It looks like a few people still click to this thing now and then. I completely forgot that I ever got this ambitious. oops. Leaves me wondering if there's even any point to this or not. Oh well, I guess I'll treat it more like a journal at this point and if anyone reads it, good for them.
At this point, I've ridden 126 miles. Each ride is getting easier and longer, plus the average speed is going up too. Noticed I'm getting a little skinnier overall, and recently started getting comments from people recently that my walking is improved. As an odd aside, my toes don't look as curled and I think I'm getting movement back to them.
Rode 15.7 miles yesterday from Elmore towards Fremont. I got sunburnt and the term bite and suck (and pucker up) was coined as well. Can't really remember much else of it other than that. Oh, got new brake levers since I snapped the one.
Had Josh over for supper, that went well. He seems to be doing good, just a bit depressed from being in the grungy, glum, crazy folks place. Not sure at this point if he'll be in for 30 days or if they'll hold him for 60 because of paper work issues.
First real ride on streets today, parade doesn't count, with mirrors, very very helpful. Rather uneventful, just thought I'd make note of how nice the mirrors are.
Note to self: Try updating this more often, and sooner after a ride for a better story.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
I HEART MY ROVER
Clipless pedals are recommended for all trike pilots, but a must for anyone with weakness in their legs. Because of my toes pointing outward, I had to have 1" axle extenders installed to not hit my heels on the crank arms. The shoes are meant to be able to walk around in them a little. However, they have very rigid soles, to transfer the most energy possible. This leads to me having no balance in them, so I put a chair in the garage and change shoes right in front of the trike, so I only have to take a few steps.
Now, onto the pics:
My ghetto-tastic bag for now. It's a hard shell case from my old PSP, but it holds my phone and wallet quite nicely. Unfortunately, I can't quite squeeze my keys in there too.
I opted for these shoes, they have a lot of breathability, but still have the laces to tighten down and feel secure. I thought about sandals, but I thought these might give more support.
I'm glad the cleats are very adjustable, I had to adjust them a few times...notice how much more angle the left shoe (last picture) has
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Tree Trolls
Finally time I bring disc golf into this too.
I thought after a few years, that the tree trolls may have moved on to a different course, but no.
On my second throw I was about 10 feet from the tree line that is basically one row of pine trees, and about 60 feet from the 20 feet wide gap in the tree line that counts as the fairway. I was debating between just chucking one through the trees and having a wide open up shot, or trying to hit the gap with an anhyzer. After the wife's persuasion and me saying why not, I let it fly. with just a tad bit too much power. I watch the disc go past the gap and watched it fly about 5 feet away from the first tree on the other side of the gap, I thought it turned just on the other side of that tree.
I walk up there expecting it to be on the ground just past the tree where I saw it fly to. IT'S NOT THERE, NO! THAT'S MY LAST CHALLENGER! is all that's going through my head. My wife and I both cover the whole area about a 120 foot circle, looking around the trees that I thought it went into, way past those trees in case it hit and rolled, after wall it was anhyzering. Keep looking, cutting myself up in the brush for what felt like hours, when finally my wife points to it in the first tree past the gap, that I would have sworn it went around. I try shaking the tree to get the disc out, but no luck. By this time it's past official sunset and the park closes at dark, so I am forced to leave the disc.
I know that it's the tree trolls again. Although nobody has ever seen one, many have witnessed the havoc they cause on the disc golf course. One such example is watching a disc rip through the tree branches and not get stuck, but by the time you get to where you expect the disc to have landed, it's in the first tree a few feet from the tee pad. It is believed these creatures use plastic for shelter, since it is much more water resistant than pine needle thatch. Discs must also be a food source for them, as there have been many discs lost in the trees. Unless they have a much higher population than what everyone speculates, in which case I worn everyone to keep a very close eye on their throws and even use spotters.
I am going back tomorrow with some water bottles to try throwing up in the tree to knock it free, since I didn't want to risk another disc being snatched my one of those nasty trolls. I really hope it's still there and that they used this one for shelter and not food; as that is the last of my stash of ghost tournament stamped pro-d challengers.
Please, if you have tree trolls at a course near you, leave a comment on this and we can try taking care of this problem before they start getting so over populated they grab discs right out of the bag when we aren't looking.
I thought after a few years, that the tree trolls may have moved on to a different course, but no.
On my second throw I was about 10 feet from the tree line that is basically one row of pine trees, and about 60 feet from the 20 feet wide gap in the tree line that counts as the fairway. I was debating between just chucking one through the trees and having a wide open up shot, or trying to hit the gap with an anhyzer. After the wife's persuasion and me saying why not, I let it fly. with just a tad bit too much power. I watch the disc go past the gap and watched it fly about 5 feet away from the first tree on the other side of the gap, I thought it turned just on the other side of that tree.
I walk up there expecting it to be on the ground just past the tree where I saw it fly to. IT'S NOT THERE, NO! THAT'S MY LAST CHALLENGER! is all that's going through my head. My wife and I both cover the whole area about a 120 foot circle, looking around the trees that I thought it went into, way past those trees in case it hit and rolled, after wall it was anhyzering. Keep looking, cutting myself up in the brush for what felt like hours, when finally my wife points to it in the first tree past the gap, that I would have sworn it went around. I try shaking the tree to get the disc out, but no luck. By this time it's past official sunset and the park closes at dark, so I am forced to leave the disc.
I know that it's the tree trolls again. Although nobody has ever seen one, many have witnessed the havoc they cause on the disc golf course. One such example is watching a disc rip through the tree branches and not get stuck, but by the time you get to where you expect the disc to have landed, it's in the first tree a few feet from the tee pad. It is believed these creatures use plastic for shelter, since it is much more water resistant than pine needle thatch. Discs must also be a food source for them, as there have been many discs lost in the trees. Unless they have a much higher population than what everyone speculates, in which case I worn everyone to keep a very close eye on their throws and even use spotters.
I am going back tomorrow with some water bottles to try throwing up in the tree to knock it free, since I didn't want to risk another disc being snatched my one of those nasty trolls. I really hope it's still there and that they used this one for shelter and not food; as that is the last of my stash of ghost tournament stamped pro-d challengers.
Please, if you have tree trolls at a course near you, leave a comment on this and we can try taking care of this problem before they start getting so over populated they grab discs right out of the bag when we aren't looking.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Getting the trike, but have to wait again..
It just now occurred to me that I forgot to post anything about this.
I make the hour drive Friday up to the bike shop, ask about the TerraTrike Rover with a 20" wheel, since I don't see it on the floor. The sales person responds with "I'm sorry, but it sold just before you came in." At this point I am thoroughly confused. I tell him how I called and asked for them to hold it, and would make a down payment if needed. He looks it up in the computer, and there's the note, but no trike left to sell. GRRR!!!! However, they plan on picking up more this coming week, or next week at the latest.
They had the 26" wheel variation, but couldn't sell that to me if I wanted, since they needed one on the sale floor. I did get to test ride it, over a mile, and it was very comfortable and no pain or strain on any of the joints. This test also provided quite a bit of insight into what wouldn't work for me.
While figuring out price and talking the option over with my wife, there's another customer, so the sales person gets side tracked and didn't call TerraTrike to ask about warranty. After finally getting him to use the phone and figuring out how it works. Warranties are non transferable, but they do offer a 3 year warranty for $150. That, plus the tune up, and the price of the used one, I was getting close to the price of a brand new trike, with better features. So I declined it. He proceeds to help her out with accessories, while I stand around some more. It's been about 2 hours to this point.
Finally, my turn, now that it's only an hour before closing time. I start going over options for clipless pedals and shoes and options I would like on the trike. I ask him if I can get anything extra, or discounted, since the trike was sold and I had been there so long. He said the most he could do was discount a couple of accessories. Most things in the store were marked up high enough, that even with the discount, in some cases it would have been 20-30% more than what I would pay online, with shipping included. He talked me into some pedals that were already clearanced, that I have since figured out were more expensive than what they are even at the expensive shop here in town. Moving on to shoes, the ones he had in store barely fit and weren't entirely comfortable, so he spent another half hour looking up if he could get any sandals from his distributor, but only found one that was ladies.
By this point it's been over 3 hours, from getting side tracked and helping other customers, so I just give him a down payment on the trike and pedals. Here's to hoping that there's a positive update by Friday.
P.S. I am not bad mouthing the shop (Elmore Cycle and Fitness) even though it took forever and their prices are high. Their staff is very courteous, and the previous times I've been in there everything was very efficient.
I make the hour drive Friday up to the bike shop, ask about the TerraTrike Rover with a 20" wheel, since I don't see it on the floor. The sales person responds with "I'm sorry, but it sold just before you came in." At this point I am thoroughly confused. I tell him how I called and asked for them to hold it, and would make a down payment if needed. He looks it up in the computer, and there's the note, but no trike left to sell. GRRR!!!! However, they plan on picking up more this coming week, or next week at the latest.
They had the 26" wheel variation, but couldn't sell that to me if I wanted, since they needed one on the sale floor. I did get to test ride it, over a mile, and it was very comfortable and no pain or strain on any of the joints. This test also provided quite a bit of insight into what wouldn't work for me.
- The extra seat height was negligible, in fact the only way I could even tell was to look at it beside a customer's 20" that I had the chance to buy, more on that later.
- The lower clearance for the crank was very noticeable. If my feet were in about the same spot that clipless pedals would put them at, they came very close, and even scraped once at low speed.
- Clipless pedals are definitely needed. HSP leaves me without enough strength in my ankles, so my I was saying a little prayer and hoping they stayed on the pedals. I even tried strapping them on with a bungee cord, but it still didn't help. They kept working their way toward the outside of the pedal or I was kicking the crank, either way a bad spot to be in.
- I was only able to get into 5th gear once. Even on the completely flat bike path, the 26" rear wheel just raises the gear range too high. I was spending most of the ride in 3rd or 4th.
While figuring out price and talking the option over with my wife, there's another customer, so the sales person gets side tracked and didn't call TerraTrike to ask about warranty. After finally getting him to use the phone and figuring out how it works. Warranties are non transferable, but they do offer a 3 year warranty for $150. That, plus the tune up, and the price of the used one, I was getting close to the price of a brand new trike, with better features. So I declined it. He proceeds to help her out with accessories, while I stand around some more. It's been about 2 hours to this point.
Finally, my turn, now that it's only an hour before closing time. I start going over options for clipless pedals and shoes and options I would like on the trike. I ask him if I can get anything extra, or discounted, since the trike was sold and I had been there so long. He said the most he could do was discount a couple of accessories. Most things in the store were marked up high enough, that even with the discount, in some cases it would have been 20-30% more than what I would pay online, with shipping included. He talked me into some pedals that were already clearanced, that I have since figured out were more expensive than what they are even at the expensive shop here in town. Moving on to shoes, the ones he had in store barely fit and weren't entirely comfortable, so he spent another half hour looking up if he could get any sandals from his distributor, but only found one that was ladies.
By this point it's been over 3 hours, from getting side tracked and helping other customers, so I just give him a down payment on the trike and pedals. Here's to hoping that there's a positive update by Friday.
P.S. I am not bad mouthing the shop (Elmore Cycle and Fitness) even though it took forever and their prices are high. Their staff is very courteous, and the previous times I've been in there everything was very efficient.
Friday, March 16, 2012
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