27 February 2013

Almost the same old same old

#230 / #49

Red Leader used some of his excessive vacation time to take the afternoon off.

We rode from Folsom down the river to just before Sunrise, then turned around and came back on the north side of Lake Natoma. So the lake loop with a pig's tail.

Having ridden 23 miles on Monday, my legs are pretty tired now. But I'll take two days off before tackling the 30 mile 1st Saturday ride with the Sacramento Recumbent riders.

And that means I'll actually make (exceed) my 50 mile a week goal again.

Yay, me.

25 February 2013

I declare time dead!

#229

Killed some time today while waiting for our Prius to have some Toyota recall items taken care of.

I drove down to Folsom with the trike in the back of the car, pulled up to the service drop-off area, and nipped around to open the hatch and unload bike and stuff on the curb.

Did the paperwork and then set up my bike and rolled away for a 20+ mile ride.

I headed out on Folsom Blvd., since that was -despite some boulevard turns, the most expedient way to get on the river-side bike trail.

I rode on the trail to Hagen park, then turned around and rode back.






Poison oak. My ENEMY!!

I played in traffic some more, then spent a while killing time at a coffee shop, and - since the car was still not done - relocated to Bella Bru for a nice BLT and some ice water.

Getting back to the Toyota service center was the third, final, and most straightforward traffic excursion.

So, here's what I mean.


The red line is my route from the service center to the bike lane on Folsom Blvd. The red hooky-do at the bottom is my boulevard turn to get around the intersection. I did not feel like playing in traffic to the extent of making a vehicular left-hand turn.

The orange line is my route from the bike path paralleling Folsom Blvd. to a spot where I could turn around (green diamond) and get on the correct side of the road to get some coffee.
And the green line is my route from the sandwich place back to the dealer ship.

The screenshot below is the intersection of Folsom Blvd and Blue Ravine. It is a huge, busy, car-filled spot. There are push-button ped signals at all four corners, but the curb cuts to and from the bike path are really designed for foot traffic, not bicycles - even though this is a city of Folsom bike path.



This picture is how I did the coffee-turn. (the orange line in the map picture. Sue me.)
This is the next push-button equipped intersection (Parkshore), since the pushbutton situation at Blue Ravine was even worse.


The red line is how I eventually got across at Parkshore, did a u-turn, and headed back down the street to get coffee.
There is a pushbutton crossing at the upper rt of the intersection, but it is not available from the bike path since one has to cross the the light rail tracks (and the crossing arms - down when I went through - prevent easy access). So I crossed on the zebra there. Discovered that there is no pushbutton on the upper left corner to get across the street (downward in the pic), so - back across street - on the wrong side of the tracks (ie: not on the zebra), to Fred Flintstone my way to the button.
Then, finally, I could transition with a neat left hand turn from the cross walk to the bike lane.
I really wanted my coffee!!

There is just not a good, safe way, that I can find to get from the bike path on one side of Folsom Blvd. to the shops on the other. Maybe this is an example of infrastructure for two different kinds of cyclists: bike-path-only and road-only. If one is willing to be a vehicular cyclist at all times, most of the lights in Folsom seem to be "bike aware". And the bike paths are splendid! Many times, however, getting from one system to the other is a pain in the bottom and requires shenanigans of some degree.

23 February 2013

Ahhhhhhh

#228 / #48

Cloudy, gray, and a cold wind at home.

Sunshine in the valley!

A total of 6 intrepid bikers went around Lake Natoma today. At least, 6 in our group. Lots of people out today in the sunshine.

Pictures, since I'm feeling too lazy to write more.



Look for the other trike in the very back. That's Red Leader.




21 February 2013

Video-mania

#227 / #47

I've been shamefully neglecting my youtube site in favor of nearly anything else.

So today I dragged my little Canon point and shoot along on the ride (that also takes HD video) and remembered why I haven't been doing much of this lately.

I have an old Bogen/Manfrotto universal clamp that can attach to the edge of my seat. It is fairly vibration-resistant, but not perfectly. It is way better than the boom.

Anyway, the Canon's buttons are sensitive to vibration, so the video recording function randomly stops when encountering a bump. Frustration.

I do have another video camera, a Kodak Playsport. That used to work fine on the clamp, but the tripod thread on that camera body is PLASTIC. And the plastic threads have stripped out. So the camera is useless for mounting on anything. I would have used it today but the batteries are totally flat. And I have to find the charger for that camera.

So I hand held the Canon instead. Which limits me to straight, fairly level ground. Boooooring.

I shot 11 segments of video, the camera between segments dangling untidly from the strap, held in my teeth. Now I have a slobbery strap.

And OF course, the times I saw another recumbent the camera was not running. Except for the handcycle passing in front of me when we were parked at Wm. Pond.

The other reason (for not doing this video) is that it takes 20 minutes, at least, to transfer the files from the camera to my computer.

Then I have to update my video editor program, get a snack, get a cup of coffee, write this blog post, pick my nose...

Here's the link to the video on youtube. I'm not embedding it because that does not seem to work very well.

http://youtu.be/Bk2B9ypXRwc

20 February 2013

IOU

#226 / #46

Fri, Feb 15th

Yes we rode.

We went pretty fast. Avg 13.4 mph, about a mile faster than usual.

I totally forgot to blog about it.

So, there ya go!

14 February 2013

Not over yet

#225 / #45

Wednesday, Feb 13th

You'll notice that Red Leader's ride count increment skipped a few. That's because he went out riding without me while I had The Cold (from which I still have the cough).
I am so PLEASED he'll ride without me. The trike is a Good Thing.

We went out together yesterday, on the American River trail. I was not as fast as I usually am but still managed a 12.7 average for the ride from Sunrise to Wm Pond and back.

Saw a handful of other recumbents, most with fairings and one trike (no fairing).

It is spring, so the trees are starting to bud and the deer were out. Like horses, they stare at trikes before taking off.

I'm trying to figure out how to tell, short of total inoperability of my drive line, when I need to inspect and possibly change out components like shift cables and cogs and so on. I've never had a bike that I put 3190 miles on before.

Time to dig out my bicycle repair manual.

10 February 2013

Now, where was I ...

#224

This was karmic payback for ranting, yes indeed. The very next day, after posting The Rant, I came down with The Cold with the Hacking Cough
11 days later, today, I finally felt well enough to go for a short ride.

Which was a good thing, since I'd scheduled the Seven7 ride for today.

I had one taker for this ride, a new member of the casual riding group. Imagine my pleasure when I arrived at the gathering point to see another trike! A nice Greenspeed Magnum.

We chatted and loafed our way around the route, me hacking convulsively every once in a while.

It was a beautiful sunny 50 degrees with just the slightest breeze.

*hack* *cough*