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This page is frequently updated! |
| 3/11/2007 |
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Read an interesting article
by Scott Richardson in the Pantagraph on the health benefits of
riding. |
| 4/10/2007 |
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Placed order for
WizWheelz® TeraTrike Cruiser. |
| 4/10/2007 |
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Received order confirmation
from Lori... my Cruiser to ship Wednesday or Thursday; Wow!...I
thought it would be a week or so before it would ship. |
| 4/12/2007 |
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Receive shipping
confirmation from Lori; Cruiser to ship Thursday. I followed the
tracking information and deliver is scheduled for Friday afternoon!
Another WOW!; I wasn't expecting delivery
until next week! |
| 4/13/2007 |
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Received 8 AM phone
call from trucking company confirming delivery for early afternoon.
Received 1PM phone call from trucking company - unable to deliver
due to load limit in my subdivision. Took delivery at the local
Freedom
Gas Station Unloaded box, put air in tires, installed options,
and made final adjustments.... all pretty straightforward but
I had no experience with the high pressure tires. |
| 4/13/2007 |
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First ride.. about
three miles from 9679
Heron Bay Road to Lakewood Drive to Oakwood Drive to Lakewood
to Old Sawmill to Great Crane and back to 9679 Heron Bay. What
a blast! A couple of down hill high speed coasts on Oakwood and
Lakewood... WOW! and then a couple of up hill low range climbs
and a cool down on Old Sawmil..I'm clearly out of condition! |
| 4/14/2007 |
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Rained out!.... it
rained off and on all day. Roads were wet. |
| 4/15/2007 |
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Sunday... the Sun came out and I rode
the streets in my
subdivision and those adjacent. (into and around Tanglewood
Subdivision on Lakewood and Oakwood then twice around on Old Sawmill
and Great Crane). |
| 4/16/2007 |
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Into and around Tanglewood Subdivision
on Lakewood and Oakwood then three times around on Old Sawmill and
Great Crane. |
| 4/17/2007 |
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Into and around Tanglewood Subdivision
on Lakewood and Oakwood then three times around on Old Sawmill and
Great Crane. |
| 4/18/2007 |
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Four times around on Old Sawmill and
Great Crane - (4.4 miles) |
| 4/19/2007 |
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Five times around on Old Sawmill and
Great Crane - (5.5 miles) |
| 4/20/2007 |
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Oral Surgery this morning; removal of
molar, refill of socket with bone growth material, stitches, and
"putty" to protect the stiches..... Post Op instructions
included: No Trike riding for 4 (four) days!.....
Bummer! |
| 4/23/2007 |
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Purchased Trek
incite 9im at Vitesse
Cycle Shop , Normal Illinois. I purchased a wired version of
a bicycle computer for my Cruiser on the recommendation of one of
Vitesse's bicycle mechanics. I installed the computer with the speed
sensor on the rear wheel using a stem tube adaptor recommended by
the mechanic. Pictures of the installation soon. |
| 4/24/2007 |
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Drove my 2004 Tracker to Wight
Chevrolet in Williamsfield, Il for turn in and pick up of my
other new ride, a 2007 Cobalt SS. Got back home, took a nap and
then it was time to take the Cruiser for another ride around my
subdivision .... this time the Trek
incite 9im is installed and I can see how fast I'm going. On
the downhill section of Lakewood a MAX Speed of 31.5 MPH
is indicated! Total mileage on the Cruiser's odometer for one circuit
of Lakewood and Oakwood plus three circuits of Old Sawmill and Great
Crane is shown to be 5.1 miles, however the Cobalt SS trip odometer
and my GPS indicate a "trip" mileage of 3.8 miles! I'm
going to have to do a wheel rollout and change the computer "wheelsize"
to a custom size. |
| 4/25/2007 |
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Rain!.... Severe weather in nearby counties.
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| 4/26/2007 |
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More rain! Was able to do a rollout
measurement to customize the wheel size for the Trek
incite 9im. The measurement came to 1484 mm. I believe that
is about two-thirds of the default measurement for a standard 20
inch wheel. (On the next ride I will check the incite
9im odometer against my GPS to see how accurate it is using
the custom wheel size of 1484 mm.) |
| 4/27/2007 |
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Rode 5.45 miles according to my GPS
with the incite 9im trip odometer
indicating 5.4 miles. I will need to do some further checking to
see if the trip odometer and the GPS "roll over" together
on each tenth of a mile. |
| 4/28/2007 |
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Ride interupted by grandson at about
3.5 miles (Old Sawmill - Great Crane "loop") |
| 4/30/2007 |
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Sent my application and annual dues
to McLean
County Wheelers |
| 5/1/2007 |
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Started daily 5 mile rides around my
subdivision and the Tanglewood subdivision. |
| 5/8/2007 |
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Started 7.5+ mile ride on Sunday (5/5)
by making five counter clockwise circuits of Heron Bay to Old Sawmill
to Meander Way (Google shows it as E 960 North Road) to Woodland
Trail to Meander Way to Great Crane to Heron Bay (one circuit is
slightly over 1.5 miles). I'm now riding faster with speeds ranging
between six and twenty MPH. The 7.5 mile ride is done in about fifty
minutes. |
| 5/16/2007 |
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Changed the routine route to: From my
driveway to Heron Bay Road to Lakewood Drive, East towards County
2000 East entrance road, then South as Lakewood changes to Oakwood
Drive, then West back to Lakwood Drive, turning left onto Lakewood
and then to Old Sawmill Road. From the intersection of Old Sawmill
and Lakewood, turn right (North) on Old Sawmill, continuing to the
intesection of Old Sawmill, Great Crane, and Meander Way (Google
shows it as E 960 North Road), bearing to the right to the intersection
of Woodland Trail, there turning right on to Woodland Trail. At
the intersection of Meander Way, turn left (South) and continue
to Bishop's Gate and then left continuing on Meander Way to the
intersection of Great Crane (East), then to the intersection of
Heron Bay Road. Circuit total length 2.5 - 2.6 miles.... Four circuits
equal 10.1 rolling miles. |
| 5/20/2007 |
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9 AM, Sunday morning I loaded my trike
into my wife's Chevy Trailblazer and took it to the Tri-Valley High
School in Downs (Google
Maps) for the third annual"Biking with Barb" ride
fund raiser for Diabetes. 9:10: I unloaded the trike, checked the
tire pressure (40 lbs.) in the three tires, hung a full "CamelBack"
(water bladder) over the seat (tucked the CamelBack into the seat's
rear straps to avoid it rubbing on the rear tire) then reattached
the safety flag. 9:15: signed the event "liabilty release"
form and made the donation. 9:20 - 9:59 sat on the trike and talked
to friends and neighbors from the local community. Barb came out
of the school about 9:58 and at 10:00 she lead the gathering of
bikers and runners out of the school parking lot. I was one of the
last to leave and start on the ten mile ride. The route
(Google Maps) was 10.5 miles according to my incite
9im odometer. The weather was really nice,
sunny with temperatures in the 70s, and light wind out of the South
West (may have been a problem for some of the upright riders). I
rode a bit harder than my normal solo pace, finishing the ride in
1.01.43. for an average speed of 10 MPH. Some observations during
the ride: I was possibly the oldest rider (my 61st birthday, this
Wednesday May 23rd.) of about 100 riders. I had the only recumbent
trike in the ride. I passed more than a few younger riders on level
or slight upgrades while I was passed by several younger rides while
climbing long hills. While on 850 North several groups of riders
rode four across until I asked to pass on the extreme left side
of the road. There was a small group of riders assumed to be "McLean
County Wheelers" from their biking clothes and road bikes as
opposed to the casual shorts an tee shirts and common ten-speed
and road bikes of most of the local riders.... I heard the MCW riders
finished first..... Barb provided water, juice, fruit, chips and
"sub sandwiches" at the end of the ride. I had
a great ride / good time.... I'll do it again next year! |
| 06/27/07 |
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I haven't been making log entries as
I've been busy riding and doing other things outside and away from
the computer! I've been increasing daily mileage and changing my
routes through surrounding neighborhood streets. I can now easily
ride ten to fifteen miles in the subdivisions in less than ninety
minutes if I'm not stopped by someone with questions about the trike.
I'm refering them to this web page, seemingly each "stop"
is ten or twenty minutes of non-riding time.... but its good PR! |
| 8/14/07 |
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It's a rainy day and I can't ride
the trike, so I'm catching up on email and updating my web sites
and their pages.... I've been busy with chores, a new car (2007
Cobalt SS with 2.4L and Auto) and riding the trike! I've put over
650 miles on its odometer, just riding in the neighborhood. I
have a ten to twelve and a half mile circuit with lots of hills
that provides lots of variation.... top speeds run 23 MPH to 28
MPH and one climb is low gear (16 inches per RPM) at 2.5 MPH.
During the hot weather my water intake is running 18 oz to 24
oz per hour, with a 10 MPH average. I stop about every 2.5 miles
(in shade) for a cool down, heart rest, and hydrate taking 3 to
5 minutes. |
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