Personal Look Back at 2013

January
Just another picnic in the park.

February

My new Catrike 700 / 20 first impression.

March

Picture from an uneventful week.

April

New Catrike 700 / 20 vs my old Catrike 700

vs

May

Chip seal on Hwy 1, an update. What were they thinking!?

June
Maria Parker's exciting RAAM

and I took a little time out from triken to take a hike with Carrie

July

Adventure Cycling's annual recumbent edition was one of their best recumbent issues. 

August

Comparing my Catrike 700 / 20 to my Catrike Expedition 

vs

September

My opinion of technology and cycling.

October

A new right hip for me

November

Recumbent Cycle-Con

December

Another new hip. This time the left one goes titanium. Adventure Cycling Magazine comes along to the hospital with me.

Supervising Leaf Cleanup

Won't be back on my trike for another couple of weeks but I can still supervise a little gardening.

Titanium Hips

Both hips are now titanium!! As my daughter Leili says...hip...hip...hooray!
It only gets better from here.




Day 2. Relaxing in the hospital bed reading Adventure Cycling Magazine. Thinking of future cycling plans.

Get It Done

The hardest part of recovering from the replacement of my right hip is waiting for my other hip to be replaced. I just want to get it done so I can put the whole double hip replacement process behind me and kick recovery into high gear. Right now I'm in purgatory trying my best to stay active and get strong knowing that on December 23rd I get to go through the whole hip replacement process again on the left hip. But then it will be DONE and then I can put all my effort into getting strong. This in between surgeries is taking it's mental toll.

Game plan....hang tight until December 23rd, let Dr Yun have is way with me and from there on all the pain of recovery will be headed in a positive direction.  "Good pain". When the last hip is replaced the ice packs and the stiffness and pain after each ride will be acceptable. I'm giving myself six months from December 23rd to feel strong and to once again stroke my (soon to be) sixty year old ego passing the properly contoured Lance wannabes on my Catrike 700. I can feel their youthful energy now as I pass them on my tricycle and they tuck down a little lower and shift gears. It's petty but I still get a kick out of it. I also look forward to towing my ole girl Betzi around town on my Expedition.

Oh the triken life is right around the corner. I must master the art of patience and good things will unfold.

I'm done venting, time to stop complaining and ride on!

Busted Front Derailluer

I wanted to take Betzi on a short easy ride with my Expedition. She's been very patient as I've been riding the 700 rehabbing my right hip.  I was all ready to go and and the front derailleur busted after less then a mile. I decided to take advantage of the situation and change from a 9 speed set up to a 10 speed set up. I ordered a new front derailleur, 10 speed cassette (11/36) and a 10 speed chain. I'll gain an extra gear inch at the low end without sacrificing gear inches on the high end with a the 10 speed setup. With a little luck I'll get it before I go in to get my left hip replaced December 23rd. Sorry girl.

The derailleur has only 2000 miles on it. 

Not exactly top of the line.

Cyclist Killed on New Road

On December 8th a cyclist was killed after a sheriff's car struck him on Mulholland Hwy in Calabasas, CA. The sheriff seems to be clearly at fault for the cyclists death. But if you look a little closer at the road where the cyclist was killed it seems that the clueless designers responsible for the road configuration should be held accountable. The road in this posh area used to have two lanes of traffic each way. It was recently redesigned down to one lane of traffic each way with generous green belts and a four foot token bicycle lane which includes a one foot gutter. Motorists are left with a twelve foot section of road which also includes a one foot concrete gutter. It's obvious that the planners of this ill conceived design were more concerned about the look of the new roadway in this well do area of Southern California then the safety of cyclists who regularly use this road. This is a new road!! Motorists and cyclists are forced to share a small section of road flanked by concrete curbs that leave no room for error or passing. In September of 2014 the three foot rule for motorists passing a cyclist will be the law in California. Try accomplishing that when you have a cyclist and motorist sharing a sixteen foot wide road which includes a one foot gutter on each side.

With ample space the redesign of this section of Mulholland was a perfect opportunity for designers to create a reasonable and safe separation between motorists and cyclists. Designers chose form over function and now a cyclist is dead. This road is an example of systematic ignorance on the part of City Planners and road designers. They continue to ignore the safety of cyclists at time when more people are enjoying cycling for health, commuting and shopping locally in support of small businesses.. 

Cycling has many benefits for the individual as well as for the community as a whole. It's time that City Planners take into account the safety of cyclists as well as motorists and provide safe roads that we can all travel on.

Area where cyclist was killed. (Google Earth street view).

Tricycles are Allowed

A good read from Kyle Bryant's blog regarding new Triathlon guidelines. 

USAT Rules: Recumbent Style TricyclesAre Allowed!!

New PC Open Division Guidelines:

“Not all athletes with ADA defined disabilities fit into a Paratriathlon medical classification or are able to follow the strict equipment usage rules of Paratriathlon. Accordingly, USA Triathlon offers a PC Open Division as an accommodation for those persons who wish to participate in a sanctioned event but who will not follow some Paratriathlon rules.”

Click here for full text regarding Open Division Guidelines

Afghan Cycles

It's hard to image the personal risk these women accept by simply riding a bicycle.

Click for the Afghan Women's National Cycling Team

Fall Shadows

My Catrike 700 / 20.
Enjoying a cool and sunny fall day.

My rides are still short, 10 to 12 miles, but now I'm doing some hills. Today's ride was 10.8 miles, 825 feet of gain, average of 11.7 mph and a ice pack at the end of the ride for my new hip.