50th ride of 2016 - Tuesday, 4/12/2016

Due to various commitments today, I was unable to ride until 5:30. With the extended spring daylight, to say nothing of my lights and the fact that my route is entirely off-road, I could have ridden longer. But I judged it unwise to push myself in this way today, and so reined in my enthusiasm, and settled for a single round trip to Marsh Park, completing the 10 miles in a desultory 1:13.

However, I got to ride in stunning beautiful conditions, under a clear, calm sky with a temperature of 47°. It reminded me of the lyrics of an anthem that Mom sang with the church choir back in my teens—a similar memory to one I had on April 22, 2013, when I was riding a two-wheeler:

All in the April evening,
April airs were abroad;
The sheep with their little lambs
Pass'd me by on the road.

The sheep with their little lambs
Pass'd me by on the road;
All in an April evening
I thought on the Lamb of God.

The lambs were weary, and crying
With a weak human cry;
I thought on the Lamb of God
Going meekly to die.

Up in the blue, blue mountains
Dewy pastures are sweet:
Rest for the little bodies,
Rest for the little feet.

Rest for the Lamb of God
Up on the hill-top green;
Only a cross of shame
Two stark crosses between.

All in the April evening,
April airs were abroad;
I saw the sheep with their lambs,
And thought on the Lamb of God. 

The light riding I have done this month has almost certainly cost me my hoped-for goal of making 1000 miles by May 2, the date I got my trike last spring. I have only ridden 56 miles so far in April, for a total of 568 miles this year, and that means I would need to average about 22.7 miles per day between now and then, or 3 round trips to Marsh Park almost every day for the next three weeks. While not a mathematical impossibility, this is highly unlikely, given the fact that I have only done three round trips on three days so far this year.