Let's laugh!

We need to remember not to take life too seriously.... gonna wind up dead anyways, so enjoy the journey. With that in mind a great big thanks to the comic strips and in particular to the creator of Zits who recently offered this gem. Thank you Zits

Wild Things from the Wild Woods

Did a little wash, lube, and adjust on Rover II before taking it for its latest spin up 600 through the Wild Woods. Hit the 2500 km mark yesterday since Feb 2016, so thats nearly 4000 total since I got Rover I in December.

As expected there were a few Wild Things about to note. The first was right outside my door. We have a mystery plant that started sending up sprouts a few years back and now it heralds every spring with a yearly explosion of shoots, that literally shoot up 4-6 inches every day. I have to tie them up to a stake to keep them from tipping over, It has little green spikey flowers forming a globe. Every morning it's there to greet me as I set off. No idea where it came from or what it is so I just call it the Wild Thing from the Wild Woods.

We have a few other Wild Things around the garden  with a a real explosion of volunteer Columbine this year. Beautiful flowers.

A Wild Thing from the Wild Woods
growing outside my door

Wild Clumbine is flourishing in the
garden this year

As I set off up the road the shoulder and ditches are wearing their best finery these days. The  grass is so green it nearly hurts your peepers. Scattered throughout are tufts of purple Vetch and the yellow of Birdsfoot Trefoil is everywhere. Trefoil for you non farmers is a legume imported from Europe many decades ago that became popular as a pasture forage for cattle as it does not carry the danger of making ruminants bloat like alfalfa can. It is a very tough, self-seeding plant that prevents erosion so has been seeded extensively along ditches and road right of ways. It blossoms all summer long and makes great bee forage

There are lots of other blooms, ox-eye daisy, milkweed (for the Monarch butterflies) sweet clover, goat,s beard, tall buttercup, and a half dozen other flowers we generally refer to as weeds, but here and now they are not hurting anyone, so let's enjoy them

At the northern limit of my ride I stopped by a tangle of briars that were sporting cluster of wild roses. The air was cool and moist and the fragrance. 'Would a rose by any other name smell less sweet?

About 10 days ago I noticed a few Yellow Lady's Slippers along the ditches. This member of the  genus Cypripedium is one of our native orchids. Although rather rare, today they seemed to be everywhere. Native people used a solution from their roots in traditional medicine.

Would a rose by any other name
smell less sweet

Yellow Lady's Slipper were used in
Native medicine

 But today I saw the star attraction the Pink or sometimes called the Showy Lady's Slipper. They were just popping up along the ditch in the moist soil in the shade of the poplar trees. These are quite rare here unless you know where to look. Several people have tried to cultivate these beauties, but they seem to prefer the wilderness rather than the city. They should not be disturbed

The Pink or sometimes  called Showy Lady's Slipper (genus Cypripedium)
blushing at my intrusion into her shady bower

 So a beautiful day for a ride, Just poking along enjoying every moment. Lots of stops, lots of digital bouquets, no traffic, no hurry.... "along about knee deep in June"

Takin' the Trike Along

Had a few questions on the hitch mounted rack pictured in my last post, so here's the scoop it was:

Sunlite Recumbent Hitch Rack, 2" Receive

ships from and sold by excelcycle.ordered through Amazon

• Easily adjustable wheel holders
• Fits two regular or two recumbent two-wheel bikes or fits 1-adult/recumbent trike and 1-two wheel bike/recumbent (up to 74" wheelbase)
• Padded top clamps
• No-wobble no-tools hitch system
• Folds flat against car when not in use (except when small wheel adapters are attached)

› See more product details

Here sits Rover II after a trip to and from Calgary- 2000 plus kms

As my old rack that only held two  2-wheel bikes was stolen along with Rover I while in Florida, I needed some kind of a rack so at my wife's insistence (honestly), I decided to upgrade. I still had my TT roof mount pads for placing Rover II on the roof of the Flex, but even with my 6'4" frame hoisting Rover II up there would be no mein feat.

And with the luggage roof bag already installed stuffed with loot from the various sales last winter all we needed was to add Rover II, a couple of lawn chairs, some buckets and a BBQ and we would look too much like the Beverly Hillbillies for my wife's sense of decorum. So we splurged.

It came knocked down in a big, heavy box and after spreading the pieces out on the parkade floor, I did considerable head-scratching before undertaking assembly. I had all the components for one 2 wheeler and one trike. Surprisingly by following the pictorial directions, it all went together on the first try. Who said real men don't follow directions.

All the bits and pieces for the complete reconfigured Rack including hold down straps, cable lock, chain lock, locking pins

Back here in Rainy River before setting off for the wild west last month, I reconfigured the rack to carry only one trike. The MTB sat in the garage and moped. Serves it right for throwing me last winter. It's pemanently retired to the part transplant heap.

The spare bits and pieces needed for configuring hitch for one two wheeler and one trike. Oops forgot the padded top claps that you use on a 2-wheeler- really quite neat pieces but did not find I needed them on the trike.Eliminated a post and some weight

This complete Rack (The name stenciled on it is Hollywood Bike Rack) is one heavy beast but the reconfiguration reduced the weight by about 50%. I have added a few parts of my own. A locking main hitch pin, a locking secondary tilt pin, a couple of reflectors, and a locking cable as well as a locking chain. Not theft proof but they are going to have to work at it and will probably set off the car alarm before they get it off. 

The flexible configuration of this rack is very nice. it is sturdy and I have not had any transport issues with it.

The anti-rattle tightener that tightens the attachment in your hitch receiver eliminates the bangs and rattles you get with standard hitch attachments. When unloaded you can flip the hitch up 90 degrees so it's not hanging out the back or leave it down, open your rear gate and then fold up either of both sides for access to the rear of the vehicle. (Got to remember to put the sides down before you close your gate).

Empty rack flipped 90 degrees to up position. Note anti-rattle tightener crank at bottom centre of unit and adjustable pads to accommodate different size wheels. Highly adjustable frame components using hand tighten knobs and/or hex set screws

The trike is snugged down to the wheel racks with buckled straps that are secured with good velcro fastners. Never had any issues with trike or bike shifting over several thousand mile plus trips even with a few suspension shuddering bumps. . I always take off my lights and speedometer readout. Have left the wheel sensor in place without incidence but on reflection I might wrap it with a bit of duct tape.

A couple of unavoidable drawbacks. With any attachment the back up alarm goes crazy when you put vehicle in R so read your manual and learn how to turn of that alarm temporarily. This is a good mental exercise as all MEN should read their vehicle manual at least once... you know it's that thick book in the sealed package in the glove compartment.

Also it does stick out the back a ways, so parking can be tricky, but haven't noticed any handling issues

So there you are, everything you did not want to know about my rack and maybe a couple things you did.

Ramblin' on Rover II

We hit the road last week for a trip west, Installed the trailer hitch carrier, reconfigured to hold one trike as the old MTB is not going along anymore. I am permanently 'bent.

Rover II all loaded up and strapped down c/w a new 24 inch rear wheel and 8 speed cassette. The old temp 24" w a 6 speed freewheel sprocket only had a 14T high speed where the cassette has a 11T high speed giving me quite a bit more top end (when I can muster the strength... and nerve)

Our trip west took us across Saskatchewan where I never got a chance to unload for a spin, but in Calgary, AB I was in for a real treat. For those of you not familiar with Calgary it is centered on the edge of the foothills bisected by the Bow River. It has some magnificent hills that are crisscrossed by dozens of paved trails.

I made sure my brakes were in good shape and with the Rockies looming on the western horizon I set off exploring... maps?... who needs 'em? Up hill and down I variously zoomed, cranked, and coasted. I am sure I used every sprocket tooth combination- front and back. I got hopelessly lost, then following my nose I eventually would stumble onto a street/avenue I recognized. Calgary is laid out in  quarters with Avenues running East/west and Streets north/south. Along with those grids are a maze of twisting Thoroughfares and Trails, and Subdivisions. I was centered on the junction of the Crowchild Trail and Shaganappi Trail which are in the NW quadrant of the city.

It was exhilrating and exhausting. Every time I topped a rise a new vista opened up where I often paused to consider do I want to zoom down that one with its attendant crank back up the other side. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If on down I suppose I could call my b-i-l to bring the car and rescue me. But that might have been too humbling, so I always managed to crank my way back home. Left me seriously contemplating E-Assist for some of those climbs

Many of the slopes were long and steep and if you had just let RoverII take the bit in her teeth no telling what speed you could hit but these are MUPs and SLOW warnings 10 km are posted several spots so I just coasted along with the occasional burst on a straight clear stretch or a city street where I would let it roll up to over 30 kmh. Rover II handled well and I was tempted to let it out a bit more, but these MUPs had lots of pedestrians and many are 'off leash' as well, so tried to be a considerate rider.

The week's just about up and soon time to load Rover II back up on the carrier for a run back across the Prairies. Only saw one other trike in Calgary struggling up a steep trail as I coasted by on the adjoining street. Couldn't even get the make beyond it  had a 26' rear.  Maybe I'll get a chance to try the trails in Winnipeg, MB.

I'll miss these hills.

A 10 kmh warning at the top of this steep hill. Discretion being the better part of valor, I decided a zoom down here should be deferred to for another day

A beautiful view over the Bow Valley

Visited a large modern LBS with hundreds upon hundreds of bikes and accessories but not a trike or ,bent in site. The salesman I talked to did not know what they were or who in this city of one million even handled them. Oil and gas seems to be the predominant religion in these parts