Tiny rides of 2023

[Conrad_K]

Looks like a Raleigh Chopper in italics

It's what used to be called a "Compact Long Wheelbase" or CLWB. It was made in Florida in the mid-1990s. CLWBs were briefly a "thing" in the US market then, but mostly faded away the early oughts, and ordinary(?) LWBs have lost a big chunk of their market share as well.

The LWB riders used to denigrate the compacts as "chair bikes." I won't take offense at that; it feels like an office chair with pedals and handlebars.

 

[a.twiddler]

Looks like a Raleigh Chopper in italics

It's a crank-forward jobbie. Useful for those who like the security of being able to get both feet flat on the floor without compromising pedalling efficiency by shortening seat to pedal distance. I'm surprised they're not more popular as it just seems so logical to me. It separates seat height from seat-to-pedal adjustment, like most recumbents.

So many everyday cyclists ride around with their saddle too low because they want to touch the ground with both feet without getting off the saddle. It often leads to knee pain. It's a flaw in the basic diamond frame design which discourages people from cycling, especially if they're on the short side. Not everyone is a battle hardened veteran like most cycle forum posters here.

 

[a.twiddler]

Here's another one. Compact long wheelbase, mid wheelbase, "chair bike", urban recumbent, call it what you will, it's so easy to get on and off, like my Brompton. I've got a Linear LWB but I've been stretching the mileage on this one this year. I had my doubts initially, but it works for me.

 

[a.twiddler]

23/7/24
Tiny Ride Today
To the Town Centre on the HPV Spirit Recumbent Bike.
Out through the gate, not too hot, not too cold today. Cap, gilet, t shirt, usual trousers, everyday shoes. Forgot my track mitts. Ah well. Rolling along, still a little seat adjustment needed since changing the pedals. Arrived at the uphill traffic lights on Swanlow lane and went straight through.

Rolling steadily to the mini summit, then downhill to the A54 roundabout. Pedalling downhill to the first set of lights which went red just as I got there. One day, just one day, I’ll time it right to get through non stop.

Waiting with the traffic for the green, then away. Approaching the next set of lights, to the right hand lane, then the right turn filter lane. The light turned green, I eased off and arrived behind the last car as it started moving to to sweep right, pedalling as I leaned, right at the next roundabout, then right into a supermarket car park. Across the car park to lock up at my usual barrier.

When I came out again, my shopping was overflowing my seat back bag. I’d taken my panniers off the underseat rack while I’ve been doing longer rides and they take a bit of fiddling to get on and off so I was trying to manage without them. There’s no denying that they’re handy for these trips to town, though.

I rearranged my shopping then as I couldn’t zip up the top, using my rain jacket tucked in all round to stop anything falling out. I set off across the car park, left at the exit roundabout, right at the next one into Dingle Lane, across the pavement at the end, through an estate road to turn right up Gladstone St on to Townfields Rd. Left at the lights on Swanlow Lane, up my uphill turn off then a dawdle downhill through the lanes to my back gate. The rain jacket hadn’t loosened and everything was still in place. Worth remembering for the next time I overdo the shopping.

Distance 3.4 miles. Max speed 25.9 mph. Average speed 7.9 mph. According to Garmin.
Ascent 113 ft. According to Bikehike.

 

[a.twiddler]

24/7/24
Tiny Ride Today
Yet another shopping trip on the Spirit Recumbent Bike.
Yesterday a bargain 38T chainring from SJS cycles plopped through my letterbox so I was busy yesterday afternoon getting it fitted. It replaced the existing 34T one as the overall gearing was just a bit too low. A couple of links added to the chain, everything tightened up and I was ready to go. Estimated gear range 17.25” to a smidge under 90”. Test ride tomorrow.

Today was the day. A few spots of rain early on but it didn’t continue. I had a shopping list so could kill two birds with one stone – shopping and test ride.

So, out through the back gate, right in the direction of Swanlow Lane, following yesterday’s outward route to get a direct comparison. I came to the uphill lights to find there were roadworks. Fortunately the cycle lane had been left clear so I got to the head of the queue before stopping on red. When the lights changed I charged across. Something didn’t feel right, as if my arms had got shorter. I stopped on the other side and found that with my bike adjustments yesterday the seat back had moved. I moved it to a more upright position, made sure the quick release was properly locked, and all was well again.

Everything felt right, as I trundled to the mini summit on Swanlow Lane. Ahead of me was a very upright rider in an orange jacket. It looked like an ebike that he was riding. I made the most of the downhill towards the A54 roundabout to try and catch him to have a look. A car stopped ahead of me to turn right which held me up briefly, then I got closer again. I followed him over the roundabout, he went straight on and I followed it round to the right. It looked like an ebike but if it was, he wasn’t making much use of the assistance. Anyway, I pedalled off downhill. It seemed easier to keep pedalling until I got speed up than yesterday though in the end the max was fractionally slower than yesterday’s. It just felt a bit more relaxed.

As before, I got stopped at the lights. Straight on, then right lane, right again to filter lane, and right when the lights changed, right at the next two roundabouts then into a supermarket car park. I wasn’t able to lock up at the usual barrier as there was a group of people standing gasbagging there.

There was a handy pole nearby where there’s usually a mountain bike locked up but it wasn’t there today, so I used that.

Briefly in and out, unlocked, and set off for supermarket no 2. Downhill slowly alongside the car park to the road, right along the pavement to join a shared bike path, right at the next junction then, where the path ends, on to the road to turn right. Shortly afterwards left into the car park of supermarket no 2 to lock up by the trolley stand.

Another swift in and out to find the second lot of shopping wouldn’t quite fit. After some rearrangement I crammed it in and tucked my rainproof jacket around and over it to keep it in place. Well, it worked yesterday.

Out through the car park, left at the next lights to follow a painted bike lane for 50 yards before hopping on to the pavement to climb a long hill. There are no signs, but it seems it’s what local cyclists do, rather than go up the dual carriageway with the traffic. Easy enough going downhill on the other side when you can get speed up.

On reaching the top, after checking the shopping was secure, I went left on to Swanlow Lane and made good progress to the traffic lights at Townfields road. There was some delay due to the roadworks but I soon got through, then to my uphill turn off and a freewheel through the lanes to my back gate. Shopping intact and unloaded, test ride fine, no issues.

No matter how much I try to jazz it up, there's only so many routes to the town centre and back.

Distance 3.78 miles. Max speed 25.4 mph. Average 7.7 mph. According to Garmin.
Ascent 119 ft. According to Bikehike.

 

[Windle]

A nice Friday evening tiny-ish ride was enjoyed today on the Fire Mountain. I haven't been over to Copley Chimney wood for ages so I decided I needed a refresher of the place. Down Scotland Lane and the track as usual but instead of turning right and going along the railway path I went straight on, dropping down the 12% gravel farm track / scree and up the other side, past Gibsneese farm and up and across the fields before dropping down into the wood. Not a soul to be seen through there, I followed the soft track through the wood and out at the bottom of Copley Chimney bank, then spun up it's 13% slope to the end of the wood whence I entered and rode / walked (it's incredibly rooty and the Fire Mountain is a rigid) all the way round the outside as usual and back out onto the main though-wood track, then out through the gate and tackling the, in parts 14%, grassy track and past Gibsneese before doing the normal bit of this end of my local loop ~ railway path, farm track up to the Slack road, down and retrace along the railway and home via Scotland Lane. A decent 7.6 mile run with nearly 500 feet of climbing.
Looking back down Copley Chimney bank, or whatever it's actually called.

At the wood edge looking south-ish across the fields, the second field has just been harvested and a tractor was shifting bales around.

A bit rooty in here.

Looking down on the 'Troll Hole' where a stream heads underground.

At the end of the wood loop, the main track through the wood is just in front, where I headed right to retrace my route back home (via a detour of my more usual local loop).

 

[Conrad_K]

I hit the Riverfront Trail (Little Rock, Arkansas) Trail again today. I expected to see a lot more traffic on the trail than during weekdays (today is Sunday), but it looked pretty normal.

I drove to the north end of the Big Dam Bridge and unloaded the trike. The original plan was to cross the bridge and head east toward Little Rock, to find the downtown end where I lost it before. However, I went down the North Little Rock side down to the Broadway bridge. I have the north side nailed, now. So I cross the Broadway bridge and headed back west, toward the Big Dam Bridge.

There were a few signs, and then the sidewalk ended at a fence surrounding a parking lot. There was a fairly steep curb dropping off into a busy four-lane road, no bike lanes. I got turned around and went down a bunch of side streets and alleys toward the river, eventually finding something that *looked* like it might have been a paved bicycle path, long ago. It got progressively worse, until it turned into golf-ball-sized gravel and a steep uphill climb. After a while the rear wheel just spun in the gravel and the trike wouldn't go forward. I got off and walked up it, and wound up standing on the loading dock at the train station. I walked back down and towed the trike up using the luggage rack as a handle, then went down the loading ramp, across the parking lot, and I could see the Capitol Building just a bit to the west.

On a previous ride on this side of the river I had found a place to park maybe one or two hundred yards west, at a place called Cajun's Wharf. I had ridden east, toward the railroad station, on a very bad trail... but it was signed as the Riverfront trail. I turned around when I got a low tire and found out that the front valve stems were Presta and my pump was Schrader. Oops. Anyway, I was almost directly across from the Capitol Building at that point.

I made a few jogs down parallel streets, looking for any kind of trail signage. Zip. I wound up in Old Downtown, which was totally dead. I felt like Charlton Heston in "The Omega Man." Normally it's all bumper-to-bumper traffic. I made my way back to Broadway, back over the bridge, and back up to the Big Dam Bridge. With all the side quests, I put in a bit more mileage than simply completing the loop.

Next time, I'll go over the Big Dam Bridge and down the south side, which should eventually bring me back to the easternmost bridges, and that should reveal the secret of where the freakin' trail is hiding.

I saw one other tadpole trike, three short-wheelbase recumbents, and about 50/50 walkers vs. cyclists. I also collected a nice sunburn.

Sanding the rotor and pads on the right brake took care of the shuddering and groaning; now the left side is doing it. I knew better, but I was tired and it was getting hot. I'll deal with it sometime this week.

The minor handlebar adjustments helped a lot. The right front wheel was still making creaking noises in turns, but none of the spokes felt loose. I'll deal with those when the spoke tension gauge gets here.

This time, the phone said "other application is using the camera" and wouldn't take pictures, even after closing everything and rebooting twice. Freakin' phones. I need to bring the real camera instead.

 

[Conrad_K]

A tinier ride today. I took the Re-Bike out to scout another route to the gym. The first attempt involved a short section of dirt trail alongside a state highway. Too many tree roots for the 16" front tire to cope with without lifting the bike over, and severely off-camber. Enough that it might be impassable after a light rain.

I doubled back to a known-good route, looped around the gym parking lot, then back home, stopping at the grocery store along the way. It doesn't take much to fill the panniers. Ten minutes from the store to home; not bad at all.

I saw no other bicycles on my excursion, which is normal. Generally, the only people you see on bikes are skeevy dudes who have DWI or drug convictions or are behind on their child support, any of which gets your driver's license suspended.

A guy walking his dog said "Nice bike!", two female pedestrians about a mile apart said "I like your bicycle!" and a guy in a pickup truck honked and waved. I've lived in this town since the 1970s and never saw a recumbent, even though they're not terribly unusual at the Riverfront Trail, 30 miles away.

 

[a.twiddler]

Tiny Ride today
2/8/24
Linear LWB Recumbent to Town Centre

A shopping list nagged at me from the kitchen worktop. It was dry and a bit cooler again today, so as the Linear was still tooled up from yesterday, I chucked the seat back bag on for the extra capacity and hit the road.

A similar route to yesterday to start with, right out of the gate and to the uphill lights on Swanlow Lane. Straight on to the A54 roundabout, right, then a long dual carriageway downhill to stop at the first set of lights, right at the next set, right round the next two mini roundabouts and across a supermarket car park to lock up at a barrier.

Quickly in and out, then downhill alongside the car park, right at the bottom to join a pavement cycle path to the next set of traffic lights where I crossed over and went right along the road. Left into the next supermarket car park to lock up against a pillar.

Swiftly in and out again, left on to the road, through some pedestrian lights to a set of lights at the dual carriagewayed High St. Here I went left on to the pavement and up the long hill to the roundabout at the top where I went left again on to Swanlow Lane. I made steady progress to the mini summit then downhill to the lights on Townfields Road. A brief pause behind the traffic, then straight across, down the dip to get up speed for my uphill turn off but had to slow down because of traffic. Still, not so bad getting up the slope before levelling off and then freewheeling through the lanes to my back gate.

It seemed no slower than my last trip on the Spirit, but somehow easier. The Spirit wins on ease of use and manoevreability, the Linear on on-road comfort. I have a feeling that it’s kinder to the knees, too although the Spirit’s BB is by no means high.

Distance 3.84 miles. Max speed 26.6 mph. Average 7.8 mph. According to Garmin.
Elevation 117 ft. According to Bikehike.

 

[Conrad_K]

I planned to go for an early ride at the Riverfront last Sunday, but I wimped out. It was 90F shortly after dawn, and topped 100 before noon. I find a marked lack of enthusiasm for riding in that kind of heat.

Last night, the Mrs. wanted me to drop off a car insurance payment at their office. Which is almost exactly in the middle of the "big loop" I described earlier. I decided to do it this morning, on the Re-Bike. So I ventured out about 0730 and noticed the back tire on the Re-Bike was flat. All my bike tires lose a lot of air, for some reason. I fired up the (loud!) oilless compressor, bumped the front tire from 37 to 45, and tried to put 65 pounds in the back. Nothing. I messed around with it for a while. Maybe the tube has a long split?

Okay, I'll deal with that later. I went out to the truck, unloaded the trike, and pushed it over by the front porch so the air hose would reach. It had lost ten pounds in all three tires after nine days. Are all bike tires like this now? I remember putting air in a bike tire maybe two or three times when I was a kid.

Drop into the seat, pedal off. My view of the world is *very* different between the CLWB Re-Bike and the recumbent KMX trike. This is the first time I've ridden the same route on both cycles. They weigh about the same, but it's noticeably more work on the trike, and about halfway around my quadriceps and left knee were complaining a bit. Last loop on the Re-Bike, I barely noticed any fatigue. Also, I only used three or four of the seven gears on the Re-Bike, and I used all 14 on the trike, and needed them.

The big pallet and crate are still blocking the sidewalk on the bridge. The curb there is at least eight inches high, instead of the normal six or so. I had to use the hair ties to lock the brake, dismount, lift the trike down to the road, around, and back up onto the sidewalk, and get back on. Then at the bottom of the bridge I had to do it again, where the sidewalk ended at a drop of at least a foot, and then another foot back up onto the new curb. There was about a four foot section of sidewalk they hadn't bothered to pour yet, same as last time. Then a portage down a steep embankment and some broken-up sidewalk on the other side; apparently they're planning to widen the road or reshape the approach at the intersection. Someday.

The tree roots and tilted slabs weren't a problem for the trike; just slow down and crawl over them. Of course, it has 20" front wheels as opposed to the 16" front wheel on the Re-Bike, so bumps "look" bigger to the Re-Bike.

Since the other day there's another missing section of sidewalk along Highway 161; at least they had some warning tape up. I crossed the five-lane highway to the (narrower, bumpier) sidewalk on the other side and finished the loop.

So, nothing spectacular to report, other than noticeably more work on the trike vs. the bike. I should take the Re-Bike to the Rivertfront trails and see if they feel noticeably easier compared to the trike.

----

In other news, Youtube turned up a few more videos of the Riverfront Trail. As I mentioned earlier, I still haven't managed to piece together the full route on the Little Rock side. Maybe half it it is "trail"; the rest is on public highways, mostly with a "bicycle lane" stripe. One video from 2017 showed coming off the Clinton Bridge and riding up to the train station. AHA! You can't do that any more; there's a big concrete wall across where the trail used to be. When I was going down side streets toward the river looking for the trail the other day, yes, that *was* the trail, at least what was left after they dug up pieces of it. I have an idea the old trail and surrounding area is going to become very expensive riverfront apartments or something.

Another video had a couple riding across the "Junction Bridge" on their bicycles. It's between the Clinton and Broadway bridges on the rest end of the loop. I had seen it, but there are no visible paths to it (at least from the Riverfront Trail, which goes by close enough to bounce a rock off it), so I thought it was abandoned. It turns out it was repurposed as a dual-use pedestrian/bicycle bridge in 2008, basically some kind of political boondoggle between the two city governments. It now
connects a tiny "park" in the downtown Little Rock business district to what is frankly a ghetto area on the North Little Rock side. It's not part of the Riverfront Trail; you have to know it's there, and then jog out into town to get on an approach ramp. Like the Clinton Bridge, it had a center section that raised up and down for tall ships to clear. They locked that section of the Clinton Bridge at the top and it has long ramps going up and down. The Junction Bridge movable section is locked quite a bit higher than the Clinton Bridge, and has flights of stairs... or you can take the elevators. Bicycles are specifically allowed; supposedly two will fit comfortably or three if you squeeze them in. The elevators run from 6AM to midnight.

Apparently the bridge just sits there; it's hard to get to and goes nowhere. I'm surprised the city doesn't rent it as a venue for parties or raves, though. But I find the idea of elevators on a bicycle bridge to be interesting, and I'm going to go across it next time I'm down at Riverfront.

There is a tremendous amount of bicycle infrastructure in the Little Rock/North Little Rock area. The two cities have spent tens of millions of dollars on the Big Dam, Junction, and Clinton bridges, and North Little Rock has an almost-complete trail from end to end. Plus there are public rest rooms at various points on both sides. Yet trying to *find* all the pieces is incredibly frustrating. And there's a lot more than just the Riverfront Trail; that's maybe a quarter of what's supposed to be out there. And there's supposed to be several times more of publicly-maintained dirt trails... somewhere.

Oh well, "it's a quest!"

 

[a.twiddler]

6/8/24
Tiny ride today
Linear to Town Centre

Rush job for cooking ingredients for Mrs T.

Started off well, launched in the direction of Swanlow Lane and the uphill traffic lights, into the right hand lane. In the interests of less traffic I foolishly thought it would be quicker if I went down Townfields Rd and Gladstone St. but I’d reckoned without the newish speed humps. Flat on top, but quite steep and angular resulting in slow progress after encountering the first two.

Ooh! Aah! Drat! And double drat! Had to slow right down, hence low max speed. Now I knew why only vehicles that had to were venturing down there. I would have appreciated the suspension on the Spirit here. I came to a turn off and took a smoother though less direct route through an estate. I came out across the pavement from Dingle Lane, hopped across and passed over a gentler series of speed humps. Soon I came to a mini roundabout where I turned left then right at the next one into a supermarket car park. I turned the bike round and locked up.

Even quicker in and out today than usual, waited for the crowds to part (not that I’m Moses at the Red Sea or anything). Then downhill alongside the car park to the road where I turned left, straight through a mini roundabout, right at the next into Dingle Lane. Back over the mild speed humps to the end then back over the pavement. Trying for a different route back, I went straight up Queensway, across a mini roundabout, left into another estate and meandered through until I came to Crosfield Avenue, then left on to Swanlow Lane. Straight on through the lights to my uphill turn off then downhill to my back gate.

Distance 3.13 miles. Max 20.9. Average 7.6. According to Garmin.
Elevation 128 ft. According to Bikehike.

 

[Conrad_K]

Another ride today. I tossed the trike in the truck and went down to Riverfront, parking on the North Little Rock side at the skateboard park about four miles from the Junction Bridge. I rode east down the trail to the bridge. No access from the trail. I had to go a few hundred yards further, cross a four-lane road, and negotiate some back streets to find the on-ramp for the bridge, which is tucked in an alley between two buildings.

The ramp starts out *very* steep; I dropped all the way down to "granny low" bottom gear. After a bit the slope leveled off, and then I rode most of the way across the river to the elevator at the lift span.

One review said the elevator would comfortably hold two bicycles; three with crowding. The capacity is one (1) trike and rider, once you scoot the trike around the corner and through the door. The city site said "glass elevator", but the elevators are steel, inside glassed walls. Not quite my idea of a "glass elevator."

Got to the top, rode across the span, admired the sights, and pressed the button for the other elevator. Nothing. A couple came up the steps and said the elevator wasn't working. Hm. The trike is reasonably easy to pull up or down steps, but the movable span is four or five stories up. That's a lot of bumping along stairs, and then back up. So I turned around and rode back.

Coming back, the "USS Razorback" submarine is in clear view. There are structures in the way so you can't see it from the north bank. It's right near the end of the bridge. I went down the ramp and back to the truck.

A guy near the end of the ramp was running a leaf blower; he waved and gave me a thumbs-up. A bit later a jogger complimented me on the trike. They're not *that* unusual on the Trail, but it was still a nice ego boost. I saw three upright bicycles (it was about 2 PM instead of my usual oh-dark-thirty), no trikes or recumbents this time.

Distance: 8 or 9 miles.
Time: almost exactly one hour, tailgate to tailgate.

 

[Conrad_K]

Okay, Sunday again. I headed out just as the sky started getting light, then spent half an hour trying to find a working air pump anywhere. After topping off the tires on the trike, I drove to Riverfront Park and parked at the noth Big Dam Bridge trailhead.

I set the phone to "video", put it in its holder, and went south, up and over the Big Dam Bridge. There *are* cycle signs on the Little Rock side, going west. None going east, which is how I'd tried it before. I knew what to look for from the videos I'd watched, but I ran out of signs as I approached downtown Little Rock. No problem, Broadway runs perpendicular to the direction of travel, and there's a cycle lane over the Broadway bridge. But I passed Broadway and went down all the way to the Clinton Bridge, up and over, and then made my way back west to the trailhead and my truck.

Some of the web sites say 20.8 miles. The Little Rock web site says 15.6. I need to make a bracket for the magnetic pickup for my bicycle odometer, and then I'll know for sure. But either way, I made the whole loop.

Earlier, I mentioned all the ducks at a local walking trail were missing. This morning, I noticed the ducks were gone from the Riverfront Trail as well. I finally spotted a flock of about a dozen near the USS Razorback submarine near the Clinton Bridge, but those were the only ones. I had previously seen deer on the North Little Rock side; today I saw a pack of four on the Little Rock side. I stopped and got my phone out to tell my wife. They didn't seem to mind that I'd stopped thirty feet away, but when I started talking they all sidled back into the woods.

We're in a freakishly cool spell at the moment; it was only 68 when I rolled out and 79 when I got back. It's supposed to return to the normal 100+ by midweek. Anyway, with the cool weather, there were a lot of people out walking and biking. I saw one other tadpole trike; probably electric since he passed me like I was parked. Half a dozen electric bikes; usually I might see one or none. No recumbent bicycles today. Thinking back, it seems like I only see them in the late morning or afternoon.

The trike gathered a few waves and thumbs-up again. One woman said, "Do you like that thing?" I said it was great. She said "Awesome!"

I pulled the phone off its bracket when I got back to the truck and tried to review the video. No video. It *said* it was making a video when I put it in its bracket. I have a fairly heavy duty USB battery pack; I might borrow my wife's dashcam next time. That *does* work properly.

Whatever. I'm pretty chuffed about completing the loop. That's "counterclockwise." I'll do it couple more times to fix the landmarks in my mind, then try it again clockwise.

After two hours of pedaling, my butt was starting to get numb. I've finally mastered getting off the trike; left foot over the boom by right foot, right foot over the right front tire, right hand on seat frame, left hand on left front tire; then just stand up like a deep barbell squat, using the seat and tire to steady. Nice and smooth. Then I took a step forward and fell against the truck before staggering around the parking lot a bit. The "walking" software had to reload, I guess.

The City of Little Rock page about the trail isn't worth much, but it has a few pictures: https://www.littlerock.gov/residents/bikeped-little-rock/projects/trails-sidepaths/arkansas-river-trail/

The City of North Little Rock page is completely useless, but the US National Park Service has a handful of pictures: https://www.nps.gov/places/north-shore-riverwalk-park.htm

 

[Windle]

A small test run on the Univega last night. I've been tweaking the brakes recently as they always seem to be just catching somewhere, the process of adjusting cantilever / vee (?) MTB brakes can be a pain, especially with these as the adjusters appear to be knackered. A couple of days ago I thought I had them set up perfectly but upon taking a test run down the lane they were deemed inadequate in the stopping department! After a further fettle last night I did a slightly different route of my local loop, across to Cockfield football ground then instead of dropping onto the road and going down past the cemetery and across to the railway path over the fell I rode part way up into the village and off down Manor Grove, a big cul-de-sac with a gate accessing the fell. Years ago the houses down here were painted a weird minty green colour, a bit like a lighter version of Bianchi green. Once through the shonky gate I headed up the fell, a bit of a slog into a headwind, scattering horses and sheep (and even a hen) with my turn of speed heavy breathing. Once at the top I headed back down diagonally across to where the railway path crosses the Slack bank road and then returned via my usual railway path / Scotland lane route. The brakes were fine at last. A reasonable 5.1 miles with just under 300 feet of mostly off-road climbing. It's surprising how low the sun is in early evening, but I guess it's because its mid August now. In another few months I'll need lights to do this run.
Atop the skatepark hump.

The 'gate' out onto the fell.

 

[Conrad_K]

Another Sunday ride. The trike was still in the back of the truck, so I drove down to the Big Dam Bridge, unloaded it, went over the bridge, and took the fork to the west this time, turning off the Riverfront Trail onto the Two Bridges Trail.

Two Bridges had a mile or so of former two-lane road, now dead-ending into a parking lot near the Big Dam Bridge. Then it turned back south, over a quite sizeable bike bridge; probably about the same size as the Clinton or Junction bridges to the east. That dropped me off into a peninsula on the south bank, with an asphalt trail going through deep woods, with trees growing mostly together over the top of the trail. I kept expecting to hear banjo music.

Eventually I got to another park/parking lot/bathroom, and the trail turned into a newish two-lane road with four-foot-wide bicycle lanes on each side. There was very little traffic, so I rode mostly on the road, since the bike lane was full of debris, plus it had been "textured" with something like very small stutter bumps, so riding an unsprung trike was like sitting in a vibrating chair in a cheap motel.

I rode west for a full hour after starting, then turned around and rode back. I'm a new rider and I'm not confident of my range yet. It was a full two hours, nonstop, though. And I managed the approach ramps on both bridges without having to stop and rest, so I'm improving. And my knees didn't hurt this time, either.

The Two Rivers Trail doesn't have much to see compared to the Riverfront Trail, but it's in better shape and clearly marked. It's presumably managed by the county and state, vs. the city of Little Rock.

Almost 90F at 0700 when I got the trike unloaded. Lots of pedestrian and bike traffic on the Two Rivers Trail; way more than I've ever seen on Riverfront; enough that traffic was an issue a few times. Mostly way older than what I've seen at Riverfront, 60s and up. 2/3 to maybe 3/4 female. No family groups today. No recumbents or trikes. One upright that *might* have been an electric; I couldn't tell if it was a battery pack or frame bag when he zipped by me. Not a friendly bunch out this morning, either. Almost everyone was Serious, marching along looking up into the air, or pedaling while looking at their front tire. Almost all of the bike riders had the "bike rider garb" and plastic hats; most had sunglasses today. I had black shorts and a bright yellow T-shirt with Bigfoot on it, so I think I had them outclassed sartorially.

Following Two Rivers Trail on Google Maps, it pretty much dead-ends at a park near Pinnacle Mountain. I don't know how close I got to that since I don't have a smartphone. As the weather cools I'll venture out that way again just to be able to say I've made it to Pinnacle Mountain, but there's no rush. Due to the long section of public highway, it'll be another Sunday morning ride.