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As most of you know, the ride from Provo to Canada is scheduled for May 19-28. My plan is that this adventure will go down the annals of family history as, "The Great Linear Camping Trip (GLCT)." I would like it if everyone could join me. Then again, you would probably be bored silly. This map has the tentative route marked in Green. Unfortunately, you have to scroll along ways down to see the starting point (Provo). I plan on leaving home after work Friday, May 18, and traveling to Taylor; where I will stay the night with Nathen. Early the next morning, we will leave and drive to Prove, arriving in time for a 2 to 3 hour ride. We will stay that night with David Elliott, and begin riding in earnest on the 20th. My goal is to exceed 100 miles each day while sitting on the bicycle. That works out to be seven hours at 15 mph. I will ride the downhill portions, and Nathen will be waiting at the bottom of each hill to take me to the top of the next. If you think about it for a short while, it become obvious that uphill sections of road when you are going North will be downhill when you travel the same road going South. By the end of 8 days (May 27), I hope to be back in Provo, having traversed the entire 800+ miles (one way or the other). May 28 is a holiday on which we will return to Arizona, and then I will return to work as if nothing had happened. It sounds oh so easy on paper, but in actual practice... As the old saying goes, "There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip." I am not training for the upcoming trip as intensely I had hoped to. It seems that some competing event always manages to intervene. One Saturday, for example, instead of spending the majority of the day pushing pedals, I went over to Ellis's and helped five scouts earn their fingerprinting merit badge before taking a short trip towards Tucson. On another Saturday I rode to Karren's house. The first portion of the journey went well, and I arrived at Oracle Junction with an average speed of 20.5 mph. I reached the traffic light at Rancho Vistoso in 1 hour 4 minutes. On two previous trips (several years ago when I was riding to TPD) I posted times of 1 hour 5 minutes and 1 hour even to that same point. Climbing the hill towards CDO I encountered sudden strong headwinds, and they persisted most of the remainder of the trip. Going down the hill on First Avenue between Ina and River Road, I had to pedal hard to reach 15 mph. That was disheartening, but not nearly as bad as the broken, holed, heaved, chipped pile of asphalt that the City of Tucson designates as, "Bike Paths" between River and Grant Roads. Exceeding 7 mph on that stuff is done only at the risk of scrambling your internal organs. My recumbent bicycle doesn't maneuver well in traffic, basically because it is impossible to look behind you (in fact I can't even see the cluster on the rear wheel to verify which gear I have engaged [would you believe I am considering acquiring a helmet with a rear view mirror?]). At major intersections, I got off and used the pedestrian crossings when I needed to make a left hand turn. Can you see me doing that? To make a long story short (at least a little shorter) I logged 39.33 miles, and arrived in 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 40 seconds for an average speed of 16.5 mph. That is not too bad, but on the GLCT, I will have to do that three times each day for eight consecutive days (it might happen...when pigs fly...). Another Saturday, I was hoping to ride to Casa Grande (circa 83 miles) then have Nathen (who was planning to be here for a bridal shower) rescue me. The weather forecast for that day was cold (low in Oracle is 42 and the high in Casa Grande is 69 [with morning showers]), so that might have been a bit unpleasant, but the real question was the wind. For several weeks days we had 20 to 30 mph breezes, and an extended ride into the teeth of such a zephyr can only be described as taxing. Since we awoke to rain that morning this training ride did not happen at all. I have been trying to bicycle during my lunch break, and I am getting a feeling for what the Lord may have meant when He spoke to Joseph Smith saying, "If fierce winds become thine enemy..." From the clinic where I work past the golf course to the top on the hill before the first dip I encounter 20 to 30 mph winds almost every day (it would really make sense to go early in the day instead of at 2 pm as I currently do, but Shirlene [my coworker] doesn't eat breakfast and consequently is quite punctual about leaving for lunch at noon). Those breezes reduce my speed on the outbound leg to between 6 and 8 mph (and I have to work for those velocities). On the inbound leg, the winds are at my back and I easily cruse at 20+ mph. There was a particularly bad day, where the wind on the outbound trip was vicious, but on the flip side I managed to set a record. Returning down the last dip I reached 40.7 mph. That is slightly slower than the maximum speed recorded on my Puget (41.8 mph), but still fast enough to skin your elbows if a sudden and unplanned event causes things to quickly go awry. I suppose that in the overall scheme of things, the purpose of these noontime jaunts is to acquire conditioning for the upcoming GLCT, so working against the wind might be perceived as a good thing. Unfortunately, it takes the fun out of riding.
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When I ride to work, I have Barbara meet me at the junction, thus avoiding the most rigorous portion. One day she received a phone call informing her she had a doctors' appointment in the Northwest part of Tucson about 4 pm. To make a long story short, I rode all the way home, this time on the back road, and it was rough. On a normal bike, when you come to washboards or other uneven areas, you simply raise your body off the seat, bend your knees slightly, and allow them (and you arms) to absorb the shocks. A recumbent does not afford you that opportunity. Short choppy washboards just rattle your teeth, but I encountered some longer ones that must have matched a natural vibrational frequency of the bike. Fortunately these were few in number, but they were intense, and launched me a couple of inches off the seat. If there had been a sequence containing more than four or five, I would have surely laid the bike down. I suspect that I am developing some small amount of stamina, because at the end of the ride, I was tired of the hills, but not fatigued to the point of having difficulty standing or walking. I probably could have continued on flat ground without much difficulty. In fact, (with the exception of some muscle cramping that evening) I experienced no ill effects from the exertion (e.g. muscle soreness). Riding 1 hour 55 minutes while traversing 11.4 miles and climbing 1300 feet without paying handsomely for it later is an impressive feat for this fat old man. Still, I doubt I could do it 12 hours per day for a week. Another Saturday, we experienced some thundershower activity in the early afternoon, but about 5 pm I again set off aboard my recumbent, this time towards Winkleman. When Barbara rescued me 1.75 hours later, I had traversed 31.9 miles (Winkleman is 32.6 miles) and maintained an average speed of 18.7 mph. Winds play a huge role in bicycle velocity, and on the steep part of the trip (Oracle to Mammoth) a substantial breeze kept me under 22 mph (I usually reach about 35 for short distances). That being the case, my average speed wasn't too shabby. In training, I have had limited success duplicating what I hope to perform in a single day on the trip. I had planned a ride toward Tucson, across Tangerine Road to the freeway, and along the access road to the Dairy Queen at Picacho, (a distance I estimated to be around 50 miles). Unfortunately, the wind refused to cooperate, so I rode North instead. Going down the hills towards Mammoth, I encountered two separate places where my speedometer indicated 27.2 mph and I could feel absolutely no wind on my face. That is a pretty stiff breeze. Later on, it (or I) changed directions, such that I experienced it as a quartering head wind. In Mammoth, I ran over something and developed a very slow leak in my rear tire, such that just past Arivipa (25.0 miles from home) the danger of damage to the rim reached a level that was unacceptably high and I become a pedestrian. I walked another 3.9 miles before Barbara finally rescued me. With training experience like these, can I really expect to ride 100+ miles each day for 8 consecutive days? My last training ride before the trip returned mixed results. The first part was very encouraging (22.5 mph average to Oracle Junction, 1:01 hours to Rancho Vistoso), and that held up fairly well crossing Tangerine Road and racing trains to the Dairy Queen at Picacho (miles=57.56, average=18.3 mph, time=3:10:15). Barbara's resuce was delayed, so I started the return trip across Park Link.[*Note from Barbara: He kept telling me diffrent routes for me to take and so I did what I though his last set of instructions were to follow along his route and meet him at the Dairy Queen in Picacho. I couldn't find him and so I thought, "Shurely, he wouldn't be crazy enough to cross across Park's Link Drive at this time of the day!" I was really starting to get worried what would I do if I couldn't find him, especially since he hasn't taken up the strong hints and comments for getting us phones so that we can talk to each other, or if he gets delayed, or hurt. But No,.....You know Alan, Do something as simple, logical and easy at that!" Needless to say, I sure was releived to finally come across him out in the middle of nowhere in Parklinks Drive. By the way, In conversations and directions, Alan almost always says Golf Links Drive instead of Park Links Drive.] From that point on, it was absolutely miserable (dirt road, dust, washboards, sand, gravel, uphill, and 100 degree heat [in the shade {and there was no shade}]). Over all, the trip still looked good on paper (miles=69.79, average=15.9 mph, time=4:22:42) but missing is the description of knee aches (starting on the dirt road), dehydration, and general fatigue. I was home by noon, and would have liked to have tried a late afternoon ride, but I had to go grocery shopping still. What I can't believe is that the actual event starts next weekend! Where did the time go? In the final analysis, I have my doubts about the success of this venture, but none-the-less, I am going to give it a try.
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I am attempting to construct a menu that alone will be worth the price of admission. The problem is that there are only two mouths to feed, and cooking for that few is a bit of an art form. I have planned no lunch meals, thinking that we will either make do with snacks, or patronize fast food establishments encountered along the way. Does it look like this will work?
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After several attempts, I procured another camera off e-bay, this time the same model as Nathen's. His will focus on objects only 0.75 inches from the lens. That produces some rather spectacular close ups, and I think it would be perfect for the small desert flowers native to this area. I didn't want to give more than $100 for the camera (including shipping), and they were selling for about $125. I got carried away one day and increased my bid to $120 on a camera (with case, battery, charger, and extra memory sticks) whose final price was $122.50. One thing about losing a bid that close: where else can you get so much excitement for so little cost? As a footnote: After the auction closed, I received an email offering me a "second chance" to purchase an equivalent camera package for $120. I turned it down, because by that time I had become the successful bidder in another auction, and for $97.50 I will soon have the same model camera as Nathen (that includes, among other things, a tripod). When the camera came, it contained a 125 mg memory stick, but would hold only 4 images (at one of the midrange settings). I assumed that the memory stick is malfunctioning, and have purchase another (which has yet to arrive). I suspect (when things calm down) I will re-sell the Fuji-Film camera.
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When Nathen came down to the bridal shower, he embarked on a quest to acquire a welder. CraigsList.com is a site where people advertise on the web items for sale to local buyers (usually large, heavy, or bulky items for which shipping would be prohibitive--I found my recumbent bicycle on CraigsList). He encountered a Lincoln 225 amp welder there, but the seller did not give a phone number, and did not answer Nathen's email in a timely manner. He did, however, answer it on Monday, and after a telephone conversation, Nathen agreed to purchase the welder for $200. Guess who got to pick up that welder? Supposedly, it is an item that has never been used. The seller reportedly bought it for a "project" which never came to fruition. The grounding clamp (having been "stored" separately) is missing but it came with 10 lbs of 3/16th inch rod and 25lbs of ¼ inch rod.
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As an item of information, I directed the choir in church a couple of weeks ago. Joyce McRae was attending the baptism of a grandchild (along with her husband, the Bishop) somewhere in Texas. I am not terribly talented, nor do I know a lot about vocal music, but I would like to direct a ward choir someday. For most of the numbers, I would choose music in the hymnal that I don't know (as an exercise I identified around 30 pieces that fall into that category). I would also like to write a hymn and then direct it. Since that is the wrong reason, I doubt that I will be given that calling. Genealogy time: My mother was Norma Allen. Her mother was Charlotte Ballard. Her mother was Julia Johnson Smith. Her mother was Janet Mauretta Johnson, and her father was Joel Hills Johnson. Joel wrote the hymn that is on page 5 of the new hymnal (High on a Mountain Top), as well as the one on page 283 (which I have never heard sung). If he can do it, why can't I? Why can't you? Karren and Jim experienced a stroke of good fortune. A communications company (I don't remember which one) offered to rent their tower (on land Jim owns out near Ryan Field [circa 15 miles west of Tucson]) for $1000 per month. What a deal.
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 Wednesday evening, Barbara and I went into Tucson and dined at Karren's house. My sister, Laura, was there along with two of her daughters (Ashley and Kadee) as well as Sabrina and Piper (Braxton had all four wisdom teeth extracted earlier that day and was not feeling like his usual cheerful self so he elected not to attend). |
 Kadee is currently on spring break (it seem as bit early to me, but time flies) and Laura was down making arrangements for Ashley's bridal shower this coming Saturday (as well as the upcoming wedding June second). |
 Although I am blissfully ignorant of the details, apparently women share the feeling that these types of social functions require copious amounts of preparation. At one time I was planning on attending the bridal shower, but in the nick of time I realized in time that this event is geared towards those with an elevated estrogen level, and I would be about as welcome as a wounded badger in a crowed elevator. |
 The bridal shower for Ashley transpired as planned, and even brought Symantha, who stopped by our house to pick up things that Grandma bought for grandkids. She stayed for a 5-minute visit on her way home.
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Monday I was late leaving for work, and did not have time to load the bicycle. Instead, I grabbed the new camera, and tried to become accustomed to its idiosyncrasies during my lunch break. Even though I had read the instructions and played with the dials, somehow I forgot that close up work requires use of the macro setting. As a result, 20 of the 25 photos I took were blurry. "Experience is a dear teacher, but a fool will learn from no other..." At least the price of this piece of knowledge was only an hour of my time.
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Jerry Flick continues to work (slowly) on his house up by big rock. I haven't been a good neighbor, as I have yet to lend a helping hand. Perhaps after this all consuming trip is history... |
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