Spring Time Signs

[Ed Kennell 38,227]

Both my neighbors were working the fields today.     The Amish boy prepping the ground for more corn planting.  This is all sweet corn under the plastic.

Then we pan over to the other neighbor that has his farm leased to a large corporate farmer .   Quite a contrast.

 

 

Farmers at Work104 1729 - YouTube

[8ntruck 7,016]

The red bud and dog wood trees are blooming.

[Beap52 815]

Wife bought me an electric bike for my 70th birthday.  Went for a 9 mile ride yesterday on an old railroad bed that's been converted into a hiking/bike path.  Saw some may apples.  That means morel mushrooms aren't far behind.  Radishes are starting to pop through in the garden.  Come on spring!

 

There is a downside to spring.  Storms.  We're under a watch this evening.  Sitting her with my amateur radio tuned in to our local storm watch frequency.  Not expecting anything until 1 AM and then it suppose to passing quickly.  Hail last spring damaged hundreds of homes roofs and vehicles in our area.  Our kids roof is just now being replaced from a storm a year ago.  This morning heading to vote, we hit a deer.  Due to backlog of hail damaged vehicles we won't get our SUV in the shop until June 24.  Fortunately minor damage and drive able.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Beap52

[Pullstart 62,913]

@Beap52 I saw some twister damage in MO on the tube.  Y’all ok?

 

It continues to rain here.  Grandpa said he hasn’t seen rainfall here like this since the 60’s when a little boy was swept away in the river.  It’s up another 2ft or so since my last picture.  Rylee says we should try fishing in the field.

 

On a positive note, it’s been great to see the bald eagle almost daily.  I think it’s building a nest near my hunting tree!  The picture of the cut corn field pond is the eagle taking a sip of h20.

[8ntruck 7,016]

@Beap52 would that trail be the KATY trail?  We are wintering in Sedalia.  Dog and I usually walk 1 or 2 miles on the KATY trail almost every day.

[Beap52 815]

13 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

@Beap52 would that trail be the KATY trail?  We are wintering in Sedalia.  Dog and I usually walk 1 or 2 miles on the KATY trail almost every day.

Not KATY trail.  I've been riding the Fresno Highline Trail between Bolivar and Springfield.  There are suppose to be 16 bridges in Polk county similar to the picture below.  So far I have crossed 5 or 6 of them. My plan it to cross all of them this year.  I've enjoyed the electric bike more than I anticipated.  I broke my foot right out of high school so walking a couple of miles irritates the calcium buildup in my foot.  I can ride the bike as far as I'm willing to sit.  I've have a moped that I  took camping. I used it when trout fishing to get around the park.  We sold our motor home and now pull a camping trailer, the problem is I can't load the moped inside my camper shell on pickup.  The e-bike can be loaded in camper or pickup plus now I can ride walking/bike trails that were off limits to moped.  These e-bikes are like riding a bicycle on level ground so easy pedaling even up hill.  In addition, if I get tired pedaling, just use the throttle and not pedal at all.  Only limitation is the battery.  I expect to get 20 plus miles if I used the throttle only and maybe 30 plus miles if I pedal.  My wife decided she wanted to ride so we bought another e-bike.

[Beap52 815]

19 hours ago, Pullstart said:

@Beap52 I saw some twister damage in MO on the tube.  Y’all ok?

 

 

We good.  Twisters on other side of the state.  Had some quarter size hail. I don't think it hurt the new roof that insurance paid for following a hail storm last year.  I've been through one tornado when I was a kid. I was staying at grandparents house riding my bike on their long driveway.  I went to the house to tell grandma about the funny looking cloud.  She saw the tornado and we were just heading down the basement steps when it hit.  It racked their farm house so grandpa had to have some doors worked on so they would close correctly.  Sucked windows out but left pictures hanging on the walls of the same room.  Took down two of gandpa's barns. Thanks for asking.

[Ed Kennell 38,227]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:26 PM, Beap52 said:

Wife bought me an electric bike for my 70th birthday. 

I'm thinking for my 80th next year.   Would you share info...a link,your review?

[Beap52 815]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

I'm thinking for my 80th next year.   Would you share info...a link,your review?

We chose Lectric E-bikes.  Our neighbor goes to Florida each winter and he says they were the most popular e-bike in his campground full of baby boomers.  So I went to Lectric web site.    I've only ridden about 200 miles and haven't found hill in my part of the Ozarks that I have not been able climb.  I consider myself in good health and have all my original parts other than some tooth fillings.  I am riding on roads or bike/walking paths.  I'm not dirt bike style riding.

 

Our first bike is a 2.0 step through frame. My wife decided she wanted to ride so we purchased a second bike.  It is a 3.0  and suppose to have more power due to larger controller (I think the motors are the same just a larger controller.)  It's 1,000 peak watts instead of 850 even though both motors are 500 nominal.  It's also got bigger brakes and longer front shocks.  Frankly, I don't see any real difference.   If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten another 2.0.  They are cheaper (probably being phased out.) and I would have had the same battery.  The batteries between 2.0 and 3.0 cannot be swapped even though they are both step through frames.  We bought the larger batteries but so far have not come close to using all of their charge but we only ride 10 to 15  miles at a time.   I would consider buying a bike with smaller 10 AH battery then purchasing a second 10AH battery.  The investment is about the same as the long range battery 14 AH and you'll have a back-up battery.  (Batteries go on sale from time to time.)

 

These bike fold so some folk transport them in storage containers.  They are hinged down near the pedals and the handle bars fold down. They weigh 65 pounds including the 7 pound battery.  I figure these are entry level bikes made in China of course.  It appears they use generic gears and parts that other Chinese bikes use.  We paid about $1,250 delivered to our home.  The seats are not the most comfortable.  We have bought other seats to swap out and they don't seem to be much better.  When riding these e-bikes we have a 7 speed shifter like all multi-geared bicycles have.  Then we have a selector for power assist.  That has to do with how much power the electric motor helps.  power assist 1 is good for 7-8 mph power assist 5 for 17 to 20 mph.  Once you turn on the power assist, and pedal about 1/2 stroke, that motor pushes you forward. This can be dangerous when make a U turn. There is also a throttle in the event you don't want to pedal at all.  I use the throttle to get me started and once rolling then begin to pedal.  I also use throttle to make U turns and when I'm tired pedaling.   I tell people that riding an e-bike is like riding a normal bike on level ground--even going up hill. You can decide how much effort your want to expend.

 

There are a couple of facebook groups that focus on Lectric E-bike.  It appears that there is a good number of folks on there in their 70's and a few 80's who use these bikes.  Knee and hip replacements seem to do well on these bikes. A lot of information can be found there.  I know one thing the folks on those sites are not near a kind to each other as the folks on this site.

 

We are satisfied with these bikes and would purchase again.   By the way, in the picture below the handle bar is in the position it comes from the factory.  I can be turned around so it leans towards the seat.  We have ours turned around and it's more comfortable for us to ride sitting up straighter.    This is how I have my bike set up for fishing at the campground.  A 5 gallon bucket sits in the milk container for equipment (and hopefully fish)  and my poles slide inside the 2" PVC pipe.