2018 mileage: 25o3.1
Today I allowed myself to settle for a pretty lightweight ride, only doing one round trip to Marsh Park plus a loop on Interfirst Drive. This gave me a ride of 11.6 miles in 1:22.
I will concede that this decision was influenced in part by the weather conditions. A cold from is moving into and through the area, bringing relatively windy conditions and steadily dropping temperatures all day. It was 72° when we left at 7:15 to take Michelle to school this morning, 66° when I began my ride at 11:30, and 65° when I finished.
I'd better buck up, though ... much worse conditions clearly lie in the not-distant future, and as this picture (from near the end of my ride, coming up alongside Lohr north of Ellsworth and before reaching Oak Valley) shows, fall colors are already beginning to move into our area.
2018 mileage: 2481.5
Today I felt an unusual (for me) need for variety, so I visited an old friend, riding to Marsh Park for the first time since September 15. In fact, I did consecutive round trips there, and then added a loop in Stonebridge on the way home.
All this gave me a good ride of 21.3 miles, in 2:20. It was a gorgeous fall day, as the photo shows, but almost too warm by the end—68° when I began a few minutes before noon, but 79° when I finished!
Marsh Park had a new feature since I was last there—an added piece of sculpture. But, as the plaque shows, the market is evidently pretty pricey for sculptures of welded together rusted piece of scrap metal, since this comes in at $19,000!
2018 mileage: 2470.2
Today's ride was highly frustrating in regards to the MapMyRide app. The ride itself went OK—I did another round trip to Baker Rd. (Dexter), and as near as I could figure it, I did 19.3 miles in about 2:40. But when I got to Baker Rd., and turned around to come back home, I took a break (5+ minutes), and sent a text, and when I stopped I thought I paused the app. But when I went to start up again, the app was still running! This made my speed look incredibly ghastly ... the first half of the ride was slow anyway, but that mess-up gave me a speed of below 7 mph!
Then, to compound things, I thought I'd really bust it on the way home, and bring my speed up as well as possible, seeing how close I could get to 8 mph. But after a few miles, when I stopped at a gas station for another break, the app quit altogether!
So, since Relive makes their videos from the data from my app, today I will have to video to share.
2018 mileage: 2432,8
This morning I was really aware of our contracting daylight. The sun didn't rise until 7:30, and I began my ride at 7"35. I took this picture about a mile into my ride, while on the sidewalk alongside Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., just before crossing the bridge over I-94. It shows nicely the crisp beauty of the sky at that early hour; it was 41° when I began (but heated up to a toasty 44° by the time I finished). This cool temperature made me aware that the time is not far off when I will have to pull out my gloves for morning rides.
I rode a round trip to Baker Rd. (Dexter), covering the 20.3 miles in 2:33. On the way home I took a break at a gas station, and while I was stopped I checked my phone. A fellow member of the Recumbent Trikes Group on Facebook had posted, "I'm fairly new to recumbent trikes. I know they're slower than bicycles, but I can only do about 9 mph on a long ride. Is this slow?" I replied, "It doesn't seem slow to me! I'm currently wavering 8 mph in the middle of a 20-mile ride!" 😎
2018 mileage: 2412.5
I allowed myself to take the day off from riding yesterday, so that I ould in front of our TV watching the Kavanaugh/Ford hearing fixedly on CNN. So today, I was happy to get out again, and went at 10:00 (57°, and up to 64° when I finished) on a ride of 19.9 miles (2:30) around Ann Arbor. Here are pictures of, first, when I rode by the Big House (Michigan Stadium) as I was just about 2 miles into the ride), and then of the stretch of the Huron River near Gallup Park when I rode south on the bridge along Huron Parkway on my way towards home.
I am still working toward the goal of learning how to change a flat. But, not having reached it yet, I restrict my rides to walks and trails adjacent to streets or roads where, if I need to be bailed out by contacting Uber, I can do so. (I've had to resort to this once already.)
Back in 2013, when I was still riding a regular bicycle quite a bit, my friend Doug Tidd told me of the joy of riding "down Broadway hill." I experienced this joy once—one time only—but today, I had quite a different experience, of riding UP Broadway hill.
Finally, I also passed another mileage milestone today.
2018 mileage: 2393.1
What really struck me during today's ride was how firmly we have (FINALLY) turned the corner into fall weather. As recently as two weeks ago, I was still riding in temperatures north of 90°, so that was more than just 'technically' still summer. But today, though enjoyable (sunny and 61° when I began at 10:30, and 64° when I finished) felt definitely like fall— cool, and steadily breezy.
After taking Sunday off, and being unable to ride Monday because of schedule and yesterday because of weather (though I did go to LA Fitness for a session on the stationary bike), it felt great to get back outside today, and I rode a round trip to Dexter (Baker Rd.), finishing the 20.3 miles in 2:30. I made the turn at a speed of 7.7 miles per hour, and did considerably better on the way home, to finish at 8.2. But then, there's quite a bit of hill climbing on the way out, with corresponding downhill stretches on the way back home. 😎
2018 mileage: 2364.1
Our daylight is constantly constricting sunrise this morning was at 7:22. But I dug out and began my ride at 7:25, At 51° when I left, my hoodie felt just right, though riding in shorts was fine. since the rest of the day will be busy, and did a round trip to Baker Rd. (Dexter), finishing the 18.4 miles in 2:30—and by the time I finished, it was a toasty 54*!
On the way out, I rode past the Big House (Michigan Stadium), and even though it was still before 8:00, there were already walkers headed for the stadium to meet friends to tailgate before the noon game with Nebraska. With several of them, I exchanged a vigorous fist pump, and a hearty, friendly "GO BLUE!"
