The Miles Are Coming Back...Slowly

A lot of short but sweet rides so far this year. The new hips feel good with short minimal elevation gain rides. All but one of the rides this year are on the 700. The short ride I took with Betzi convinced me that I shouldn't push to hard. I'm going to keep riding the 700 another month or two before hooking Betzi's trailer up to the Expedition. The short rides (one in particular, a 12.2 mile with a 577 feet of gain) allow me to ride a little faster, a little harder and with a respectable  miles per hour average with minimum stress on the hips. 

The Catrike 700 is a pure joy to ride. It's fast and light (for a trike) and still brings on the endorphin rush even though I've had to back off during hip recovery. I take the steeper hill climbs slow and easy and say a friendly "how do you do" as riders pass me only to give a wave as I pass some of them on the flats or scream past them on a nice downhill. It's all in good fun and with many of the riders I come in contact with I have chance to have a fun but short conversation. 

Recovery Hike

Last Sunday I pushed a little hard on my titanium hips. I road 20 miles on my 700, gained 1,200 feet and averaged 13.7 mph. Not a lot by normal standards but for me right now it translated into stiff and sore hips for a couple days. Now that I'm pretty much back to normal (normal for me) and I decided that a hike with my girls would be a good way to continue my recovery from last Sunday's ride. 

We hiked past the remains of the old Morrison ranch which is now part of the National Park Service at Cheeseboro Canyon.

Carrie and Leili 

Leili

Green Lanes

A little green paint goes a long way to help making the streets a little safer for cyclists. How much clearer can it be that cyclists have the same right as motorists to use public roads. 

Rail Trail Supreme Court Decision

"On March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down it's decision in the case of Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust et al. v. United States. The issue in this case was whether the federal government retains an interest in railroad rights-of-way that were created by the federal General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875, after the cessation of railroad activity on the corridor." (read more at Rails To Trails)

Here's an easy graphic to follow from Rails To Trails. 

Pic Of The Day

Even an ugly alley can look good when you have blue sky above and three wheels beneath.

An out of the way alley I'll often stop at to take a snack break. Today was a little warm so a quick snack and a drink was the order of the day.

Catrike Ready to Grow

Catrike ready to grow. 

Article in Bicycle Retailer 

"ORLANDO, Fla. (BRAIN) — Catrike, a fast growing manufacturer of high performance recumbent tricycles, is consulting with former Serotta CEO Bill Watkins as the company contemplates its growth strategy". (click for more)

Steve Goes 700

Steve (aka Trike Hobo) author of the Trike Asylum goes high performance with his new Catrike 700. Visit the Trike Asylum and check out the details on his post "A New Trike in 2014" .

NICE!!

Strength is Coming Back

My ride today was 20.1 miles, 1,230 foot gain, top speed 45.8 mph and an average speed of 14.4 mph. It's not much but for me it's my longest ride since I started the double hip replacement process back in late September 2013. It's been eleven weeks since the replacement of my last hip and my strength is coming back faster then expected. I still take it easy on the climbs, grinding up hills puts the most stress on my new titanium hips. I'm back to getting cheap thrills passing DF's on the flats and flying past them on the downhill runs. At 60 years old I'll get my thrills anyway I can.

Ibuprofen time!!

My Catrike 700 has made my hip recovery process easy.
I love this thing.

By the end of this month I'll be comfortable putting an extra load
on my hips and I'll start taking Betzi on rides with my Expedition.

Pic Of The Day

A cool picture from my ride today on the 700. 

The all mighty California lawn...what drought?

10 Weeks

It's been 10 weeks from today (12 weeks being the magic number when I can start riding stupid) since my final hip replacement. To celebrate I upped the mileage a bit and added a few extra hills. I did 16 miles and 1,004 feet of gain. Average speed was 13.2mph. 

During the first 10 months of last year my average gain per mile was 87 feet. Today's ride was 62 feet of gain per mile. I'm getting there.

I still get stiff and a bit sore but no real pain like I would get before my hips went titanium. Back in the day I would not be able to ride two days in row. My hips would hurt to much. That's not a problem anymore as long as I keep within my limits.

I'm working my way back with at least three rides a week. Ride on!!

Crossing over Hwy 101 in Thousand Oaks