Wednesday, May 1, 2024
May 1 (Wed) – Update
This is the only place you’ll find content like this.
That’s probably a good thing. In my last update I mentioned triking to coffee. Here’s how that turned out, and other things..
Yesterday started when I dismissed the 5:40 alarm. A few minutes later, at 7:00, I woke up and realized that I had slept in. I debated whether it was too late to trike. Decided it wasn’t. I moved quickly - fed dogs, showered, ate a little something and somehow managed to start rolling at 7:35. Used a lot of assist to get to coffee, I took the Government Bridge to shave a mile off the trip. A larger group at coffee than usual.
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I left coffee at 11:30 and pedaled back, taking the I-74 bridge. When my wheels were back on the Iowa side of the river I had to decide whether to ride along the river to the house (6 miles) or take the ‘urban park route’ (Duck Creek Trail) to the house (12 miles). I chose the river route and took my time.
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It was a perfect day for doing anything outside. I kept glancing at the river as I rode along. Sure woulda been fun to be out there on a kayak.
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I got home, ate an apple, harnessed the herd, and went to Vander Veer. Plenty to do there. Got back and got caught up with Kim. I had planned to spend the rest of the day doing some outside stuff but that didn’t happen.
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The trike has a minor issue. Earlier this riding season I spent time cleaning it. Spent a lot of time on the chain, which needed it. I got it squeaky clean without removing it from the trike, then just the right amount of oil. That paid off as most of the time it shifts almost silently. The problem is that the indexing on the cassette derailleur. Indexing means shift lever has a ‘detent’ for each gear which is supposed to make shifting gears quick and positive. Well, that indexing is slightly off. There’s an oh-so-very-slight amount of noise while in each gear.
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It’ been decades since I’ve fiddled with a derailleur. I’ll have to find time to look into it as I don’t want to put excess wear on the chain. Remember folks, ‘chain noise’ means ‘chain wear’.
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That brings me to today. Actually, this morning. Today will be another perfect spring day. I’ve been outside already to check on the neighbor’s bins. Lawns need mowing. And Kyle has another Ketamine shot this afternoon. After breakfast I will move a large, heavy dining room table from the basement out to the patio. And a bunch of chairs. I’ll power wash those. Then we’ll bring out the house plants for the summer. I’ll be able to use the table to make repairs to the canvas roof over the patio. I’ll bring a sewing machine out there and fix what needs fixed. Then put that up. Then mow, keeping track of time because of the logistics that go along with Kyle’s treatment. More on that later. Cheers.