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E-Bikes

I rode this afternoon after mowing. It was plenty hot. I was the only guy on the trail South. It was a work day and a school day and was miserable weather so I wasn't surprised. When I came in from riding, my station said it was 96° but felt like 107°. It actually got a couple of degrees hotter before it started to cool down. I'm glad I got my 43 miles in when I did.
 
On my third loop I noticed it was dark back in the North. I, once again, checked my weather app and radar and determined that the storm was going to miss me. The front was moving from North West to South East and I was good to ride. WRONG again! On my return loop from the town South it suddenly started blowing cold air from the North. I put the bike in race mode and rode for home as fast as I could. I was only two and a half miles from home when it started raining. It wasn't a blinding rain but damn uncomfortable to ride into. I was soaked by the time I got home. My station showed it had rained just over a quarter of an inch. In less than fifteen minutes the temperature dropped from 99° to 70°. Needless to say, I was shivering wet and cold after sweating my tail off. Just another crazy day on the bike. I'm glad I got home when I did. The front dropped 1.79" before it quit. Not bad for a slight chance of rain over night.
 
It seems I dashed home Tuesday evening to get out of the rain and to avoid changing a flat on the highway. I went to ride yesterday evening and I had a flat. It was the perfect day for the flat because yesterday was nothing but bad things all day. I removed, repaired, and remounted the rear wheel. When I went to put my riding clothes back on I found a washer that obviously belonged on the axle so I removed the back wheel, took my best guess where the washer belonged and remounted the wheel.
After putting on my riding gear I took off for a shortened ride only to find that in 9th gear the chain rubbed on the frame. Obviously my best guess of washer placement was wrong. I returned home, put on my work clothes, removed the wheel, put the washer on the correct side of the axle, changed clothes one last time and went riding. I stayed in town for it was nearly dark. I only logged 11 miles :)
 
I didn't get to ride this afternoon. With my big mower in the shop, I am mowing my lawns with a 3' Stand on Toro. It's a lot more work than sitting down and takes just about twice as long to mow each lawn. With the time it took to take my big mower to the shop and extra time mowing, it was too close to dinner time to ride. I did go riding after dinner and logged 41 miles. I saw only one rider tonight but I saw him twice. I met him as he was heading North on the sidewalk from the town South and I passed him my next loop as he was heading South on the sidewalk. It looked like he was riding his boys bike. The bike was way too small for the guy. But hey, he was riding.
The days are getting noticeably shorter each day. It was nearly dark when I finished my last loop. It won't be long before riding after dinner will have to be abbreviated. And then the time change... and there will be no evening riding. :(
 
I rode just a little after dinner. I had battery and daylight for more riding but I was tired. I mowed my cabin property and then came home and mowed two lawns that were slated to mow next Tuesday but they were way overgrown and could not wait another day. I was pooped afterwards but went riding anyway. I did see two guys riding traditional road bikes tonight. They were riding together. I passed them as they were riding out of town and I met them my next loop as they were returning to town. It was a nice night to be outside. It was a shame to quit so early.
 
My sister was over for a visit this morning so It was a bit after noon when I went riding. It was a partly cloudy and there was a North wind blowing that was cool at times. It was great weather for riding. I only saw a couple of other cyclists but imagine the sidewalk South was surely had some traffic this morning. I only rode 40 miles and was nearly out of battery when I got home. I spent some time fine tuning my rear brake. It was rubbing a bit and was costing me a few miles of battery. I went riding again after dinner. I was happy with the rear brake. A sure test is to ride for a while and stop by using the front brake and then touch the rear rotor and see if it is warm or hot. If it is, it's rubbing the brake pads. If I wasn't half blind and all but deaf, a visual and an audio check could also be a test. I was just leaving town for my second loop when I had another flat. This time it was a drywall screw. I removed the back wheel and replaced the tube. I continued to ride and logged another 42 miles. The battery drained a few miles too fast so I'll be adjusting the rear brake again before I ride tomorrow. It is odd but the brake clearance is such that it needs to be fine tuned every time the back wheel is remounted.
It was a fun day riding in spite of the brake rubbing and drywall screw.
 
It was a great day to ride and I took advantage the best I could. I was smoking ribs today so I had to wait to ride until I had the racks in the smoker. I then had a three hour window to ride. It was cool with high status clouds and very little wind. I rode 42 fun miles and was low on battery so I called it. I saw three or four cyclists and I saw six cyclists on e-bikes. I also saw my buddy Tim on his e-trike. It is fun to share the trail with other riders and it makes me happy to see e-bikes. I rode again after dinner. I saw a few riders in town but none on the sidewalk. It was just a little cool riding tonight with my summer kit. It was fun though and I was glad I rode with rain predicted for tomorrow. I rolled over the 18K mark today and the odometer was sitting at 18,068 at the end of the day. The Earth's circumference at the equator is 24,901 miles. 🤣
I did perform a bit of bike maintenance this morning while waiting to start my smoker. I cleaned and lubed my bike chain and derailleur cogs and wiped the bike down. Both bike and chain were pretty grimy and more than ready for attention.
 
It sprinkled all morning and into the afternoon. I messed with the bike a little this morning. I had planned to top off my brake fluid which is mineral oil. I thought about ordering a kit from Amazon but decided I just needed the oil. I can do without the stuff to bleed off the brakes. I couldn't find any mineral oil in town. There isn't a bike shop within miles either. So I sat and watched it sprinkle. It finally quit and was dry enough to mow. I mowed all my Monday lawns but one that I plan to pick up tomorrow. I came home, showered, and fixed dinner. I hadn't planned to ride but changed my mind at the last minute. I rode a short loop South and once around my part of town for a ten mile ride. I wasn't in the mood but still enjoyed getting out. It was only 66° and with the high humidity and the wind from riding it felt pretty cold to my thin blood. I was glad I ran out of daylight. :)
 
With rain in the forecast for most of tomorrow, I made it a point to work in a ride today. I went riding once my lawns were mowed. It was a beautiful day for it. Upper seventies with very little wind and lots of sunshine is near perfect in my books. I wasn't the only cyclist out enjoying the weather. I passed two and met three in my four loops. That's pretty busy for a Tuesday afternoon. There were some dog walkers, joggers, and stroller pushers out as well. It was just too darn nice to be inside. I logged 42 miles and ate a late dinner.
 
Yesterday, I managed to mow my lawns before the rains came. It was super humid and cool and the grass was wet but I jumped on the lawn detail early and it was a good thing. It started raining as I was finishing my last lawn. It sprinkled off and on the rest of the day. Riding was not happening. It rained over night and into this morning. Less than an inch fell but it made mowing a genuine chore. I got my work done and fixed dinner and then went riding. It was a nice evening but overcast. I was running out of daylight the same time I was running low on battery. I rode 42 miles and only saw one other cyclist. It seemed to be the night to walk the dog for I passed and met quite a few dogs and their masters out enjoying the cool weather.
I'm near deaf and I don't wear hearing aids while riding. I normally don't hear the bike. I will get right on top of people before they hear my bike. I often have to ring the bike bell to get their attention. Not so for the dogs. They hear me coming a long distance away. I think the motor must make a high pitched noise that they can hear and humans don't. Whatever, they start turning around and get the attention of their master that I'm approaching. I would say that it's a good thing but whatever the dogs hear... they do not like.
 
I did some shopping this morning and about the time I was ready to ride it rained. It wasn't forecasted and it didn't rain that much... just enough to ruin my riding plans. After the rain I helped the kid next door change his oil. He lacked tools and was his first time at the task. I then fixed dinner and then went riding. It was a decent evening to ride and I rode 44 miles without seeing another rider.

The daughter of a long time mow customer called this morning. She works at a thrift shop and they had a new e-trike for sale on consignment. She knew I rode an e-bike so she reached out to me before they opened. I don't know exactly why the bike was being sold. They were asking $900 for a $1,700 bike and it was supposedly new. I didn't want the trike but I knew two people that might be interested. One person's health had declined to a point that they were no longer in the market. The other never responded to my text. I thought about going to the thrift store and giving it a ride just to see what it was like but thought better. I was tempted.
 
I didn't get to ride like I had hoped. I went out to ride this morning and my back tired was low. It wasn't low last night so I pulled it off the bike and pulled the tube out of the tire. I couldn't find anything in the tire that had punctured the tube so I reinflated the tube and found that a previous patch was leaking. I think it's the first patch I installed that failed in my adult life. In any event, I put another tube in the tire and was ready to ride when it started raining. It was just popcorn cells and dropping rain so when the cloud passed I jumped on the bike. I only rode a few miles when it started misting so strong that it was hard to see. I rode around town for a while hoping it would clear up. My son called and asked if I was home. He was wanting to hang out and drink a beer or two. I was close to home so I headed home and put the bike up. I logged 16 miles. Maybe I'll get to ride some tomorrow.
 
I might go riding after dinner but if not, I'm happy. I got in a great ride this afternoon and actually saw some other riders. First I saw a couple riding identical e-bikes. The bikes were to low riders with the bench type seat. They looked to be having a great time on their bikes. When I got close to the town South I passed another couple. The Mrs. was riding an e-trike and the Mr. a traditional multi speed road bike. I felt sorry for him for when he saw me approaching in his rear view mirror he jerked his bike off of the sidewalk. He didn't wreck fortunately. A couple of loops later I passed another couple. They were riding identical full sized e-bikes and were just leisurely traveling down the sidewalk visiting. It always makes my day to see some e-cyclists. It's impossible to convey how much fun the bikes are without someone actually getting on one.
Today I was reminded of a funny bike story from 60 years ago. A kid rode across the street in front of me today and just laid the bike down and crashed. As I rode past him I hollered been there done that.
When I was in middle school my buddy and I would sneak out in the middle of the night and ride our bikes around town. The trick was to not be caught by the cops for it was far past curfew for kids. We weren't up to no good but had no reason or permission to be riding our bikes in the middle of the night. If we saw headlights we would ride and hide and often just ride into a yard and lay our bikes down and wait for the headlights to pass. One night we did just that but the car turned into the drive of the yard we were laying in and the Mr. stepped out of the car and said hey you boys... what the hell are you doing in my yard in the middle of the night? We jumped back on our bikes and rode like the wind. lol What were the chances we would pick his yard to crash and hide?
 
I was able to ride some tonight. I rode 27 more miles but didn't see any other riders. There was weather moving in my direction so I cut my ride short. It was the likely reason there wasn't anybody riding tonight. It was in the mid seventies with no wind. If not for the threat of rain, it was a perfect night to ride.
 
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