January 23, 2023-Snow, snow and more! @#$%^&*() SNOW!! Arugh!

 It never fails, when either of us get a "new to us trike" in the winter months, we get one ride and then it snows! This Jan. has been a RPITA as it stops for 2 days, the roads (not the trails), just start to clear and WHAM, we get more SNOW! :( This makes it really hard to get to the store for FOOD and supplies, etc.! As I look out our front window the flakes as falling hard and fast, we were just supposed to get a trace to 1 inch but it will be more if this keeps up! What we have to do is drag our hand carts through the snow over to a Safeway Food store that's only 1/2 mile away and buy just enough to get us through till the roads/trails clear enough to hook up the cargo trailer and head to the Walmart Neighborhood Market store, which has MUCH cheaper prices than Safeway!! 

Our Social Security Retirement Income is meager so we can't afford to do our main shopping at Safeway!! Walmart is 2.5 miles away with a few uphill grades and one BIG HILL, that's not safe going "up or down" if it's snowy and icy on the streets and trail!! Sure hope my wife, Jo finally get's her Powerball/Mega Millions Lotto WIN, then we'd winter in Tuson, AZ and summer here in Colorado! :) We'd buy a Toy Hauler type, RV, it's got a small "garage" area we'd store the E-assist trikes (LOL, hey we'd have MONEY so we'd get E-assist trikes!), in and travel the USA changing locations by the seasons! :) HEAVEN!! Oh well just have to Grin and Bear it for now, can't afford to ski, can't afford a car to go up to the real mountains and go tubing or sleigh riding, etc. so Winter SUCKS! ;) 

We do have a Recumbent style exercise bike but it's not anywhere near as enjoyable as riding the trikes! Infact, I call it the Klingon Torture Device! ;) It does let us keep the "muscle memory", gives a bit of exercise but we LONG to be outside, alas, it's just to COLD and sloppy! Trikes are much better on ICE than bikes but you still can have a ice caused accident even if you ride carefully! Living in an apartment we have no garage where we could let the trikes "drip dry" on a ground tarp and then at least wipe them down. So we are just STUCK when it's snowing and icy. Thank goodness, for YouTube triking video's of folks rides in CA., FL., AUS., etc. it's the only thing that get's us through this time of year!!

Here's a video, that makes my point, ENJOY: ICE trikes on ICE!!

January 14, 2023-Jo get's a new to her E-assist trike!!

 We managed to get a small loan through our credit union and found a 2009 ICE Trice T with a EBO rear wheel hub 350W e-assist system as always at Angletech, www.cycledifferent.com Jo walked and I rode her a mile to a bus stop for route #2 then I rode up the very steep South Centennial Extension and over to Angletech. When she arrived they were working on the set up for her so it took a couple of hours before it was ready for her to get the FIT set up and we were on our way to Panera Bread for a brown bag lunch and unsweet iced tea! After lunch we rode around a bit more but it was getting late so we headed home. Only about 13 miles but the ICE really fit's her nicely and now, LOL, she has to wait for ME at the top of the hills! ;) Here's some photos, PS: we did run into a problem, this trike has quick release front wheels and the screwer's stick out just too much for us to get the trike through the doors of our apartment, RATS. Oh well, we will just go rent a Storage Unit on Monday and finally get all the trikes and the trailer out of the apt. It means a 1 mile walk from the Unit to the Apt. but hey, the walk will just "warm" us up before we RIDE!! :)

January 13, 2023-Getting in a ride before the next storms coming Tuesday/Wednesday!!

 The temps were going to be in the low 50 F range so we headed out for a area ride before the next possible snow storms by Tue./Wed. next week. We wanted to ride the Cottonwood Creek Trail but didn't think the sheet of ice on the uphill to the Vincent St. bridge would have been melted quite yet! We headed east on the Rock Island Trail over to it's current end point at Powers Blvd. Decided we wanted a iced tea at Panera Bread so we did a little "Cyclecross" (dirt trail) riding over to Constitution Ave. to get to the First and Main Center. LOL, the F&M Center is a total disaster to ride through, it crosses 3 different major streets it's so big we took a wrong turn and had to back track to Tutt Blvd. bike lane, found our way into the Center and over to Panera Bread. Brown bag and unsweetened ice tea. Headed back the same way, here's a photo of us just starting to ride the "dirt track" back to the Rock Island Trail connection.

We made the concrete trail and headed west back home, decided to stop at the Good Neighbors Meeting House off the Shooks Run Trail for a HOT tea to eat with our homemade energy bars! Stopped off at Ent Federal Credit Union to see if we might be able to get a loan to buy Jo a upgraded trike with a rear hub motor E-assist system! Yes, it's a older TRICE brand, they now call them ICE (Inspired Creative Engineering) trikes. We can only afford USED recumbent trikes, but this one has direct steering and even Rear suspension and of course a basic E-assist system to help Jo on the steep grades and hills! We got the loan, so we will be picking it up on Saturday. We will sell Jo's current Terra Trike Rambler via local Craigs List! 20 miles RT, mostly sunny and 50 F+ so a very enjoyable day "Out and About on the Recumbents"! :)

2023-January 8/9/10-Fox21 News interview and misc. rides

 We had a really good cold snap with low amounts of constant snow for a few days. On the 8th. we rode down to America the Beautiful Park to get "interviewed" by FOX21 News for a local area feature!! We met the crew who were friendly and professional, did the interview and they took some short video of us riding around the park. After that we headed north up to Panera Bread for lunch and hot tea as it had been a chilly morning!! Here is a video of the meet up with the News crew! 

On the 9th. we headed out on a mission to score an excellent Meatball Sub at Firehouse Subs eatery! We headed over to the Templeton Gap Trail till it's end and then picked up a really hairy bike lane up Austin Bluffs Parkway over to the restaurant. It was warm enough to eat outside, awesome meatball sub, unsweet iced tea and our crips, YUM! After that we headed south on the sidewalk along Academy Blvd. to pick up the Rock Island Trail heading west and back to the apartment complex as it was really starting to cool down as we headed into afternoon!!

On the 10th. again we had a mission, my trike, Abbey-Normal was in need of new front tires so we rode up the PPGW to pick up the Sinton Trail heading west and rode that all the way to 30th. Street and GoG Road. Trail along GoG Road was still full of ice and some deep snow patches, it wasn't easy and it was also SLOPPY so for the 3rd. time in 3 days, I will have to do complete wipe down's of both trikes, bummer!! We slogged up the trail, we got to check up on the status of the concrete work to finally finish the last 1/2 mile of the trail to actually connect it to the Foothills Trail that heads south towards the Garden of the Gods Park and the 31st. bike lane. It sure seems like it's taking forever to do that little bit of concrete but it's probably due to "weather delays"! We decided not to ride the sloppy trail and headed east on GoG Road back to Angletech, www.cycledifferent.com to pick up the tires I had them hold for me. Strapped the tires on my rear rack and we headed to Panera Bread again, (we have a Ultimate Sips Club membership, all the hot or cold drinks we want for a low monthly fee!!), to eat our lunch as the WIND was gusting heavy at times. we wanted eat inside but still see the trikes!! Brown bag special and unsweet iced tea. It was good to get out of the WIND for a spell! Then south on the PPGW back to the apartment by late afternoon. Got the tires installed so I am good to go as they say! :)  

January 1st., 2023-The Ondo's WILD RIDE!!

 Well, we decided to "Damn the Torpedo's", as they say and head out for a sloppy New Years Day ride anyway! ;) We headed over to Smash Burger on the Pikes Peak Greenway, we left early enough that the melting spots were still a bit frozen, so it wasn't too messy! We arrived at Smash Burger under gray and cloudy skies but ok temperatures wise and with little breeze. Had a Single burger and Sweet Potato fries, YUM! The skies got darker, and the breeze turned into a light wind at bit colder! We headed over detour trail to Criterium Bike Shop and as we went through a I-25 underpass, YUCK, 1 in. mud covered the trail, no way around it so we slogged through it! Had to take our shop rag and clean off the tires, bummer!! :( The we headed over to pick up the Cottonwood Creek Trail, BIG MISTAKE! heading under the bridge, there is a very steep uphill grade to Vincent St. path, at times, we both had the front wheels pointing straight but the rear wheel was totally SIDEWAYS, spinning like mad men to get up and over the ICE covering the trail!!

I had to get off and give Jo a PUSH to get her over the slickest portion of the ice, we finally made it to the top of the rise and most of the ice was melted!!

 We headed south on the "no name trail" that goes along Nevada Ave in that direction through a few smaller icy patches here and there but overall, much clearer path. Decided to head back to the center and go to Panera Bread for a hot tea and eat our trail snack!! We did run into a little more MUD but a lot less than the 1st. time. Headed home, brought down a wet cloth to wipe down the tires. Later in the evening we did a wipe down of the whole trikes, we don't have a area to wash off the crud as we live in an apartment complex. We keep the trikes on plastic mats in the lower half of the front room, so they are now as clean as possible! :) 14 miles total but even with the ice, it felt great to get in a New Year's Day RIDE!! 

Jan. 1st. 2023-Happy New Year to you ALL!

Just us wishing you all a Very Happy New Year in 2023! We probably won't ride today, it's still really SLOPPY due to snow melt so we will take a walk downtown and eat lunch at Munchies 719 Cafe!! Hopefully, we won't get the 2 inches of snow they say is coming in later tonight thru Monday and we will be able to ride by Wednesday/Thursday!!! It's only going to be in the low 30 F temps till Wednesday, RATS!! All the best, may you have lot's of "Miles of SMILES" in 2023! :)