2018 mileage: 1800.2
Michelle and I planned to leave at 10 a.m. today to go visit her parents, so I rode early. But when I got home, she was flat on her back with vertigo -- sadly, a not-uncommon ailment for her.
At any rate, I was glad to get in a good ride. And I had checked my mileage just before leaving, so I knew right where I stood, and what I needed to reach the new mileage milestone. I rode a round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.) for the second consecutive day, and tacked on just a little extra riding at the end to make this mileage goal. The ride of 19.5 miles took me 2:53, beginning shortly before sunrise in 60° pale light, and finishing at 70°, with the day well advanced
Another statistic also delighted me. I suppose it is sort of cheating, in a way, to check my weight right after a long ride, but nevertheless, I did climb onto the scale before hopping into the shower and was tickled to see my weight the lowest it's been since last October.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018
60th ride of 2018 - Monday, 7/30/2018
2018 mileage: 1780.7
This morning I composed hard, and was very productive. Then I took a nap, planning to ride mid-afternoon (since the forecast was for tolerable temperatures). When I started, at 3:15, it was 79°, and that held throughout my ride.
I did a round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.), completing the 19.4 miles in 2:33. This was not a great time, but it was tolerable, given the very slow start I got off to. LAO, RHW QWrhwe did impact me. This may have been expected, but I didn't know of it, so it caught me by surprise. But on a significant stretch of Jackson Rd., outbound (from Maple to Zeeb), I rode through heavy rain, with big, fat drops pelting me. But once that passed, I dried off (sort of), and the rest of the ride was quite enjoyable.
I passed a milestone of sort today, also, exceeding 200 hours of elapsed riding time for the year.
This morning I composed hard, and was very productive. Then I took a nap, planning to ride mid-afternoon (since the forecast was for tolerable temperatures). When I started, at 3:15, it was 79°, and that held throughout my ride.
I did a round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.), completing the 19.4 miles in 2:33. This was not a great time, but it was tolerable, given the very slow start I got off to. LAO, RHW QWrhwe did impact me. This may have been expected, but I didn't know of it, so it caught me by surprise. But on a significant stretch of Jackson Rd., outbound (from Maple to Zeeb), I rode through heavy rain, with big, fat drops pelting me. But once that passed, I dried off (sort of), and the rest of the ride was quite enjoyable.
I passed a milestone of sort today, also, exceeding 200 hours of elapsed riding time for the year.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
59th ride of 2018 - Sunday, 7/29/2018
2018 mileage: 1761.3
Today I got myself up and out the door just past 6:30, and rode in superb conditions—calm, pale, 61° sunlight. Despite that, however, I decided to settle for a single round trip to Marsh Park, riding 10.1 miles in 1:22. I wrestled long and hard with myself over whether to do a second round trip, but in the end I decided to keep it shorter so that I could devote more time to composition.
The accident that so transformed my life occurred on May 22, 1993. In the hours immediately after it, while I lay in coma, the doctors told Michelle that she should know there was a strong chance I would not survive the night. Because of this, we now observe May 22 as Life Day.
When I posted about this on Facebook this past spring, a friend (Peter Moberg) who is a fellow alumnus of St. Olaf College, and sang in the St. Olaf Choir with me, playfully remarked, "Life Day would be a great title for a musical composition! Know anyone who writes music?" And since I'm working at trying to rebuild my piano performance abilities, and also find great joy and satisfaction in playing in our church's handbell choir (The Rings of the Lord), I am writing it for piano and handbells.
Also, over a decade about I bought a large Time-Life multi-CD set of recordings of Christian contemporary music called Songs4Worship. I put them all into the iTunes library on my laptop, and on my iPod, and usually listen to them when I work out at LA Fitness early on Sunday mornings. But during this time of year when I'm able to ride outside, I carry my phone with me, and can listen to music on Spotify. I have discovered that most of the songs are commercially available and can thus be searched for on Spotify and added to the Songs4Worship playlist I've created there. So this morning I listened to that.
Finally, in light of the damage I did to the pouch my friend Len gave me a few months back to hang about my neck and carry my phone, I picked up a new one on Amazon (for a whopping $4.99) and so will be able to move Len's into a backup role. Used the new one this morning for the first time.
Today I got myself up and out the door just past 6:30, and rode in superb conditions—calm, pale, 61° sunlight. Despite that, however, I decided to settle for a single round trip to Marsh Park, riding 10.1 miles in 1:22. I wrestled long and hard with myself over whether to do a second round trip, but in the end I decided to keep it shorter so that I could devote more time to composition.
The accident that so transformed my life occurred on May 22, 1993. In the hours immediately after it, while I lay in coma, the doctors told Michelle that she should know there was a strong chance I would not survive the night. Because of this, we now observe May 22 as Life Day.
When I posted about this on Facebook this past spring, a friend (Peter Moberg) who is a fellow alumnus of St. Olaf College, and sang in the St. Olaf Choir with me, playfully remarked, "Life Day would be a great title for a musical composition! Know anyone who writes music?" And since I'm working at trying to rebuild my piano performance abilities, and also find great joy and satisfaction in playing in our church's handbell choir (The Rings of the Lord), I am writing it for piano and handbells.
Also, over a decade about I bought a large Time-Life multi-CD set of recordings of Christian contemporary music called Songs4Worship. I put them all into the iTunes library on my laptop, and on my iPod, and usually listen to them when I work out at LA Fitness early on Sunday mornings. But during this time of year when I'm able to ride outside, I carry my phone with me, and can listen to music on Spotify. I have discovered that most of the songs are commercially available and can thus be searched for on Spotify and added to the Songs4Worship playlist I've created there. So this morning I listened to that.
Finally, in light of the damage I did to the pouch my friend Len gave me a few months back to hang about my neck and carry my phone, I picked up a new one on Amazon (for a whopping $4.99) and so will be able to move Len's into a backup role. Used the new one this morning for the first time.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
58th ride of 2018 - Saturday, 7/28/2018
2018 mileage: 1751.2
This morning I got myself out the door a few minutes before 7:00 (after having given Winnie a good brisk walk), and rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, covering the 18.5 miles in 2:24. The weather was, however, unusual. I began in pale clear sunlight, at 56°. During the middle of the ride, heavy, thick cloud cover moved in, and I wondered if I was going to have to dodge rain showers, though none had been forecast. But then the clouds cleared back out again, so that on the return trip from the park the last time, I experienced unbroken blue skies (as shown in the photo below), and I finished at 66°.
This morning I got myself out the door a few minutes before 7:00 (after having given Winnie a good brisk walk), and rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, covering the 18.5 miles in 2:24. The weather was, however, unusual. I began in pale clear sunlight, at 56°. During the middle of the ride, heavy, thick cloud cover moved in, and I wondered if I was going to have to dodge rain showers, though none had been forecast. But then the clouds cleared back out again, so that on the return trip from the park the last time, I experienced unbroken blue skies (as shown in the photo below), and I finished at 66°.
Friday, July 27, 2018
57th ride of 2018 - Friday, 7/27/2018
2018 mileage: 1732.7
When I wrote up my entry for yesterday's ride, I forgot to mention an enjoyable incident. As I was in the last couple of miles of my ride, heading north on the trail towards Ellsworth Rd., I passed my friends Tom and Doris Granum, heading in the other direction, back towards their home. We exchanged smiles and waves—but, sadly, this will not be a possibility for too much longer.
My son John and their daughter Meg were close friends at St. Olaf College a decade ago, both in the St. Olaf Choir. Tom and Doris are both highly musical. But after living the majority of their lives in Georgia, they moved to Ann Arbor a few years ago, for Tom to assume the position of Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church, a large church quite close to the University campus.
A couple of weeks ago, however, I learned that they are going to be moving again next month, back to their native Georgia, as Tom will accept the organist/choirmaster position at a large Methodist church in Macon, Georgia. I am happy for them, though sad for myself—their friendship has been an enjoyable part of my Ann Arbor experience, and I thought of them frequently as my rides to Marsh Park take me by their house.
Today, I strongly intended to ride two round trips to the park. I left relatively early (7:15), after walking Winnie, hoping to beat the rain that was forecast to move in by mid-morning. Just after I turned around to begin my second round trip, a light rain began falling. I pedaled on for a couple of minutes, while mulling it over (a favorite phrase of my Dad's), but then decided to press on, as a light rain was certainly not about to melt me. Shortly after that, though, I heard the rumble of thunder, and that was all the persuasion I needed to cut my ride short. So I wheeled around and hightailed it home, for a total ride of 12 miles in 1:31.
Today's ride had an enjoyable moment, as well. Starting out, about two miles into the ride, I was headed south on the trail, coming to St. James Blvd., when a big whitetail deer bounded across the road ahead of me, traveling from east to west! I would have loved to stop, dig out my phone, and snap a picture of it, but (oh deer! 😆) it was much too quick for me.
When I wrote up my entry for yesterday's ride, I forgot to mention an enjoyable incident. As I was in the last couple of miles of my ride, heading north on the trail towards Ellsworth Rd., I passed my friends Tom and Doris Granum, heading in the other direction, back towards their home. We exchanged smiles and waves—but, sadly, this will not be a possibility for too much longer.
My son John and their daughter Meg were close friends at St. Olaf College a decade ago, both in the St. Olaf Choir. Tom and Doris are both highly musical. But after living the majority of their lives in Georgia, they moved to Ann Arbor a few years ago, for Tom to assume the position of Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church, a large church quite close to the University campus.
A couple of weeks ago, however, I learned that they are going to be moving again next month, back to their native Georgia, as Tom will accept the organist/choirmaster position at a large Methodist church in Macon, Georgia. I am happy for them, though sad for myself—their friendship has been an enjoyable part of my Ann Arbor experience, and I thought of them frequently as my rides to Marsh Park take me by their house.
Today, I strongly intended to ride two round trips to the park. I left relatively early (7:15), after walking Winnie, hoping to beat the rain that was forecast to move in by mid-morning. Just after I turned around to begin my second round trip, a light rain began falling. I pedaled on for a couple of minutes, while mulling it over (a favorite phrase of my Dad's), but then decided to press on, as a light rain was certainly not about to melt me. Shortly after that, though, I heard the rumble of thunder, and that was all the persuasion I needed to cut my ride short. So I wheeled around and hightailed it home, for a total ride of 12 miles in 1:31.
Today's ride had an enjoyable moment, as well. Starting out, about two miles into the ride, I was headed south on the trail, coming to St. James Blvd., when a big whitetail deer bounded across the road ahead of me, traveling from east to west! I would have loved to stop, dig out my phone, and snap a picture of it, but (oh deer! 😆) it was much too quick for me.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
56th ride of 2018 - Thursday, 7/26/2018
2018 mileage: 1720.7
During this morning's ride, a minor calamity befell me. I track my rides with an app called MapMyRide on my iPhone, and I carry it in a cloth neck pouch given to me a couple years ago by my good friend Len Gajda after I had expressed to him a need for a similar item. It's ideal for my purposes—but today, when I got off for a brief break at the park, my typical clumsiness rose to the surface, and when I sat back down on the trike to leave, the dangling pouch caught on a part of the trike, and the cord that loops around my neck ripped free from its attachment on one side of the pouch.
Now I was left with a good cord, still firmly attached to one side of the pouch, but unattached on the other so that I could not wear it. After scratching my head for a moment, I came up with a solution, and took out my keys and used one of them to punch a small hole through the side of the pouch to which I needed to attach the cord. Then, resurrecting one of the knots I had learned in Boy Scouts a mere 50 years ago, I was able to tie it successfully, so that I could wear it for the remainder of the ride. This picture, taken after I got home, shows my inelegant solution.
I was particularly focused on the use of my phone this morning, because when I was up in the night (as I always am), I was haunted by Michael Buble's version of the song You Make Me Feel So Young, and I listened to it on repeat over Spotify for the first half-hour of my ride (down to the park). Here it is:
So, given my equipment problems, and the fact that clouds moved in, threatening the rain that was forecast for this morning, and blocking the bright sunshine with which I had begun my ride (just past 7:00, at 64*), I elected to accept only a single round trip to Marsh Park today, finishing the 10.2 miles in a slow time of 1:20.
The weather did have one nice feature, however. Just after I had turned back from the park, the precipitation moving in from the southwest revealed a faint rainbow on the horizon in that direction.
During this morning's ride, a minor calamity befell me. I track my rides with an app called MapMyRide on my iPhone, and I carry it in a cloth neck pouch given to me a couple years ago by my good friend Len Gajda after I had expressed to him a need for a similar item. It's ideal for my purposes—but today, when I got off for a brief break at the park, my typical clumsiness rose to the surface, and when I sat back down on the trike to leave, the dangling pouch caught on a part of the trike, and the cord that loops around my neck ripped free from its attachment on one side of the pouch.
Now I was left with a good cord, still firmly attached to one side of the pouch, but unattached on the other so that I could not wear it. After scratching my head for a moment, I came up with a solution, and took out my keys and used one of them to punch a small hole through the side of the pouch to which I needed to attach the cord. Then, resurrecting one of the knots I had learned in Boy Scouts a mere 50 years ago, I was able to tie it successfully, so that I could wear it for the remainder of the ride. This picture, taken after I got home, shows my inelegant solution.
I was particularly focused on the use of my phone this morning, because when I was up in the night (as I always am), I was haunted by Michael Buble's version of the song You Make Me Feel So Young, and I listened to it on repeat over Spotify for the first half-hour of my ride (down to the park). Here it is:
So, given my equipment problems, and the fact that clouds moved in, threatening the rain that was forecast for this morning, and blocking the bright sunshine with which I had begun my ride (just past 7:00, at 64*), I elected to accept only a single round trip to Marsh Park today, finishing the 10.2 miles in a slow time of 1:20.
The weather did have one nice feature, however. Just after I had turned back from the park, the precipitation moving in from the southwest revealed a faint rainbow on the horizon in that direction.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
55th ride of 2018 - Wednesday, 7/25/2018
2018 mileage: 1710.5
Today I went up to Kensington Metropark (one of the real jewels in Michigan's park system, up by Brighton, some 30 miles north and very slightly west of us) to ride with a former student, Tonia, and her spouse, Eva.
Kensington has a lovely paved bike trail that encircles Kent Lake, and I had hoped to do multiple loops of it. But I had only ridden it once before (a couple of years ago, with my friend Kahle), and had forgotten how extremely hilly it is. These hills no doubt did good things for my legs, but they beat me down psychologically so that I stopped after only one lap, completing a ride of 8.8 miles in 1:09. (Tonia noted, accurately, just before we began, "OK—here goes eight and a half miles of hills!") I hope we can repeat the experience, and next time, I'll go into it a little better prepared mentally.
Today I went up to Kensington Metropark (one of the real jewels in Michigan's park system, up by Brighton, some 30 miles north and very slightly west of us) to ride with a former student, Tonia, and her spouse, Eva.
Kensington has a lovely paved bike trail that encircles Kent Lake, and I had hoped to do multiple loops of it. But I had only ridden it once before (a couple of years ago, with my friend Kahle), and had forgotten how extremely hilly it is. These hills no doubt did good things for my legs, but they beat me down psychologically so that I stopped after only one lap, completing a ride of 8.8 miles in 1:09. (Tonia noted, accurately, just before we began, "OK—here goes eight and a half miles of hills!") I hope we can repeat the experience, and next time, I'll go into it a little better prepared mentally.
Eva took several pictures from behind of us riding —me wearing my bright yellow Visibility Vest, and Tonia in an orange shirt—(including one over her shoulder):
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