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One of the sure signs of spring is the return of the vultures that migrate south for the winter. Thursday March 25 I noted that they were back in force, and concluded that spring had arrived. YEAH!!! The increased temperatures are not here yet (I'm sure they are on their way) but the longer days have brightened my outlook. I have yet to ride to work, as moving down the hill produces a wind chill that I don't want to confront (what a wimp) but I am riding during my lunch hour. |
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And speaking of bicycle riding, the mountain bike that I talked about reconstituting in our last letter gave me a few problems. One of the petals simply fell off. I suspect I should have lubricated the bearings in them, but they seemed to turn freely, and I did not. Note how the bearing race at the end of the shaft is completely worn away. So... I replaced them. On the whole, I am eccentric, and there is a part of me that revels in that knowledge. Giving in to a whim, I replace the black, manly, mountain bike petals with a pair of white petals taken from a small, pink, girls bike (that originally had a banana seat).
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Then, again giving in to a whim, I replaced the straight mountain bike handlebars with the high-rise set from the small girls bike. Now I can ride sitting upright. I have always wanted to be able to ride in that position, but just never seemed to have the time to make it happen. |
| At this point, the advantages of riding hunched over have become apparent. First, there is less wind resistance, and second, some of your weight is transferred to your hands instead of being concentrated on your seat. When you get to be a fat old man, the importance of that last consideration increases. Still, I like the configuration, and for lunchtime rides of an hour or less, it works well. |
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I went off the deep end, and purchased a second recumbent--a Bike E. This is also a long wheelbase, but it has over-the-seat steering. I have only ridden it a few miles, but it seems comfortable. Its' speedometer is currently non-functional (broken wire) so I don't know the exact speeds I reached, but it seemed slow (although I did complete the same ride as usual during my lunch break). The small front tire looks funny, but we'll see how it performs. My brother Mark is contemplating taking the Alpine to Clifton ride with AJ and I. The last time Mark and I took an extended ride (Greer to Woodruff), we both found a bicycle seat to be quite uncomfortable after a surprisingly short time. This bike should alleviate that problem. I have yet to conceive a plan for carrying Bike E on my car, so I transported it to work (for my lunchtime entertainment) in the pickup. On the way back up the hill at the end of the day, I was confronted with a sudden hissing/whistling sound, similar to that made by water (under pressure) exiting a hole in a hose. The sound didn't respond to changes in engine speed, so I stopped expecting the worst. The intensity diminished when I opened the cab door, and almost disappeared when I closed it behind me. So... after a quick check of the engine revealed nothing amiss, I fixed the problem by turning off the radio, and continued happily on my home. |
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Several people tried the bikes, and I think everyone agreed that it is easier to transition to a Bike E recumbent, with its' over-the-seat steering than the Linear recumbent and its' under-the-seat configuration. But, in the final analysis, I suspect that it is more comfortable to ride with your hands hanging down at your sides, than having to hold them up on the handlebars. Then again, I may be biased by my former long trips... The gear configuration on the Bike E makes a lot of sense to me. The petals turn only one front chain ring, but the back wheel has the internal dirve mechanism of the old three speed bike, plus an external seven member cluster gear controlled by a derailer mechanism, giving it 21 total gears. I like that system.
I am having second thoughts about the Alpine to Clifton jaunt we have planned. The overall elevation change is from 8050 to 3478 feet (very encouraging numbers), but Hannigan Meadow, located 22.2 miles south of Alpine is just under 9100 feet. A thousand foot climb in 22 miles may be a bit too much up and down for an old man... |
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