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I'm sitting around and hoping it warms up and clears off soon. There is a weather system moving East just South of here. It is wet here from an over night rain and it continues to lightly sprinkle or heavily mist since. A little sunshine would make a world of difference.

The sun did break through the clouds and has peaked out a number of times. It's still cloudy but there is some sun and it has warmed up. I went riding but the South wind beat me up. I rode two loops South and put the bike up. If it calms down, I'll try to ride again later. Otherwise... I'm done for the day with only twenty five miles to my credit.

I discovered, once I was out riding, that the wind had not calmed down. It was warmer and I was stuffed from dinner so I kept right on riding like the weather was perfect. It was pretty much a chore to go South but the return trip provided a time to rest up. I rode another 34 miles and called it. I saw a couple of dog walkers but no riders today.
 
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I tried riding after I had my yards mowed. It was just incredibly windy today. My weather app has the wind in the mid 20 mph range and gusting into the mid thirties. My station in town recorded a max gust of 36.9 mph. It was far worse out on the sidewalk South. I rode one loop South and a couple of times around town and put the bike up. Today is not the day to be riding. I logged 19 miles and feel like I lost a fight.
 
The wind was forecasted to be worse today than yesterday. It started out like it was going to be terrible today but waned as the day progressed. Not to say it wasn't windy.. no sir. But it never got as bad as yesterday. I mowed my lawns, trimmed a bit on my neighbor's tree that is mostly hanging over my yard and patio, curbed my trash and recycle bins, and made some chicken salad for dinner. The wind wasn't a show stopper so I went riding. I was the only one on the loop South. It would have been miserable riding without some assist. I logged 32 miles and put the bike up.
 
It was pretty nice today with the temp maxing out in the mid eighties. There was some wind to contend with but it was blowing far less than it has been this past week. I rode some this afternoon and then grabbed another battery and rode some more. The weather was decent enough that there were other cyclists out riding today. It was a good day to ride. I logged 70 miles.
 
Today ended up much like yesterday but it started out ten degrees cooler. I waited for it to warm up a bit before I started mowing so I was late to start riding this afternoon. I came home to fix dinner and went out riding again after dinner. I logged 65 miles between the two rides. There was a South wind that took some effort and battery to battle.
I saw a couple of cyclists and pedestrians but less traffic than yesterday.
It was windier today that was the likely culprit.
 
I went riding though my area was under a severe weather watch. I rode around in town a bit and then decided to do some loops South even though the wind was ripping. It sprinkled on me just a bit so I went back to riding around town. I was running out of battery about the same time I was running out of nerve. It was getting dark and the wind all but quit blowing. I got home and my weather radio was going off. The watch was now a warning. It looks like the front will slide by just to my North. If I quit riding, some rain would make me feel better. I have my fingers crossed. My phone's weather app keeps alerting me that there is lightening strikes within ten miles of me.
 
I was glad I was home when the rain and hail hit. The hail was smaller than marbles but it would have been no fun riding in it. The rain alone would have been miserable for it came a downpour. The rain didn't last very long but it dropped .83". It also dropped the temperature that fell into the low forties by this morning. I went riding once it finally warmed up to sixty. I came home and fixed dinner and then rode again. It felt cold riding and there weren't many people out. I only saw one other cyclist. I rode fifty eight miles total.
 
I was smoking a pork butt today. Once it warmed up, I did some riding in and around my cook. When my cook was over, and we ate dinner, I went riding one more time. I logged 70 miles today. It just barely got into the seventies and there was some wind to keep it feeling cooler than it was. I saw some riders in town but none on the sidewalk South.

As I was riding along and in random thought, I wondered how many hours I have been riding my RCS. I'm closing in on 23,000 miles and I average around 20 mph. Twenty miles per hour or two into 2300 equals 1500 hours. That works out to be about two months riding day and night. It's no wonder my butt hurts. :)
 
Well the brake light switch project got so deep I had to finally quit digging the hole any deeper.

I thought I could access the main wiring harness and unplug the wiring that has the broken plug and replace it, took all the electronics off of one side, the battery and box off the other side, and the gas tank, and still can not see where the switch wiring connects to the main harness ! ! !

I got all the electronics back in, the battery back in and hope to have time today to do the gas tank and then I will almost be back where I started with a failed brake light switch.

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What a project! Why oh why to they make things nearly impossible to work on? My youngest daughter, like all the children before her, had a car that was in a constant state of needing repairing. With a side mounted engine, it lost the harmonic balancer. Chilton's had me taking the left front fender and most of the bumper and grill in the front off of the vehicle to access the pulley. I fired up my trusty sawzall and put the big edit on the finder well. I stitched it back into place with wire ties. :)
 
I rode just a little bit this afternoon. It was very windy today. I rode one loop South and then stayed in town for a few miles. I didn't see any cyclists on my trek South but did see a couple in town. It really was a lousy day to be riding. I logged only 23 miles today.
 
While I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit, I'm going to work on my bike. It is progressively getting worse about losing power. It isn't only more frequent but the outages last up to two and sometimes three seconds. I plan to pull the back wheel off and clean the torque/cadence sensor. After remounting the wheel, I'll clean and lube the chain.

Speaking of removing the back wheel, the last flat I had was almost four thousand miles ago. Either I have had extraordinary luck of late or I've already brought home all of the flat tire making junk one flat at a time. 🤣
 
I had an interesting time with the bike this morning. I did a bit of testing for pedaling resistance. There was some. At first I thought it was in the main crank case but taking the chain off of the front chainring let the pedals easily rotate. I next checked the derailleur. It has two toothed wheels that work together to keep chain tension no matter what gear the rear chainring is in. It also steps through the gears. The wheels are called jockey wheels and one of mine was bad. The other is completely shot. It's possible that my power outages are the shot jockey wheel's fault. The bearing isn't only worn and not turning freely, it is allowing side to side movement of the chain as it passes trough that cage which is very near the torque/cadence sensor. It might be moving the chain either too close or too far from the sensor to be read at times. One way or another, the jockey wheels need replaced. I can replace the derailleur with the exact replacement but there isn't anything wrong with it besides the jockey wheels. The derailleur is not a quality unit so I can't find just the jockey wheels for it. Supposedly, any set of 11tooth jockey wheels will work. I have two ordered for fifteen bucks. We shall see....

I rode just a bit late this afternoon and then after dinner for a total of 45 miles. It was miserable riding again today. The recent winds are terrible. There are lots of older wooden fences that have given it up with the wind. I mow a lawn that has the double wooden gates torn up. Branches down and other typical wind damage is all over town.
It's keeping most cyclists home as well. I saw one pedestrian today but no riders.
 
I took the bike out to battle the wind after mowing. I met a young man on the sidewalk South. He was flying low on an e-bike with the wind. I watched as he approached and took note that he was traveling way fast and was doing zero pedaling. I guess he was in a hurry and lazy.

I stopped to kill a few minutes on my return loop on the highway. My timing was bad and I was going to hit the grade schools release times that I ride by in town. I looked up and a guy had stopped and was walking back to me. He asked if I was alright. I explained I was killing time and stretching my legs. He said "I see you all the time riding North but I have never seen you stopped. You had me concerned" I thanked him for stopping and told him he was a good man. As you might guess, he was not a young man.

The jockey wheels for my derailleur are to arrive tomorrow. With some luck, and they fit, I'll get them installed tomorrow. I'm anxious to see what sort of difference that might make in my bike performance. Though the derailleur that came on the RCS is known as a cheap brand, google says that jockey wheels typically last 3 to 5 thousand miles. Mine have lasted 22,952 miles as of today. How many miles I have ridden with them worn out, I can not say. I first noted having motor problem 9-28-25 with 19,665 miles on the bike.
It would be nice if that's the day my jockey wheel bearings wore out.
 
I rode 20 miles before and 29 miles after the install of the new jockey wheels. I made just one loop to the town South on my early ride and all my later riding in town. My area was under a tornado watch and the wind was just incredible. It made sense to stay in town. I hope tomorrow will be a better day to ride.

The jockey wheels didn't arrive until late afternoon. They were the correct replacement for my worn out wheels. The installation was relatively easy and will be easier if I have to do it again. I could have searched for a video to help but it was a no brainer. It's a little early to confirm this fixed my assist cut out problem but I had no outages in my 29 mile test ride. It was 29 miles in town riding so it wasn't a convincing test. I hope to ride tomorrow when I'm riding five miles at a constant uninterrupted cadence. If the bike passes that test I will be a happy man.

The old jockey wheels have no bearings. The wheels are spinning on the race and you can see where the bearings were and how they chattered on the race before they shattered and eventually worked out of the wheel. Without the bearings, they had a lot of side to side play and could easily be the culprit for my assist cut outs. And if not the fix, they definitely needed replacing.

My next quest is to check my chain for wear. I ordered to tool to measure the amount the chain has stretched tonight. My chain, like the jockey wheels, has thousands of more miles than recommended.
I'm sure I'm due for another chain and have been in need for twenty thousand miles.... sheesh! The correct length chain can't be had. It will be a matter of buying a nine speed chain that is too long and buy the tools to take some links out. I've been very disciplined about maintenance as I thought necessary. A little research a couple of years ago would have shown the errors of my thinking. My bike has far more miles than most bikes and the wear out parts have been worn out for some time.
 
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