Trail Tales

To give you an idea of what a scumbag Goldberg is, note the quote in the Wall Street Journal.

Is he too stupid or dishonest to acknowledge the growing evidence that the experimental-gene-therapy jab is extremely dangerous and a complete failure as regards what a "vaccine" is supposed to do, i.e protect one from contracting and spreading a particular disease? 

Goldberg is Putz 

www.thefreedictionary.com/putz

You can take either definition 

Be strange coincidence, I was filling up yesterday and there was a warning sticker on the pump which announced that putting stickers on pumps was a crime and that the store would go after anyone who dared place anymore stickers on said pumps. They let all and sundry know that the store had cameras watching everyone buying gas. I had never seen such a warning before, but now I understand what's up. 

I did about 8.5 miles yesterday at a fairly nearby place called Heritage Park. This is a mostly gently rolling area. Not flat, but the hills are relatively mild in most places. Less strenuous than going up Green Mountain, that's for sure. And I just wanted to get in a few easy miles on the bike just to get the blood pumping. You feel your age as you get older. That's obvious but it still is so.

In that vein, I've been doing some initial investigations of an eBike. This 700 Series bike from Ride1Up is the main contender. It's highly rated and the general opinion is that this is a quality bike that offers a lot of good features (such as hydraulic brakes) for not a lot of money.

But I'm still learning about these things. One of the problems is the weight. With the rack and fenders (which I might well take off), the 700 Series bike is 62 lbs. That compares to about 33 pounds with my present bike. Given that it is quite a chore getting this 33 pounds into and out of the back of my hatchback, the 62 would just be too much, so I would need to probably find a way to mount it on the back of the car on an external rack.

But this is early days. I'm not anywhere near buying one. The other thing is, these are not scooters. Yes, you can ride them in fully-powered mode. But there isn't necessarily all that much oomph from what I can see, especially for any significant hill. I would certainly want to ride these in peddle-assist mode where you can choose from (9?) levels of power assist while you peddle. And that's really what these are made for. But it's worth noting that these are definitely not a replacement for a scooter or motorcycle.

Another consideration (at least for the 700 Series) is the reviewers recommend letting your local bike shop put this together. I've got a call into them to pick their brain on this, and on whatever eBikes they may be selling.

I remember seeing something too that some of the first cars were electric powered.

An interesting synopsis of that early electric form of transportation. I suppose the magic of the gasoline-powered car is: Gas is cheap (or was) and gas can take you a long ways at high speed.

Do you suppose an early electric car revolution was ever possible so that the gas-powered vehicle never arose? I suppose it's possible. But you still have to have a behind-the-scenes power source to charge those batteries.

Electric cars are today's pipe dream. Oh, they work just fine. The technology is rather amazing. But I'll bet you that most people think they are "reducing their carbon footprint" even as they plug in and draw the energy produced by coal and oil.

And if nuclear waste is difficult to deal with, I'm not sure how they're going to handle all those batteries as they reach (rather quickly) the end of their life. That is also a particularly expensive proposition. From what I gather, spending several thousand to buy new batteries will be a rude awaking for many.

Just got back on a 10.54 mile loop around Green/Gold Mountains. My best time is abut 57 minutes or so. Today I took 1:25. Average time is maybe 1:05 to 1:10. On weekends, you can't go so fast because the trails tend to be jammed with hikers, horses, and whatnot.

But today it was relatively quiet. The slow time is just me nursing my Long Covid (good to at least have a long something) or whatever it is. A couple aspirin beforehand and I was more or less good to go. But I was careful not to push the knees too hard.

It was a very pleasant 78 degrees or so. When breezing through the wind, getting too hot is generally not a factor. I'm still trying to decide whether to purchase an electric bike. I'm still not sure if I want it or need it or how I would use it.

There was a time 50 or so years ago when I would run a trail like that. 25 years ago I might walk a trail like that. 10 years ago I would look at it and go ---no way. Today nothing less than air conditioning and power steering would entice me. But, I glad that you find exercise and adventure. 

I hear ya. That's one reason I'm considering an electric bike. I can take one of those baby-steps to accommodate age but still be doing something. And you'll be glad to know that you can drive in air conditioned comfort to the top (or nearly so) of Green Mountain. There's a parking areas up there. And then it's just a short walk to a viewpoint that has a great vista that includes Seattle. Lots of people do that.