It's Winter, January is as usual, at hit and miss month weather wise!

 Have managed to get in a ride here and there, alas, with weather and medical appointments, winter just seems to be really hard to get to do continues rides! We did get fortune enough, to find out about an event a couple of days before the ride. 

This is the Alex Pretti Memorial Ride for Colorado Springs, CO. Alex Pretti was gunned down by ICE agents in Minnesota, he was a VA Nurse and supposedly went to help a lady who got pushed down and then was surrounded by Agents, they saw he had a gun, he had a Permit to Carry a firearm. The encounter, got out of hand and he was shot. Now, I wasn't there and will never know what really happened! 

Alex was also a long-time bicyclist and a great customer at a local area bike shop, the Bike Shop decided to have a Memorial Ride for Alex, it was posted by FACEBOOK, and they asked Bike Shops around the country to also have a Memorial Ride for a fellow cyclist. There were over 250 bike shops across the USA that on Jan. 31st. at 11 AM, held a Memorial Ride, we joined the one here in Colorado Springs. Not to protest but to show solidarity and remembrance of a fellow cyclist!!

The start of the Memorial Ride in Colorado Springs, CO. at Building 3 Coffee House, Lincon Center

Jo on the eastern (dirt) Pikes Peak Greenway, heading to America the Beautiful Park in downtown

230+ riders, stopped to fix a flat by the "CREW", heading to America the Beautiful Park

 

We arrived at the Julie Penrose Fountain in America the Beautiful Park, gathered to hear speakers and take a group photo. Some headed back to the Lincon Center for a gathering at the Goat Patch Brewery. We don't drink liquor, we decided to ride up to Sinton Trail and get a cheap hot dog lunch at the Mavrick Station Store, then to Angletech to buy a better helmet MIRROR for my new SENA R1 Smart (intercom) helmet. 

The old-style helmet mirror I had was designed to attach to glasses and just wouldn't work with the new helmet. Safe Zone Helmet Mirror, very adjustable and easy to attach, with a much larger mirror!! We prefer helmet mirrors over trike mounted mirrors, more view of different angles rearward. A bit pricey at $43.00 but worth it and made in the USA! :) 

The weather started out quite chilly but warmed nicely with lots of sunshine, a nice improvement for days before, good ride, nice company, no problems, except the flat tire someone on the ride had! 

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February 1, 2026- Food and Supplies Run and headed to the Creekside Coffee House- We don't own a car, so it's been tough with the weather to get to the food store, we were out of everything! Sunday was even warmer than Saturday, headed to Walmart Market Place via the Rock Island Trail and side street or two. Pulling the cargo trailer behind my trike, did the shopping, loaded up the trailer and panniers, then back home to put away the frozen and cold items, then headed out to the Coffee House. 

LOL, we forgot it was Sunday, the Creekside Coffee House is hooked to a local church, it's closed on Sunday's! We rode the PPGW north and picked up the Cottonwood Creek Trail east to the CC House, turned around and headed back on a fast downhill to the Starbucks on Woodman and Academy Blvd for iced tea to go with our brown bag lunch! The sun on the patio felt good and we finished lunch and headed back down the Cottonwood Creek Trail to the PPGW south and back to apartment as it was nearing 4 PM. Nicely, the sun is now up till about 5:15 PM so we can ride a bit later in the afternoon!  

Cottonwood Creek, from one of the MANY bridges that cross back and forth over the Creek on the Cottonwood Creek Trail. The view looks west towards Pikes Peak

Well, that's a rap folks, today, Monday Feb. 2 Happy Ground Hog's Day, it very gray, cloudy and chilly and I have medical appointments/classes, for both Tues. and Weds. Hopefully be able to get in a ride on Thursday and Friday. Maybe also on Sunday, Taxes getting done on Saturday so no ride RATS! Till we come together, next time, Happy Trails! 

January 18- Last ride before the serious snow and cold set in and intercom head set test.

 Sadly, this was the last ride due to either COLD or SNOW or medical appointments!! Today is the 28th. so, it's been 10 days without a ride! Looking like we might be able to get back in the saddle again for the upcoming weekend!! :) 

January 18, 2026- Finally a decent weather day and the first test of our new SENA R1 helmets with intercom headsets built in! 

We have been wanting these blue tooth/intercom helmets for a long time; we finally bit the bullet and bought the older style R1 helmets as they put them on sale!  Lots of cold, WIND and snow at times but the 18th. was heading to mid 50 F temps and only a slight breeze. I will say the "Set up and Pairing" of the R1 helmets was a real PITA!!! We finally figured it with a lot of trial and errors! Headed out for multi-trail-path ride but the big thing was the helmets test, and I will have to say they worked well!! We did find that the Half Mile Range was only good "in a straight line", i.e.: no buildings or large curves but it worked well at a Quarter Mile Range!!

All in all, we are quite happy with the helmets/intercoms, it's great not to have to SCREAM to let the other know of a turn or which way to go if a fork in the trail happens! As stated, the R1 helmet is the original bicycle helmet style, connecting by Bluetooth, I think the newer, R2 and other models have more upscale communication systems and microphones installed. This will work for us and at $129.00 each, really not too much over a standard helmet from a bicycle/recumbent shop! Sorry no photos but here is the YouTube video on our YT Channel, "Out and About on the Recumbents" for your enjoyment! 

That's it for now folks. Here is hoping the next few days is good enough to ride without a lot of cold WINDS and it's taken several days for the 10 inches of snow to melt off the trails and streets! Happy Trail's 

January 2026-Welcome to the New Year and Wind, Snow, etc.

 Well so far January hasn't been to bad but today, the 8th. it's gray, solid clouds and on and off snow flurries! Did get to get in a few rides here and there, maybe more by the middle of next week! Ok, here's what's going on!

Jan. 3- Just a Sunday Ride on a rather windy day- Headed out on the Rock Island Trail to do the 10 miles or so to its current ending point in a Cul-de-Sac just before Powers Blvd. Had to stop and back up as a couple of dummies parked their cars so it "BLOCKED" the exit/entry to the trail, Arrugh!  We did a bit more riding around here and there but it was getting late, so we headed home. 

Jan. 6- A VERY WINDY Day RIDE- LOL, the wind didn't seem too bad at our apartment but as we got out on the Pikes Peak Greenway to pick up the Centennial South Extension Path up to the Fillmore St. bike lane, the WIND was getting insane with constant heavy gusts. We rode the bike lane over to the Mesa Trail along Mesa Road and the Mesa Overlook. It was blowing us back and forth at the Overlook, so we headed down the hill to the Foothills Trail heading north. Then, the Sinton Trail down to the Garden of the Gods Mavrick Station Store for a HOT tea and our brown bag lunch. 

Down the Sinton Trail and north on the Pikes Peak Greenway up to Criterium Bike Shop and picked up the Nevada Ave Path over to the Panera Bread at the UVC center for a 2nd. HOT tea as the winds were strong and chilly!  Heading back down to the PPGW south and home, just tired of fighting the WIND! 

Jan. 7- Reverse Ride and Errand Run and thankfully LESS WIND! - One of our granddaughters, asked Jo to make her a "Lap Blanket" for her birthday", so she got at it, and made the blanket. The "decent" UPS Store is in a shopping center at Fillmore and Centennial, so we decided to do a bit of a Reverse Ride of what we started yesterday. We headed up the Sinton Trail to Centennial Blvd, headed south up the hill to the UPS Store so Jo could get the blanket mailed off. 

Lucky for us, the wind was much mellower today, so we headed south on the Centennial South Extension Path, (they also have a bike lane, but we like the concrete path better), Then got on the Mesa Greenway to head towards America the Beautiful Park. Then the Cuchara St. Path through downtown Colorado Springs. Using different bike lanes, we got over to Shooks Run Trail, heading north. Stopped at Good Neighbors Meeting House for iced tea and a Think Bar break and then a quick stop at the Bonn Center Safeway and back to the apartment on the Rock Island Connector! 

Hopefully by the middle of next week we can get back out on the trails and bike lanes but it's according to the amount of snow we might get tonight into Friday!! Hope the new year brings you lots of excellent riding! Happy Trails! :)