December 2020, Finishing up rides for the year, Dec. 20, 21, 25, 26

 Got a bit behind in the blog due to the Holidays but we are finishing up the year as of the 26th. of December as the weather is turning COLD and possibly snowy from now thru New Year's Day at least!! :( We got in short area rides on both the 20th. and the 21st. The 20th. was a chilly and WINDY ride for sure, the 21st. ride was much better weather and more enjoyable, then a cold spell but it broke on the 24th. so we were really happy to get in a Christmas Day Ride!! Here's a couple of video's of our ride. 

 Part One of the Christmas Day Ride: 

Part Two of the Christmas Day Ride: 

On the 26th. we headed out to see if we could see any "starting" of the new part of the Sand Creek Trail, as it's being built under the new Platte Ave. and Powers Blvd. bridge. Not much has been done for the trail, will probably have to wait till they finish the new "double bridge" set up and HOPE, they actually make it hook up with trail heading south. We rode a 21 mile RT route to the current end point of the Sand Creek Trail heading north, just past Fountain Blvd. but alas it still just comes to a end in a field. 

Maybe be next Spring/Summer we will see some real improvements!! Headed home, the bikes are tucked away in the apartment snug and warm! ;) We did well this year over all, I got very close to 1500 miles and Jo got very close to 1400 miles, last year I had 950 and she had 800 so it's a "improvement" over past years, we will consider that a WIN!! :) Hopefully 2021 can bring even more rides, miles of smiles as we call it!! Hope you got to ride a bit so Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year's to you all!! Take care, Ride Safe, have FUN!! BJ & Jo! :)

Changes to Jo's Electra Townie 21d

 Sadly it's been COLD and WET here since our last ride so I've been doing some changes to Jo's Electra Townie that she wanted done. Her bike came to us set up more like a cruiser so a couple of changes are done and one more in the works awaiting parts on order! #1. I changed out the seat from the "very wide" and kinda hard stock Townie seat to a blue/black ladies gel ergonomic spring saddle, then I added some softer blue/black handle bar grips. We'd already changed out the big FAT whitewall tires to some nice 26x1.50 Kenda Kwest road tires so now the bike is looking more like a "comfort bike" instead of a cruiser! :)

We are still waiting for a new "triple crankset" which will have 22/32/44 gearing and shorter 152mm crank arms which will make it so Jo can "spin" easier than the 28/38/48 crankset with 170mm crank arms that comes stock on her bike! Since the new crankset is black it will really update the appearance of her Townie. :)

My RANS Fusion will be getting a couple of changes too, I got it used,  with two different colored wheel/spoke set up's. Angletech ordered a matching front wheel and I too will be getting the lower gearing MTB style crankset (22/32/44) with 170mm crank arms instead of the stock 175mm, 28/38/50 set up. LOL, bike shops LOVE us cause we are always "updating" our bikes! ;) Looks like the weather will break today and we should be able to get in a some rides from Sunday thru Tuesday the coming week, YA! :)

December 8th. 2020-Ride to Cottonwood Regional Park, doing the brown bag lunch thing!

We had 3 days of nice weather but could only get out and about on the bikes on Tuesday. We decided to try a trail with more "uphill grades" and test Jo's knee rehab condition. Decided to head north on the Pikes Peak Greenway, then head east on the Cottonwood Creek Trail it's a constant uphill grade all the way to the Cottonwood Regional Park and have a brown bag lunch! Jo did pretty good only walking a bit on the steepest uphill grades. Yes, we wear masks while we ride, enough said! It was a beautiful day 60 F, sunny with just a slight breeze which is excellent at this time of the year!! I too am having a bit of "left knee pain" (yes I am old and have 2 types of arthritis), I think it's more to do with the "change" of leg movement from 2 years riding recumbent trikes and now going back to bicycles. I just need more riding time and the "new to me" 2007 RANS Fusion (crank forward) bicycle. Sadly we forgot to take photos so here is link to a video we made:

 It was a 17+ mile ride and we enjoyed being out and about and stopping for the brown bag lunch. Hope you all got to get in a ride as for us the weather is going to turn COLD from Friday on, RATS! :( Oh well we will RIDE when we can, Take care, Ride Safe, have FUN!

December 5, 2020-"Get the bugs out" RIDE #2

Got in a decent test ride for my "new to me" RANS Fusion CF bicycle, yesterday, tried one on Friday but had problems with my "adapted" fenders so I reworked them and on Sat. we headed out for easy ride as Jo my wife, has been recouping from a "strained knee"! The bike is almost a 50/50 machine much more like a LWB recumbent than the Electra Townie 21d I had before. Still taking a bit longer to adjust to the "upright" seating but that will come with time and miles! 16 miles RT and the bike worked excellent so as they say, "The Transformation is complete"! We rode area urban trails over to Manitou Springs and the Skate Bowl Park, had a protein bar at a bench by the creek and headed back as the sun set's quickly these days! Sunny, 55 F, little breeze and very nice day for Dec.! The pictures are along the Creekside Trail. Relive video: Relive Video of our ride

A different "new to me" bicycle for BJ and the first, "have to fix the bugs" ride! Dec. 4th. 2020

 Well sometimes, things just end up changing and you didn't really expect it! I was pretty happy with my "new to me", slightly rough Electra Townie 21d but made a mistake and test rode a RANS "crank forward" style bike at Angletech and really liked the machine!! LOL, of course I couldn't afford a new one and most of their used one's at the shop were still out of my lowly budget but leave it to Kelvin and the gang as he found a older Fusion model for sale at his brothers bike shop in Washington State!! :) So I put down a deposit, the bike came in on Dec. 2nd. and I went over to check it out, liked it and loaded it in the truck and headed home, (TOO COLD to ride that day!!!).

I got it to the apt. and pulled all the accessories off the Electra Townie and slowly figured out way to "adapt" them to fit the RANS Fusion! The 3rd. was Jo's birthday so we were busy and it was pretty windy! Sat. the 4th. it was going to be sunny, less wind and 55 F so we headed out for a 10 mile, "let's get the BUGS out of the bike ride", well we only made 5 miles and the front fender rubbed constantly and I forgot, (it's hell getting old!), to pack a 10mm wrench so I couldn't adjust it on the fly. we headed back to the apt. and I found other problems and spent the afternoon and early evening "doing the FIX". Suppose to almost as nice tomorrow so we will try for a longer ride!!! Here's a photo of the RANS Fusion after I got all the "goodies" on!