Al's Blog-o-Sphere

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…

Well, I almost decided to ride my Trike to the Dayton Hamvention. I had the route all figured out and plotted to take about 60-70 miles each day. It would have taken a full week to get there. The plan would have been to leave Thursday the 12th and arrive at a hotel on Wednesday the 18th of May. I found a room less than 3 miles from the Hara Arena for a very reasonable price.

I though about a room at the QRP-ARCI Four Days In May conference, but that was a fair distance away from the Hamvention. There was a shuttle bus to and from the Hamfest, but I kind of wanted to ride there and partake of some of the BMHA (Bicycle Mobile Hams) events. Plus, the FDIM rooms were nearly twice as much per day as the one I found to the north. Continue Reading…

As I get closer to beginning my cycling escapades, I’m thinking about it all even though I’m not yet riding. So far this spring, the weather hasn’t been what I find riding weather yet. I’ve taken one short ride so far, just a couple miles, with the trailer on just to see how it handles.

So, I suppose some people may wonder why I’m riding around on a three-wheeled lawn chair instead of a “real” bicycle. Continue Reading…