Betzi vs Snake

No rides for the next few days for Betzi, the ole girl is recovering from a rattle snake bite. She stepped on a baby rattler Friday night. She backs off when she sees a snake but this little venom shooter was right outside our back door and Betzi was in a rush to bark at the howling coyotes and she didn't see the pint sized rattle snake  and she ended up getting tagged on the bottom of her paw.

This how Betzi spend most of the day yesterday Saturday after picking her up at the animal hospital.

Finally she moved outside under the lounge I was resting on.

Swollen right paw and Betzi licking the shaved area on her left paw where the IV was inserted.

Betzi is ready to play today.

Uneventful Week

The last week has been relatively uneventful, so I took some pictures of my uneventful ride with Betzi today. Uneventful can be very relaxing.

Byron getting Betzi warmed up for a ride.

Ready to go.

Pushing off from home and headed down our hill.

Lindero Canyon, very little traffic on Sundays.

Photo op at the school pull out.

View from Lindero and Kanan. Time to get over in the left lane and head up Kanan

Back on Lindero in the residential area with nice wide bike lanes.

The view from the seat of a trike...nothing but butt.

MUP through Oak Canyon Park.

Our picnic table awaits us down the path.

Taking it easy.

It's good to know where the bathrooms are, people don't take kindly to a friendly triker watering the shrubs.

Betzi in the mirror.

Almost home, time to take the last 1/3 mile up hill. What a way to finish every ride

At home...I hand off Betzi to Byron while Leili sits on top of Carrie's car and gives it a wash.

Back to Topeak

Arkel TailRider

I've been using the Arkel TailRider Truck Bag for a long while now and I've decided to switch back to the Topeak MTX Trunk Bag DXP. It is a heaver bag but has more space. It's a taller bag and shorter then the Arkel. Unlike the Arkel it's a rigid bag that holds it shape.

They're both good bags but the Topeak has a few features that I was missing in the Arkel bag.

1. The fold out panniers on the Topeak bag are nice to have available when I'm riding without my Ortlieb panniers.

2. More space and easy to store bulky items in the truck like main compartment.

3. Super easy to slide the bag off the rack and carry it with me. 

4. There's a mesh top that provides a perfect place to put my Spot Messenger.

5. The bag has a bottle holder at the rear that I use for a 4 cell battery for my DiNotte light.

Topeak MTX Trunk Bag DXP

Fold down pannier.

The yellow clip holds the bag firmly to the Topeak rack.

Push the clip down and the bag slides easily off the rack.

There's room for odds and ends in the compartment that holds the folding pannier.

Topeak MTX - Capacity 1,380 cubic inches. Weight 2.53 lbs.

Arkel TailRider - Capacity 944 cubic. inches. Weight 1.46 lbs.

4/17/13

After saying all the above I'm back with Arkel and Ortlieb...for now. I'll probably switch again later, oh well. The Ortliebs are great for throwing in clothes, food, dog paraphernalia and other assorted unnecessary stuff and you don't have to be neat about it.

New Tires...Again

I replaced the new Schwalbe Marathon Plus 20 x 1.75 (47/406) (click for post on the 20 x 1.75's)  on my Expedition with new Marathon Plus 20 x 1.35 (35/406). The 1.75's are heavy and they put a lot on rubber on the ground. Steering was sluggish and I felt like I was putting to much effort into just getting them to turn. The riding conditions in my area don't call for over sized monster tires on the front of my Expedition. Lesson learned. I still wanted the protection that the Plus's offer but I didn't want the size so I replaced the 1.75's with the 1.35's and the difference is obvious. 

At first I tended to over steer but it didn't take long to appreciate the nimble quality of these smaller tires compared to the beefy 1.75's. All together it was a more enjoyable ride having smaller tires up front. I'll keep the big 26 x 1.75 (47/599) Marathon Plus Tour on the rear to handle the load of the trailer and for traction on the occasional gravel path.

As for the 20 x 1.75's they ended up replacing the worn tires on Betzi's trailer.

The next issue was the front fenders. With the 1.35's the Green Speed fenders (click here for my post on the fenders) were over sized. No problem, I cut back the front supporting bracket that supported the front of the fender. I then replaced the fender itself with the smaller Catrike front fender that I already had and was hanging on the wall in my garage. The Green Speed fender support bracket paired with the Catrike fender is still rock solid.

You can see where the front bracket use to be. Now there is only a small section of it protruding out. I closed the end up with a small bolt. The flame is a little bling I added.

February Mileage Log

Some folks say that keeping a record of how many miles you ride takes the fun out of cycling...not for me. I enjoy seeing what I can accomplish as I enter the age of senior discounts at restaurants and hotels.

What I lack in miles I make up for in climbing hills.

Poor Quality Control Schwalbe

Over the last six months I purchased five Schwalbe tires. Two out of the five tires had defects. The defective Marathon plus purchased in September of last year was replaced at no cost. The defective Ultremo is in the process of being replaced. Lousy batting average Schwalbe.

Defect on a new Ultremo 20" (23/406) that I just purchased while changing my old Catrike 700 over to a new 700 with 20" wheels/

Before sending a replacement tire the folks at Schwalbe told me to send a picture of the defective tire cut in half and then they would send out a new tire. I wasn't happy do it because the defective tire could still be used in a pitch as a temporary replacement if the need ever arose.

Without a tire for the 700 the "Mistress" sits idle until Schwalbe sends me a new one. I have the Expedition so I'm not totally without a ride, just no options.

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This is the Schwalbe 20" x 1.75" (47/406) Marathon Plus I purchased in September of last year for my Catrike Expedition. Nice bulge!! 

Betzi's turn

I've been spending a little to much time with the new Catrike 700/20 (if that's possible). It was time to take Betzi on a ride an have another picnic.