A Look Back at 2014

January

Taking it easy after having both of my hips replaced and Doing Laps around the elementary school parking lot. 

February

Carrie, Byron and I went down to the Lake for a short Trike, Bike and Walk. 

March

10 Weeks  since since my second hip replacement. Enjoying the 700.

April

Finally...A Ride With Betzi after two hip replacements. It was a short ride with all that weight but it was still nice to get out with ma doggie.

May

Steve's Fully Loaded 700  gave me the inspiration to sell my Catrike Expedition and buy another Catrike 700 and set it up for touring. 

Visit Steve's Trike Asylum's 700 page here

June

My Catrike Expedition Up Sale to make way for another 700 to be set up for touring and cruising.

July

First Ride Catrike 700 "Red" my touring 700.

August

My Boy Has Fledged the Nest. Byron standing with my big boys as he prepares to move into his own apartment in Santa Monica to study film. He is only 18 and already has an internship (soon a paid internship) in the casting, editing and co-producering of MTV's "True Life". Here's his blog (that he doesn't keep current) ENTERTAINANIDEA.

September

Checking out the new La Conchita Bike Trail that bypasses a nasty three mile section of freeway section on HWY 101.

October

Riding with Scott Wayland. A group of bents met up at Bent Up Cycles to ride with Scott and followed by a book reading from his latest adventure book "Cracking the Spine". Also a slide show and personal stories.

November

Finally...an event ride, the Solvang Prelude, that I didn't have to bail out on because of lousy hips. The new hips are working fine. 

December

Ending the year on a bright note. Christmas Day Ride.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Christmas Day Ride

Cool, gusty and sunny...a So Cal Christmas. The best time to ride, streets are empty as the sun rises into the sky.

Today also marks the 3rd anniversary of my Christmas Day heart attack. Happy anniversary to me...ride on!!!

Filling In For Santa

Getting ready to deliver gifts to my grandkids. Luckily it's only a 20 mile round trip. 

At the end of the day five of my grandkids have been accounted for. Now three more to go. 

Pic of the Day

 My Catrike 700 "Red" at the top of the climb

Two Pounds of Tire

What does two pounds look like?

A LOT of marbles

 A large water bottle filled with water plus a few marbles.

Now imagine what it feels like when those two pounds are extra unwanted pounds on your tires.

_______________________________

By switching the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires that I had on "Red" with lighter ( but tour worthy) tires I cut off two pounds of weight from the tires. With the Marathon Plus tires the total weight was 2,020grams (4.4 lbs). Now with a Marathon Racer on the rear and two Trykers on the front the total tire weight is 1,105grams (2.4 lbs). In addition the thick Plus tires seemed to suck up my energy and felt sluggish. Yes I must admit I'm spoiled by my my fast "Black" Catrike 700 with it's skinny Ultremo tires.

By looking at the Schwalbe charts I've sacrificed some puncture protection and durability but gained speed and grip. Also the Plus tires are a bear to slip on and off the wheel rim. I would hate to have to deal with repairing a Plus while on the road.

Bottom line...the Plus tires are great tires for peace of mind but that peace of mind comes at the cost of more energy from my old legs to make the things turn. I'm good at repairing flats (thanks to the miles I've been putting "Black" and it's fast but thin Ultremos) and I'm willing to accept the possibility of a flat or two.
I know that "Red" will never go as fast or handle as well as "Black" but at least the high end performance of my Catrike 700 "Black" serves as a basis for measuring the performance of other trikes. Now for a few rides to see if the change makes a positive difference. Stay tuned.

Old tires

New tires

Here's the details:

Old tire setup:

Front tires Schawlbe Marathon Plus - 35/406 (20x1.35)   1,120g (2.4lbs) weight of both tires

Rear tire Schawlbe Maratho Plus     - 37/622 (700x35c)     900g (2.0 lbs)

                                                                                  2,020g (4.4lbs)  Total weight

New tire setup:

Front tires Schwalbe Tryker             - 40/406 (20x1.50)     640g (1.4lbs) weight of both tires

Rear tire Schwalbe Marathon Racer - 35/622 (700x35c)     465g (1.0lbs)

                                                                                 1,105g (2.4lbs) Total weight

Trykers on the front

Marathon Racer on the rear

Sunny Ride...

...at least it began that way. Today's ride started out cool and sunny. Towards the end of the ride the clouds won out and the sun retreated. It was still a nice break from the cool cloudy days and occasional rain.

To Ride or Not To Ride

This morning is a most excellent morning. Perfect for a ride...but also perfect to sit in the garden with ma doggie and do nothing.

A night of heavy rain followed by a cool sunny morning is my kind of morning.

Oh well tomorrow is another day. I'll let the motorized crazies have the road and it's puddles today. You'll find me enjoying the quiet in my garden.

More pics on My Home & Garden Journal

"Red's" Winter Fenders

"Red" is ready for puddle diving. The fenders are easy to put on and take off in preparation for whatever season is upon us. The setup is basically the same as it was on my old Catrike Expedtion with the exception of the Catrike mirror mount posts instead of the handlebar posts used on the Expedition.

Perfect Autumn Day on the 700

Today was one of those perfect So Cal Autumn days when you don't want the ride to end. So I took two breaks at the local parks. Below are some pics of my "Black" Catrike 700 taken at Oak Canyon Community Park in Oak Park.

It was back in February of 2013 that I sold my old 700 with the 16" front wheels and bought the new version with 20" front wheels. To date I've put 2,352 miles on my "Black" 700 while at the same time taking a break to have two hip replacements.

Infographics at "I Am Traffic"

Something to check out when not riding. Infographics at I Am Traffic.

Infographics here include:

Vehicles and Lanes - Diversity - Exclusion Zones - Speed (seen below)

These are only a few of the many infographics at I Am Traffic.

Kirke Johnson

On November 15th I posted some thoughts on the "right hook" an all to common nightmare for cyclists. Then on November 20th the "right hook" took down long time recumbent cyclist Kirke Johnson of Portland. He was killed by a large Fed Ex truck that made a right turn into him. Let the memory of  Mr. Johnson remind us to think about safety while riding in the company of vehicles that are much larger and faster then us human powered pedal pushers.

Here's an interactive graphic about the right hook and trucks at 

I Am Traffic website. Check out the entire site for more good information about cycling in an urban environment.