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Ride #93
Saturday, August 6th
30 miles on the American River Bike Trail

with the Recumbent Riders of Sacramento.

Yes. It is good to be back. And yes, I was mostly in back of the pack also. Back. Heh heh. Get it?

BUT this month I could see most of them most of the time, I think my average for the first 1/2 of the ride was 12-13 mph. So now I know I can do that for about 15 miles.

My view for most of the ride.

I don't know what my average for the second half was, but I'm betting my over all average was less than 10. 'Cause I was one tired puppy at the end of the ride.

So, why DON'T I know my average?

Because my speedometer sensor was knocked askew.

Why askew?

Because of removing and replacing my rear wheel, of course. (This is starting to sound like a conversation with a 5 year old).

Why mess with the rear wheel?

Because of this!

The Goathead thorn I found sticking out of my poor abused tire.

These little buggers are EVERYWHERE this year since we had such a wet spring. They are like caltrops: no matter how they land, there is always a point sticking up.

Here is an extremely amusing video about this horrid little scrap of vegetation. I had nothing to do with this video but I find it hilarious. No really. I do.

The Goat Head Thorn and You!

I had no problem removing the rear tire and getting a new tube in and inflated. I had a little trouble getting the wheel back in the dropouts while managing the chain. So a kind passerby held the back of the trike up while I cut loose with some language and got the wheel all settled in place.
I love my RoadMorph pump. It was easy to use and the trick a friend of mine discovered of unscrewing the collar on the business end of the pump a little bit prior to attaching the pump to a Schrader valve made it much easier than the first time I tried the pump.

I was remarkably nervous riding the last 10 of the 30 mile ride, knowing that I had only ONE spare tube and no patch kit.

Why no patch kit?
(Oh, for crying out loud! Not the five year old again!)

I probably picked up the goathead when I pulled over earlier to give a pack of cyclists my patch kit. Which I had never used. So much for the Good Samaritan act.
Who am I fooling, I'd do it again in an instant, but I might check my tires before scooting off.

I tried using the Tracks app on my phone (android). It did not seem to record anything ridewithgps can use, so I'll try again another day. The app ran for 5 hours and ran my battery down almost to nothing. So I think it might be a fun thing to play with, but only good for recording short routes.

The To Do List:

• I really really need to see if I can tighten up the seat mesh where my pokey shoulderblades have caused it to sag. 
• I also want to fix up my speedometer and make sure my pepperspray is attached to the bike securely.

Yes I have a little can of Fox strapped to my bike. There have recently been some unsavory characters (gang members, so I've heard) hanging out at the Sacramento end of the bike trail, attempting to separate people from their stuff. So I figured the spray is better kept where I can reach it rather than buried in the depths of my bag. And yes, I've practiced getting it in my hand and facing the right direction (easy with the type I bought).

• And it might be time to check the rear derailler for lumps of crud and maybe to lube and wipe down the chain.
• Oh. and check various bolt for tightness, since I'll have the seat off anyway.

Out for an early ride on Monday: Up up and away!

Snot-pocalypse

First, a note.  There is a benefit ride coming up in the Sacramento area: Ride4Matt. 
Check it out, participate if you can.

Ride #68
Thursday, May 5th

57 miles along most of the American River bike path

I think this is the longest I've ever ridden in one day in my life. I'm not dead so it is obviously survivable.

My triking pal and I left Folsom on a fine, bright Spring day. We returned later - much later - that day. And on my part at least, hot, tired, slightly sunburned, and ever-so-mildly crabby.

This was, I suppose, a little taste of touring in some ways:  it was a fair distance, it was a bit stressful, and I'm sitting here a day later composing this post in a coffee shop.
On my phone.

My left foot is bruised, my leg muscles are tired, and my allergies are in full swing. It is a good thing the coffee shop has lots of paper napkins. I'm thinking about what kind of small pump I want to buy, and trying recall the correct sequence for removing and replacing a rear tire. And thinking about the next loooooong ride!

Hey, I just noticed that my phone's keyboard has a voice recognition function. Here goes: I have no idea if this is good to work or not I have removed myself to the car so I don't sit in peets coffee house talking to my phone which would sound very very very strange.
Hey. I can 'speatype' a run-on sentence! Ok. Back to work.

When using clipless pedals (pedals-that-attach-to-your-shoe-with clips. Don't ask me, I didn't name them) on a recumbent, it is useful to push the foot away as well as pulling back on the return. Apparently, I cannot do that effectively for more than about 35 miles. I started loosing the "oomph" in my legs at that point and I suppose my left foot was repeatedly slamming into the bottom of my shoe: hence the bruise. I'm considering more cushy forefoot inserts for my shoes.

We took plenty of breaks on the way out and even more on the way back! I stopped and stretched about 3/4 of the way through the ride. I drank 24 x 6 ozs of water: still not enough, since I came home with a raging headache. Two packets of electrolyte replacement powder and several glasses of water put me to rights.
I've added some packets to my bike bag.

I ate two oranges and a handful of trail mix along the way. And some jerky. I was pretty hungry at the end of the ride, so I think more trail mix is in order.

About 4 miles from the end of our ride, my steering started getting squirrelly. My rear tire was losing air! So we stopped and pumped it up to see if I could get back without hassling with a tube change. It held enough air to do so, I did no damage to my rim, and I put a new tube in the next day. And here's the "tattoo" to prove it. Saturday's ride will tell if I did a good job.

Have you hugged your bike today?

My pump sucks. Yes, air pumps are supposed to blow (which in this case is a good thing), so we used my pal's pump. I LIKE that pump! It's a Topeak road morph. Very nice, especially the built in pressure gauge.

I experimented a little bit with tipping my seat all the way back. I seemed to have more power with less effort, and it uses slightly different muscles than my usual, more upright, posture. I've set up the seat and the mirrors for the new laid back position and I'll give it a try on Saturday's ride.

TTFN