700 Photo Op

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the 700 on a grass berm that I rode by today.

I planned on taking a longer ride today on the 700 but I realized I forgot my flag today. I was coming up to a section of road where I felt uncomfortable without a rag waving in the air so after about 15 miles I met Carrie to pick up my flag and ended up going to the local coffee joint with her. I was planning on doing 30 miles but in the end my ride was only 17 miles. I hadn't really got into the climbing section of my ride yet so my gain was a modest 920 feet with an average speed of 15.8 mph. The ride wasn't as long I planned but being with my beautiful wife made up for it.

OK I'll Take the Drug

I finished up a bunch of tests with my new cardiologist and now is the time to followup to an earlier post "No Drugs Please".

Stress test - Good (I stayed on the treadmill 30% longer then is projected for a person my age (58), height (6'1") and weight (185).
Echo Cardiogram - Good
Cholesterol Levels - Good...for anyone without an history of having a heart attack.

My total cholesterol is 185 (less then 200 is desirable)
HDL 62 (greater then 60 is best)
LDL 105 (less then 129 near ideal, less then 100 if at risk of heart disease and less then 70 if at high risk of heart disease)
Triglycerides 90 (150 or less is desirable)
Total Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 2.98 (3.43 or less means 1/2 the average risk of having a heart attack)

A "healthy" person would be very happy with these numbers and their doctor would give them a well done and send them on their way...not me. I had a heart attack, not a massive one as explained in my post  No Drugs Please. I now have a history and I'm suppose to have my LDL under 70. I got my diet dialed in just right for me, a diet that I can easily live with and maintain.
To get my LDL down to under 70, side effects be damned, I'm taking my doctors advice and starting a low 10mg dose of Atorvastatin (generic Lipitor) which is suppose to reduce LDL by 34% to 38%.

Next step...get off the blood thinner prasugrel (Effient) after the one year protocol which ends December 25th. The attorneys are already lining up clients who take this stuff because of studies showing increased cancer risk.

Oooooh well, ride on!

700 Not for Sale

Updated 9/24/12

Awhile back I decided to sell my 700...well kinda. Now I've decided that I just can't let it go. Even though I cruise on my Catrike Expedition most of the time, the few times I do ride the 700 makes it worth keeping around. I may ride it only once a month but when I do it's such a blast going down the local hills at 50 plus mph that it helps to keep me young. I must admit I get a kick out of passing some of the spandex clad Lance wannabes on the flats and always on the downhill stretches. Then there are some riders who pass me on the flats that are so out of breath that they can barely manage a "how do you do". Then I'm stuck looking at their ass as they slow down to get their breath. General rule of thumb when I'm riding my 700 is, not including hill climbs, for every rider that passes me I pass one.
It's all good fun so I'll keep the 700 for those occasional times when I need a little downhill adrenaline fix. 

NOT For Sale
(but I'll keep the pictures here)

Catrike 700

Looking good!

The accessory bar on the boom mast has been removed.  This trike is for speed, not accessorizing.  My DiNotte light  was easily installed on the mast. I think it looks better as well. Front derailleur is a Shimano Ultegra.

The 52/39/30 FSA SL-K carbon is light and looks soooo good. 

Black spokes and red nipples. 

Smooth shifting. Sram XX

Avid BB7 brakes

The cassette is a super light Sram X Glide 10 speed. Seven of the cogs are CNC-machined together out of a single block of billet steel, creating an incredibly lightweight, precise, and strong cassette

Avid Speed Dial brake levers.
As you can see I have the new generation Catrike seat on the 700 (New Catrike Seats)

The top chain tube has been removed for aesthetics, weight and ease of repairing a chain on the road. I put a  heavy duty vinyl patch on the frame to protect it from chain slap. The chain never touches the frame when it is under tension.

_____________________________________________

Video on Bent Rider Online The video shows a compact double and Sram front derailleur, I exchanged it for a triple and a Shimano Ultegra front derailleur.

Traveling with My Trike

When I travel alone or with Carrie I can fold down the rear seats and put the Expedition in the back of the car. When Byron and Leili claim the rear seat then my ride goes on top of the car. Carrie has the same car model I have so I took her roof racks and put them on my car along with my racks. It makes a nice slot for the front tires to rest in. I simply tie it down with nylon webbing (easier then rope to work with) and I'm good to go. I've been doing it this way for the last three years without a mishap

A couple of years ago I had to get four trikes loaded on the car. Two on the roof and two on a Alpaca rack.

Central Coast Vacation

The Expedition is strapped to the top of our car and we're ready to head off to Cambria for some family fun and a little riding along the central coast of California...for me at least.

DAY 1 

As is my custom no matter where I  may be I start off my day with a cup of tea. This morning, at a respectable 6:30am, I become one with the fog at  Moomstone beach watching the harbor seals laying on the rocks doing what they do best...nothing.

Eventually I got my rear end off the sand and prepared for a ride up the coast. By 9am, with the fog still hanging around, I pedaled away form our digs at the Fireside Inn. It's a nice motel adjacent to the beach. I took a straight shot up the coast to the old abandoned Piedras Blancas Motel aptly named after the local historic light house. Tours of this old historic lighthouse are offered through the Piedras Blancas Light Station Association. 
The sun is finally starting to show itself and I can start taking off layers. I headed back after hitting the Piedras Blancas Motel. Going North beyond the remains of the old motel brings you to the hills of the Los Padres National Forest and eventually Big Sur. This is a challenge for another day. On the way back I stop to take a look at the elephant seals in all their blubbery glory. Next stop the pier at San Simeon State Beach. for a quick break to relieve myself of my morning tea..

After a few more stops to take in the awesome coast views I finally make my way back to the Fireside Inn and spend the rest of the day with the Carrie and the kids.
The ride ended up to be 27 miles of easy coastal riding with gentle hills that accounted for a little over 1,000 feet of elevation gain. 

Enjoying my first early morning on the beach.

Heading north along Highway 1.

The old abandoned Piedras Blancas located just South of the steep hills of the Central Coast.

Only the best facilities. This is a common place for cycle tourists to take a break. It's also a popular spot for us day riders to take a rest stop and then head back down the coast.

Headed South.

Done for the day. Charging the DiNotte lights on the patio of our humble motel room.

Day 2
Family day, no riding. I'll get one last ride in tomorrow...or so I thought... before heading home.

My usual morning tea before waking up the kids.

At a beach near Hearst Castle I mark my territory with a cairn (man made pile of rocks used to mark a trail or as a monument). 

Oh yeah...the kids are impressed.

Kids and Carrie

My turn to get in the pic.

The kids on the boardwalk at Moonstone Beach.

End of the day.

Day 3
I was all ready to get a ride in this morning before heading home. The fog gave way to clouds that were starting to make the morning a little damp. So we called it a weekend, packed our bags and headed home.

Last morning on the beach.

Mini cairns marking my preferred tea drinking rock. I built these four little jems up over the course of three mornings while having tea and no one knocked them down. Au contraire someone had actually added their own cairns to my collection on top of my tea table rock.
_____________________________________________________

Ride with GPS

New Tires

UPDATE 3/1/13: I replaced the Marathon Plus 20 x 1.75 with Marathon 20 x 1.35 (click to see post)

_________________________________

I put two new Marathon Plus tires on the front of my trike and took'em for a ride today. They replaced my old worn out 20/1.5 Marathon Racers. I'm looking for a little extra comfort and durability, not speed, so I went with the 1.75 wide tires. Initial impression...slow but I got that little extra comfort I was hoping for. Combined with the 26/1.75 Marathon Tour I put on the rear wheel four months ago I have manged to soften the ride just enough to make for some sweet cycling. With the cushy treads it seems that I've lost about 10% of my speed. It's hard to know exactly but I'm good with it. In addition I'm also keeping the tire pressure at the mid-range of the min and max recommendations for a little more shock absorbing power. The air pressure on Betzi's trailer tires are kept even lower. I don't want ma doogie bouncing around to much.

Nice clean new tires.

Time for a Snack

Now that the heat of summer has eased up I can time to stop at the duck pond at Oak Canyon Community Park and munch down a snack.

Quiet morning. 

The pond.

These quackers are use to people and well mannered pooches.

My trusty ride waits.

SPOT vs Actual Route

If your using a SPOT Satellite Messenger  don't expect it to show the details of your route. It's purpose is to identify your location at given intervals and to be used in case of  emergency as mentioned in a previous post, Spot Tracker.

Actual 21 mile route I rode last Sunday

How the SPOT sees the same route

Thump..Thump on a Sunday Ride

Beautiful summer day. The weather started off a little cooler so I was able to get a leisurely start at 8am. I spent three hours wondering around with a couple of stops at local parks so Betzi could exercise her nose. Towards the end of the ride I started to feel a distinctive thump...thump...thump coming from my right tire. Sure the enough the tire was toast. I looked down at the exposed lining and the expanding bulge of my Schwalbe Marathon and pleaded with it to hold up until I got home. I let a little pressure out of the tire and I made it home.

The yellow panniers are new.  I wanted a little extra room to stow away stuff but I didn't want to put on the big Ortlieb Rear Roller Classic panniers that I usually use during the winter. These yellow guys are the Ortlieb Front Roller Classic and they're just the right size for this time of year.

This poor little guy was sitting at the park all alone waiting to go home.

We have some good open roads that are well used by cyclists on weekend mornings. Not to long ago I even saw Dana from Bent Up Cycles out this way while he was doing one of his "big" rides. 

Here's the bad boy that was threatening to self destruct before getting home.  It lasted over 2,500 miles and saw a lot of heavy breaking due to the hills I ride in and towing Betzi. I should  have checked it out after my last ride  two days ago last Friday when I had to make a quick stop to avoid a soccer mom in her monster SUV. She though she could beat me to a driveway she wanted to turn into. As I skidded to a stop she abandoned her attempt to clip me and left me just enough room to ride on, her menacing oversized bumper staring me in the face.