101st ride of 2018 - Saturday, 10/13/2018

2018 mileage:2631.

I left this morning at 7:55 (sunrise was at 7:45) and rode another round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.)—20.2 miles in 2:30. As I rode up on the sidewalk alongside Ann Arbor-Saline Rd./S. Main toward Michigan Stadium, I was amused to see parking lot attendants already trying to wave people in, and early birds beginning to filter in to Pioneer High School when I rode by about 8:15, even though the game against Wisconsin isn't until 7:30 p.m. When I cam back by it on the way home, about 10:15, it was still look pretty sleepy, but I knew that would very soon begin to change.

At 40° when I left, I was sure glad to have my gloves on! And even though it heated up to 42° by the time I finished (a little before 11:00), I kept the gloves on.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

100th ride of 2018 - Friday, 10/12/2018

2018 mileage: 2611.2

The big cool down continues! It's hard to believe that so recently, I was still riding in shorts and in temperatures exceeding 80°! Just on Sunday, it was 82* when I finished. But this morning, when I began a few minutes before 9:00, it was 41°, and I was exceedingly glad for my gloves, and felt that my apparel of a hoodie over a t-shirt was nearly insufficient.

I'm a bit embarrassed to only be reaching my 100th outdoor ride of the year so deep into 2018 ... this is 285th day of the year. Oh well!

At any rate, I allowed myself another lazy day. Like on Wednesday, I only rode a single round trip to Marsh Park, but today only supplemented it with two additional loops—on Interfirst Dr., and then on WIlson Rd./Bicentennial Pkwy. This gave me a ride of 12.6 miles, covered in 1:30. This allowed me to hit another mileage milestone.

A calamity of the day was my water bottle. As the cage for it sits along the main horizontal "boom" of the bike, it all too easily slides out—the is no gravity to assist holding it on place as with the diagonally mounted cage on my former road bike. This is the 8th or 9th one I've lost in the three and a half years I've been triking. The bottle has slid out countless additional times, but I usually hear and am able to retrieve it. But not today—I never knew it was gone until about a mile left in the ride. Later I took the car and drove back, looking as carefully for it as I could, but my search was fruitless.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

99th ride of 2018 - Thursday, 10/11/2018

2018 mileage: 2598.6

Rode another round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.) today. But WOW -- has the weather ever changed! When I left, at 9:35, it was 53° (up to a dizzying 54°, though, when I finished at about12:30. And this cooler temperature was augmented by a steady, strong (nearly 20 mph) cooling 'breeze.'

Riding into the wind, which cam from the west, on the way to Dexter presented an extremely stiff challenge. At least if was partially balanced by my trip back home, with the wind at my back most of the way. I had forgotten that I wanted to try to tack on a little extra so that I'd cross another mileage threshold ... but I should make short work of that tomorrow.

A decade or so ago, my son got me interested in the music of virtuoso banjo player Bela Fleck, and on the second half of my ride today, I listen to a Bela Fleck playlist on Spotify that I created last night. Following is a sample of his playing:

Bela Fleck (Sinister Minister)

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

98th ride of 2018 - Wednesday, 10/10/2018

2018 mileage: 2578.3

Lazy day today! I was inexplicably exhausted, but made myself leave at noon and do a ride (both short and slow) of 15.8 miles in 1:55.

We are in the midst of a big weather change. The temperature is still unseasonably mild—when I left it was 72°, and up to 76° when I finished—but, as this picture shows, clouds have rolled in, obscuring the blue skies we enjoyed the last two days, and more seasonal temperatures are about to descend upon us. The projected highs for at least the next four days are only in the fifties.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

97th ride of 2018 - Tuesday, 10/9/2019

2018 mileage: 2562.5

Our weather is stuck in a gorgeous pattern. I suspect it may not last much longer, but today When I left at 8:45 it was 68°and sunny, and when I finished it was 79° and sunny. Once more I rode a round trip to Baker Rd., accomplishing the 20.3 miles in 2:37.

As I was riding the sidewalk on the south side of Jackson Rd. on the way home, eastbound, approaching The Session Room (a brick restaurant) and then, beyond it, Wagner Rd., I took this brief bit of video

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

96th ride of 2018 - Monday, 10/8/2018

2018 mileage: 2542.2

On another beautiful summery day, I rode again a round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.)—it was a brilliantly sunny blue sky the whole way, and 71° when I began (at 12:15), and 82° when I finished

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride.

94th ride of 2018 - Friday, 10/5/2018

2018 mileage: 2522.7

Did another round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.) today, on a chilly morning. When I began, at 9:10, it was 46° (though it had heated up to a toasty 51° by the time I finished). However, it remained heavily cloud covered throughout, with some light rain falling in the second half of the ride, that spattered on my glasses, turning them into prisms. However (fortunately, coupled with the cold) the rain was never heavy or steady. I rode in shorts and a hoodie, and was comfortable, but I wondered how many more times in 2018 I'll be able to get away with riding in shorts.

At Baker Rd., when I turned around, just as I was starting back toward Ann Arbor, I stopped and took this picture to illustrate how bleak it was. It made me muse how much bleaker still it will look two or three months from now! I wonder, too, whether I will still be able to ride then. Cold doesn't really bother me, but I will not ride in or through heavy snow.

Link to Relive video of today's ride