Back To Basics

The Expedition is gone. It was shuffled off to Buffalo yesterday. I'm sure the new owner will be quite happy. I have been trying to get rid of stuff not acquire new stuff. The Expedition was an impulse buy due to Winter blues compounded by having a few extra bucks from the sale of the Stratus and Greenway. I am now back on track cleaning house and lightening the load for a simpler life. My next sale item will probably be my fairing.  Even though it's old and scratched it is a big ticket item and someone will appreciate it's value at a modest cost.  I still have one conventional 2 wheeler I use for traveling but in time it will go to charity. My ICE T is 9 years old and continues to serve me well. It is a dependable work horse that is very comfortable. It may not be fast or look sexy but it is fun to drive. It's also nice not having to think about which bike to ride. There is something to be said for the KISS principle.

"Hasta la vista baby"!

Rant.

I only got 2 rides in since my last post. The weather has been playing cat and mouse. I've had to layer up for those cold mornings and those winds have been brutal.  Just as we were beginning to see green, we got hit with another snow storm on the first day of Spring. I know, "in like a lion", we'll see.

Yesterdays storm

In between riding I've been playing with my bikes. My replacement fender on my ICE T is not working out. It's too short and has been spitting water up the back of my neck. Not good especially with the sloppy roads after the massive meltdown. I temporarily/permanently fixed it with good old Duck Tape and a piece of foam. Seem to work fine and easy peasy.  My son commented on how ghetto it looked so I replaced it with a mud flap from PlanetBike. $5 shipped for 2, can't beat that. Still waiting for the final test but it does look good.

Ghetto rigged

$5

Nice

My next project was swapping out the brake levers on my Expedition with locking levers. You have to have some locking ability on trikes or they will roll away from you. The Velcro strap supplied is a pain. I found a pair of locking levers on Ebay for $15. Why mfg's don't put those on is beyond me

New parking brake

.
Oh, by the way, I'm not sure if i'll be keeping the Expedition. It is sportier and faster than my ICE but it seems I have to work harder and I'm not sure it's worth it. It sure is pretty though. I have it for sale at a great price but no offers yet. Maybe I need some more time.

Very pretty

Tomorrow 30's and breezy. I hope I can get something in.
Until next time,
KEEP RIDING!!!

Sanity Restored

With a break in the weather I have been able to string some rides together. 3 days a go I got out for a 40 miler with temps in the upper 50's. I was able to shed all my Winter clothes down to just a long sleeve shirt. The quick melting snow made for a very sloppy ride. The replacement rear fender on my ICE T is too short and I had water running up my neck. Dodging puddles and potholes was foremost. Yesterday I added some foam, extending the fender, which seemed to work. The weather, although sunny, was cooler and quite windy, gusting up to 28 mph. Still nice but it was a much slower ride.  I cut it down to 35 miles as my legs were very tired. The roads however, much drier. Today is cool with temps in the upper 30's to 40's, winds below 10 mph and very sunny. It will be back to Winter wear. After 49 days, I will finally be taking the Expedition. My plan is for an easy 35.

Sloppy roads with potholes

Fender remedy

An update, I just got back and it was such a nice day I added another 5 miles to make it 40.

I'm really liking the new Kojack tires, fast and smooth. Notice the quality rear fender. 41 degrees, sunny and not too windy,

Quality fender and very pretty trike

Kojack tire, fast and smooth

Finally

Hooray forecasters got it right. Not only did we break out of that arctic freeze but temps warmed up to the upper 40's with plenty of sunshine. Finally after 24 days of hard Winter I was able to climb on my bike and ride. It was already in the upper 30's when I left but I decided to err on the side of caution and darned all my warm weather gear. It was a tough start as I could feel those 10 extra pounds of "Winter Fur". Wind was a bit of an issue too especially coming off snow filled fields. It wasn't long before I was able to shed some clothes, put flaps up and was feeling the groove with my slow and steady motto. It was quite wet and even with my full fenderd ICE T there was plenty splash back and I had to pay special attention to cars and puddles. It will be some time before things dry up enough to use my new Expedition. It looks like the warming trend will continue and I'm exited to get back into the swing of things. In the meantime it was a great ride and to make the day even better it is daylight savings and I have an extra hour to enjoy this beautiful day.

Entering Englishtown

Winter clothes

Sloppy

Flaps up

Cold winds off the fields

Snow covered Etra Lake

Tada!!!