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E-Bikes

I have a follow up appointment with my audiologist this morning. I should be home early enough to get in some good riding. It is supposed to get into the upper seventies this afternoon. Oddly, the wind will be out of the North in the low teens. Usually, South wind is warm and the North wind is cold. I'm looking forward to riding no matter the direction.

I went riding come the afternoon. It was warm but it was also windy. I did see a few cyclists but not the number I anticipated. I think the wind kept them off the bike. I met a group heading North on the sidewalk that were battling the wind. First was a woman on an e-trike and behind her two kids likely under ten. Behind the kids were four or maybe five guys. They seemed to be riding in a group and they all waved. My second time going South on the sidewalk I met the trike lady, the two kids, and a male. I then guessed that I was looking at a family group and the other guys were just behind them. The group waved again and had a look on their faces like how the hell did I come from the North twice :) I finished my ride by mostly draining the battery and came home with full intentions of calling it a day. I had a beer and couldn't help but notice the wind had died down. I geared up and rode another three loops before coming home and cooking dinner. I had fun!
 
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Today was colder and windy. I didn't bother to go riding until noon. I rode one battery down and called it a day. The wind was taking the fun out of riding and I wanted to watch the Chiefs game that aired mid afternoon. I should have grabbed another battery and skipped the game. The wind calmed some and the Chiefs were not playing good football. At least I did get in a ride.

I worked a bit on the Aquila this morning before riding. I adjusted the length of the kickstand. I had forgotten that it's adjustable and I wanted it to hold the bike a bit more upright. It might help avoid the wind blowing it over again. In the process, I noticed that the rack/fender I installed has a height adjustment. I raised it not because it was rubbing on the back tire but to give the tire more clearance. It was sitting extremely close for no reason beyond needing adjusting. I gave the pedals some close scrutiny. They are close to a half inch smaller standing out from the crank arms and a half inch from front to back shorter than that of the RipCurrent S pedals. They are also a nylon or plastic instead of metal and they lack the contact surface and friction the old pedals have. I've slipped off the new pedals a number of times. I thought I'd adjust to the new pedals but I'm giving up.

This morning the tracking of my color display showed that it had arrived at the Wichita facility. Before I went riding it showed that it had departed the facility and it had a delivery date of Thursday. When I came in from riding I checked, thinking it would be at my local post office. It had arrived... In Omaha Nebraska. WTF It's easy to understand how the postal service runs at a deficit.... sheesh. I guess they knew what they were talking about with the Thursday delivery. 🤣
 
It is to warm up nicely this afternoon with a fierce South wind. I have a Dr. appointment across the noon hour and will give riding a serious look when I get home. Max gust so far has been 41mph and it's common to see gusts in the twenty to thirty mile range. It might be the day to stay home. :(

To not try to ride an e-bike today is weak. I decided I would give it one loop and then thought why not another. Before I was done, I rode my normal four loops and a cool down loop in town. I logged 41 miles. I can't say it was loads of fun but it was doable and I needed the exercise. I had the sidewalk all to myself today. I wonder where everyone went? 😏 There is zero wind blowing now... go figure.

Tracking shows that the display is now in transit to the next facility. It will be interesting to see where it goes. I hope they don't send it back to China. lol
 
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It is fifty degrees now and the forecast has it warming into the low seventies. Single digit wind from the North today is calling my name. Today is to be the last day this warm of the next ten. I'm glad I don't have much planned. I hope to do a lot of riding.
I ordered a pair of pedals for the Aquila. If hope I can get the original pedals off. If the tightness of the handlebar clamps of the brakes is an indicator, I'll be in quite a battle. The tracking of the new color display now shows it is out for delivery. To save face, the tracking doesn't show it arriving back in Wichita and then to my post office. The shipping makes a good story if the item shows up and hasn't suffered damage.

I rode a couple of loops then came home about the time I normally receive my mail. I wanted to make certain I was here to receive the display. I didn't want them sending it back to China. lol I installed it when it showed up and took the RCS for a test ride. I rode my in town cool down loop which is just a couple of miles. It still exhibited the same problems as before. I rode the loop again on throttle only and it never faltered. It dawned on me that It must be speed related. The throttle maxes out at 20mph. I pedaled the bike keeping it under twenty without a hiccup and then rode my comfortable 21-22 mph that is a comfortable cadence for me and bingo.. it started having momentary outages. I can't begin to explain why a speed the motor rotates would be a problem but it seems to be the culprit. I often travel under 20mph but I'm not continuously pedaling at that low speed. It's a couple of pedal strokes and coast over and over. So, now the daunting task of finding a motor or a motor already spoked up in a wheel. It really needs to be the exact motor that it will replace. Same voltage and wattage with the power cable on the correct side of the bike with the same connector to plug into the bike.. etc. I could have and should have bought one last year when Juiced went tits up.

I rode the RCS 12 miles and the Aquila 51 miles today. Tomorrow is to be cooler. The new pedals might show up in time to install and use tomorrow. I'm glad I ordered them now being as the Aquila will be THE bike for quite some time.
 
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It was cooler but there wasn't much wind to worry with today. I rode four loops South and one cool down loop and came home. I had lots of battery left but I was hoping that my new pedals had been delivered. The pedals were waiting on me so I installed them, grabbed another battery, and rode one loop South and came home to start dinner. The pedals are the best twenty five bucks I've spent on a bike. They are very tactile and remind me a lot of the clipless pedals I had on the Iguana years ago. Clipless pedals hook directly to the sole of the riding shoe which allows the rider to enjoy some work out of the leg on the upstroke of the pedal instead of just the downstroke. The new pedals aren't fastened to my shoes but they allow me to start applying pressure immediately after the pedal is at it's highest point. It's sort of like pushing the pedal out and then down without sliding off the pedal. Not that I'm racing but it feels better.

While I was out riding a yellow mountain bike passed in front of me. I hurried up and saw that it was a yellow Iguana.. it had to be mine. I turned and followed it and sure enough, it was my granddaughter out riding the old bike. That makes all the effort of refurbing the bike worth while. She was having a blast. I loved that bike and it is great to see it have another life.

There is a great chance of rain tomorrow. I hope to ride some but I might not get to. I'm glad I rode today. I was surprised I didn't see more riders. I saw a moped sort of bike in town and nobody on a bike besides my granddaughter. I logged 56 miles and after seeing the forecast for tomorrow, I wish I had ridden more.
 
It was cooler today than yesterday. The high was in sixties without any wind. I went riding a bit after noon. It was cloudy and had rained some overnight with rain for the day in the forecast. I took my chances and was able to get in three loops and a couple of loops in town before it started sprinkling again. I was close to home and put the bike up and called it a day. I rode 33 miles and didn't see anyone while riding.

I spent the morning doing some RipCurrent S hub motor research. A year ago I bookmarked a site that had the entire rear wheel assembly with my motor for a bit over $400 but the item is no longer available. I found a similar wheel and motor in China with a thirty to sixty day delivery. I have the time but the wiring is wrong. I might not be able to make it work so I chickened out. I found a number of sites selling a conversion kit with wheel and motor to fit the bike. Instead of a 52v system which matches the bike and all of the components and batteries, they are a 48v system. To go that route, I might as well just buy another bike. That only left the option to buy a new hub motor and have a local bike shop build it into my existing wheel. I called my local bike shop and confirmed they had a wheel builder and then went looking for a motor. Just like the motor already spoked up in a wheel being impossible to find, the motors are also a rare bird these days. One retailer and two eBay sellers had my motor. The retailer had it priced at $315 and eBay sellers $150. I went with eBay and hope I haven't made a gross error. I will know more the first of December when I receive it. I should likely just call it a good ride and cut my losses and move on with that bike. I just can't. We've been working together for almost twenty one thousand miles.
 
The wife and I spent the morning doing our Thanksgiving shopping. I'm fairly satisfied that we will be serving enough food to feed the entire block. I'll be eating leftovers forever. Oh well. When we got home and have everything put up, I put on my riding gear and away I went. It felt pretty cold while riding today. It was in the mid fifties with a North West wind and the humidity 90+% . Riding I could feel the moisture in the air like a very fine mist. I rode three loops and called it a day. I had dressed warm but the cold wet wind chilled me. I saw nobody riding today.
My son came over tonight and I was able to show him the new Napune Aquila. He was like me, the bike is far better looking in person. The blue on the bike pops.
 
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