots of big tree leaves, but quite level and shaded much of the route. It runs from Athens TN toward Englewood TN along an old rail line. The only remaining traces of railway are a few rotted railroad ties strewn among the trees along the path, a few concrete rail mile markers, and a sign or two:
One of the nicest things about this trail - and many of the midwest trail projects - is the number of God's Air Conditioners (Tall trees providing wonderful shade) along the way.
Jacque turned around about 2 miles short of the end of the trail, but I wanted to finally actually ride the entire length, though short. So I kept going and, as a result, Jacque got miles ahead of me on the return ride "home".
There's a few rather steep hills just as you get close to the Sherwood Estate, and we both had to stop a few extra times for breathers even though we were very close to the "finish line".
Almost 20 miles today, with Jacque making at least 16. She's getting stronger already and isn't as easy to catch up to and pass any more. Hopefully her newly repaired shoulder will get just as strong soon.
Ride Started: 9:19 AM Ride Ended: 1:23 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9 Ending Voltage: 12.9 Lowest: 12.2
Beginning Blood Glucose: 140 Ending BG: 48
(No Breakfast before riding; insulin pump basal rate 50% for this ride)
Lowest Temp 71 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 19.56
Distance Walked: .8 miles
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.8 MPH 6.3 MPH 26.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
4 hours 5 mins 3 hours 5 mins 59 minutes
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Changing Neighborhoods
Today's spotty tracking
Yesterday, Monday, we left Bitner's RV Park and moved on to our kids' place just outside Niota. We should only be in TN about 9 more days, and we will definitely sleep better out here away from the logging and other trucks rattling down highway 68.
We've stayed here a few times before, and had forgotten just how quiet it is. The road noise along 68 was not that bad after dark, and even quieter late at night, but it's so quiet out here it takes a while to get used to it.
Of course, Monday was the day we needed to move or have to pay another months' rent, and it was wet and rainy.. almost all day. Especially when we were outside loading things up. And, of course, after getting soaked to the skin, the rain slowed and stopped after we had finally gotten parked and set up.
Today, Tuesday, dawned clear and cool. Coolest temperatures I think we've had since we invaded Tennessee. People are saying the hottest part of summer is over, and hopefully they're right.
Jacque had a therapy session in nearby Athens this morning so much of our day involved that and shopping and traveling back and forth. The nice weather warmed up quite a bit as the fog burned off as the day wore on, and I thought I'd try to take the trike for a ride later in the evening, as the sun was setting.
I rode the narrow paved single lane road towards metropolitan Niota, the nearest hamlet. If you've never heard of Niota, few Tennessee residents seem to have heard of it either. Population 718, it's a quaint little burg with the oldest pre-Civil War railroad depot in the state of Tennessee. The rail depot now serves as the Niota City Hall. Since the roads in this rural neighborhood are so quiet and relatively low-traffic, I just took off from the kiddos' place without having to haul the trike somewhere safer first. I didn't get very far but I got some good aerobic heavy breathing with the little hills here. I made it almost all the way to Niota before deciding I should turn around to avoid having to ride in the dark.
Ride Started: 6:52 PM Ride Ended: 7:28 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.7 Lowest: 12.7
Lowest Temp 71 F Highest Temp: 71 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 2.88
Distance Walked: 1 mile
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.8 MPH 5.8 MPH 27.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
36 minutes 33 minutes 2 minutes
Yesterday, Monday, we left Bitner's RV Park and moved on to our kids' place just outside Niota. We should only be in TN about 9 more days, and we will definitely sleep better out here away from the logging and other trucks rattling down highway 68.
We've stayed here a few times before, and had forgotten just how quiet it is. The road noise along 68 was not that bad after dark, and even quieter late at night, but it's so quiet out here it takes a while to get used to it.
Of course, Monday was the day we needed to move or have to pay another months' rent, and it was wet and rainy.. almost all day. Especially when we were outside loading things up. And, of course, after getting soaked to the skin, the rain slowed and stopped after we had finally gotten parked and set up.
Today, Tuesday, dawned clear and cool. Coolest temperatures I think we've had since we invaded Tennessee. People are saying the hottest part of summer is over, and hopefully they're right.
Jacque had a therapy session in nearby Athens this morning so much of our day involved that and shopping and traveling back and forth. The nice weather warmed up quite a bit as the fog burned off as the day wore on, and I thought I'd try to take the trike for a ride later in the evening, as the sun was setting.
I rode the narrow paved single lane road towards metropolitan Niota, the nearest hamlet. If you've never heard of Niota, few Tennessee residents seem to have heard of it either. Population 718, it's a quaint little burg with the oldest pre-Civil War railroad depot in the state of Tennessee. The rail depot now serves as the Niota City Hall. Since the roads in this rural neighborhood are so quiet and relatively low-traffic, I just took off from the kiddos' place without having to haul the trike somewhere safer first. I didn't get very far but I got some good aerobic heavy breathing with the little hills here. I made it almost all the way to Niota before deciding I should turn around to avoid having to ride in the dark.
Ride Started: 6:52 PM Ride Ended: 7:28 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8 Ending Voltage: 12.7 Lowest: 12.7
Lowest Temp 71 F Highest Temp: 71 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 2.88
Distance Walked: 1 mile
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
4.8 MPH 5.8 MPH 27.2 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
36 minutes 33 minutes 2 minutes
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