My Most Recent Ride 2012 (Part V in a series)

The rest of the story.

Ed, You see my avatar. That's the Lightfoot Greenway. It keeps me cool
in summer and is sure footed in winter on snow.

OK, the rest of the story. It has a four cycle Honda engine with a Staton
gear box. At idle it pushes the trike along at about 15mph. I've seen 40
on level ground. It was a little off today or I was pushing it to much. Cost
50 cents to go 38 miles. The bicycle computer could be off too.

Anyway, it is power assist. If it gets too slow on a steep hill, I start in
cranking. I can get a good work-out like that and see a lot of country.
And that's my Corsa equalizer.

 

I knew that <sheepish grin>

 

Short ride today. 5.74 miles. Too stressed to have enjoyed it much in spite of the pretty and cool weather. Loke's going for surgery and I am completely freaked out about something going wrong.

Terii

 

Hope all went well with Loke .
Ray and I rode with the fast guys again today, but only for 25 miles. We left them to ride their 50, and we came on home for a total of 32. We rode some of the biggest hills in our area and it wore me out trying to keep up with that young bunch!

Iv'e been riding now for 10 months, and though I have come a long way, I am not where I would like to be. But I feel that riding with stronger folks will help me push a little harder, and go a little further.

I'm also encouraged by some of the folks on the forum who push on through health issues and just keep riding!
It's great to hear when people fight on through adversity, and won't give up!!!

 

Making a comeback

Hope Loke is doing well. Short rides are fun....long rides
are work.

You are doing well ED. Greeneville Hiking and Cycling had about 30 riders
this morning and did over 20 miles. I quit at the half way point. That's
about all the fun I can take before breakfast. The club is growing nicely.

 

Thanks for the well-wishes for Loke. I've pocketed them for tomorrow (Monday 13th) as Loke goes under the knife. Hopefully all will go well. I'll give updates when we get him back.

Terii

 

Flat

Doc and I did 32 miles this morning with a couple of big hills.It was a good ride until the last mile and I had a puncture on rear tire. Didn't want to change it that close to home, so tried airing it up but didn't get far! Decided to just push it on home and fix it.
I know that fixing flats is just a part of cycling, but I still don't like it!!

 

Beginning of this year I had 5 flats in 2 weeks. Never found the problem but it had to be something IN my back tire I couldn't see or feel but could put holes in my tires.

I got real good at fixing flat tires!!! Back tire too!!!

Changed the tire and my flat problem went away. I agree with you, flats are no fun!

 

That was the first flat I've had in several months, so with the mileage I've been doing I feel pretty fortunate.
And I may have been at fault as I didn't air the tires this morning (although I did yesterday).

 

No ride this evening. Not only is it raining, the wife and I went out to dinner for my birthday. So, this is from last week's Monday ride.

Same final stretch to the sign as my last report. This time, we were about a mile and a half from the end, and the guys were already starting to play their "I want to be at the back to rest until the sprint" game. So I went to the front and kept them at an honest pace (22 mph.)

Robin was alongside me and quietly said, "if you pull out nice and easy, I'll follow you." My first thought was, "why would I want to make it easy for you to draft me?" But on further reflection, what he was really saying was "I can't beat you, but with your help I can WAIL on the others." So, I agreed.

We were still over a mile from the sign, but I pulled smoothly out at 23, then 24 and held it for a bit. There's a bit of a downgrade, and I used it to pull up to 26, then 27 as the grade flattened out. Robin was right on my tail. Then he reported "we've got a tandem." I looked in my mirror and we not only had a tandem but another single. I pushed a bit more. 28, 29, then 30 mph!

That took care of the tandem, but now we were coming up on the small rise that usually sucks at least a mph out of me even if I give it all I've got. I did, and that was enough to lose Robin, too. I was only down to 29 as I heard a loud "Arrrgh!" from somewhere behind me. It sounded like Gary. If he was slingshotting past Robin, I'd better pour it on! I was starting to breathe hard and my legs were already hurting, but I pushed as hard as I could and passed the sign going 30 mph.

The others were so far behind me that I didn't bother calling 'clear' on the intersection for them. I just made the turn and rode a thousand yards past the parking lot and back to cool the legs. The 'roar attack' I'd heard was indeed Gary, who had grabbed his Big Gear while he was still on the small rise, and didn't have the power to turn it! His Slingshot maneuver failed. Robin was still relatively fresh due to drafting me, and beat him handily for 2nd place.

 

Remind me to never ride with you!!! 30 MPH. : OMG!!!!

 

I've been out of town for a bit...this nice report has given me the refresher that I needed. Took out tandem too huh?...Nice report...nice indeed.

 

I took my truck in for repair. Riding home I saw a Google Maps car.

 

Doc and I rode 56 miles this morning, mostly flat and wind was'nt bad.
We paced ourselves and averaged 15 mph. This was a new route to us and a good ride except for about 5 miles of construction, which was hazardous.

 

What did you do to your chain stay to make it stiffer?