Patti has returned from her trip to Idaho. All went well on both ends. She had a great visit with her family. I managed to keep the lawn mowed and the cats alive while she was gone. I also managed to get our trikes put back together again -- all of our new components installed -- before she returned. We resumed our training the day after her return, wondering how our legs would hold up after 12 days off the trikes. We also were curious to see how our new Schlumpf High Speed Drives and Shimano internal transmissions would work out. Actually, everything went pretty well on both counts.
Don't panic! The truck in this picture was parked on the side of the road with a load of fertilizer for the farmers.
We have ridden 202 miles in the week since Patti got home. All but one of our rides were over 30 miles, which puts our training right on track. We were shooting for rides in the 30-35 mile range this week, with one longer ride of about 45 miles. The new upgrades have performed flawlessly ... so far. We haven't managed to hit 40 mph yet. Our trikes, with their new upgrades, now may have the theoretical capacity to do. Nevertheless, it has become obvious that our 60-year-old legs still will be the primary factor limiting our top-end potential.
On the other hand, we have had a great opportunity to test the lower gear ranges. Almost all of our rides this week have involved cranking into 15-20 mph headwinds. Our Shimano transmissions have shifted, as Patti described it, "as smooth as butter." They have been a delight! Most shifts from gear to gear are virtually imperceptible. The Schlumpf drives have been equally impressive. It's wonderful to be able to come to a complete stop on a hill, take a break, shift into whatever granny gear we want, and resume pedaling as if we were on flat ground. Couldn't do that with a regular bike! Intersections are a breeze. We never find ourselves inadvertently stuck in the wrong gear. So far, we've been more than pleased with our new upgrades. "Thrilled" might be a better word!
So, as we cruised happily along on our first days' ride, Patti praised me lavishly for getting everything installed without breaking anything. We were back on the road again. The new components were working great, beyond our expectations. I was basking in the glow of a rare mechanical achievement. Life was feeling great again!!
And then ....
About 15 miles out, the chain tensioner on Patti's trike somehow came unscrewed from the trike's frame. Don't know why. I screwed it in properly! No doubt about it! Nevertheless, the sudden separation of part from frame produced a terrible noise that brought us to a quick stop on the side of the road. The noise, we discovered, resulted from the disintegration of the little plastic idler wheel which puts tension on the chain. Patti, to her moral credit, did not recant her pervious praise of my mechanical ability. She just quietly got her tools out and put things back together again, sufficiently to limp back home. I, to my moral credit, just let her do it! Back at home, we found a way to tension her chain adequately without relying upon chain tensioners. I'm also pleased to report that the tensioner on MY trike has NOT fallen off yet!!
We took a day off the trikes on Wednesday to catch up on some of our other chores. We've discovered that riding 30+ miles per day -- when combined with time for breaks, lunch, and preparing HUGE post-ride meals -- has been consuming the better part of our time each day. So, we took Wednesday off to catch up on our gardening, mowing, fish tank cleaning, and other routine tasks that still need to be done occasionally. Thursday, we did a 45-mile round trip to Monticello to buy some grocery items that our local store in Francesville does not carry. That ride also provided an opportunity to test our Cat Litter Panniers. They also worked out quite well. Next week, if all goes well, we hope to do our first 50-miler.
For any of you interested in the mechanical details, here are a few "before and after" shots of the new stuff we put on our trikes.
Before
Stock Front Chainring
Three sprockets and derailleur
After
Schlumpf High Speed Drive
One sprocket, internal planetary gears
Before
Stock rear gears and derailleur
Eight sprockets
After
Shimano Nexus 8 internal transmission
One sprocket, internal planetary gears, eight speeds
Before
Stock plastic idlers
After
TerraCycle titanium idlers
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