Transporting Two Recumbent Trikes

Now we have both trikes at home and we can pedal around a bit in our neighborhood and such... but ...
drivers in this city are just crazy, sprinkle in a couple of these facts ...
Arizona residents 18 or older can openly carry a gun without a license
or,
they can conceal carry without a license if they are 21 or older.
Arizona also honors concealed carry permits from all other states and political subdivisions.

These two facts alone make getting into an argument with another driver a quite disastrous proposition.

Where am I going with this you ask ? Good question ... If we want to take the trikes to 'The Loop' we need to transport them there somehow as riding them along the major streets here is something only hardcore professionals or the insane do here.
We have only found two or three hitch mount trike carriers that are made for two trikes.
One is made specifically for tadpole trikes where the trikes are mounted vertically with the single rear wheel at the bottom of the carrier.
Which is fine, as the rear wheel of a tadpole is stationary -vs- a delta like ours where the single wheel is in front and used to steer the trike and would not really work on that carrier.
A different carrier has the trikes stacked horizontally, which seems great for the bottom trike but at some point you have to manually lift the second trike up onto the top rack.
This would be a major issue as Sue is only 5' tall. 

The other issue is cost. Both of these carriers run into the $500-$700 range.
I did find a third carrier, it is a modular design, and when I added up all of the pieces needed for our two EZ-3 HD trikes it came to $2,200. YIKES !
So the current status quo is to keep the trikes inside the house in an upright position to take up less space. Fortunately, the house is big enough for us to be able to do this.
We are also looking at the possibility of a small trailer (easily stolen), trading in the travel trailer for a travel toy hauler (Expen$ive) with extra space in the back for the trikes, or a cheap beater vehicle (van/truck) that we can use to transport the trikes around town.
You might say ... "Well, you have a big truck, what's the problem ?"
The problem is that although the truck is probably big enough to handle both trikes, it has a hard shell tonneau cover mounted over the cargo area that is not easily removed or stored. The cover also doubles as secure storage for items we put into the cargo area when travelling. Even laying the seats flat on the trikes does not allow the tonneau cover to close completely and everything needs to be strapped down to travel.

So the search for a solution continues.

Tucson "The Loop" Bike Trail

One hundred And Thirty One Miles Of Bike Trails

Interactive Map

https://pimamaps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6621892ce6474ba79c51a736a212c6d9
The yellow dots are trail access points.

New Truck - Now The Hitch Won't Fit The Trailer

What started as a simple task to hook up the trailer to the truck in preparation of taking it out early to get new tires put on it ended up being a lot more complicated than we thought.
Remember ... when we initially bought the trailer we had a 2016 F150 and the load distribution system was installed and fitted for that truck and height.
Now we have the 2018 RAM 2500 and it sits SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the F150 did when we got it fitted.
So the issue was ... how high do we need to raise the trailer to fit it onto the trailer hitch ball ?
Apparently, max level because even raised as high as the power jack could go, the truck hitch ball BARELY squeaked under the trailer ball catch.
The trailer was up so high in the front that two things were going to happen:
1. The angle of the trailer to the truck was going to be so far off that it would be 100% unsafe to tow it even 100 yards, the trailer back bumper would have bottomed out in the driveway.
2. The tire shop would have refused to replace the tires on the trailer at that angle.
3. Once the trailer was settled onto the hitch ball, it would have needed to be raised even higher that the max limit to get it back off the hitch.
Easy enough, there are still three holes where I can lower the hitch ball on the truck ... right ?
Well, the problem here is that the nuts and bolts that hold the pieces of the hitch together are MASSIVE and torqued to the max.
And I don't have the kind of tools required to do this myself.

I snap a bunch of pictures showing the problem as well as measuring the height of the trailer tongue while it sits on level ground and the difference in height of the truck.
Today is Monday morning and I head to the RV dealership where we bought the trailer and had the F150 fitted for the weight distribution system.
Oh YAY ! they can fit me in right away ... I wait 5 minutes and a mechanic comes and takes the truck. I show them the pictures and measurements on my phone.
He removes the bolts from the hitch and we run into the first problem. Even in the bottom two holes of the lower receiver, it's still too high for the trailer.
Now I need a new, deeper, lower receiver.
The parts room has one ... for $130.00.
Like we have a choice here. LOL
OK ... let's do this.


Maxed out electric power jack height and totally off centered trailer (The rear bumper was only about 12 inches from the ground).

Before:

Thirty minutes and $200.17 later.

After:

A Recumbent Trike For Sue

After buying the SunSeeker EZ-3 HD yesterday we started searching for a second trike for Sue.
But, just for shits and grins, I reconfigured the trike we just got to fit Sue. I moved the seat assembly as far forward as possible and reset the seat-back to the forward position.
I had her sit on it to see the fit but I needed to change the angle of the seat-back slightly. We took it outside for a test run and Voila ! She loved it !!
So now we know that we need to find another SunSeeker EZ-3 if possible.
Back to scanning CraigsList and Facebook Marketplace for possibilities.
And ... look there ! A set of two Sunseeker EZ-3s available in Peoria north of Phoenix.
We contacted the seller and asked if they would be ok with splitting up the pair and selling a single one of them to us.
They replied almost immediately that they would be happy to sell us one and agreed to let us come check them out. Even though it was Sunday and Fathers Day.
We loaded up the truck with some ice water for the road and headed north towards Phoenix.
As requested we called the seller when we were in thier driveway and they opened the giant three car garage with both trikes sitting in the middle of the floor.
Since someone else was coming to check out one of the trikes the following day, we were given the choice of which one we wanted.
There was one that had a couple of extras on it ... like the T-Bar handle for attaching lights or a bike computer up front as well as pedal extensions.
Cruised around their driveway for a bit and sealed the deal. We lowered the seat and rolled it into the back of the RAM and strapped everything down tight for the return trip.
We were going to meet some family friends while up in Peoria after we finished our transaction with the bike but a phone call determined that we were too far apart and we still had a three hour drive back home, so we agreed to reschedule.

One thing we do know for sure ... next time we head up that way we will definetely make use of the 202 and 101 bypasses ... they save us a lot of time and kept us from getting frustrated with traffic in downtown Phoenix !

Stopped off a Cracker Barrel for some food off their breakfast menu on the way back. It was ok, but we've had better before. Not always easy to find food when you are keeping a plant based diet.

This is a slightly older model of the SunSeeker EZ-3 HD. Still rated at 400lbs with the centerline shock absorber and a somewhat tighter turn radius limiter. But basically the exact same trike except black/silver.
So to recap:
$1,600 (plus tax) for the used EZ-3 HD at the bike shop.
or
$900 (no tax) for the used EZ-3 HD off CL.
$700 (no tax) for the 2nd EZ-3 HD off CL Peoria.
$1,600 (no tax) for both trikes.
Even calculating gas for the trip north and stopping for food and cold liquids one the road we still came out ahead.

Recumbents on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace

After our recumbent road tests we left the local bike shop and headed home to ponder our options.
Option 1. To buy the Sunseeker EZ-3 HD for $1,600 plus tax ... or not. Leaving Sue without a ride.
Option 2. Keep looking for a better priced option that could include both of us having a recumbent we liked.
We both really liked the delta trike with under the seat steering like the EZ-3 HD.

An hour later we found a Sunseeker EZ-3 HD for sale on Craigslist. Locally. For $1,000. We contacted the seller and made arrangements to come check it out that day.
We drove out to the location and had a look. A quick road test found a couple of things that made us hesitate.
-It pulled to the left
-The left pedal kept hitting the steering arm
-The shifter for the three front gears was not working at all
-A touch of rust in a couple places along the brake cable tubes
We thanked them and departed for home to think about it. About 4 miles down the road the seller called and said he had fixed the issues I described.
So we headed back. The first two issues were resolved with some WD40 but the shifter still did not work correctly on the front gears.
The seller offered to drop $100 on the price and we figured we could either attempt to adjust it ourselves or bring it to a shop to get it looked at.
We paid and took the trike home.

Recumbent Road Test

Last Saturday we drove to the local bike shop that specializes in recumbents to see if we could get on a couple of them for a road test or three.
We were met by an older gentleman named Leo that was known locally as the recumbent bike/trike guru that had been riding recumbents for a couple of decades.
After explaining what we were looking for he brought out a used trike for me to test. A SunSeeker EZ-3 HD with under the seat steering and two wheels in back, a single wheel up front, rated at 400 lbs.
He adjusted the seat and pedals for my 6' frame and off I went around the building ... once ... twice ... wheeeeee !!!
Holy shit this is fun !!
Price on the EZ-3 HD you ask ? $1,600 plus tax for a used bike that is pariced at $2,200 new.

Meantime, Leo set up Sue with a different SunSeeker trike, the EZ Tri-classic. The one with ape-hanger handle bars.
We both cruised around the building but Sue wasn't too impressed with her model and thought it was a bit wobbly on the front end.
Leo brought out a Catrike eCat for me to ride, adjusted it for me, and sent me around the building with this trike that had a Bosch electric motor. I didn't even need to pedal. The eCat did everything for you.
Back inside I peeked at the eCat price tag ... YIKES ! $7,000 bucks !!!
Sue wanted to test drive the under the seat steering on the SunSeeker EZ-3 HD I had driven and asked Leo to set it up for her to try out.
That did not work out too well as Leo informed her that she was about two inches to short for that trike and he would not be able to adjust it to her size.
We ended up heading home without purchasing anything to discuss our options moving forward.
Next Up >> Checking Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for deals.

Researching Recumbent Bikes And Trikes

It was about a year or two ago when I hit up Sue with the crazy idea that we should buy a couple of bicycles and get some exercise.
After a good laugh we pretty much dropped the subject for a while.
Especially since we live in Arizona where only the harcore and professional bike riders and racers come to practice in the summer when it is 100 degrees or higher every single day from early May until early October. Also, during monsoon season (15 June to 30 September) when the humidity skyrockets like crazy.

Fast forward to June 2021.
Recumbent bikes look really interesting. You can cruise on a bike while pretty much laying down.
But there are completely different types of recumbents.
Long or short wheelbase,
Different wheel sizes both front and back
Trikes with normal handlebars or similar to ape-hangers
Under the seat steering
Trikes called 'Tadpoles' with a single rear wheel and dual front wheels
'Delta' bike are the opposite ... one wheel in front, two in the rear.
I immediately felt drawn to the trike as it seemed to me that three wheels would prevent me from tipping/falling over thereby being much safer.
The immediate drawback ... cost !
A standard two wheel bike at Walmart, Target, or Amazon can run you from $75 to $500 depending on brand and purpose (mountain bike, road bike, fat tire, etc.).
A good recumbent can easily set you back anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000 or, in some instances, even more.
But, without actually riding a recumbent trike on a road test, there was no way to justify that kind of money.

So I started researching local bike shops within 20 miles which was quite an eye opening discovery, as there are a TON of them here.
There is one local bike shop that claims to specialize in recumbents and sells no less than six different top of the line brands like Catrike, Sun, Terra Trike, Trident Trike, and Ice Trike.
Now all we had to do is pick a day to go there and see if we can sit one a couple of these things and test them out.
Let's Go !

Plant Based Food and Such

At some point back in the late summer, early fall of 2020 we watched a couple of documentaries like 'What The Health ?', 'Forks Over Knives' and 'Food Inc.' about meat and other processed foods. I am a type 2 diabetic and have already had a stent placed in my circumflex several years ago after having a heart event while sitting in my doctors office literally across the street from the hospital.

Sue and I then decided to switch to a plant based diet without meat, dairy, and eggs to see if we could feel a little better and maybe lose some weight while doing so.

Well color us surprised when we discovered that eating 'plant based' is not all about just eating salads and tofu ! It's actually quite tasty and there are a million combinations of spices, flavors, and tricks to make most meals comparable to what we used to eat.

I have always been a fan of whole milk with my cereal ... I tried a couple of different milk alternatives but eventually switched to Oat Milk by Califia (they also make a great cold brew coffee w/the same oat milk). Sue prefers the Silk Rice or Almond milk, which is a bit too watery to me. Also, there is a milk alternative made from peas called 'Ripple'.
I remember Ripple being something completely different that you had to purchase at a liquor store LOL !

One of the many things we discovered is that you can flavor the crap out of tofu with pretty much anything you want ... as long as you press the water out of it before you season it. It will absorb whtever flavor you decide to spice, marinade, or add to your tofu. You can crumble it, slice it, cube it, fry it, add it to soups or stews, bake it. It's just versatile as hell !

There are things like nutritional yeast that lets you make things taste like cheese !
Cashews are also a source of flavors that can be manipulated to taskte like something else.

There are only two things that we have not enjoyed while eating plant based foods ...
1. Plant based cheeses (we tried some on pizza and ended up with massive stomach cramps). 2. Plant based 'lunch meat alternatives' ... they may LOOK like slices of ham or balogna ... but they are not. Maybe we need to try more brands, but it can be an expensive experiment.

We ended up adding dairy and eggs back into our diet around March of 2021 ... we missed greek yogurt, extra sharp cheddar, and brie. But we still are not eating meat.

We also discovered that our local Chicago Style pizza place makes vegetarian deep dish pizzas both with and without cheese ... omg they are yummy !

Friday night we experimented with some Tempeh and BBQ sauce to made some plant based Sloppy Joes ... well THAT was a surprise and very definite keeper recipe, we both would eat those again in a heartbeat !

Maybe we will add some recipes to the blog in the future.

Already time for New Tires On The Trailer

Yeah ...
The trailer has been sitting during this pandemic ... from when we bought it until now has been sixteen months.
16 months that those tires have been subjected to the Ariona heat and sun.
Four tires that are supposed to take us on a 3,300 mile road trip to the PNW and back.
Big nope from us. So we made an appointment to have four new Carlisle Radial Trail HD tires put on next week.
We also already made the appointment for a pre-flight service for the Clipper for two weeks before departure. Wheel bearings, water system flush/sanatize, roof check, etc.

Travel Trailer -vs- Truck Weight Calculations

In early 2020, just before the pandemic started to affect travel and vacations, we traded in our Gulf Stream Class A RV for a smaller bumper pull travel trailer.
The main reason was that once we got to a location with the Class A ... we had to either rely on friends/family for rides or rent a car to get around.
Secondary was the fear of the engine or transmission going out on this 10 cylinder beast of a drive train and the associated cost to repair/replace it.
We already had a taste of that when we replaced the tires on it ... six tires cost us close to $1,600 including labor and balancing.
So now we have a 2019 Coachmen Clipper Cadet 21' travel trailer that we planned on pulling with our F150 3.5 EcoBoost. According to the specs we were well within the max towing limits.
Until we found a calculator spreadsheet and input all of the information ... that is when we discovered we were only fifty pounds from max payload with the bare minimum loaded.
Calculating trailer weight, tongue weight, max tire weight, water tank weights, cargo weight on towing the vehicle, max towing capacity is no easy feat.
Just because the truck specs say your max towing capacity is 10,800lbs, does NOT mean you can get a trailer under 10k lbs and SAFELY to it down the highway.
Long story short, we decided that although we were just under the max payload limit we did not feel like testing that theory across Mount Shasta in the pacific northwest.
We traded in the 2016 F150 for a 2018 RAM 2500HD with a tow package, 6.4 Hemi, and prepped for 5th wheel or gooseneck towing.
Recalculating the weight equation put us at well over 1,500 lbs of available payload.

That color ? Omaha Orange LOL !

Replacing the Char-Broil Gas Grill

When we moved into this house in 2006 we brought along the Stainless Steel Char-Broil 5-burner gas grill with side burner and hotplate.
It was already three years old.
Fast forward to 2021.
The old girl is now 18 years old and showing her age.
So we put her up on Craigslist as a free 'come take it - as is' and wheeled her out to the alley.
We tossed in a replacement propane hose kit and both propane tanks.
She disappeared in less that 30 minutes.

That left us with only the Traeger Pellet Smoker.

So we started researching charcoal grills.

Big Green Egg - Interesting but super heavy and expensive.

Other 'Kamado' style grills - Pretty much the same as the BGE ... Big, Heavy, Expensive.

In all cases ... the branded accessories could inflate the cost substantially.

Masterbuilt Gravity - Also interesting, but I think I hesitated too long on this. It was on sale for $399, then the price almost doubled a month later. It's actually $799 now.

Weber 22" Kettle - There are so many variations to this classic grill from the original base model to the top of the line 'Master Touch' or 'Performer Deluxe' (they even have a Weber Kamado for $1,800).
Much research went into this and we ended up getting the Weber 22" Performer. It's the kettle on a rolling stand with a smaller fold-down food prep table.
One of the main reasons was the advanced heavy duty cooking grate with the round removable center grate which fits a wok perfectly for stir-fry.
We bought it at Home Depot but we had to hit two of them before we found one as they were the only ones that actually had one in stock.
ACE hardware and Amazon had them at the exact same price but Home Depot and Lowes both give me a 10% veterans discount.
We bought a double bag of Embers 20lb charcoal for $15 and a Weber Chimney Starter and starter tabs.

I did go on Amazon and ordered a 'vortex' style cone that fits perfectly inside the circular grate and under the wok to concentrate the heat into a specific area.

Two wok dinners later ... we made the right choice. This thing rocks !

Potential Hobbies For Retirement

Bird Toys
We moved some furniture around to get the extra bedroom fixed up so one of the kids could come visit for mothers day weekend. During that expidition we discovered a ton of small doo-dads and knick knacks that we had intended to use for home made bird toys. We ordered a few more things on Amazon (mainly wire and buttons) and hit the dollar store for the rest. So now we have everything we need to make our own bird toys.

Leatherwork
Way back in the day when I first joined the Army I spent a lot of time in the base recreation center. I learned how to understand cameras, develop film and pictures. The leatherworking shop was also pretty fun. I spent many weeknights and weekends making stuff and it was practically free. You only had to pay for the material (leather, photo paper) using the tools or dark room didn't cost anything. So ... dammit Craigslist and FaceBook Marketplace ! I had to look and found a smoking deal on some leather and tools that someone no longer wanted. Honestly, the boxes looked much smaller in the pictures ! So now I have three HUGE boxes of leather ... everything from veg-tan to suede, calf, goat, and patent. Also, a smaller box of patterns and some leather burning tools. Now all I need is a place to put all of this leather as it is currently using up a bunch of space in the front room.

One week after retirement

This is really pretty strange !
I know I am retired and don't have to go back to work.
There's no need for alarm clocks, my calendar is now devoid of daily meetings, conference calls, and video conferences.
Yet...
My mind is convinced that I am only on leave/vacation and will need to go back to work in the very near future.
I'm positive that it is the simple habit from going to work every Monday through Friday with the occasional leave/vacay thrown in that makes it seem like retirement is too good to be true.
I'll get over it eventually ... LOL

04/26/2021 - The Beginning

So Monday, April 26th 2021 was a special day ... It was Sue's birthday and also the official day of my retirement from 27 years of government service.
Eighteen years in the US Army as a mechanic and nine years at the Veterans Administration as a network administrator.
Initially in the Imaging department (PACS Admin) and then in Biomedical Engineering (Medical Device Networking Specialist).
I had already cleared station on Friday the 23rd and saw no real reason to go in for that last day on Monday, so I verified with the timekeeper that I could take a single day of LWOP (Leave Without Pay) and suffer no consequences either finanically or any other way ... it would be a wash ... I don't go in, they don't pay me, I don't lose any leave.
Plus I get to stay home for my wife's birthday ! Win-Win-Win.
So I am officially retired and looking forward to see what this next chapter brings.