After watching the balloons launch again this morning we breakfasted and headed for the wooden bridge over the Yampa and turned south on Highway 14. We originally were planning to go to the Red Schoolhouse and back which would have been a 25 mile ride. But once we got out on the road we decided to go by Stagecoach Reservoir and then on to Oak Creek for lunch. We were joined there by Janet, Patti, Gail and by the new arrivals Nick and Martha who were delayed by a family wedding and will join us on our bike rides. Mick and Janelle rode back with the car and missed the last 20 miles. So it was a total of 44 miles of riding today with some good climbs and no gravel roads. The ride back up to the house seems to get harder with each day – not sure why. Tomorrow we have a two segment ride planned but since we seem to change the plans while in progress – I will say more tomorrow.
For dinner tonight we ordered takeout BBQ ribs and chicken with all the fixins – delish.
Beautiful sunset tonight and we were entertained at dinner by a young raccoon raiding the bird feeder.
Steamboat 2010 – Day 2 –
Today we watched the balloons lift off in the valley below wherewe are staying. It was very colorful and interesting to watch.After breakfast we road towards downtown – stopped at a bikeshop to get a loaner for Jake since his shifter was broken and headedout of town on 20 mile road. It was a beautiful rolling road withmajestic views of the valley. After while we had a really good climband at the top we were undecided what to do. After talking with lots of people we decided to continue and head towards Milner on a “short”stretch of gravel road and then back to Steamboat. The “short” gravelroad turned into 7 miles (pretty but hard riding with our road bikes) andthen the distance from Milner back to Steamboat was longer than wewere told also. Stopped at the Big House Burger place for lunch about 2:00pm and then stopped at another bike shop, and then back to the house.We ate in this evening with delicious steak, salad, and asparagus.Pictures are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kws1111 in the group called Steamboat 2010
Hope all is well.
On Friday July 9, 2010 we packed up and headed to Steamboat. When we got to the west Rabbit Ears pass – several of us unloaded our bikes, joined our host Mick and road down into Steamboat and on to the house where we are staying for the week. We unpacked – and went to dinner at the Rio (a Mexican restaurant) in downtown Steamboat. We are hear on the same weekend as a two day balloon festival. Tomorrow we will get up early to see the balloons launch – then head out for our first real bike ride of the week – Unlike previous rides we are staying in Steamboat all week and doing out and backs or loops from Steamboat.
Hope this finds you all well!
Posted in News
|
Tagged Steamboat 2010
|
While we were in San Diego I rented a Segway for an hour to see what it was like. I have wanted to do this for a long time and decided to take the opportunity to experience it first hand. This is a collection of my thoughts and experiences. For first time Segway riders, after signing your life away in paperwork, you are required to take 15 minutes of training. It involves a few minutes of verbal instruction and then 10 minutes of practice where you demonstrate to the instructor that you have learned and understand what you have been told and you have to maneuver around a course set up with cones that shows how well you can steer and control the Segway. The biggest thing they wanted to teach you was that the Segway is wider than your shoulders and they want you to understand that so you won’t catch the Segway on an obstacle (like fire hydrant) and cause you to fall. The orange cones behind me in the picture were part of my “training course”.
Starting up and getting on the Segway was more complex than I expected but in retrospect it all makes sense. Each Segway has a remote control that gives you a lot of information that isn’t on the Segway itself. The remote turns the Segway on and off, locks it so someone else can’t take it, turns on and off training (turtle) mode, and tells you how much charge is left on the battery (or alternately how many miles you have left/have used). When you turn the Segway on some lights turn on in the middle of the platform where you stand. You need to hang onto the Segway when you are turning it on so it doesn’t fall over. The lights on the platform tell you if the Segway is tilted correctly, if too far forward a red light turns on in the front, if too far back a red light turns on in the back and if correct a green light is on in the middle. With the light green, you raise your right foot and gently tap the platform on the right side where your right foot will be placed. If everything is ok a cluster of green lights turn on around the single green balance light telling you that the Segway is ready for you to get on. While continuing to hold onto the Segway (if you let
go it will move forward on its own), you now step onto the platform between the wheels and balance so you don’t go forward or backwards.
The Segway goes forward and backwards when you lean in the direction you want to go. To turn you move the handlebars to the left or right. It is possible to turn in place by not moving forward or backwards and just turning the handlebars. When you are learning the Segway is placed in “Training” mode (shown by a turtle) on the remote. After you have used the Segway for 30 minutes you can switch to “Normal” mode. In training mode the maximum speed is 6 mph and normal is 10 mph. Once you get the hang of the controls it is pretty easy but you need to be very aware that the wheels are wider than you are and to not go over a curb or other obstruction more than one inch high I was off and spent an hour wheeling around Mission Bay. One thing that is hard to describe is how the Segway reacts when you reach the maximum speed – it pushes back at you! When you experience it you will understand.
One of the first things I noticed was how tall I felt. I looked down on
everything, walkers, bikers, skaters, runners. It gives you a feeling of power and “can do no wrong” probably not a good thing at 10 mph. It also means there are obstacles (like trees) that you normally wouldn’t have to deal with. Good thing I had a helmet. Some other interesting things happened. While in training mode, a group of runners got on the path just ahead of me and I knew they were very consistently running 6 mph since we maintained our distance apart for quite a while. Then another runner came up beside me – matched my pace and asked “How fast are we going?” – I immediately replied 6 mph since I was going as fast as I could in training mode. He then moved on ahead. The Segway isn’t completely quiet – there is a whine from the electric motors. I think it is actually more noticeable in training mode than normal mode – at least to the rider. But then if you completely stop – it is completely silent. I stopped several times when there was congestion on the path. As I went by one of the many parks on the Bay there was a person practicing on a Bagpipe. It seemed a very appropriate place to do that and I enjoyed the music as a wheeled by.
So I had a wonderful experience with my first Segway ride and I highly recommend it. But be sure to pay attention to the training. Taking a spill from one would not be fun. Not sure what the rental rates are in other places but here they charge $45 for the first hour and $30 for each added hour. The added $15 for the first hour covers the training time. I know in lots of cities they have tours that are Segway based so you can see more things in the same amount of time. There was another rental place that I found later that offers tours also.
So – if you get a chance – ride a Segway!
Today was our last ride day from Baraboo to Muscoda. Due to logistics and time in getting back to Omaha after the ride we made an executive decision to have 2 people drive from the hotel to Muscoda (end of the ride) to pick up our other car and come back along the route to meet the rest of the riders – pack up and leave for Omaha. Everything worked out pretty well and other than one flat tire just after the ferry ride things went well. We met the riders around 10:00am and got on the road a little after 10:30am. We ended up skipping the showers at Muscoda and drove on to Dubuque where we found a YMCA and Dick got us in on his pass and lickety split everyone was ready to go. By then people where hungry (1:30pm) so we found a Panera Bread for lunch. We got into our Motel near the Omaha Airport around 7:30pm, unpcaked and went out for dinner in a very popular section of Omaha. Several people were disappointed in the route around Devil’s Head Lake this year (went to the other shore) but they were not disappointed in the hills.
All in All – it was a very good ride and the time went quickly.
kws
