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.
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.
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.
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.
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