Closing out the books on 2018 - Monday, 12/31/2018

I had hoped to ride outside today to close out the year, and could have bundled up against the cold, as my coldest outside ride to date is a nippy 17°. But we are enjoying a daylong rain, and I refuse to ride in a cold rain.

So I went to LA Fitness again, and did a good, brisk 90 minutes on the stationary bike, to finish the year with 3520.9 miles. The mileage compares favorably with 2016, when I had 3572.4, and is well ahead of the 3020.6 miles I rode in 2017. (In 2015 I only rode 2423.8, but that is because I didn't even get my first trike until that May.)

I am troubled by the fact that I only had 121 rides outside this year. Throw in the 120 times I rode inside this year, and I still come up with a total of only 241, which is well short of what I like to think of myself as doing (roughly 6 times/week, for a total of 312).

My original goal for this year had been 4000 miles. I think if I could have been more disciplined this year and not taken so many days off, I would have had a good shot at it. Well—here's to a renewed effort in 2019!

121st ride of 2018 - Monday, 12/17/2018

2018 mileage: 3325.9

Today's ride was—well, let's say "refreshing." I abandoned my original plan to ride in the morning, in order to let it warm up a bit, and when I went out to begin at 12:10, it was in 35° partial sunshine, with a bit of a breeze to help me along (10 mph from the NW).

Though I felt amply refreshed, these balmy conditions induced me to limit my ride to a single round trip to Marsh Park (10.2 miles in 1:08).

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

My original goal for the year (4000 miles) has long been out of reach—while still mathematically feasible, I'd have to average 48.15 miles/day for the rest of the year to make it. However, 3500 miles seems much more realistic and doable to me ... I'll need to average 12.44 miles/day for the next 2 weeks, and given that my workouts on the stationary bike at LA Fitness have settled into a regular routine of 20 miles, I hope I'll be OK (even though, of course, they are closed on Christmas Day).

120th ride of 2018 - Tuesday, 12/11/2018

2018 mileage: 3275.7

I like to think of myself as riding about six days per week. But I'm highly chagrined to see that this is only my 120th (outdoor) ride this year, so clearly I've fallen well short of my goal.

Today I rode another round trip to Baker Rd. Riding right into a moderate wind (12 mph from the west) on my way to Dexter wasn't the most fun I've ever had in my life. But it was tolerable ... and kept me from overheating. 😎 When I began, at 11:15, it was a refreshing 30°, and up to a sweltering 32* when I finished.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

119th ride of 2018 - Friday, 12/7/10`8

2018 mileage: 3225.54

The cold weather that has arrived in recent weeks has sharply curtailed my outdoor riding. But today I bundled up and scrounged up all the gumption I could muster, and went out at 9:30 to do only my 2nd ride outside since November 14, going 12 miles in brisk, 26° conditions.

I rode a single round trip to Marsh Park. But they are paving Textile Rd. east of the park, over to Platt Rd. It is still closed to thru traffic, as the paving is halted (for the winter, I believe). But I was able to ride about a half mile beyond the park, to where the road is closed as the paving stops, at Campbell Rd., where there is a small country cemetery. They are also extending the trail on which I ride, and the ground has compacted for this, but the asphalt has not yet been laid (also awaiting the spring, I assume). So today I rode on the road. Michelle has asked me not to do this, and I am happy to honor her request. But today I judged it OK to ride in the bike lane, due to the absence of vehicle traffic.

As I rode, a bouncy, lovely choral song whirled through my thoughts. This was "A Winter Morning" by Brent Pierce, which the St. Olaf Choir had sung during my freshman year (1975-76) at St. Olaf College. The text (written by the composer) goes:

Sing to the world, the Lord has now come
On this, a winter morning.
Praise him with timbrel, harp and trumpet,
Praise him on this morning.

Angels are singing Alleluia
On this, a winter morning.
Telling the world the Lord has come
On this, a winter morning.

Wise men have come to bring him gifts,
Sing, sing Alleluia.
The shepherds have left their flocks to see
The son of God this morning.

Look at the star. It shines in the sky
For all mankind to follow.
Christ has now come to set men free
On this, a winter morning

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

118th ride of 2018 - Tuesday, 12/4/2018

2018 mileage: 3193.4

The early onset of winter here in southern Michigan has kept me inside on the stationary cycle since November 14, so I'm sure glad I've begun counting those miles this year. Today, however, I decided to bundle up and head out at 12:15, and riding in mostly sunny 30° conditions (that heated up to 32° by the time I finished!)—and with the added benefit of a gentle cooling breeze so I wouldn't overheat 😎—I rode a round-trip to Baker Rd. (Dexter), covering the 19.4 miles in 2:28.

The only down side was that I had judged I could ride today without taking along my auxiliary battery pack. But I had not reckoned with the way the temperature drained that charge in my phone, so it ran out of power about 5 miles from home on the way back, and consequently I have no Relive video to share today (since Relive creates them from my MapMyRide data).

As I write this up, my feet are swaddled in a cozy fleece, and the circulation has almost returned to my toes!

117th ride of 2018 - Wednesday, 11/14/2018

2018 mileage: 2928.1

As I had not managed an outdoor ride since last Thursday, I was definitely pleased to get one done today. On Friday, Dan Cogan and I were working to repair my trike—mostly Dan—on Saturday I went to LA Fitness due to the cold, Sunday our handbell choir played at church and that took the entire morning, then in the afternoon our family gathered to celebrate Mom's 95th birthday

on Monday, I gave the day over to music, and yesterday I was again at LA Fitness.

Winter has definitely arrived early here in this latter part of 2018 (what should still be Fall). As I am still in the process of acquiring my winter conditioning and tolerance for cold, I failed to make as substantial a ride today as I had hoped. But I did manage to push myself through 11.2 miles, in 1:17 (a round trip to Marsh Park, plus a loop on Interfirst Drive).

When I began, at noon, it was 28°, but by the time I finished it had heated up to a toasty 31°. Fortunately, this brisk ride was all carried out under bright sunshine, as the picture shows. Also fortunately, although I was unable to find my heavy-duty winter gloves when I first sought them, at 5:30 a.m., I had better luck looking for them just before my ride.

On Spotify, I listened to the Keyboard Christmas CD of my dear friend and former faculty colleague, Mike Pagan.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

116th ride of 2018 - Thursday, 11/8/2018

2018 mileage: 2884.4

today's ride was, again, brisk (at 39°) but much less troubling, absent yesterday's strong wind. However, a different difficulty more than made up for it.

For variety's sake, I decided to ride a different route today, one I've done only once before (last summer). After riding north on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. (across the dedicated sidewalk, separated from traffic), I turned right (east) and followed the sidewalk alongside Eisenhower Blvd. for a couple of miles until it joined Packard, and then I stayed with Packard until I came to Platt.

Turning right and following Platt south (all still on the sidewalk), I picked up the trail ("Platt Greenway") where it begins at Lillie Park (Ellsworth Rd.) and followed it all the way down to Michigan Ave. Crossing Michigan, I continued with sidewalk until it ended, then turned into a development of condos and rode that till it ended.

Reversing the process, I headed for home, and was doing fine, until I stopped along the Platt Greenway to take this picture of the boulder marking it.

Clumsily, I bumped to a stop against the boulder. I thought I had hit it lightly and caused no damage ... but shortly after I got started again, I noticed that one of my front gear wheels was badly bent as shown below, and it had to have happened then.

Very fortunately, I was able to ride it the remaining 6 miles home, though it did have a bit of a "limp" with every revolution of the pedals ... and I kept praying, waiting for it to stop working altogether.

Since we currently have no way to transport the trike (as our car is still being repaired from an accident we were in on September 17), I am going to have to do some head scratching as to how i can get it repaired, and worst case I may in fact have to wait until the car is ready, so I can take it to the dealer.

Link to (relive) video of today's ride