Song: Morning Calm
Composer / Performing Artist: James Toller
My name is James Toller.
I am an author and an amateur musician.
And starting recently...
I am an offroad recumbent triker.
It is in solitude that I find balance and inspiration in life.
I will be presenting many of my prior and future musings on life...
as well as on various topics within the realm of psychology and philosophy.
I will be presenting some prior blog entries from a now private blog...
if they fit a particular theme for my entry in my new blog here.
Sometime this spring...
I will also be making a new YouTube channel...
with vlogs from my trike adventures.
I will include the videos from that channel here as well.
I am going to purchase a 360 degree camera to record my mountain and forest
journeys for those interested.
Just a few weeks ago...
I bought an ICE Full Fat RS Recumbent Trike.
This not only keeps the body healthy...
but the mind.
As my particular trike is made for off road use...
I will be using it primarily on improved and unimproved trails...
mostly in the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas.
To experience the great outdoors is to be able to become one with it...
at least for a while.
My ICE Full Fat trike with rear suspension
has 3 x 26" x 4" off road tires capable of riding in sand / snow...
as well as other off road...and some on road...riding...
and a total weight capacity of 275 pounds...
and so, I will be able to pack a lot of necessities on the luggage rack...
in waterproof bags.
I eventually plan on riding long distances with it...
although I will start out on small rides.
I had bought very important upgrades from the beginning...
chiefly the rear hub and luggage rack.
You will notice that there is only one gear up front...
and one in the rear...
yet I will have 14 gears...from mountain gears to highway gears.
I bought the Rohloff 14 internal gear hub so there will not be a stack of exposed gears
or a derailleur.
This is important...
not only to keep everything as maintenance and trouble free as possible...
but in rough terrain...
an exposed derailleur can easily become bent...
or otherwise damaged...
leaving me stranded in dangerous territory.
I have full disc brakes on all three tires...
and in the waterproof bags I had bought...
I will carry a lot of water, some food...
bike and tire repair kits...
along with an inflator...
and other items...
depending on where I will be going.
I hope to one day go on multi day journeys
with a sleeping bag and tent also strapped to the trike.
I will also carry my bass flute to play songs whenever
I feel the calling of the mountains...
lakes, rivers, or the night desert sky.
Believe it or not...
this whole bike will fit into the back of the car...
with but a quick seat removal (quick releases).
In loose sand or gravel...
I will just deflate the tires some for more traction...
as fat tires are specifically designed to run at between 3 to 5 PSI to run
on snow or loose sand...or at up to 20 PSI for hard roads.
This trike model was designed for, and used, on a record breaking ride
from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole.
It has a chromoly frame...
and a rugged suspension system in the rear...
as well as indirect vertical grip steering.
In a few weeks...
I will be 64 years old.
And although I can no longer carry a heavy pack on my back for long hikes...
I will be able to trike very long distances in the great outdoors...
until the day I die.
Although I will continue to age...
I never wish to become feeble.
I am a man...
and the day I can no longer truly live life...
is the day I should die.
With this...
I will still have what I value most...
personal freedom.
And being self mobile in the great outdoors...
is freedom.
I will soon begin vlogging on it...
of the many beautiful on and off road bike trails...
fire roads...unimproved roads...
the great beauty which surrounds us
in the mountains and forests...
and even deserts.
I haven't yet fully outfitted it...
but I will begin to record some of my outdoor journeys
while riding it and living life...starting in spring.
I ordered reflectors, lights (I plan to do many night rides as well)...
an emergency electric drive (in case I need to go back to the car in a hurry)...
or to help me up steep inclines...
travel bags...bike computer...phone holder...etc...
but my primary mode of power will come from my legs.
Why a recumbent trike?
My knees can no longer sustain any long distance running, walking...
or standard biking.
Besides, as I continue to age...
I will eventually become unable to do many things.
However, I will be able to continue to exercise using this...
and to continue experiencing the great outdoors.
Even though I won't have my 360 degree camera and set up until spring...
I hope to make my first vlog riding it as I enjoy the neighborhood
Christmas lights using my handheld Canon GX-3.
It will probably be rather an awkward shoot...
as I will be pedaling and handholding the camera...
but once I get the 360 camera and setup...
things will look much better.
Just as in life...
I will be taking the road not often traveled...
and I shall be doing it alone.
Solitude is so underrated in our overrated
and overly saturated socially connected world.
I ordered various options for my trike.
Right now...
the trike is in a shop installing a Bafang 750 Watt E drive...
and battery for emergency or very steep hill usage.
I will take pictures later with the options and accessories installed.
We will be taking my mother out to see the Christmas lights around our area...
as she rides in her wheeled palanquin in a few weeks.
My younger, and my elder and her husband also bought trikes to ride.
My younger and elder sisters will be pulling doggie trailers...
and I will be pulling a wheeled palanquin with my mother inside.
My younger sister on her trike.
These shots are from just down the street...
and it is from where I will go for some sunset shots every once in a while.
My elder sister and her husband are still awaiting the arrival of their trikes.
Although we will be going on many trike rides together...
I will also be doing many trails alone.
Again...
I am now almost 64 years old...
and so...
in my sunset years.
Just as I love beautiful sunsets...
I love my sunset years.
Most of what I say will have come from my experience in life...
and from my reflections upon them.
This is what I love about solitude...
it is there that I download my visions of the past...
where I codify, simplify and generalize them...
so I may apply them in life.
This will be one of my central themes of this blog.
My usage of good ole country common sense
has been my guide through life.
This blog will incorporate my many musings on life...
and of my continued experiences...
from the seat of my trike.
