March 28, 2021-Heading out to the Homestead Trail, heading east off the Cottonwood Creek Trail junction

 Got another really nice day to ride so we headed out to see if they'd actually done any of the new concrete they said was done for the Homestead Trail. We rode the Pikes Peak Greenway over to the Cottonwood Creek Trail, stopped at the Cottonwoood Regional Park for our brown bag lunch. Got to the CCT and Homestead Trail junction which heads east, the last time we were on this it was rough and cracked old asphalt and just about beat us to death!!! Hoping they'd fixed this we took the trail for a few miles but alas, no joy, it's still the same old rough surface as last time, at least in this section of the trail! :( So it's possible that the "new concrete" is more toward the start of the Homestead Trail heading WEST that's across town, bummer! Oh well it was 60 F, sunny with a steady breeze so a good day to ride! The other bonus is that Jo got to get in her first, Real Ride on her new LIVE Alight 3 Hybrid and she's pretty happy with it over the Electra Townie 21d, that just never fit her quite right! :) 22 miles RT so that put us at 44 miles for the weekend, excellent!! :) Here is a Video of the ride!

March 27, 2021-We ride in the "Walk, Run and Roll for Daniel", Children's Hospital Charity Ride/Walk/Run Event

 We try to make this event every year but it was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 virus but was in full swing for 2021! It starts at 9AM with a 8 AM packet pick up time and it was CHILLY, 30 F with a constant breeze, BURR!!! We got our T-shirts and walked around the expo/registration area that had a few vendors till the start time. Got lined up and headed out with about 60 riders, the RIDE was 15 K round trip heading out via back streets, bike lanes and urban trails over to the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort/Hotel for hot chicken biscuits from Chick-Fil-A then turned around and headed back to the expo area for door prize drawings. The M/C was Daniel himself  not quite a teen ager he has had 6 brain operations and has become a "Ambassador" for the local Children's Hospital here in Co. Springs, CO. Always smiling and happy kinda kid!! The goal was $2000 and we raised $3500 and all the proceeds go to the hospital. It was a great way to start 2021 on a for once, POSITIVE deed!  Looking forward to next years event! Here is a short video of the ride:

March 20, 2021- BJ's first ride on the new Giant Escape 3 Comfort and picking up Jo's new LIV Alight 3!!

 I actually picked up my new Giant Escape 3 on March 17, 2021 from Old Town Bikes here in Co. Springs but it was late in the day so no ride, Thurs. was WINDY and Chilly and Fri. we had 1000 things to do! So finally on Saturday 20, 2021 I got to get in my first ride on the new hybrid machine. We did a roundabout route of the area as we were waiting to hear if Jo's new LIV Alight 3, that was being built up out of the box at Ted's Bicycles here in Co. Springs, would be able to get it finished today, Sat's. are very busy days at our local bike shops since Covid-19 came in and bike sales have gone thru the roof!! Ok, yes we bought at TWO different bike shops, well Old Town had the one I wanted but we'd have to wait as long as a YEAR to get the bike Jo wanted!! :( Ted's had the bike Jo wanted but NOT the bike I wanted so that's why, TWO different shops this time! :)

We had a beautiful day to ride, 60 F, sunny with a slight wind so we enjoyed being out, it's gona take bit of riding to get my 65 year old body use to riding a standard DF style bike since I've been on a RANS crank forward bike and recumbent trikes before that!! Still I like the quick feel of the bike and the fast rolling 700C tires!! We finished the ride and ended up at Ted's Bicycles to see if Jo's bike might be ready and it was almost so we had them add some changes and accessories and I rode back to apt. to get the truck to load up here Electra Townie so she could at least ride the new back back to the apt.! :) So we now both have our new machines and LOL, of course Sunday came in with GRAY, COLD and spitting rain turning to SNOW, arrugh Spring in Southern Colorado can be a PIA! 

 

March 15, 2021-From the DEEP FREEZ to a 3 day BLIZZARD, March is not being kind to us that like to RIDE!! :(

 Well so far it's been weird, March came in like a LAMB this year which is rare to begin with, then the DEEP FREEZE that gripped most of the country and a couple of sweet 60 F and sunny days, then WHAM, 3 days of BLIZZARDS here in Colorado, YIKES!! :O We live in Central Colorado Springs, in what is called the "Old North End", back in the Gold Mine days, this was called Millionaire Road! Yes, there's still late 1800 to early 1900 Mansion's owned and lived in just down the block from us on Wood Ave. Oh what about us, LOL, we live in a 1970's apartment building at the END of Wood Ave and Van Buren St., I guess we are what you call the GETTO element of the area, LOL! ;)

We moved here because it's 100 Ft. from the N/S entry to the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail System, the main N/S urban trail thru the City of Colorado Springs, CO. For bicycle riders and walkers it's a great place to be! :) What has this to do with bicycling you ask, well this "update" is about WHY we are again changing the style of bicycles we ride! We've owned LOTS of different bikes over the years, sometimes we switch types of bike just to try something "different", other times, it's due strictly to "Circumstances", this upcoming change is one of the latter!

Back in 2018 we wanted to try out "Recumbent Trikes", we were "sharing" a house with a garage, Jo my wife was employed full time making a semi-decent wage so we went and bought the trikes!

  We really ENJOYED having trikes, being 65 and no more worries of  "balance", etc. so we were going to be TRIKE riders for the foreseeable future! Oops, circumstances beyond our control forced us to move in Feb. 2020. Well Jo had a heart attack a year earlier in 2019 and decided to retire in Dec. 2019 so we now are living only on our meager Social Security Retirement Income, which is a LOT less than her full time job!!!! We could ONLY afford a apartment here in Co. Springs as the area was experiencing HUGE growth and affordable housing especially for SENIORS is almost impossible to find!!! We finally found this tiny one bedroom apt. that's barely affordable but could only get a "2nd. floor", alas "Beggars can't be Choosers" as the saying goes! :(  We tried for several months to haul the trikes up and down stairs and thru "too small" doorways, that got to be a RPIA for this old man!! SO we decided to "switch" to bicycles, "Much easier"!! 

   Well, I (BJ) thought we should try "Crank Forward" style bikes as Jo is VERY Short legged and a crank forward bike is "suppose" to let you put your FEET FLAT on the ground at at stop, (remember balance?) LOL, well Jo is still "to short legged" to put her feet flat down when on the seat and it's causing her to "over streach" which causes pain and even I am having "problems" with the "crank forward" style machine, (gives me a ACHE in the middle of my back). So we are now looking into different machines. We've decided on a new version of the Fitness Bike, this one combine's the "adjustability" of our prior "Comfort Bikes"

and our Fitness Bikes we rode in 2012:

 These new type of Hybrid machines are by Giant Bicycles: They have the adjustable "stem's" and suspension shock seat of the "comfort bicycles" but the sporty stance of the "fitness bikes"! They use a wider more comfort tire like the Comfort Bikes but have all the added fittings for fenders, racks, etc. of the comfort bikes so there you go, the next NEW machines for BJ and Jo Ondo! :) Sadly, we like everyone else these days have to put them on order and WAIT till they come in at our local Giant Dealership, (Old Town Bicycles) here in Co. Springs, oh well something to look forward to this SUMMER! :)

March 9, 2021- The LAST nice day ride!!

 Monday was warmish but totally cloudy and windy so we walked instead of riding bikes but Tuesday was warmer with partly sunny skies so we figure it's the LAST nice day for a bike ride for probably the next 5 days as a Low Pressure Front is heading to NM. and it will bring cold and more winds a with the possible upslope winds we might get our first really DEEP snow, RATS!! 66 F, partly sunny and breezy but it was still a nice day, we headed into Manitou Springs, actually riding all the way into the downtown area itself for short walk thru! We found a little park with a empty picnic table for our brown bag lunch.

Headed over to 25th. street to re-pick up the Midland Trail over to a back street in Manitou Springs to head downtown as the trail is blocked off at Beeker's Lane due to intersection reconstruction! Did our little bit of walk thru the downtown a lot of traffic for a Tuesday afternoon but it was right a lunch time for a lot of folks! Got back on "Lover's Lane" (yes, that's the name of the street!!) and headed back the same way except we stopped at the Colorado Springs Bike Shop to use the rest rooms and check out a "top tube" bag for a bit for packing abilities on my bike! From there the Walnut St. bike lane over to the Palmer-Mesa Greenway to the Pikes Peak Greenway over the Popcycle Bridge back to the apartment for the day!! 19+ miles RT. From here the weather is going "down hill" and we will be "stuck" on the stationary cycle trainer, ARRUGH!!!! :( Here is a Relive Video Tracing our route:

 

March 6 & 7, 2021-Two great days of rides, a rare sight in March in Southern Colorado!!

 We have been really lucky to get 4 days of riding weather so far in March here in Colorado Springs, CO. as March is considered our "2nd. Snowiest Month" of the year on a normal basis. Usually if it's not snowing, it's gray and COLD. We've had 4 days in the 60 F temps and got a weekend with two days in a row!! We got out and about on the bicycles both days, it sucks to be poor but it's GREAT to be retired when the good day come along in the winter months! Here's a couple of You Tube Videos of our rides, enjoy! 

IF and only if we get the stimulus checks they talk about we are looking into getting "different bikes"! Jo's Townie is just a bit to "tall" for her and so far, even though I've changed seats, set the nose height up and down several different places I keep getting a "ache in the middle of my back"? So I guess the "crank forward" bike don't work well for us after all, RATS!! :( We are looking at Giant bikes that are a neat "cross" between a fitness and a comfort bike, the problem is that they are NOT in stock so who knows when we can actually do the change over. For now we will pay for the bikes and then WAIT till they can be built up and delivered! Such is life of a bicycle rider in the years of Covid-19 virus! :( Looks like we can get in one more day on Tuesday this week, then the SNOW is coming back BIG TIME for Fri-Sun, BUMMER, oh well just got "RIDE" when the sun shines! :) 

March 2, 2021- A ride with a mission but the mission got changed!!

 Well we got a beautiful day for a late winter day's ride in today. We decided to head out and see if they'd ever got the "new concrete" on the Homestead Trail headed east. So we headed north on the Pikes Peak Greenway heading north up to the Cottonwood trail heading east of the Greenway it's had sections that were totally worn out asphalt and lot's of grass/weeds growing in the cracks, etc. We rode first up to the Cottonwood Regional Park and had our brown bag lunch. Re-joining the Cottonwood Trail over to the junction with the Homestead Trail. Started heading and all the sudden my front derailleur just quit working?? I worked on trying to adjust the derailleur but to know avail, I couldn't get the unit to pull off the BIG Chain wheel so I did a manual adjust so I could use the "middle chain wheel". We decided to turn around and head for Angletech and have Kirk take a look. We headed now west on the Cottonwood Creek Trail back to the Greenway and picked up the Sinton Trail up to the bike shop. We got there and Kirk found the front derailleur "spring" had snapped!! So he dug around and found a replacement and fix the front derailleur. :) It was after 2 PM. so we headed back to the apartment. 23 miles on a 60 F and sunny day, except for the breakdown it was great! 

 Here is a Relive Video tracing our route for the ride: