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

114th ride of 2018 - Wednesday - 11/7/2018

2018 mileage: 2869.3

Today is another refreshingly cool (39°), gray and gloomy, and windy (18 mph WSW) day here in Ann Arbor—in a word, "refreshing." 😎 But the wind is only supposed to strengthen throughout the day, so I went out about as early as is possible at this time of year—just past 8 a.m.—and rode a round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.), even though the outbound leg took me right into the teeth of the wind, and I sure felt it!

On the way, my friend Adrian Forbes passed me on Jackson Rd. and honked at me. But my distance vision is so poor that I would never have known who it was, had he not stopped to say hello and chat for a moment. We were both able to agree that we were in no danger of overheating.

The ride was 19.6 miles, and took me 2:28.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

113th ride of 2018 - Monday, 11/5/2018

2018 mileage: 2830.7

It feels as if I have been getting extremely slothful recently—only riding on alternate days last week, and not at all over the weekend. And today I felt as if I really wimped out.

In part, this was because of the conditions. I started at 12:45, riding in a 51° gray gloom that was enhanced by a healthy cooling breeze (10 mph from the north, but with gusts significantly higher.)

The bigger reason, however, was "listening to my body" and trying to do what seemed prudent. I have only been able to sleep through the night twice in the quarter century since my accident (May 22, 1993) I am invariably up for an hour or two sometime between midnight and 4 a.m., composing, reading, and going online. Usually I am able to crawl back into bed and resume sleeping .... but last night, after waking just before midnight, I never could resume sleep, though I tried from 2 until 5 a.m., watching the clock crawl slowly through those three hours.

And then this morning, I thought a nap was justifiable—but I couldn't sleep then, either, though I tried for almost two hours!

So, between the sleep deprivation and fighting the cold wind, I wimped out and settled  for a single round trip to Marsh Park, riding 10.2 miles in 1:09.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

112th ride of 2018 - Friday, 11/2/2018

2018 mileage: 2820.5

I didn't ride yesterday, due to a very busy day, with the morning split between piano practice and a lengthy visit to the Apple Store, and then in the afternoon, a lengthy session on the stationary bike at LA Fitness due to a daylong cold rain. I rode today in conditions for which the word 'raw' would be a perfectly apt description. When I began, a little before 11:30, it was under an unbroken layer of gloomy gray cloud, with a bit of breeze (though, thank God, not a stiff one), damp, clammy atmospheric conditions,,and a 40° reading. But by the time I finished, it had heated up to 43°, and the clouds were even beginning to break up very slightly.

I rode a round trip to Marsh Park, augmented by a lap in Stonebridge on the way home. Like Wednesday, though, the MapMyRide app on my phone was acting up. When I began the ride, I double checked to be sure it was going properly, and then set off. But a half mile into the ride, I realized I was hearing no voice feedback, so I stopped and checked, and somehow it had shut itself off and reset to zero. My stats are somewhat off, therefore, from those displayed in the Relive video. But I reckon I rode about 13.0 miles in about 1:34.

Also, I set milestones this week, yesterday going over 2800 miles for the year, and today exceeding 300 hours of elapsed riding time for the year.

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride