WELCOME to: BJ and Jo Ondo's recumbent trike cycling blog! This blog has information about US, our "Bicycle/Trike History", and our RIDES, here in Colorado Springs, CO., the Pikes Peak Region, State of Colorado and anywhere else our WHEELS take us!
Just a quick review of the new Arcshell AR-5 Walkie-Talkies, we are now using to communicate with each other. On a tip from the "Grizzly Granny" here on YouTube we decided to try these really inexpensive Walkie-Talkies as we can't afford the cool Senca Helmets with Bluetooth communication set up inside them. We've used them several times on the last two rides are impressed with the clarity and distance these units have.
We bought these on AMAZON, here is a link to the information: Arcshell AR-5 Walkie-Talkies The units come with an earpiece speaker and holder, but we decided to get the "optional" handheld microphones. Glad we did, the earpiece holder/speaker is a kinda cheap and flimsy, it kept falling off my ear, Grizzly Granny had the same problem. We got 2 walkie-talkies and handheld microphones for around $40.00 and shipping was free! This is a great and inexpensive way to get voice communication for a spouse or friend!!
We mounted ours in our "Sidebag Net pockets", with the clips on back it worked well. BJ
Well this El Nina winter weather is continuing to be a PITA, LOL, we have been limited to just enough semi-decent days to do Food and Supply rides with an errand ride or two thrown in to be different! One of the problems is with the really COLD night temps, it takes a bit of time to just get "kinda warmish" in the mornings! That makes the day shorter to begin with!
Here's a couple of decent rides we got in, January 23, I needed a new black ink cartridge for my printer. Usually we would head up the Sinton Trail to the Staples at Centennial and Garden of the Gods Road. Well Sinton is closed at Elstin St. due to bridge work on I-25 which goes over the street and the trail. We decided to us the new Bike Lane up the new Centennial blvd. south extension. Headed from the storage unit to the Pikes Peak Greenway, over the west side of the Greenway to Fontaero St. where the bike lane starts. It's a long constant uphill grade up to Fillmore St., then a very fast downhill grade to Garden of the Gods Rd. and Staples.
Rat's, didn't have the right cartridge so I gota order it, we shot a video of the ride, it shows we do get out in traffic at times to get to a destination but we'd rather use the trail!!
We headed back, then picked up the Mesa Springs Greenway over to Monument Valley Park. Ended the ride at Stanley Lake. 15 miles, the sun was just strong enough to hold the clouds back!!
January 24, We decided to risk a ride in even with the high clouds diluting the sunshine and a cold front coming in through the day! Headed out on the Templeton or T-Gap trail heading east, rode to the current end of the north trail at Ranch Rd. Heading back we turned and took the Flintridge Dr. bike lane up to Academy Blvd. heading to Starbucks for a HOT unsweet green TEA and eat our brown bag lunch. The cold front dropped the temps of the way home, we headed south then west to get on the Rock Island Trail. Man it was really getting cold as we got back to the storage unit, put the trikes away and headed out on our 1.2 mile walk back to the apartment! Overnight Thursday into Friday morning, woke up to 3 inches of fresh, WET snow so NO rides for a few days, RATS!! :( Get out and RIDE when you can!
Well the month of January has been a complete bust as far as riding our trikes goes!! It's been Below Zero Cold fronts, Very High WINDS, etc., the only good thing is so far very little SNOW for us here in Southeastern Colorado! Yesterday, we hit the LOWEST HIGH Temp on Record (since 1972) with a -9F daily high, windchill factor -21! We have been getting in our leg work via our recumbent exercise bike, I call the "Klingon Torture Device" but it's better than nothing!
The only other, at least kinda trike related event has been that we finally took the plunge and up graded from a 5x10 unit to a 10x10 unit, which now houses the trikes and the cargo trailer!! :) There is even room for us to change shoes, etc. out of the rain and weather so it's a big plus. No it's not as good as a garage but "Beggers can't be chooser's".
I can also do some minor maintenance inside, when it decides, to quit playing, "We must live in Canada", weatherwise, LOL! ;). We were keeping the cargo trailer under the stairwell in the apartment, I had to drag it over to the unit by hand, so this is a real improvement in that respect! Well not much else to say, hope your weather is better and your getting lot's of "Miles of Smiles"! For us, it's just hibernate in apt. and dream of Spring!! BJ
Monday, January 8, 2024
Dec. 30, 2023- Got a bit of a reprieve from the wintery weather so we got in a ride over to Manitou Springs via the Midland and Creek Walk Trails. We stopped by our friend Tory's really cool "Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort", which is just before you leave Co. Springs into Manitou Springs! Decided to do a promo of the lodge grounds for you all, it's a great, bicycle themed lodge with cottages instead of hotel rooms! A big fireplace in the lounge, bar, all kinds of different entertainments during the week and weekends!!
If you're in Co. Springs for business or leisure, pls. think about staying at a place that LOVES cyclists! It was a chilly but sunny day as usual, we stopped at Starbucks on Co. Ave. and 31st. Street for HOT green tea (unsweet) and ate our Brown Bag Lunch, then headed to the Lodge and into Manitou Springs to the end of the concrete trail, turned around and headed back, picked up the Mesa Springs Greenway, Pikes Peak Greenway, then back streets to the storage unit, made it home as the sun went behind Pikes Peak!
January 3, 2024,Well the cold and snow returned but a quick melt and we got in our first real ride, (we did a quick food run the day before), This was also a errand run, as we had to ride up to the Walgreens Drug Store at Centennial and Garden of the Gods Rd. to get Jo's diabetic Test Strips! The Walgreens close to us seems to "always" be out of these, which makes no sense as it's where we bought her testing machine!! :( We headed up the Sinton Trail via the T-Gap and PP Greenway, then turned around and rode back down to the PP Greenway, headed north up to the Panera Bread at the University Village Colorado Center. After a HOT tea and our Brown Bag Lunch, we headed up the Detour trail to Criterium Bike Shop, then decided to head up to do the Vincent Frontage Rd./Nevada Ave Trail Loop back to the center and then the PP Greenway and T-Gap trails back to the storage unit. The temps dropped 10 degrees, while we put away the trikes, it was a CHILLY walk home!! Sadly, winter has returned! So, we have been doing quick walks or riding the exercise bike at home, bummer, oh well it is January! Hope you have had a great New Year so far!! BJ :)
