And Then it was Just Right - Mostly

 14 Jan GPS track

 19 Jan Barely Rode Track

20 Jan RideAroundTheBlock 

 23 Jan Short Trip Track

 Tuesday 24 Jan TripTrack

Friday GPS BigBox Ride 

 Saturday GPS/Ham radio Tracking

As anyone can see, I get on the Catrike fairly frequently but not often for more than short trips.
In this Wacky day and age at least it saves a wee bit of gasoline.
A few days ago as I rode up on the north end of town I passed a mailman walking between houses and said "Hi!" to him.  He said "Hi Jim!" in response.  Kinda floored me, especially since I don't know HIS name, and they have more than one mail-person in these parts.  I should figure these things out.
Yesterday as I crossed a parking lot, a funny fellow in a pickup pulled up next to me and exclaimed "You're laying down on the job!!"  - Such is the life of a recumbent rider, I suppose.
Today the weather forecast was a bit dicey but I got in a good ride anyway.  It was starting to cloud up a bit and I almost shortened the route, hoping to avoid getting wet.  After a few blocks the sun was again brightly burning, so I took renewed courage and did my slightly longer route.  I did NOT regret it.
Yesterday while riding I was sore and fatigued and didn't seem to have much starch in me, plugging on in lower gears, old guy style.
Today for some  reason I felt energized and sassy and actually had to remove my windbreaker as it was getting to warm with it on.  It was a bit too cold withOUT it, but I prefer that to overheating.
As many fellow humans know, getting too warm while pedaling often results in perspiration (i.e. SWEAT) which gets COLDER with the passing breeze.  Too hot and too cold all at the same time.
Sigh.
More bitter cold is forecast in the next few days, and as we all know, forecasting weather is not an exact science, so we will see if I can stand to get out and ride around in it.

Ride Started: 12:23 PM           Ride Ended:  1:38 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.8
Lowest Temp: 53 F Highest Temp: 64 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  130   Ending BG: 105
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  6.95
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 5.5 MPH                             6.6 MPH            23.7 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  1 hour 5 minutes        1 hour  36 minutes    11 minutes

 

TOO Cold & Nasty

Frosty GPS/Ham Radio Tracking 

It was frightfully cold outside today, after several days of relatively balm.  It started out at about 27 degrees, and "warmed up" to around freezing.
I thought to myself "All I gotta do is wrap up with a few layers and go for a ride".
I had a UPS parcel to return, so I had a "useful" reason for a ride.
Had I known how penetrating the cold was I surely would have exercises better judgment and stayed home.
Of course. staying at home isn't the best form of exercise for me.
I changed into my insulated pants, extra warm Jacque-made shirt, arctic socks, boots, sweater and windbreaker, and away I went.
At first as I pedaled a few blocks it seemed a bit frigid but tolerable.
Of course, about halfway there and reaching my mental point of no return, I noticed my half mitten/gloves were NOT keeping my hands warm, especially my precious pinkies.
I vigorously wiggled and rubbed the fingers together inside the mittens but they got increasingly cold and NUMB - I worried they were going to turn into actual frostbite.
I stopped at one point and changed to a different pair of mittens.  It was funny to note the fingers were more comfy outside the mittens than inside.  I could wiggle them and rub them together, but trying to ride with them exposed to the wind wasn't an option.   So I resumed riding with the spare mittens with little improvement.
I passed a young lady walking along the road pushing a carriage with her BABY in it.  I spoke to her as I passed, saying "It's TOO COLD to be out here like that!"  Mr. Obvious----
She responded with "I KNOW !!"
Had I been traveling in a real vehicle burning some sort of energy with a heated cab, I certainly would have insisted loading them up and taking them wherever they needed to go.  She may have actually been warmer than I was, but the baby??  Brrrr...
I got to the UPS drop point, and took my sweet time before resuming my uncomfortable trip.
The sun was starting to barely peek through the clouds, without much effect, but I sat on the trike with my bare hands stuffed in my pockets to warm them up a bit.
I resumed the trip, back to the house.  I only made it a few blocks before I was desperate to find a solution.   I had previously packed some "Hot Hands" pocket heaters in my saddlebag pockets, but of course no such thing could be found now.  I was struck with amazement:  I had purchased a TEN-PACK of them only a few days ago, but the weather THEN had been so mile I had thoughtlessly put them in our BASEMENT for future "emergencies".  DUH
I found a couple of cheap plastic shopping bags that I always use for trash can liners, and decided to try wrapping them around my mittened hands to see if that could help by blocking the freezing breeze.

THAT worked.  It made shifting and braking a bit clumsy but I was able to keep going without freezing.
I was also unable to wave at passing cars, but it was a small sacrifice.  What folks thought as I passed with flapping / flopping bags on my handlebars is anyone's guess.  Oh Well.
I now report that SEVERAL "Hot Hands" packs are now in the trike's compartments.

Breaking News Dept:  We finally sold our beloved RV to a local couple who plan to park it on their land and live in it.  Blessings upon them for the cash and the removal of a vehicle we weren't able to use but sucked a lot of expense just sitting in the driveway.

Ride Started: 1:56 PM           Ride Ended:  2:45 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.2
Lowest Temp: 32 F Highest Temp: 35 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  120   Ending BG: 95
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  4.42
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 5.0 MPH                             7.2 MPH            19.6 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  52 minutes                      36  minutes         15 minutes

Twas the Freezing DAY before Christmas

 Very Short GPS Tracking

Well - It turns out that my sniffles from last week actually WERE the dreaded COVID killer disease.
Of course Jacque caught the sore throat from me and has a slightly worse case.  She went to the Doc and was diagnosed officially with the Plague....
Thanks to Mr. Lets Go Brandon and Mr. Fauci, we had already received all available vaccines and boosters to prevent us from catching it.  Oh, that's right - if we DO catch it, it will be mild instead of deadly.  I guess so far we qualify for the mild category.  Not too much fun being isolated for 2 weeks including this week of Christmas.  We had planned to have a couple of neighbors over for a Jacque Christmas Feast but not this time.  Our isolation period expires before New Years so we'll see what kind of trouble we can get into after that.

                                                           Trike Tracks in the Snow ?

Our record breaking cold spell has pretty much kept us indoors and without trike rides.  Zero and below temperatures, with wind chills into the minus THIRTIES.  I did NOT sign up for this.
Yesterday the SUN actually came out and lit up the sky quite nicely, though it didn't seem to do much for the air temperature.  Jacque had finished a library book and needed to return it.  Yesterday, Christmas Eve.
So nothing was open, not even the Library.  But that facility does have a book return slot on the outside of the door, so I decided I could return the book via a very short Trike Ride (6 blocks or so).
It only took me a half hour or so to layer up, unlock the trike, pull it out into the snowy sunshine, velcro my insulated pants legs into my boot tops, try a couple of snow mittens back and forth to find the warmest ones, etc.  I had super thick Arctic socks inside my boots, etc, etc.
So finally I was able to get my multi layered carcass into the trike seat and take off.  
I wondered if I would get stuck in the mild snow patches I had to cross getting out of the yard but didn't have any problem.
The streets were another story.  About half the roadway had packed snow from vehicle traffic.
I quickly noticed the Catrike was not too predictable on the slicker spots so I had to tread lightly and pay attention when traversing them.
Thankfully there was almost NO traffic to deal with - and when I saw any cars at all, I simply waited until they were all past.  I made it to the drop box and deposited the expired book and then got back slowly and safely.  
Trouble was, I thought I was going to FREEZE.  In spite of all my layers I was NOT comfy at all,
and my fingers were freezing in spite of the bulky mittens and I frantically kept rubbing them together inside the mittens - hoping to get home before frostbite set in.
Made it home finally with all digits intact, but with slightly bruised ego.
Unhappy that there are SOME conditions I don't want to repeat....

Ride Started: 2:19 PM           Ride Ended:  2:39 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.4
Lowest Temp: 22 F Highest Temp: 30 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  170   Ending BG: 125
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  1.32
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 3.8 MPH                             5.2 MPH            9.6 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  21 minutes                     15  minutes         5 minutes

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Sunday Coolness GPS Track 

Is it even legal to ride on Sunday??  Non-accusatory comments welcome...
I hadn't ridden for a few days due to a drizzly-nose cold, flu, RSV, COVID, who knows.
No fever nor weird problems so it must not be drastical.  Still woke up this morning, after all.
Today was another of those wonderful bright sunny days where the temperature took a long time to get above freezing.  Our local weather beacon claims it made it to 42 degrees today but that may have been in a sheltered area with the sun shining on it....
We loafed around the house, napping to build up our strength, don'tcha know.
I had a handwritten letter to mail, and hoping to get it to its destination before Christmas, I decided I wanted it to go out first thing tomorrow (Monday) morning.  That means it should be in the post office first thing....  A very short distance away but a qualified reason to take a short trike ride if there ever was one.
Still suffering from minor drizzlies, I layered up for the big venture.  Grizzly "Warm Sox", boots, puffy vest, insulated coverhauls, skull cap. mittens..... Almost forgot to take the letter with me.
I first tucked the coverall legs into the tops of my leather boots but after only a block or so they had popped out, letting that dreaded frigid air in, so I pulled over and applied my handy velcro strips to hold them tight.  No problem after that.
I did NOT get  overheated for some reason.
I was happy to find the Post Office lobby open and found it easy to drop the letter in the box and proceed onward.  I was feeling so "comfy" I thought about taking a few miles the long way home but the niggling sore throat convinced me otherwise.
On the way back I heard some chatter in a yard as I rode by.  I didn't look to see who or how many, but was rewarded with a young voice calling "HEY!!" - obviously having spotted me.  I waved wildly backwards, again without looking.  I was close to home and was motivated to get there.

Ride Started: 3:03 PM           Ride Ended:  3:18 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.5
Lowest Temp: 42 F Highest Temp: 50 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  175   Ending BG: 105
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  1.34
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 4.5 MPH                             7.0 MPH           14.5  MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  18 minutes                     12  minutes         6  minutes

Almost Too Cold

 5 Dec GPS Track

7 Dec Wednesday Track

Partial GPS / Ham Radio Tracking

Weather here is a constant subject of discussion and wonder.  We would normally call December midwinter, but the weather has been warmish (no freezing lately) and humid.  Lots of fog...
Even at temps  above 40 degrees, the breeze can feel rather chilly and slowly chill to the bone.
As most of us know.  High humidity makes both heat AND cold feel worse.
As usuual, I try to ride anyway.  I, as usual, tend to get into blue funks when I miss decent exercise for more than a day or two.  I "rest" from work on Sundays, mostly, and the other  6 days of the week are most always occupied with hammering, drilling, squatting to put  things down and up, etc, which seems to NOT provide good circulation.  Or something.
I again did my  duty yesterday riding to our local Big Box Store to pick up some needed items.
I mis -guessed the comfort level of the 45-ish temperature reading on our outside, and wore only one thin layer over my shirt (yellow/black lightweight windbreaker) and normal socks and shoes.
I had some stuff to deliver to our Love Center and a package to take to UPS, so I towed the B.O.B. trailer behind.  I detoured slightly to make the first dropoff, then rode the mile or so up to the UPS store.  Unfortunately, they turned me away since I didn't have a proper label on it.

On the way TO my desired destinations it was COLD and soaked into my feet and torso.
On the way back. the wind wasn't in my face AND the sun peeked out a little, warming me to the point I had to unzip my windbreaker.  My cold feet didn't thaw out too much but weren't hurting quite so bad.  Rounding the corner at Hovis, I was stopped for several minutes waiting for a HUGE string of school buses rounding the same corner, most with several students still inside.  This burg is a fairly small one, with less than 5K population.
I couldn't fathom why we have so many school buses, especially since more than half the town is within walking distance of everything else, including schools.  Just proving I'm an Old Man, I suppose.  When I was a grade schooler in Bluewater yo so many years ago, most of us walked a half mile or so to school and back.  But then again we didn't have paved streets either....

Ride Started: 2:07 PM           Ride Ended:  3:40 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.8  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7
Lowest Temp: 53 F Highest Temp: 57 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  185   Ending BG: 105
Stats from the GPS: Total Miies:  6.0
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 4.7 MPH                             6.5 MPH           18.9  MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  1 hour 17 minutes           55  minutes         22  minutes

Winter Wandering

22 Nov GPS Track

3 Dec Saturday GPS Tracking

Missouri weather has been UP and DOWN with Bitter cold one and Balmy the next.
I learned long ago that if I wait for acceptable weather I would seldom get any outdoor exercise.
So I've ridden with both types of temperatures and conditions this week.
Yesterday was a bitter cold one.  I thought I'd take a short ride in the cold to deliver a letter to the Post Office.
So I saddled up.  Extra layers, open/closed grip mittens, arctic socks, head quilted skull cover (courtesy of Jacque many moons ago) - and off I went.
When I got up off the trike at the P.O., a fellow approached me asking about the trike.  I noticed this guy had a stump on one arm instead of a hand.  He explained that he had earlier been a bicycle rider, but had lost his hand in an accident and thus was curious about the trike, how it was steered, was it comfortable to ride, etc.  He wants to get one for himself, and hopefully he will.
While undertaking this very short jaunt, I decided it wasn't too cold for a longer trip, so I detoured around our Christmasy  Town Square and pedaled around to my usual boring loop around to the North side of town where I normally trudge over Highway 60 to our local Big Box Store to pick up some 9 volt batteries, something of course in dire need at home.

When I got near to that crossing of Route 60, I decided the traffic was a bit heavy for my taste,, so I stopped instead at the store immediately near me and pay a slightly higher price for the desired chemical energy sources.
This ingenious decision allowed me to take the return route with less cars  and trucks to dodge.
I normally encounter mostly friendly faces as I pedal my admittedly unusual contraption, but recently  I've taken to trying to smile widely to all oncoming faces, whether behind a windshield or not, and waving to everyone whether they wave  back or not.  Unsurprisingly, most smile and wave back.
For some odd reason this adds to the enjoyment of the ride.

Ride Started: 12: PM           Ride Ended:  1:36 PM 
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.7  Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9
Lowest Temp: 35 F Highest Temp: 50 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  175   Ending BG: 125
Stats from the GPS: Total Miies:  4.66
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 5.2 MPH                             7.8 MPH           22.1  MPH
Total Trip(s) Time             Moving Time      Stopped Time
  54 minutes                      35  minutes         8  minutes

Invigoration

 7 November GPS Track

9 November Tracking 

10 November GPS boring track 

12 November Very Brief Track

14 Nov Monday

As usual, we've gone back and forth between lovely balmy Indian Summer days and frigid sunny days and.... You get the picture.
Short rides, mildly longer rides, but no mediocre rides.... it's fun and refreshing just to get out and spin the pedals a few hundred times, even when it's bitter cold.
On Thursday, 10 Nov, I did a slightly unusual run:
I hitched up the B.O.B. trailer, strapped my balky chainsaw in, and took it to the repair shop.
It lately developed the nasty habit of starting nicely but then ROARING full throttle, out of control, and being impossible to stop without burying the blade into a large log and binding it into a stall.
I have multiple logs, branches, and what-not that need to be cut into firewood lengths.  BAH.
I got the chainsaw back for less than $50 in repair.  Life is Good.