My Recumbent Days

T his morning after breakfast I started out on my second ride of the season and found out that I am in piss poor shape. After eight miles I got a cramp in my left leg but decided that if I stopped on the hill I would never make it up. I rode through the pain and by the top of the hill the pain was gone. I continued on my ride and ended with 10.31 miles under my belt. I burnt 440 calories and rode at an average speed of 11.5 mph and a max speed of 19.5 mph. It truly felt great to be out on the trike again. The weather was a comfortable 73 degrees with a breeze from the ENE at 8 Mph with localized higher speeds. Seemed like the wind was in my face on every hill. Par for the course. O n the mechanical side of the ride everything was working fine and no problems foreseen. When I got back home I brought the Garmin Edge 305 to the iMac to upload my info to the Garmin training center and MotionBased. I had no problems everything went as planned and my info was saved. I next went to Garmin Con...

T his morning was used for a shake down ride to make sure everything on the Black Widow was in proper working order. I am happy to report everything seems fine. I rode a just 6.20 miles in 31 minutes and burnt 260 calories. I gained 322 feet in elevation and my average HR was 144Bpm.

A s of now I still can't ride, but I am hoping by next week. I took the time to do a few projects on the trike. A new 200 Lumen headlight, new frame bags and a new modified rear fender. You can also see the new custom seat cover and modified neck-rest. Y ou can see in the above photo the two front frame packs and the 200 Lumen headlight with the battery pack in the top frame pack. I n the above photo you can see the new fender from a side view, it is enough of a fender to keep small pebbles off my back and loose water from splashing my back. You are also able to see my new modified neck-rest that makes riding much more enjoyable.

A s of yesterday the oozing of my surgical wound has stopped completely. That alone is a good sign. The area is a little swollen and warm to the touch. The swelling might just be some fluid that didn't escape and will be absorbed by my body in time. I see the Doctor Wednesday morning so maybe I can get back to riding soon.

W hen I returned from my vacation in Europe I had a few days before I reported to the hospital for spinal surgery. I was operated on September 9th and am healing a little slow as my wound is still oozing. The doctors informs me not to worry, but it is messy and just a pain in the back. I am unable to be up and out of bed for to long a time as of now I am still extremely tired. The good news is that the pain in my left leg seems to be gone, but I now have pain in my lower left back and groin. Chances are I strained myself getting in and out of bed. I will post when I have more news.

I am not sure what caused it, but I was unable to keep a constant speed. I rode for 1 hour and six minutes and covered 15.15 miles at an average speed of 13.8 mph and a max speed of 23.5 mph. I just felt weak and unable to have what I feel is a normal ride which means not killing myself. The weather was nice with a temperature of 72 degrees and the wind from the West at 8-15 mph, but the gusts seemed much stronger.

D o to bad weather and Sciatica pain I was unable to ride untill today. I rode my usual route and covered 15.15 miles in one hour 6 minutes at an average speed of 13.7 mph and a max speed of 25.3 mph. I burnt 723 calories and my average heart rate was 143 bpm. The weather was a cool 68 degrees with the wind out of the SW at 8 mph. My total elevation gain was 624 feet. I received my new 200 Lumen bike light yesterday and am highly impressed with how bright it is. If I have some time I will take a photo of it in the on position.

D o to severe pain in my left leg I was unable to ride, I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. I want to get as much riding in as possible before my vacation and the following surgery. Tomorrow riding is out so Monday will be my first day riding. Tuesday is out as I have to go for pre-admission testing and it takes a long time. I guess i will play it by ear.

I started my ride at 9:15 AM and was surprised when I hit traffic which was very heavy. I rode 15.17 miles in one hour four minutes at an average speed of 14.1 mph and a max speed of 26.7 mph. I burnt 749 calories and my average heart rate was 142 bpm. The weather was a cool 75 degrees under partly cloudy skies. The wind was from the WNW at 5-9 mph. Total elevation gain was 639'. M y new light was shipped from Hong Kong today and should be here within 10 to 15 days.

I left at 9:30 AM for my daily ride, and was in a huge amount of pain. But as usual after a few minutes in the seat of the trike the pain went away. I rode for one hour and 3 minutes and covered 15.11 miles at an average speed of 14.3 mph and a max speed of 21.8 mph. I burnt 749 calories and climbed 650'. My average heart rate was 142 bpm which has not changed much. The temperature was 78 degrees with a wind from the North at 8 to 10 mph. T oday's ride has given me a new prospective on life and living with pain. It seems like the only time I am at peace with my body is when I am ridding my trike or sleeping. There is no amount of pain killers that seem to work for me during the day so I will have to bear it as there is nothing else I could do. I can't believe I am going to say this, but I can't wait to have the surgery as I don't know how I will manage without it. I ordered a new front like off EBay and hope it gets here before I leave on vacation, it should if t...

I left at 8:45 AM for my daily ride thinking that the wind might not be as strong! WRONG!!. I ran my usual South Middlebush Road training loop for a distance of 15.17 miles at an average speed of 13.6 and a max speed of 25.0 mph. I burnt 742 calories and had an average running heart rate of 131 bpm. My total elevation gained was 831 feet. The wind today was from the North at 10 mph gusting to 15 mph making the climbing hard. The temperature was a warm and humid 80 degrees.

T his morning after changing the battery on my computer I headed out for a ride. I rode for one hour 5 minutes and covered 15.18 miles along my usual training loop. My average speed was 13.8 mph while my max speed was 25.4 mph. I burnt 716 calories and my average exercise heart rate was 141 bpm. The weather was nice with a temperature of 76 degrees, but the wind was out of the North at 9-15 mph. The wind keeps my average speed way lower than I expect. W ell it is time to go out a clean the trike it is dirtier than I like it to be.

M y left leg has been extremely painful so I have been using pain killers. This morning I awoke to lots of pain and a medicine head. I still decided to ride and headed out. I was having a hard time between the wind and the groggy head. I rode for 53 minutes and covered 12.23 miles before i called it quits. I had an average speed of 13.8 mph and a max speed of 22.5 mph. My average heart rate was 136 bpm and I climbed 555 feet and burnt 592 calories. The temperature was a perfect 72 degrees with a winds from the WNW at 10 mph gusting to 20 mph. I am going to try to work through the pain as I hate the medicine head feeling.

I left at 8:45 Am for an early ride and to beat the heat. The wind was from the West at 15 mph and with much higher gusts. The temperature was already 81 degrees and climbing. I rode 15.15 miles in one hour and 4 minutes with an average speed of 14.2 and a max speed of 22.4. I burnt 741 calories and climbed 706 feet with an average heart rate of 146 bpm. Now that I am on the new medications I see muscle starting to form and my legs seem stronger. I am hoping to build back the muscle I lost and so far so good. I will know better after I have blood work done in early September.

T his morning I started my ride early as I have things to take care of today. I rode 15.21 miles in one hour five minutes with an average speed of 14 mph and a max speed of 24.0 mph. I burnt 739 calories and my average heart rate was 144 bpm. The weather was a humid 80 degrees and the wind was from the NW at 15 mph. Y esterday I installed my custom seat cover which gives the trike a finished look. It also makes the seat a bit more comfortable.

T his was my first day of riding after my Myelogram and not riding for a number of days took its toll. I rode 15.15 miles in one hour 7 minutes with an average speed of 13.5 mph and a max speed of 27.1 mph. I burnt 723 calories and climbed 691 feet. The weather was nice with a 6 mph wind from the SSW, and the temperature was 80 degrees f. I tried an little expirment of reducing the pressure in my front tires to see the result. I lowered the pressure to 65 pounds and noticed an enduced wobble which is not there at 72 to 75 pounds. Now I know where to keep the pressure.

T oday I had a nice ride even with the strong head winds slowing me down. The temperature was 92 degrees with the wind out of the WNW at 15 mph with higher gusts. I rode 16.53 miles in one hour Thirteen minutes at an average speed of 13.5 mph and a max speed of 21.8 mph. I burnt 781 calories and my max heart rate was 134 bpm on an average. My elevation gain was 697 feet. For the next four days I will not be riding as I am going for a Myelogram tomorrow.

T he day before yesterday I had a doctors appointment and he changed one of my medications, needless to say it caused a problem. It said to take once a day which I did, and it also it can cause drowsiness so I took it at night. Well to make a long story short it kept me awake the whole night. I called the doctor in the morning and he told me to take it in the mornings which I did today before my ride. I just hope I sleep tonight. I rode this morning and covered 15.27 miles in one hour and seven minutes and burnt 733 calories. I had an average speed of 13.8 mph and a max speed of 25.0 mph. I had a max heart rate of 146 bpm. The weather was 80 degrees with a SW wind at 15 mph. I will not be riding tomorrow as I have my granddaughters first birthday party.

I had a doctors appointment today as was unable to eat as blood was going to be taken. I returned home and had breakfast and decided I would ride as soon as I was finished. I am not sure what happened, but I felt very weak and felt I shouldn't push it. I ended with 10.16 miles at an average speed of 14.1 mph and a top speed of 22.1 mph. I rode for 43 minutes and burnt 504 calories. The temperature was 84.9 degrees f. and the wind was from the East at 8 mph. This feeling never happened to me before and it was horrible feeling like this. I feel fine now, and guess it was the eating and riding within minutes.

S tarted out early to beat the heat, but it was still 89.6 degrees with a SW wind at 8-12 mph. I rode 16.18 miles in 1 hr 8min at an average speed of 14.2 mph and a max speed of 23.6 mph. My average heart rate was 141 bpm and I burnt 814 calories. Ny elevation gain was 736 feet.