MYRTLE RIDING THE KATY TRAIL

Syllvia Halpern has completed riding on the Katy trail on her current 9000 mile 10 month long journey across the U.S. and back to the West coast. She has a blog among her various media resources. HERE is her writeup with pictures of riding on the Katy Trail.

HERE is an article with the details of her 9000 mile 10 month long journey. HERE is Sylvia’s YouTube Channel. I noticed that at the time I composed this her videos are not up to date. She is now in Illinois but her most recent video has har just entering Oklahoma. I guess more recent videos are published but they are not yet listed for some reason. Here is one of riding to the Katy Trail …

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DO YOU HAVE CAT’S EARS?

Now I ask ya … do you have cat’s ears when you ride? If you wear a helmet you are all set. You could have cat’s ears. Have you ever studied about cat ears? I wrote an article about it once before. We all know that many different animals hear much better than we humans. Animals which are outside have to deal with the wind. Jesus Who created everything that exists was on top of things as He is the master designer and engineer. We know that when we are riding along air passing by us is noisy. The faster we ride the louder it gets. Also if it is windy it adds to the noise we are producing. Perhaps you have held your hand up in front of your ear and noticed the huge difference it makes when the air moving past your ears is blocked or deflected away. We**don’t have ears like cats and dogs with hair growing out of them which greatly blocks and/or reduces the wind and helps them hear better.

** Well, most of us don’t anyway.

I already mentioned “if you wear a helmet you are all set”. More than one manufacturer makes a product which attaches to the straps of a bike helmet for the purpose of blocking the wind from going past your ears. It is my understanding that some work better than others.

If you don’t wear a helmet as far as I know you’re out of luck. You could do as I did and make your own. I made mine attach to my eye glasses. They worked fine, but I stopped using them as I looked like an idiot wearing them.

One thing is for sure … it is great not having all that wind noise to deal with.

I just had a thought … maybe a person could buy this product and then figure out someway to use it with glasses.

HERE is one manufacturer’s website.

I don’t wear a helmet when I ride my trike so I am out of luck. Of course I guess I could resort to my homemade DIY ones and look like an idiot. It would be nice if someone would come up with something that does not require wearing a helmet.

HERE is their Amazon store. They have 4 different versions ranging from $12.95 to $14.95 so you won’t need to be on good terms with your banker to buy these.

They may offer 4 different versions but I bet they don’t have any that will help this fellow …

Hey, seriously … this is one product I think is very practical. It greatly reduces wind noise enabling the person to hear much better … greatly enhancing conversations with others as they ride along together. You would actually be able to hear each other instead of just wind noise. Yes, you too could have cat ears. Personally I like cat ears, but then I love cats.

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YA CAN’T WIN FOR LOSING (ABOUT INNER TUBES)

I don’t think any normal person likes getting flats. I know I sure don’t. For years I used Schwabe Marathon Plus tires and never had a flat while using them.

A few years ago I switched to Schwalbe Big Ben Plus as I wanted to go with a balloon tire. I like the ride and handlling of the Big Ben Plus but they don’t offer the wear mileage nor as much flat protection as the Marathon Plus. I have always used standard inner tubes (shown as normal in the photo above). When I switched to the Big Ben Plus tires I decided to use the heavy duty thorn resistant inner tubes as the tires are plenty roomy inside to accommadate them.. My thinking was “since the BB+ don’t offer as much flat protection as the M+ tires do adding the HD inner tubes would increase the flat protection”. And they do, but there is a trade off. With the much thicker wall inner tube comes stiffness. With these inner tubes the sidewalls of the tires can’t yield like they can when a standard inner tube is used. Oh BTW, the cost for the HD inner tubes is about doulble what the standard inner tubes cost.

What I am saying is using the HD inner tubes means the soft ride balloon tires are capable of providing is sacrificed. It is a tradeoff. I am tempted to go back to using standard inner tubes just to experience the difference it would make in the ride.

I just had a thought worth mentioning here. Whatever a person does don’t mix up inner tubes, especially on the two front wheels. Don’t have a HD inner tube in one side and a standard inner tube in the  tire on the other side. That could seriously effect the handling of the trike and result in a wreck.

Well, that is my story and for now I am stuck with it. Besides, I just restocked my supply of HD inner tubes. My plan is to …

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TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON E-BATTERIES

Just a few words about batteries and weather conditions. First let me state that my batteries are showing their age. Without looking up the exact information I am sure they are at least 4 years old. Batteries are only good for so many charging cycles before they start losing some of their power they produce. They continue to function but not like they did when they were new. Most lithium-ion e-batteries are good for 700 to 1000 charging cycles before they start losing power. I would guess I have over 1300 charges on my batteries by now. When brand new I got about 75 miles out of a full charge. I miss that as now I am down to about 20 to 30 miles out of a full charge.

 

20 miles vs. 75 is quite a difference, but it is what it is. But wait … 20 miles is what I get in the winter (with the temperature in the  40s or colder). When it warms up into the 50s the mieage increases to around 25 miles on a full charge. Lately we have been in the 70s and even low 80s and my batteries are providing about 30 miles on a full charge. Hey, maybe if I ride when it is 120 degrees I will be back up around 75 again. What do you think? Naw! It will never happen. Nope, you won’t ever catch me out riding in 120 degree heat … not even 100. I am not that desperate to get 75 miles out of my batteries.

Back when I had a BionX e-motor system I could not ride my normal ride without having to stop and charge my battery. The picture above shows my trike with the battery being charged. Of course, I didn’t get anywhere near a full charge in only an hour or so of charging, but it helped some. Now I have much larger capacity batteries so I don’t have to stop in the middle of my ride to charge my battery. I had the larsgest battery BionX had but it was still small compared to what I have now … 11aH compared to 20aH.

Anyway, the ambient temperature really does effect battery performance. I don’t have a clue how much longer my batteries will perform satisfactorily. I still have two spare batteries just sitting around so I assume they will outperform the two I am using now. They are all 48 volt 20 aH. I would like to get a 72 volt battery as that is what my motor is rated at. They are a lot more expensive than the 48 volt batteries. A 72 volt battery would increase my top speed considerably. That is a bit scary. I could end up wrapping myself around a tree. I probably should stick to the 48 volt or maybe go down to 24 volt. Naw! A guy only lives once. Hey yeah, I am getting a 426 HEMI engine for my trike. Phooey with these batteries. I am not a little old lady and I am not from Pasadena. I just wanna go man go. Hmmm, I wonder how I am going to mount that monster.

 

I will be the only tadpole trike around which shakes the ground and windows as I ride along.

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TRAIL CROSSING A BUSY SIX LANE HIGHWAY

Here where I live in Fort Wayne, Indiana we have a trail which at this time lacks a connecting section between what is built to the south and what is built to the north. I am talking about the Pufferbelly Trail which I have written about before. The section which needs to be built to connect these existing sections must cross a busy six lane highway (Coliseum Blvd). Obviously the very safest way to accomplish this is to build a bridge which goes up and over the highway. That is the eventual plan but that costs big bucks which the city does not have at this time. So for now the plan is to have a street level crossing. I have to admit that has me concerned. We have already had two trail users killed on this trail on the north section. Both were hit by cars as they attempted to cross roads in the crosswalks. And these were only 2 lane roads and not heavy traffic like Coliseum Blvd. In both fatalities the car drivers were at fault.

On the same trail we have a bridge over another often busy street (West State Blvd). It is really nice and is great to use.

Coliseum Blvd. aleady has several traffic lights and one more is not going to be welcome by motorists. Below is a map of the section of the Pufferbelly Trail which is suppose to be built next year. Coliseum Blvd. was originally built as a by-pass but it didn’t last long before it was all built up and very congested. In the aggrevation and frustration that followed it became known as the 7 mile long parking lot.

On the map below the section which needs to be built yet is shown in orange. The sections shown in red are already built and in use.

In the satellite image below it shows where the crossing will be located. It shows that there will be a “refuge island” out in the middle of Coliseum Blvd. Personally I would like to see some sort of gates come down stopping traffic so that they could not get to trail users without crashing thru the gates.

Here is a street view of the area on Coliseum Blvd. where the Pufferbelly Trail will cross. As you can see there are 6 lanes of traffic. The one side doesn’t appear to be very busy as traffic behind the camera  is stopped by a traffic light when the picture was taken.

At another busy road (Dupont Rd.) they built the trail going under the road which is even nicer than a bridge going over a road. They were able to do this while rebuilding the road. I think the road project paid for it and a good chunk of the money came from the State of Indiana.

Although I am somewhat terrified at the thought of crossing this busy road (Coliseum Blvd.) I am looking forward to having this connecting link completed so trail users have a way to ride the entire trail. They are currently working on completing the trail north on to the county line where the next county will continue it to their northern county line and so on with each county involved. Eventually it should be an 83 or so mile long trail one can ride. I will probably be too old by then to ride it. Meanwhile my plan is to …

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HOORAY! SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

I am very much a fan of nice weather. Finally the 10 day forecast looks great with much warmer temperatures and lots of sunshine and very little rain. I can handle that. I just hope it allows the mud on the trails to dry up so they can remove it from the trailS and get the trails open which have been closed for several weeks. We keep getting rain so the mud has not dried up.

I can’t really complain. We were blessed with a mild winter and I was able to ride most of it. Of course, I had to bundle up in several layers of clothing. I am definitely looking forward to going riding in a short sleeve shirt and shorts. Spring has arrived and the 70s and even low 80s are in the forecast.

Yes, flowers are in bloom welcoming nice weather.

Changing the subject just a little …

And we have a new puppy not yet introduced to triking. The nicer weather will make the introduction more enjoyable and pleasant for him as well. He is so small I dare not try to walk him alongside of me. I will have him in a pouch slung over the front of me.

Of course, he will add a lot of weight to my trike … all 2.2 pounds of him. We don’t expect him to get any more than 4 pounds.  I think the pouch weighs more than he does. Now I have two dogs to take along with me. What did I get myself into?

Yep. sprung has spring … er … spring has sprung a leak … oh you know what I mean. We can rejoice together as winter is pretty much over with. I sure hope I am not made a liar. I have seen snow in June here in northern Indiana. Of course, it was only scattered snow flakes and melted as it touched the ground. Well, let’s ride!

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TRIKE TECH WEBSITE

triketech.com has a lot to offer so I recommend it as a resource. It covers pretty much everything concerning tadpole trikes. Just take a look-see at their index page:

Rider Specifications covers physical aspects of the rider and how to provision, fit and adjust all aspects of a Recumbent Trike to the rider

Trike Stuff discusses technical elements of Recumbent Trikes along with some long term Trike Reviews

Drivetrain provides both technical and rider benefits for popular Internal Gear Hubs, Derailleurs, Chains, Idlers & Brakes

Power Assist covers both basics and details on selecting the best Electric Assist system for your needs and budget

Rolling Stuff explains bearings, hubs, rims & tires with some comprehensive Tire Reviews

  • Bearings – ABEC, Sizing, Lubrication, Steel & Ceramic benefits
  • Wheel Dynamics – Sizes, Weights, Performance Impacts
  • Tires – Sizes, Robustness, Performance Impacts

Accessories will help you get the most bang-for-the-buck on all those must have little gizmos & gadgets for your Recumbent Trike

  • Lights – How to see & be seen without breaking the bank
  • Flags – Visibility, Illumination & Drag
  • Cargo – Racks, Bags, Hydration Systems
  • Mounts – Phone Mounts, Bottle Mounts, Computer Mounts, etc.
  • Computers – Features, Wired, Wireless, Illumination & Mounting
  • GPS Phone Apps

Places to Ride offers an informal review of some rides worth taking a vacation to try

Links to the most valuable resources on the internet for Recumbent Trikes

  • Trike Centric Forums
  • OEM’s
  • Rides
  • Using Google Maps

I did notice that the website is not fully functional. Unfortunately many LINKS don’t function and many things have no links. This greatly takes away from the website. I don’t have a clue why it is this way. Hopelly it will get fixed.

After composing this I discovered that I already posted about triketech.com back in Jan. 2016. Click HERE to see it.

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DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERNT FOLKS

I can remember as a kid growing up some families had Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, Lincolns, Imperials, etc. while others had Ramblers or similar bottom of the line orferings. And it is not always about what they can afford. Some people just went with the “entry level” offerings even though they could afford something more. It is the same with buying a tadpole trike. I have a friend who bought  a TerraTrike Rambler. For only $300 more he could have bought a Catrike Villager and had a much better trike. He realizes that now and regrets that he didn’t. Oh well, what has been done has been done and can’t be changed.

There are just so many people who end up with buyer’s remorse after buying a trike that lacks quality and good engineering design. They end up buying a better quality trike and wasting good money going thru this process. Of course, some folks are satisfied with a Nash Rambler.

I had a Rambler once. It broke down little by little. First both shocks on the rear quit working at the same time and the back of the car would bounce up and down like crazy. I was in the navy at the time. I had orders to go out to Mare Island, California from Norfolk, VA … a drive from the east coast to the west coast over two ranges of mountains. The night before I left the overdrive went out on it resulting in the inability to get the gas mileage I had been getting. While driving out there the engine developed a leak in the headgasket resulting in engine coolant water mixing into the engine oil and the engine overheating. Steam came out of the exhasust. I had to carry lots of water with me to keep filling the radiator up. I started sleeping in the day time and driving at night time when it was cooler. This coolant leaking was a common problem on Rambler’s aluminum 6 cylinder engine. My dad had it happen on his Rambler. Upon getting out to California the shocks on the front end quit working and the entire car would bounce like crazy while driving down the road. Needless to say,  I never bought another one. It pays to buy quality.

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UTAH TRIKE BUILD

Utah Trikes has produced lots of great videos. Here is one about a trike build for a customer. They are adding e-motor assist to it. I found it interesting although I sure can’t agree with their calling this trike FIRE RED. It looks ORANGE to me.

I have a 1000 watt e-motor which runs 30 mph on a fully charged battery. I am no longer using it as  the gear\clutch assembly inside needs to be replaced. My current 2000 watt  motor is only good for about 24 mph with a fully charged battery but I am only running it on 48 volts instead of 72 which is what it is rated at. It is suppose to be capable of about 44 mph on 72 volts. Anyway, it drops off to about 20 mph top speed as the battery charge drops off considerably. Definitely it is the most powerful e-motor I have had so far. I am so thankful for e-motor assist as I truly need it as I am aging. It enables me to …

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TERRATRIKE CHARGE

TerraTrike has a model being offered with an electric motor at a lower price than their previous offerings. They named it CHARGE. This time they went with a small rear hub motor. It is only 250 watts of power .

It has an 8 speed drive train and the trike weighs a hefty 57 pounds (26 kg). The price is $3249. It comes with a  374 Wh battery and no hand throttle. This model comes with direct steering.

Quite frankly one could do better just buying an e-motor conversion kit. It can be installed on any trike and for $700 to $1000 or even more  … mainly depending upon the battery purchased … one could have a much better e-motor system and a lot more power. And a hand throttle would be provided. I have had several e-motors on my trike ranging from 350 watts to 2000 watts. And I have always had a hand throttle … something I would not want to be without. The e-motor I have now is the lowest cost but the most powerful and I really like it.

Here is a video of an e-motor  conversion kit added onto a TT Rambler. As you can see it has more to offer than the factory installed system.

HERE is an article on the TT Charge.

There is only one positive thing I can say about this model. Buying a trike from the manufacturer with an e-motor system installed on it means the manufacturer stands behind it. If one installs an e-motor conversion kit they are pretty much on their own. That’s ok by me however. I have been doing fine for years all on my own. My system has been quite reliable and I have been able to …

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GETTING HER KICKS ALONG ROUTE 66

Sylvia is indeed getting her kicks on route 66. Just over two weeks into her 9000 mile trike journey in the United States she is now in Oklahoma and doing OK. She set up her tent for the first time on this journey at a nearly deserted KOA campground. The video covers this.

Sylvia got to see the Roger Miller mural painted on the side of a building as she rode along thru one small town. Sylvia reports that riding her trike along U.S. 66 is about like riding on a bike path as she has had so little traffic to deal with.

https://youtube.com/shorts/G_Kdvlt_VKc?feature

I vaguely remember watching the tv show “Route 66”. I know it starred Officer Pete Malloy of Adam 12 … Martin Milner. I had forgotten who it co-starred so I had to look up the program online to find out … George Maharis. I watched a short video of the opening and closing of the program where they are driving the Corvette down a very dusty road and it looks horrible “as in”…  badly in need of a bath.

BTW, the very dusty road was Route 66 before it was all paved. Sylvia can be thankful she didn’t have to deal with that scenario. It is somewhat funny that I can’t remember anything from that tv show. I know they travelled the route picking up work here and there to support themselves but that is all I can remember about it. It was like Then Came Bronson but with a Corvette rather than a Harley Davidson.

Hopefully Sylvia will be able to …

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RAIN NEARLY EVERYDAY

Looking ahead at the ten day weather forecast 7 out of 10 days shows rain or snow for Fort Wayne, Indiana. (For what it is worth,  I also checked out the ten day forecast for Floral City, Florida and there was no rain in the forecast.)  It is that time of year … Spring … when rain is all too common. Of course, with rain comes river flooding and closed trails. Some of our trails are still closed from rain a few weeks ago. And we keep getting more rain so the river silt (mud) on the trails can’t dry out so it can be removed off of the trails. So the trails stay closed with no hope of opening back up anytime soon. Winter brings quite a bit of precipitation  causing all of this and then Spring comes along . I sure wish the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana never would have built so much of our trails along the rivers. What trails we have which were not built along rivers don’t have this flooding problem. At least I have those to ride on when the other trails are closed. Even some of them get flooded over by nearby creeks and ditches but they don’t flood nearly as often and when they do they don’t stay flooded very long compared to the trails along the rivers.

If ever any of you are considering riding the Fort Wayne Trails it would be advisable to check on the status of trail closures by going to THIS webpage. It is usually kept up to date. You are also welcome to CONTACT ME as I usually know what is going on with our trails.

tadpolerider2 at gmail dot com      (@gmail.com)

Today (as I compose this) has been a warm rainy day so I took advantage of it and spent several hours working on my trike. Tomorrow is not suppose to rain so hopefully I will be able to ride and test out all that I did to my trike today. The following day some nasty weather is forecast so I won’t be venturing out. But whenever I can my plan is to …

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NO SENSE CRYING OVER A LOST TAIL LIGHT

I had two of these BV taillights mounted on the rear of my trike. Yesterday at some point during my ride one of them fell off (unlees someone stole one while I was eating lunch). I didn’t discover it until half way thru my ride. I watched carefully for it as I backtracked my route but someone must have found it and got a nice taillight out of the deal. These are only sold along with their headlight as a set so I can’t just order the taillight. I don’t need another of their headlights as I already have three. It sickens me when I lose a headlight or taillight. Actually I hate losing anything off of my trike. I think I will just stay home and stay in bed. No, that won’t work either. Actually I have extra taillights I can use and already am. This one I lost is only rated at 35 lumen although it seems much brighter than that … closer to 100. This morning I replaced it with a set of 150 lumen  lights I had. The battery charge lasts a lot longer in them anyway so they are probably what I should have been using all along.

Mounted in between these two I have a 350 lumen version of this taillight I can use. It is almost blinding so I rarely use it.

One thing I have noticed is that taking still pictures or videoing bike lights doesn’t do them justice. I videod both of the head lights and the tail lights earlier today and  neither one appear like they do to my eyes. This video of my headlights illustrates my point quite well. I have two BV 300 lumen headlights on flash mode and right below them is a BV tail light. With my eyes this combination is very noticeable. The red really catches one’s attention. However in the video you can barely see the red tail light flashing.

And the tail lights  are very bright, especially the center one. But in the video they don’t appear anything at all the same. One would not even think that they are the same lights.

It is like when I was in the navy out at sea. I used to see some of the most beautiful sun rises and sun sets but when I would take pictures of them they didn’t look anything like what I saw with my eyes. I was always so disappointed in the pictures.

I just bought a taillight with an automatic brake light. I will install it tomorrow and see how that works. Hopefully it is not a waste of money. My biggest concern is the automatic brake light will be too sensitive coming on all the time when I don’t want it to.

I got the brake light mounted today ready to try out. I also mounted my new battery mount. My previous one broke in two and my battery spilled out onto the roadway as I was riding along. So now I have one of my two batteries mounted down low under the seat moving its weight forward. Previously I had both of my batteries mounted on my rear rack which is a lot of weight back there. Now when I lift up my trike to load and unload it from my truck it is much heavier toward the front and noticeably lighter toward the back. It makes it considerably harder to load and unload.

I bought a tail light with turn signals awhile back. They work but the control switch is too dim to see out in daylight so I was never able to use it. The tail light itself along with the turn signals is also too dim to be much good. It would be fine at night but I ride in the day light.

While working on my trike today I discovered that one of my two bike alarms is missing. They were attached to the bottom of the frame (out of sight) using plastic zip ties. I have only been using one of them and so I have not been carrying the other remote control with me. Since I haven’t been using it I haven’t heard the other alarm chirping letting me know it is still there. Oh well, what’s money?

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MYRTLE’S BEEN UNDERWAY FOR 2 WEEKS NOW

I readily admit that I don’t keep up with the adventures of Sylvia on her 9000 mile journey she started two weeks ago. That being said, I just checked out the latest she has posted and watched the YouTube video.  HERE is a handy web page to do this.

Sylvia reports that it has been considerably cooler than she anticipated it would be. She has had to dress in several layers of clothing to stay warm. At least she has a warm comfortable place to sleep each night. Even Myrtle takes advantage of it.

On her most recent stopover she was met by a pastor who along with his wife are hosting her for a few days in their home.

Turtles are known to move along rather slowly but sometimes ol’ Myrtle will surprise us … 23 mph. I think she is going downhill.

I see that Sylvia’s YouTube  videos are not keeping up. She only has day 5 posted as I compose this. The current videos are available via links on the web page I mentioned earlier.

I would love to be able to ride a ways with her when she comes thru Indiana, however her route is too far south for me to be able to do so. I was just reading Sylvia’s testimony of traveling about 75,000 miles on her tadpole trikes since 2007. She has travelled in over 20 countries. I can’t make that claim but over the same period of time I have ridden my tadpole trikes over 108,000 miles. Most of that is on the local trails here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is highly unlikely I will ever travel by trike like Sylvia is doing but thru her and a few others I can share their experiences vicariously. She is several years younger than I am so she may eventually bypass my miles ridden. She will have to work hard at it though as my intention is to …

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as long as I am able adding to my accumulated mileage.

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MIXED BAG OF WEATHER

I reckon it’s that time of year. I am talking about when one day it is 60 degrees and the next day it is 30 degrees with a feels like temperature of 20. Strong winds are also common which, of course, cause the “feels like” temperature. Along with that it goes from bright sunshine with cloud free skies to totally overcast and that can happen all in one day. Usually however when it goes from 60 to 30 it is a much slower process to get back to warmer temperatures. Rarely does it go from 30 to 60 in one day. It usually takes a few days of slowly warming to get back to 60 and oftentimes the weather forecast is inaccurate. They may show 60 for a high but it may never get past 57 or so. And just when it gets back up to 60 or so another cold spell hits repeating the cycle. I tell ya it would not be like this if I was in charge. As I compose this I think it is 3 more days until Spring starts. Of course, that is only a date on the calendar. It doesn’t really mean much. Some of the worst winter weatherI have lived thru occurred in late March. Hopefully that won’t happen again anytime soon.

Anyway, this change in the weather plays havoc with my riding my trike. I can handle riding in 40 mph winds but not when the temperature is already too low for comfort. No, I stay home remembering that “this too shall pass”.

There are those who say that there is  no such thing as “chem-trails” … that all we see in the skies are con-trails. I say hog wash! If they are all con-trails why do lots of them look a lot different and have a different effect up in the sky? I believe that man is manipulating the weather by releasing chemicals from high flying aircraft, but it doesn’t stop with the weather. I believe some very evil things are going on high up into our atmosphere. The people behind this have let it be known that their goal and agenda is to eliminate 90 % of the world population. They want to greatly decrease the number of people to a “manageaable” number as they strive to gain total control thus fulfilling end time bible prophecy.

 

If airplanes are not spraying chemicals in the sky then will somebody please explain all the pictures and videos that are available showing it.

Recently “they” used a so-called vaccine containing harmful ingredients which do great damage to those foolish enough to allow it to be injected into their bodies. Already tens of thousands of those who received the injection have died. Of course, the corrupt Fake News media is keeping pretty much silent about this. Even if the recipients of these injections have not yet died many of them are dealing with lots of sickness in their bodies that they never had before.  Some do not believe man is capable of such evil but I remind you of what God has said to us … “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” Jeremiah  17:9 NASB

If the future of mankind was not foretold in God’s Word then I would not so readily believe what many call conspiracy theories. But hey, that is exactly what is going on.  By the very definition of the word conspiracy … “conspiracy — a secret plan or agreement to carry out an illegal or harmful act, esp with political motivation; plot the act of making such plans in secret.” For a very long time these evil hearted people tried their best to keep what they were up to unknown as much as possible. But after some time had passed they had become so powerful and so much in control that they no longer concerned themselves with hiding what is going on. Then United States President George H. Bush openly declared that they are working to establish  a “New World Order” in which the super rich and powerful players will control all of the world. They had come a long way toward accomplishing their agenda when something happened they did not expect. Someone other than one of their own was elected President of the U.S. and right away started to reverse everything they had worked so hard to put into place. They had counted on Hillary Clinton to win the election and continue on with their plan but that did not happen. Donald Trump knows what is going on and unlike these evil hearted people he loves this country and does not want to see it destroyed. He truly made America great again. The elitists need to get rid of him. They cheated big time in the 2020 election in order to keep him out of the White House and put their people back in power. They have tried numerous ways to attack him and deal with him … mostly making all kinds of false charges against him but nothing has worked. Now they plan on arresting him on false charges to take him out of the picture. I don’t think they will succeed as Trump and many patriotic people have out smarted and out manuevered these elitists every step of the way. The Deep State people are desperate as they know they are being exposed and defeated. Time is quickly running out for them.

The truth is slowly coming out and people will know just how evil their fellowman has been. It will be a real eye opener for the majority of the people.

Well, a mixed bag of weather is what we have regardless of how we are getting it. I learned long ago just to take one day at a time. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow will have it’s own problems and concerns. Today is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. And if I get to go for a trike ride … well, that is just icing on the cake.

BTW, as I type this the actual temperature is 21 degrees F. with a 19 mph wind resulting in a feels like temperature of 5 degrees.   BRRRRRRRRR! I am thankful for a warm home to take shelter in. Tomorrow will be a little warmer … but come next week when this gets published “happy days are here again” with temps back into the 50s and maybe even 60. That is all good news, but the bad news is many days in the 10 day forecast show rain.  BOOOOOO  WHOOOO!!!

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A FREE GIFT AWAITS YOU!

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REPLACEABLE BATTERIES VS RECHARGEABLE LIGHTS

We have a choice between lights which use throwaway batteries or rechargeable batteries. Of course, most lights have “built in” rechargeable batteries. But even if our lights use AA or AAA alkaline batteries we can use rechargeable cells like pictured above. Just be sure you don’t throw the rechargeable batteries away as they are a bit more expensive than those made to throw away. I use to use rechargeable cells but now my lights are all built in rechargeable batteries. I like the rechargeable lights with one exception … they don’t last long enough. That being said … some last longer than others. If you ride several hours a day you might run into trouble with your rechargeable lights not lasting long enough for the entire ride.

My headlights and tail lights are the same brand but the headlights’ charge lasts a lot longer than the tail lights do. So I have additional tail lights I can use if this happens. The problem is I don’t have any way of knowing if and when the tail lights shut off while I am riding. I don’t like that but that is just the way it is. Since I can’t see my tail lights without stopping, getting off and walking around behind my trike I sometimes ask someone if my tail lights are still on and flashing. My headlights’ charge lasts me 2 to 3  days. I have had rechargeable headlights that don’t last long enough for one day of riding. That problem resolved itself as the lights themselves did not last. I ended up throwing them away. I am well pleased with the headlights I have now. The price has come up since I bought mine, but it is still a relatively inexpensive light set to buy at $15.99 thru Amazon.com. The shipping is free for Prime customers. I highly recommend this headlight. It is extremely bright on flash mode and definitely gets attention.  https://tinyurl.com/2cndfvts

The tail lights in the video above are not the ones use daily that I have written about here. The ones I use daily I write of can be seen in the video below. They are the middle set.

I have changed my lighting around several times over the years. The setup I have now is much different than what is shown in this video. I don’t have the top ones at all anymore.

All my tail lights are mounted on the same bar. I have my BV tail lights on the outside ends. A 350 lumen rechargeable tail light is in the center and a AA alkaline battery powered tail light is mounted beside of it. I keep it there just in case my rechargeable tail lights fail me.

I have a free source of AA alkaline batteries from my wife’s employer but I had her stop bringing them home as I had way too many … far beyond what I could possibly use.  I still have quite a few of them left. And I still have rechargeable AA and AAA cells but I haven’t used them for years. When I still used them they lasted longer than the throwaway alkaline cells. So I am saying that I do recommend the rechargeable cells to anyone using removable AA and AAA batteries. They outperform regular alkaline cells.

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT AWAITS YOU!

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DIGGING IN THE ARCHIVES

I have shared postings about various things in the archives. Here is one that isn’t even part of this website. It is from another one of my blogs I shared various topics on including tadpole trikes. The blog is entitled “Steve’s Mixed Bag”. Here is an article on Catrikes … which happens to be my favorite trike manufacturer. This was first posted April 15, 2015.

CATRIKES IN FLORIDA

I discovered that I had first posted this on this website almost a year earlier … https://tadpolerider.com/2014/05/10/catrikes-in-florida/

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CELEBRITIES ON TRIKES but mostly bikes

Curly remains my favorite stooge.

Above – they may not be on tadpole trikes but these guys are definitely celebrities. But there have been celebrities on tadpole trikes.

I had to laugh when I did an online search for FAMOUS celebrities on bicycles. I looked thru the first results listing and can honestly say I never heard of most of them. That’s today’s world for ya. They would not know talent if it hit them square in the face.

Batman

Evel Knievel (not really)

Again, it is no tadpole trike but it is definitely the Duke. He said that he never did like riding horses  … but in my opinion he looks better on a horse … like he belongs on one.

There is HOPE for all of us …

Definitely one of the world’s favorites … and without his trademark bow tie …

Same fella … a little bit older …

Kurt Russell on e-bike …

No tadpole trikes again, but big time celebs …

V.P. Mike Pence seated on a Catrike tadpole trike …

He said he’s be back …

I am sure these guys or gals are celebrities somewhere.

Goldie Hawn …

I am sure we have all heard of “Willie Makeit” …

And, of course, Simon Cowell keeps making the news …

The so-called HUNK … Brad Pitt …

 

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A FREE GIFT AWAITS YOU!

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A WONDROUS TIME MACHINE

To the best of my knowledge time machines don’t really exist. They are only found in science fiction stories and movies such as the infamous H.G. Wells “The Time Machine” produced in movie format in 1960. That being said I read this on the Catrike Owners Group on FB and really like it as it is ‘right on’. Of course, it is true of any brand of tadpole trike …

“So we concluded that Catrike is actually a time machine. You sit in it and it transports you back in time and gives you the feeling you had as a 12 year old boy.”
I don’t know about the 12 year old part as I think it could be even younger. And it certainly is not limited to boys (males). Never the less, it does seem to really work like that. I am now 76 years old and I can truthfully say riding my Catrike really does transport me back in time to where I feel like a young kid again. And I love it. It is a great feeling and it seems as though it does help dealing with aging.
Of course, a true time machine would be capable of going ahead in time as well as going back. I am not so sure I would want to go forward knowing from God’s Word what the future holds.  I am so elated that I am not going to be here to go thru it. For God has warned us that He will pour His wrath out on this Christ rejecting world. It’s going to get ugly folks! … real ugly!!
Here is another version of The Time Machine … https://tinyurl.com/yck6ebbv
I was involved in a Bible Study back in 1977 which was fascinating. It explained how God can be everywhere at the same time and that with God all time is now.. He is an awesome God indeed!

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT AWAITS YOU!

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MYRTLE’S UNDERWAY ON THE USA TOUR

Sylvia Halpern has started her latest trike journey here in the U.S. She has planned a 9000 mile long journey on her tadpole trike. Here are videos of day one and day two.  I would love to take such a journey, but alas it ain’t happening.

I have several articles on Sylvia I have posted previously.

Sylvia’s YouTube channel

Sylvia’s Facebook page

Details and Maps of my 9,000 mile USA Tour

Sylvia’s Tour Progress

Make a Donation

Banking While Cycle Touring

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Concerns, Worries and Fears

Contact Sylvia …  not working as number of allowed emails has been exceeded for March

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT AWAITS YOU!

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