Back on the trike

After doing a few trial runs to make sure I had put the trike together ok I went on a real ride. Last Saturday, I rode to Amy's house in Waverly for her pool party. I got a pokey start to the day. Made a few stops and didn't even get going until after 11 am. One stop was to the Community Cycling Center to visit with my buddy Larry the Mechanic. He had offered to come over and help me put the trike together if I had trouble. Luckily, that wasn't necessary but I wanted to show him the beauty. All the mechanics were so interested. Larry helped me with a couple of small adjustments I needed including getting air in the AirZound. Turns out I had filled it but somehow had also turned the volume all the way down. They had some bad news as well - the Vancouver CCC will be closing its doors on August 17th. Everyone will be going back to the Portland shop. As I continued on my way one of the highlights of this trip was to find the entrance to the bike path over the I-5 bridge and then Interstate Ave from the other side. I made it across the bridge easily but somehow made a wrong turn before finding Interstate. It was a beautiful day and the ride was fun. Drivers gave me plenty of room and people gave me plenty of thumbs up. Very fun!! Made it to the party by 2:30 and was really hungry after riding 25 miles. Ate and yakked it up for a few hours and then headed back about 6:00. It was much later than I had planned to return. My only eventful moment going home was trying to find the path leading to the I-5 bridge. There are paths that wind around and cross and I took the wrong one. I kind of brokedown mentally and cried for awhile. I was really afraid I wouldn't find my way. Mostly, I was worried about losing sunlight without any lights on the trike. I just wanted to get home. This didn't last but a few minutes before I found my way and made it home just after 8:30. It felt really good to go out and do this ride. I was really tired when I got home. 50 miles for the day - not bad.

On Tuesday I went for a 40 mile ride with the Vancouver Bike Club. A weekly ride that starts at the Oxford Athletic Club and meanders east to Bad Boyz Cycling shop in Camas. There were about 20 riders. I was the only one not on an upright bike. Everyone took great interest in the trike. Most of the bikers were older men - many who do this ride regularly. Good guys!! I was definitely the slowest while we were climbing otherwise I hung in there alright. A couple of guys stayed back with me. We did one short steep climb of 11 %. It wasn't too bad as I just spun my way to the top. I was tired but felt good after this ride. I think I'll attempt it again next week. They said it was the longest ride they could remember ever doing. I'm trying to get my miles up for the ride to the coast in a couple of weeks. I'd like to be able to do 50-70 miles 2 days in a row. Maybe I can do the first 2 days of riding this weekend. What I really need to do is practice changing the tires on the trike at home before it happens for real.

I also sent a package to Deborah. I bought a new digital camera so I sent her the old one. I also finished a couple of books she lent me. The most important part of the package was a letter telling her I'm not moving the Kentucky - at least not now. Hopefully, she'll understand.