Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Okay, I’m sitting here in December with the sun shining and wishing I could go for a ride. I put the bike away yesterday, taking all the batteries, lights and electronics off and bringing them indoors, and covered it up with a tarp.
I did several rides of length – overnighters – last summer. The trip to Angola for Memorial Day, the trip to the Rochester Hamfest and the Erie Canal tour. But after that, I sort of lost my steam and didn’t get out again all summer. Maybe it was the heat, the rain, other things going on, or just a succession of excuses, but once immobile, I tended to stay immobile. Inertia set in.

But I’ve learned a lot. Continue Reading…

From Drop Box

For the second weekend in a row, I took off on the bike for a overnight trip. This time I rode to the Rochester Hamfest in Greece NY, a trip I usually make by car. I go every year and it’s a chance to socialize with fellow Ham Radio operators I often don’t see much any other time. I talked to more Hams I know from Lockport than I see around town.

I belong to one Rochester area Ham club, the Rochester DX Association, and I enjoy meeting and hanging out with them. They always set up a big area at the hamfest for that purpose. You can sell things there, if you don’t have enough to justify setting up your own table. Or just talk.

I rode out on Friday, planning on arriving in the evening and camping overnight. I knew I would need to stay over Saturday night as well, so I asked ahead to see if I could stay the second nigh and got permission.

The trip out was long, but uneventful. I rode the Canalway Trail from Lockport to Medina, then jogged north to Route 31 aka, NY Bicycle Route 5, and took that to Albion. Riding the road was much faster and it was hot and sunny. I was glad to find places to stop and buy something to drink. I pulled into the Super Wal-Mart just outside Albion and bought a lemonade, Vitiamin Water and a candy bar, mostly for a break and a chance to get out of the sun. When I left, I stopped again in the Village of Albion at McDonalds and had one of those Lemon-Strawberry Slushies. I got brain-freeze, but felt much cooled off. Continue Reading…

I got 120 miles per gallon this weekend. Well, if you imagine 3 bottles of water, 5 bottles of Gatorade and a Chocolate Shake being the rough equivalent of a gallon…

I went camping for Memorial Day. I went and visited a friend in Angola, NY, right on the lake shore. I rode down on Sunday and came home on Tuesday. It was just a bit over 60 miles each way, so it was more than 120 miles.

I pulled the fully loaded trailer behind my trike as well as the loaded panniers on it. The only thing I left out was the solar panel. I didn’t plan on using much power and I could always have charged up off AC there, if I needed anyway, but the battery came along and kept the cell phone running the whole way. I charged it a couple times off it during the weekend.

Warning: This post is really long. So long that the server chokes when I tried to edit it. I had to turn off some plugins to work on it. So, if you dare… Continue Reading…

After Monday’s ride in the rain, I figured I’d take advantage of the lack of rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday and get some riding in. I fussed around with the bike Tuesday and ended up working on it all day instead of riding. But today, I got out there and rode.

I initially didn’t feel up to riding any distance, but stopped instead for lunch at Reids. I thought some fuel might give me some energy. It must have worked.

My plan was still not to go too far. I though I’d ride the canal banks out to about Orangeport Road and turn back. When I got there, I said, maybe I’ll go on to Gasport. After Gasport came and went, I figured I might as well go to Middleport. So I did.

The weather was ideal. Beautiful, sunny day with just a few fluffy clouds in the sky, but not hot at all. A breeze, but not too windy. Not a thing to complain about. We don’t get many days like that. Continue Reading…