Post Christmas Ride

A Car-Free Commute

With new Christmas gifts I set off to the Big Smoke to get anti-tick treatment for our cats. In recent weeks we've lost four kittens and removed countless ticks.  Clearly,  it is a bad season and or current regime is failing us. 

Gadgets Both New & Old

So,  with twin flags,  frame mounted pump,  phone holder & mounted GoPro, we headed south. Being a public holiday and directly after Christmas, the roads were quiet. I still choose to navigate C and D grade roads in the main, avoiding the majors where delivery trucks,  caravans and country boys in utes were driving.  

What with pre-Christmas workload, shopping and focus on my first sail with Lurgy, I had not ridden barefoot nearly for weeks and it felt good to be out early. I passed a few roadies and we all seemed pretty happy to be spinning away the fat from Christmas treats.  

Dabbling With GoPro

I've no idea whether the gopro was doing anything useful beyond flashing red continually.  Funny how people noticed it though, some came alive providing commentary,  others hid their faces! How bizarre. 

At some point,  retracing our outward route,  the battery went flat so I tried to attach the spare piggyback style, but it's cover didn't fit.  That meant no more filming.  I do wonder if one day I will post on a Slow Trike channel on YouTube. 

It's a Wrap

So anyway,  just a groovy 30+km commute to blow the cobwebs out amd it went well.  No sore butt or numb hands,  I actually felt drowsy after my bananas settled in, and the potholes were fewer but severe.  That's actually a big challenge with my trike, because it's deraileur sits just an inch above the tarmac amd could easily be bent or broken off.   The technique is to position the hole just inside the front wheel tracks,  but not centred.  If it's a moderately bad hole or lump it needs to pass on the left of centre.  But today, while following this technique I came across several holes that were larger than the track width of the front and rear wheel.  In these cases you can do a diagonal approach,  but these holes were too deep  and too broad and rapid avoidance was the only option. This then put us well out into the lane,  but thankfully with little traffic on the day, this was not a problem.  

So apart from the potholes my new gear and the trike generally,  worked amazingly well.  

Keep it human.