Pepper spray is not good for humans.

Today was a day that was begging for a bike ride to take place, so of course we obliged.  It was in the low 70's, mostly sunny, with 5-15 MPH, SW winds.

Added 5 more pounds of air to the new tires, riding them at the max of 85 PSI.  hoping our ride will seem a bit soother than last time.  Since our last ride, we made a trip to Grand Rapids with the trike in the cargo trailer.  We were heading that way anyway, and after all the trouble we had with the chain, we decided to give Terra Trike a call to see if they would work on Rollin, even though he is a GreenSpeed.  After putting Tony on hold and doing some checking they saw we were long time customers, and agreed to take a look at Rollin and see what they could do.  I want the steering checked too.  It feels so much stiffer than last year.  Sometimes, I can hardly turn the wheel.

After our other appointments , we arrived at Terra Trike around 2:30 PM.  It had just started to rain.  One of the gals, came out and helped us get Rollin inside.  Once again, we were glad to see the spaciousness of Terra Trikes building.  Such an improvement from the cramped space they previously had.

It's easy to complain when things don't go as planned, but we aren't so quick to sing praise.  Today I want to say," hats off to Terra Trike for great service and attitude."  We live about 90 miles from them and were owners of Rosie, our tandem Terra Trike, for several years.  We sold her last spring, when we had a chance to buy Rollin.  Our main reason for wanting a GTT was for cross country touring purposes.

As Rollin was getting serviced, we were given coffee and we had a nice chat with one of the store employees.  When they were done, 2 of the techs asked if they could take Rollin for a little test drive.  They were eager to see how fast he would go and how he would handle.  They returned about 15 minutes later, out of breath and with huge triker grins.  Said they had him up to about 17 MPH.  I didn't have the heart to tell them that they could have gone much faster and with less effort without mountain drive on.  They thought it was a high speed drive.  I wonder what they thought when they were pedaling about a million revolutions and not going very fast?  The total cost for the little bit of work they did was $15.00.  The customer service we received, was priceless.

Today as we headed out, I was a little concerned about how moving the boom out would affect my knees.  It was custom set for me at the Hostel Shoppe right after we bought Rollin.  Tony had his cushion along and offered to let me put that behind my back, if my knees bothered me.  He had also found the knee sleeves he used when he had his pez asnerine injury, and let me use those.  My knees felt better from the start.  Much stronger.

As we headed out, we could tell Rollin had been serviced at a trike shop.  Shifting was smooth as pudding,  and he rolled right along, even on the gravel section.  When we got to the pavement, we cut him loose and let him fly.  It was wonderful to feel the wind on our faces and hear the tires sing as we picked up speed down the hill.

Our plan was to ride to church and back, then take a little ride down 17 mile road, if my knees were up to it.  This would give us a total of 20 miles.

We stopped at the Dighton store for an ice cream cone, but had to settle for ice cream bars, since they didn't have the ice cream case stocked yet.  The break was just what my knees needed.

Onto church we went for a bathroom break and to refill our water bottles.  Didn't take a break there, since we had just had one.

As we neared the corner we saw a group of cyclist approaching.  Just then the pitbull on the corner got loose and started chasing one of the group.  Don't know if the pit bull was mean, or what he would have done if his owner hadn't come out and gotten him.  I had my pepper spray out and ready in case the dog headed in our direction.  As we turned the corner, I put it back in the handle bar holster.  When I did that, I accidentally pushed the spray button, and even though it was facing away from us, the wind blew the little bit it sprayed, back at us.  I got it on my lips and a small area of my face, Tony got just a tiny bit in his eye.  We stopped right away, so Tony could flush his eye out.  Thank goodness he had it mostly shut when the spray hit and he was able to wash it out.  I didn't have such an easy time getting rid of it.  My lips burned like fire, and I could see that the side of my mouth that got it was turning very red.  I rinsed with water and spit quite a few times, which helped some. I ate an apple hoping it would help get the heat out of my mouth.  After awhile I stopped to see what I might have in the pannier to put on my hot lips.  Neosporin and a bug bite stick was the best I could do, so I slathered them on. They didn't help as much as I had hoped, but it was the best I could do.  A cool breeze as we went downhill, did more than anything to cool my face down.

As we rode we remembered our friend Jeff Baker,  his battle with leukemia ended,  he went to meet Jesus face to face on Wednesday afternoon.  He was such a great guy, really living out his faith each day.  We will miss him a lot.  We have many wonderful memories of riding with he and his wife Kiersten.  Rest in peace Jeff.

A few miles down 17 Mile Rd, and my knees were ready for another break, so we stopped. I'm thinking we will need to take breaks more often this season.  My knee starts hurting and needs a rest from pedaling much quicker than it used too Took a few pics as I walked around.  Of course a barn, caught my attention.

A neighboring field was waiting to be plowed.

There was a house nearby.

This is a cabin we ride past on 17 mile Rd.

 I practiced taking a few pics of myself.  I can never seem to get the camera at the right height for a good picture.

We rode past the Shingletown church and school house.

The sound of a chainsaw hummed through the air, as we passed this man, cutting wood.

 Closer to home, we came across a neighbor, moving a sign they use for advertising.  On one side of the sign it says, "hours by chance, or by appointment.  I was moving when I took the pic, so it is kind of blurry.

One more rest stop before continuing the last 4 miles to home.  WE stopped by the corner, across from this house.

 I put a blend of essential oils on Tony's knees.  Couldn't do mine, because of the knee sleeves.

We rode 20 miles today, and praise the Lord, my knees didn't feel to bad, at the end of our ride.  After changing my clothes, I put the new compass on Rollin.  My camera was already in tthe house, so I'll post a pic on my next blog.

God gave us great weather and a safe ride today.  We were blessed by the serenade of peepers, backed  the baritone of the bullfrogs, as we rode past the pond on this road. Spring sights and sounds, what a wonderful way to spend part of an April day.  Life is good.

Chain on, chain off.

Monday April 20, 2013

Since we are planning on riding tomorrow, I better get our most recent ride in here.  It was mostly sunny and in the high 50's, with a light wind.  Rollin was still in the cargo trailer, from his trip to the local bike shop, where he had his chain cleaned, new tires put on and hopefully the issue of the chain falling off,  resolved. Added air to the new Marathon racers, that Rollin is sporting now, an   backed him out of the trailer .  4 of our grandkids are here for the week, so we had some helpers.

Sadly, not enough bikes for them to come along with us.  The 2 we do have need new tubes.  The task has been added to my to do list.   I took a picture of our twin grandsons on Rollin, too, but for some reason, it didn't show up on the camera.

Had the MRI on my right knee a little over a week ago.  It showed chondromalacia, which is inflammation of the cartilage in the back of the knee.  The pain is in the front of the knee, especially when I go up steps.  Sports medicine doc wants me to go see a surgeon.  Not sure I want to go that route.  PALM is about 8 weeks away.  Due to the weather, we are already behind in our training.  I don't have time to be laid up for 3 weeks.  On the other side of the scale, I'm not sure my knee is up to the intense training that  lies ahead of us. Also after 5 months of not working, I really don't want to  be laid up for another 3 weeks.  Business is just starting to pick back up. We'll give the matter serious thought and of course we will pray about it.  Will see how my knee feels after a few rides.


We completed our first ride on Marathon Racers.  I'll add a little disclaimer here.  This is not an advertisement for these tires, but simply our opinion of them, thus far.  If you are not big into cycling and don;t care about tires, you  might want to page down, past this part.

Rollin previously had  Tioga Comp Pools.   Love the speed boost from them,  but got tired of how easily a piece of glass or even a sharp stone can cause a flat, so decided it was time to switch.  We wanted something that would give us some protection against flats, but not affect our speed too much. We had Marathon Plus on Rosie.  I liked the puncture resistance of them, but we lost at least 2-3 MPH when we made the switch.  Also they were a bugger for me to get off and on.  Glad I never had to make a tire change on the trail with them.  It would have taken a  very long time. For those reasons, they were not an option this time around.   After researching and comparing we decided to try Marathon Racers.We bought the non folders, beaded 20 X 1.5.  Considerably thinner in width than our other tires.   They offer some protection against flats and  hopefully  will not compromise our speed too much.  They were recommended to us by someone who had done considerable touring with their GTT.

The racers don't offer sidewall protection again flats,  and they aren't noted to be a  heavy duty puncture resistant tire.  They have only one layer of puncture resistance. so we haven't eliminated a lot of  risk for flats but they will hopefully do better than our comps did.  We had around 2800 miles on our Comps, they came on Rollin as  original tires on it and had about 1500 miles on them. We were so thrilled to find a used GTT that fit both of us, and had so few miles on it.  Rollin was practically showroom new.  Had never even been ridden in the rain.  Needless to say, that didn't last long.

Had our first 16 mile ride on the Racers today. It's hard to get a good sense of how they will do after such a short ride, but I thought I would write up our initial opinions.  As you know,  we aren't what I would consider hard core riders.  We ride for pleasure, typically cycling  between 1000 to 1400 miles per year.  Would do more if we didn't live in a northern climate. Looking forward to retirement when we can spend part of our winters in a warm climate and do more riding.

With the new tires, we can't tell much difference yet in our speed, but in all fairness,  I want to say that we haven't tried them on a flat MUP trail.  We could tell a difference on the section of gravel we ride before we get to pavement.  Our old tires would spin out a lot, on the loose stones especially, the rear tire.  The new tires give us a bit more traction on the gravel, and since every ride we do from home starts out on gravel, that is an important factor to us.

We did a road ride with  what I would call, "medium grade"  hills.  (our easiest course, besides the trail. We could feel that our tires had more grip, when cornering.  They sing us a little song as they go around, especially down hill at high speeds.  They sound a a bit like a small jet engine when we go fast and then wind down when we slow up.  Our Comps were a pretty silent tire, so the new sound will take a bit of getting used too.

Since we were having a bit of tweaking done on the trike at our local bike shop,  I didn't mount the tires myself, but had them put on along with the other work we had done.  The comps were easy to get off and on, I'm hoping these are the same.

We rode at 90 PSI  previously, the Racers Max is 85 and we rode at 80 today.   I think the extra 5 lbs PSI,  on the Comps, or perhaps the width of the them, gave a bit smoother ride, but it is a bit premature to to tell for sure on that. Although, we really do miss the quiet ride of the old tires, we are pleased with the Marathon Racers, so far.  More miles ahead to compare and hopefully we will be free of flats for longer. Not sure what to expect mileage wise for these. We paid around $40.00 per tire.  I probably could have done  a little better online, but we try to give our local bike shop some business.  It is in a town of around 10,000 people.  If we lose that bike shop, our nearest one will be 60 miles away.  It's good to keep business local, if we can.


The gravel road was dry enough to ride on, although it is full of ruts and holes.  We did a zig zag course from side to side, but made it to the pavement, without jarring our teeth too badly.   About 3 miles from home when the chain, fell off.   It was easy to get back on, but we were not happy to see that the problem had not been solved, after all.

What a wonderful feeling of freedom to get out and ride.  The sun warmed our faces, even though the wind carried a chill.  Not much green to look at yet , brown is still prevalent, although some of the grass is starting to green up a little.  Couldn't help but wonder if some morel mushrooms were hiding in these woods.  The season is upon us.

  Such a blessing to get out and use some pedal power.  Tyson, the boxer, was nowhere to be seen today.  Glad of that.  Our legs aren't yet in condition for making a run for it .

We were about 3 miles from home when the chain fell off for the first time.  We had so hoped that our bike shop had the problem resolved.  Stopped, put on my trusty disposable gloves, and got the chain back on.  3 miles later,  It fell off again.

Stopped at church to refill our water bottles and  take a bathroom break.

 Sat in the sunshine and enjoyed sharing a granola bar.  Used Tony's new I-phone to try and take a picture of us, but it is pretty off center.  Not sure it will be worth the effort of posting it on here or not.  We are still trying to figure out how that cotton picking phone functions.  Not sure how to upload pics to this blog with it yet.



White fluffy clouds  had begun to dance across the sky as we headed for home.  We were riding into the wind and were so grateful for our windproof jackets.  The ones that match and that we got for $15.00 each.

 A lady we know, was hard at work raking her yard.  It didn't make me feel guilty at all, that we were out riding instead of doing yard duties at home.  We have been waiting for a break in the weather to ride and were so happy to spend part of this day,  doing just that.

By the time we reached the 10 mile mark the chain had rebelled 2 more times.  At the end of our 16 mile ride, getting the chain to stay on, had become a new priority.  Will need to have that resolved before our next ride.

Such a blessing to have this wonderful ride today.

2 shots and a test.

I saw the  sports medicine doc 2 weeks ago,  and was diagnosed with mild osteoarthritis, (just starting) and patellar femoral syndrome, AKA runners knee.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome is pain in the front of the knee. It frequently occurs in teenagers, manual laborers, and athletes. It sometimes is caused by wearing down, roughening, or softening of the cartilage under the kneecap.

What causes patellofemoral pain syndrome?

Patellofemoral pain syndrome may be caused by overuse, injury, excess weight, a kneecap that is not properly aligned (patellar tracking disorder), or changes under the kneecap.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptom of patellofemoral pain syndrome is knee pain, especially when sitting with bent knees, squatting, jumping, or using the stairs (especially going down stairs). You may also experience occasional knee buckling, in which the knee suddenly and unexpectedly gives way and does not support your body weight. A catching, popping, or grinding sensation when walking or with knee movement is also common.

He prescribed physical therapy twice a week for 4 weeks. So for 2 weeks I've been  receiving ultra sound and doing the prescribed exercises there and at home. Been getting massage with essential oils to bring down swelling.  My strength has improved some, but going up the stairs has actually gotten worse.  My  R knee is the one  affected.  I can no longer put my full weight on that knee or do my little R foot penguin walk.  I take the stairs one at a time.  Yes, like a little  old lady, and a sad one at that.

Doc told me that if the exercises were too painful to do that I might need a cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation so I can do the exercises needed to strengthen my  quads, especially my vastus medius olblique,  which is the muscle that keeps the knee lined up. 

I am not big into western medicine.  I prefer the natural route whenever possible, don't want a foreign substance in my body.  I had a talk with my PT and PTA about this.  I've also discussed it with my Sports medicine doc.  They  all sympathized with where I was coming from, but said that I do need to get the muscle stronger to help my knee track right.   My PT report card was done yesterday and sent to my docs office, so I figured I would probably need to make a decision today about getting a shot.  Tony and I prayed about it, seeking wisdom and discernment this morning and he prayed again, on the way to the doctors office for my 10:30 AM visit.

Our agenda for the day, was to go to the doc, then stop by the health  department to get a testing kit for our water, make a quick stop at the drug store and head home for a quick lunch.  Rollin had a 2PM appointment at the local bike shop

for new tires, a chain cleaning,  lube, rear deraileur cleaning, and hopefully an adjustment that will solve the problem of our gears slipping and the front chain coming off sometimes.  Right now the  chain problem is still being solved by having our chain tubes, zip tied together.  A carry over from PALM 2012.

  That was supposed to be addressed when we took the trike to WI for service and to have the chain jam issues resolved, but  for some reason it didn't get done. We were on our way to ND to help get ready for my Dad's estate sale, so didn't have time to wait while they did it.  At 3 PM Tony had his first physical therapy appointment for his shoulder issue.  The plan was to drop the trike off and pick it up after PT.  Our local shop  doesn't have much room for our 10 ft. trike so the mechanic tries to make it a priority when we bring it in, which is why we make an appointment. 

 Sometimes a day just doesn't go as planned.  Today disintegrated faster than wet toilet paper.    Dr. appointment turned into a 2 hour visit.  Doc wanted to do a cortisone shot in both knees.  Says the L one is worse than the R, even though the R one hurts more.  He said the shot would help rule out a meniscus tear in the R knee, which after my stairs, report, he is  very concerned about.  The shot should fix the knees, if i still have pain in the R one after the shot,  He will schedule an MRI to check for a torn or ragged miniscus.  This can cause the miniscus to get caught on the knee, putting it out of line.  2 shots and 2 hour later, we left the doctors office with a recommendation to start taking Glucosamine/Chrondroitin and headed to the Health Dept. to get the water testing kit.  They were closed for lunch.  It was now past 12:30 and Tony was hungry, so we headed to Burger King for a BK Veggie Burger. 

 After lunch, it was downtown to the drug store.  After reading the $40.00 price, 

I had to wait until  my blood pressure and heart rate returned to normal, to actually read the label on the bottles and do some comparing and muscle testing to see what would best suit me.  Thank the Lord there was a special sale, "buy one, get one free," which made me feel less violated as I wrote the check.  

By the time we left town, it was  close to 2PM.  Called the bike shop to let them know we were running late.


Thankfully, we had Rollin loaded up in the trailer, so just had to hook up.  For some reason the R  turn signal light on the trailer is only working sporadically.  I cleaned the connections with white vinegar,  plugged in and headed off.  By the time I got to the first turn, it stopped working again.    Got on the freeway and realized I forgot the  lube.  No time to go back for it,  Made it to safely to the bike shop without getting stopped,  just had time to drop Rollin off an get Tony to his appointment on time.  Got out of the car  and with a sink in the mud feeling, I  realized the keys to the cargo trailer were at home.

  Rescheduled the trike for tomorrow.  Will leave the trailer hooked to the car for the night.  Hoping to stop by a friends house on the way in to have him look at the lights. 

While Tony was in PT,  I fiddled with them a bit and got them going, but after the first bump they stopped working.  Must be a short somewhere.  No time to take it to Merrill's.  Tony had a massage client coming at 6PM, and I still had to make supper. 

My instructions from the Doc were to take it easy for 48 hours, just do my regular household stuff, no exercise or biking.  I forgot to ask him about doing steps.  Tried to do them, got pain on my R Knee.  I could have cried, in fact, later I did.  Not from the physical pain, but at the mere thought of another possible surgery, more time laid up, off work  and perhaps not being able to ride PALM in June. 

I admit I'm really having a hard time responding to this and not reacting, or OVER reacting.   Of not jumping to conclusions, before I know what is going on inside my knee. I failed. I got grumpy, I asked God why.  Since the teacher is usually silent when he is giving a test, he didn't answer.  I will admit this is a tough one for me to trust God on.  I am soo ready to be physical again, to ride, work out and do normal things in life.  

Then I went to the bible where I was reminded that God loves me and wants good things for me.  Jeremiah 29:11

"I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you.  I will give you hope and a good future."

Matthew 6:27
"Can any of you by worrying, add a single hour to your life?"

Psalm 121:
"The Lord will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever."

Controlling, planning, worrying me,  needs to let go of this, to realize it is in God's hands and it won't do me any good to sit here and spin my wheels on it.  Yes, the teacher is silent when he is giving a test.  It makes me very thankful that it is  usually an open book test.

Next day:
Instead of doing a new blog on this update, I decided to just add onto this entry.  Due to the headache and insomnia side effects from the cortisone shots, I didn't sleep very well last night.  I spent some awake time praying about all of this business with my knee.  Asking God not only for strength, but for wisdom, discernment and guidance in all of it too.  When I last looked at the clock it was 3 AM, I was wide awake at 5 AM , spent more time in prayer for those God laid on my heart.  At 6 AM, decided to  get up.  Headache was still lingering, but nothing like the roaring beast it was last night.

As I drank my morning coffee I turned on the computer and did a search on ways to solve miniscus problems without surgery and I found an amazing thing.  A system that is used to treat athletes with miniscus issues, and avoid surgery.  It is a wrap that is stretchy and fits around the knee.  Right over the miniscus there is a place for a reuseable cold pack to be inserted.  (it comes with 3.)  The cold pack is designed to not damage the skin by freezing it or making it too cold.  It really takes the pain away.  There is also an insertable  heat pack that can be turned to 3 different levels as healing progresses.  The purpose of it is to bring blood circulation to the area. For anywhere from 3-7 days the athlete stays off the injured leg completely, using crutches and bearing, no weight on it.  During this time, the leg is kept elevated and the hot packs and cold packs are alternated.  By the end of time, the miniscus has had time to heal completely and within another week, the athlete is usually back to full activity.  The kit is pricey.   Tony told me to go ahead and order it, even though we doubt our insurance will reimburse us. The shot hasn't taken away the pain when I bend my knee and we want to be as proactive on this as we can.  I will call my sports medicine doc, request an MRI  ASAP, and discuss this all with him on Monday.    The product has a money back guarantee, and neither of us want to me go down the surgery road again.  It's one we want to avoid, if at all possible. 

I did a search for non surgical solutions last night and came up with nothing.  I shouldn't be amazed at what prayer and turning a problem over to God can do, I am full of praise to Him, for bringing this solution to my door step.  I feel a strong sense of peace in all of this and really feel like God is in control.

If you are interested in more info here is a link.  They also make a product for frozen shoulder and other soft tissue injuries.  I do not profit in any way from sharing or promoting this information. I'm simply passing it along so you can educate yourself and make the decisions that seem right to you.

 http://www.kingbrand.com/Knee-Injury-Torn-Meniscus.php?REF=Z.Meniscus.Torn.S