Horsing around on Memorial Day

More than 48 miles on this beautiful Memorial Day.
As Janis Joplin said, "You gotta get it while you can."

Just 4 Fun

Another great day. 33 miles, no place I have to be and some of my best music.
Enjoy the Ride!!!!!

Terracycle Idler

I went out for a small 17 mile ride. It was a bit warmer, low 80's, and a little breezy. I had to get out while I am able to enjoy life and of cause I had to check out my new Terracycle idler. I would have liked to do more miles, but to tell the truth, I am sore from my 90 plus miles of the past 2 days. First off, you can see by my photos, I was in need of a new one. My T has about 7800 mi. I was hoping it would make me faster, but, a hammerhead I will never be. My T is an 06 and ICE made their idlers 60mm. As years changed ICE made their idlers 70mm. I was told by Terracycle a bigger 70mm 15 tooth idler would be more efficient, but it would require modifications, so I stayed with what was to be more original. Terracycle had a 60mm idler that came with a 13 tooth cog that would just fit right in. Of course it came at a premium price of $9 more. It seems 15t cogs are more common. If your going to buy this great idler you have to go titanium which adds another $20 premium. Total price with shipping $104. Is it worth it? I think so. A new idler from ICE would be $18 plus shipping. You can easily see the difference and I will probably never have to replace the idler again and if so there are replacement parts.
The reason I think it made no difference in speed for me is that there is a small bend compared to other bikes. On my old Terra trike 3.4 I hated that maximum bend in their drive chain and felt like it robbed me of power. On my son's Terra trike(now sold) he bought the Terracycle kit for the front and it made a huge difference. That bike was much faster.
I wanted to stay within the original design and like having the chain tubes. The idler is a thing of beauty and it dropped in perfectly. I used to see a small deviation of the chain when spinning which is now gone. It is quiet and smooth. Efficiency wise, I don't think it made a difference on my trike, but, I could see how it would on bikes with more tortuous chain lines. My old Stratus had 20k with the original idler.
Terracycle takes pride in their work and products and there customer service is outstanding.

Another Marty Day

I got in another 44 miles today. Temps a bit warmer in the 70's. Low humidity and winds. Just a gorgeous day. This time I decided to take my Flip- Video. I was able to get a nice shot of a large turtle in the road. I tried to sneak up on a large Turkey Vulture, but cars scared it away. I also spotted a crane which has made it's home at a water run off basin in one of those new developments. Unfortunately, he was much too camera shy. When I got home there was my new Terracyle idler I just ordered. I hope to have that up and running with a detailed and hopefully positive report.
KEEP RIDING!!!!!!

A Marty Day

It's been too long since I have been able to get out on what I refer to as a Marty Day. One of those beautiful days you can just pedal forever. It seems over the last few months life has just gotten in the way. Today I went out for a 50 miler. It is one of my oldest and favorite rides and is part of my annual birthday ride. The weather was in the 60's with winds in the low single digits. I didn't know how well I would fare as I have not done that many miles since January. My only regret was not taking my Flip-Video camcorder. The horses were out with their new folds, cows, bulls, groundhogs and one very large hawk or turkey buzzard, all just enjoying this beautiful day. I fared very well and hope to enjoy many more Marty Days.
KEEP RIDING!!!!!