80 is not how far I rode Sunday but Hayward’s age. Maybe I shouldn’t make such a big deal out of it, he didn’t. It is just that it gives me a more positive outlook for my older age. I met Hayward at Sumrall, just getting ready for a ride. We talked a bit and even though I had planned on turning around there I decided to ride with him. It was a most enjoyable ride and conversation. We ended up going to Bassfield, a 28 mile roundtrip for him and a 60+ mile ride for me. I hope I am as fit and alert as he is when I am 80 years old. We took our time and enjoyed the view. Hayward told me that this is his second Sun EZ-Sport. He also told that he had been on a ride out of Prentiss and when he arrived home the back of his pickup was empty. The bike must have bounced out and he went looking but never found it. I guess he liked it a lot because he replaced it with the same model but an upgraded version. Hayward is still working and has his own CPA business. He retired from the USM Accounting faculty in 1985, the year I started, 23 years ago. Thanks for a very enjoyable ride and give me a call anytime you want some riding company.

I was riding the Stratus XP with fairing and my new tailbox. And don’t forget the new TerraCycle idler and my new clipless (clipinable) sandals. The bike rode very smoothly and my speed was a little higher than normal. I noticed on some of the down-slopes it was easier accelerating from 22 to 24+ than usual. This may be the contribution of the AeroTrunk, and maybe the idler, a little. Maybe also being clipped in as I could then pull as well as push on the pedals. But specifically the AeroTrunk, I had read that its aerodynamics may come into play in this way.

Taken Saturday

I had already ridden in the morning with Kurt and Jeanne for about 10 miles and with me on the Rocket (I love the Rocker; I love them all. Does that make me a philanderer, a bikeizer?). It had been a while since Kurt had ridden and 10 was all he wanted to do; but I came home feeling like I needed more saddle time. At about 3 PM I couldn’t stand it anymore so prep’d the Stratus and headed out. It was hot, about 100 degrees F. Normally on my Sumrall ride I don’t stop except at Sumrall, the turn-around. However, it was so hot that I stopped about every 4 miles, that being the typical distance between stations. I met resting-riders at each of the 3 stops, i.e. Jackson Station, Clyde Depot, and Epley Station. There was a themometer at Clyde Depot reporting 100 degrees. I met a woman there trying to cool down. She had repaired her daughter’s bike and was out testing it, leaving her water bottle, headband, etc. in the truck. She had not planned on an extended ride and had not even applied the suntan lotion which was also back in the truck. She was already showing red and I would have offered some lotion if I had had it (I apply before leaving home). There was no wind and we both agreed it would be cooler on the bikes. There was a newly installed cold-water fountain there at Clyde; yea. I drank all I dared, splashed a little over my head and headed out the way I was heading. She headed back the way she had come.

Fast forward to the end of the ride with Hayward: When Hayward and I got back to Sumrall it was about an hour to sundown and I did not have a light with me. The light was back at home as I had not planned on ridding ’til dark. My best time from Sumrall to the USM station was 56 minutes. The ride on to my house would be an additional 5 to 10 minutes. I was going to have to hustle, so, I did not pause at Sumrall but took off for home. I flew, letting my heart rate run up into the 140+ bpm and making the trip in 50 minutes. I coverage the 15 miles with an average speed of 18 mph. Now, this is not bragging because it is not a speed to brag about, definitely not to racing bikers. I’m feeling elated because it is a new personal best for me over this route. Now if I can just do it going in the opposite direction, the slightly up-sloped direction. And if I can just do it without the fairing? However, I will not know for sometime as my current training involves keeping my heart rate lower.

The first thing I noticed was that the Jerry Ryan Outdoor Center had been dedicated. This must mean it is complete. It is adjacent to but separate from the station which is just to the west.  I look forward to using it for special events or just as a meeting place.

I had to chase the young biker down to get him to come back and pose for the picture. He seemed at home on the bike. Nice kid. He would always speak and smile at the office, well, way back then when I had an office.

They gave Jeanne and I a pair of tickets to the opera which conflicted with a trip they took. We had sent a card but I thanked him in person and told him how much we enjoyed it. Joon just retired from the Physics department and I look forward to many rides with him. He already called me this morning, i.e. Tuesday (this post is not live, it was previously recorded), but I didn’t have time to prepare and get to Jackson Station in time.  I could not drive as we are down to one vehicle with Jeanne’s van in for transmission work.

As I said, a short ride but a nice one. Here is how I was dressed, thinking I would reflect some sunshine. Jeanne says white makes me look large. She is too nice to talk about the other colors.

Me: I ordered two Terracycle idlers.
Jeanne: I was just thinking we needed more idle around here.

Actually, they came Tuesday and I installed them already, one for the Stratus XP and one for the Rocket.

I may have problems on the Rocket in some gears, i.e. a conflict between the seat mount and the chain since the new idler is taller. More about all this shortly.

Jeanne has had her clip-in sandals in preparation for this ride since the first of the month but today was her first opportunity to try them and the Catrike Speed out. The first thing she noticed was that clipping in was going to take some practice. The second was the extreme laid-back angle and the resulting position/angle of her head. The third was the difficulty of seeing through her bifocals.  The forth was that riding the speed seemed to exercise muscles in her abdomen more than on her EZ-1.

Her response to these observations, in reverse order: 4) More abdomen exercise is good. The trike is not going to replace her beloved EZ-1 but if her riding schedule ends up being 3 rides a week she may dedicate one to the trike. (With me just retired we are still working out our weekly agenda) 3) She took the glasses off and stored them in the bag over the back wheel. Her distance vision is fine without them. 2)  She is willing to give this seat angle a chance but wants to ride other trikes. Most are more upright, including the other Catrike models and other brands. I had thought that if she liked the Speed I would buy myself a slightly larger model, e.g. the Catrike Expedition or 700. I found that the Speed was a little narrow for my big frame. However, if she prefers another we will buy two new ones and will sell the Speed.

I like the Speed a lot but we have to be realistic. Even being stern with myself I still see me owning 4, maybe 5, recumbents; not an unusually large number for recumbent riders. Jeanne may be satisfied with 1 or 2.

And finally: 1) Clipping in and out required my assistance. However, it gets easier with practice and when the clips wear in a bit. In the meantime Jeanne employed some work-arounds.

Here comes the rabbit! Catch her.

Click on the picture to see the chase. After I caught her she took off and got the trike up to 20 mph a couple of times. She says she is not a speedster but when she hits a speed goal she usually lets out a Yip-ee, throwing her right arm into the air.

Jim of Ridesouth.com sponsored a trike-focused ride on Saturday, 10 March 2008. The plan was for a 20 mile ride across the Northshore Parkway that separates the Pelahatchie Bay and the Ross R. Barnett Reservoir. That was the plan, the one I didn’t follow. I followed plan B, the one no one else knew about, including myself. You’ll understand in a moment.

I got up about 5:15AM, Jeanne too and she fixed me breakfast. I packed everything in my van the night before so did not have much to do but still did not get on the road until 5:55. Plenty of time for the hour and 45 minute drive, unless something happens. It didn’t. I used Jeanne’s Garmin just to make sure I did not make a wrong turn. I was the first one to arrive at about 20 ’til 8. I set the trike out behind the van and was sitting on the rear bumper changing shoes when Jim arrived. I took the picture above a little after that and, as you can see, they were still arriving.

That’s Jim in the shop doorway explaining the ride and I’m sure it was informative to anyone there knowing anything at all about the area. We would go across the bay (I didn’t know the bay from the rez), over to the loop (?) and then out to somewhere and back to the loop and finally home to the shop in time for Jim to open at 10:00. That would give us 20 miles and most likely an appetite for the homemade bread and jam as customary for the Saturday ride. The first 10 trike riders finishing would receive free RideSouth socks. Afterwards, I referred to this as Plan A.

Here are some of the participants. Charles, above - left, parked next to me and we talked while prepping our trikes. His wife has ridden a trike like the one in the picture for, I think he said, 2 years and he rode a DF. However, their rides were not harmonious (I imagine that he was faster up hills and she was faster down). So, wanting to get in sync with her Charles just bought an identical trike about a month ago. This was his first RideSouth ride too, and a solo one since his wife was out of town. Charles and I ended up riding together. Unfortunately, he didn’t know anything about the area either. 

It looked like everyone was about ready to leave so I went down the street so I could make a movie as they all rode by. The movie ended up a little large so I did not include it here. As Charles came by he pulled up and said he would ride with me; good. By the time the last recumbent rider went by and I waited to see if the DF riders (who were hanging back a bit) were coming (I think they were organizing a different path) and by the time we got a break in the heavy traffic on the main road the others  were gone, out of sight. We knew which way they went, until the intersection. Did they go left, straight ahead or right? My guess was "left" as I did know that "left" lead across the Reservoir’s spillway and Jim did talk about water to either side. Charles was not taking sides; smart guy. Of course at that time I did not know that there was the Reservoir and that there was the Bay (we should have gone straight) and that I had just created Plan B.

I led for awhile and I chased Charles for awhile. Neither of us knew where we were going but we made really good time, and still, we could not see the pack ahead, even on long straight-aways as pictured above. We rode for about 5 miles before I decided to call Jim. I didn’t have his number but I did have web access and I did have a site where I keep a lot of information available in a suitable format for cell phone browsing. I called. Jim said we should have gone straight. So we turned around and headed back to the intersection of indecision and turned left to effectively have gone straight from the beginning. It was a nice ride across the Bay’s causeway, water on both sides, cars flying by but us in the bike lane. Charles and I had decided that we were going to have a nice ride whether we ever saw the cycling hoard again. But we did, both. After we crossed the bay there they came on their second approach to the loop. We joined them, told our story, and all had a good laugh. I think we ended up with a little more mileage because we pushed a little harder in the beginning. But it was all good, a very nice adventure. I look forward to more organized rides and may go for the next Sunday, 40 mile ride around the rez. I am pretty sure I’ll make the 106 mile ride from the shop up the Natchez Trace and back on May 31. I’m thinking about riding the Rocket, which is my choice for unfamiliar paths. I am particularly looking forward to Jeanne liking the Speed so I can get another trike and we can ride together on TOT’s (Trike only Tours).

Here are a couple of the movies I took, first with me chasing Charles on Plan B and then Charles and Jim riding side-by-side after the reunion. That’s Wayne on the Rans within the second movie. Be sure to turn the sound down a little before playing and you will need the quicktime plugin for your browser. I bought a flash-based camcorder, Aiptek A-HD, in anticipation of this ride. I have been studying about suitable models and got a good price on one of the recommended ones ($149 list - $20 sale - $15 discount card at CircuitCity). I experimented with shooting methodology and will most likely get better at steering with one hand and shooting with the other. However, I may need to get a camera with image stabilization.