83rd ride of 2016 - Tuesday, 5/31/2016

Today I backed off considerably from the determined way I pushed myself yesterday, and just rode a slow pair of consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, completing the 18 miles in a languid, leisurely 1:55. And our unbelievable stretch of weather continues—once more I rode beneath a mostly sunny sky (with only a few thin, wispy, scattered clouds), and the temperature went from 68° when I started, just before 9:00 a.m., to 77° when I finished. It's almost helping me to forget riding in gloves (and still freezing my fingers) last winter.

This ride enabled me to finish May with 405.8 miles—easily my best month of the year so far. Previously, beset by both health issues and my plethora of mechanical problems (and occasional prohibitive weather), I've recorded: January (104.4), February (132.7), March (283.7), and April (218.4).

On the way back home during my second round trip, I passed a man jogging who smiled and called out, "Hi, Allen." I couldn't be entirely certain, but I thought that this was my friend Carl Combs who I met last fall.

82nd ride of 2016 - Monday, 5/30/2016 (MEMORIAL DAY)

It is extremely rare that I set out on a ride with the express attempt of breaking a certain time. But I did so today, and all the conditions were favorable. I was well rested, after having taken yesterday off, and when I began my ride at 7:30, the conditions were perhaps the most magnificent in which I had ever ridden. Sky without a cloud in it anywhere, calm conditions, and 59° warmth (which climbed to 74° by the time I finished). Despite the verdant springtime green all around me, that sky was screaming at me: GO BLUE!

Last Thursday I rode three round trips to Marsh Park in a then-record time for me of 2:34:35. And today, by pushing myself, I was able to break that. In fact, I got greedy as I went, and thought, "I wonder if I can break 2:30?" My final time for the 26 miles was 2:27:05.

And as an additional bonus for the day, this ride pushed me over 1100 miles for the year.

81st ride 0f 2016 - Saturday, 5/28/2016

I am trying to establish the routine of doing a long ride every Saturday, and gradually lengthening it throughout the summer so that, by this fall, I can achieve the goal of riding a "century" (100 miles in a day). Accordingly, I went out at 8 a.m. today and rode 4 round trips the Marsh Park, completing the 34 miles in a few seconds under 3:40. This was not a good pace, but I'm glad I was able to complete the mileage in suboptimal conditions. For one thing, my feet were hurting terribly toward the end. I ride wearing plain white tube socks, and I'm certain that a better option must exist. It also remains quite muggy today: weather.com currently (a bit before noon) says it is 82° and feels like 84°.

80th ride of 2016 - Friday, 5/27/2016

Today, I'm so happy that Michelle has the day off, as part of a long holiday weekend. So while she slept in, I left early (though not too early, at 8:00) and did a long ride, out to Baker Rd. (Dexter), which I can reach all on walks. I did a little extra, too—for instance, going both north and south on Zeeb Rd. as far as i could, until the walks stopped, and then also, when coming  back into town, my mileage was increased a bit because sidewalks where I had planned to ride were closed due to repair, so I had to change my route a bit. As I told Michelle last night, my new trike makes me much more confident in doing a longer ride and not having to fear some kind of mechanical snafu. Today measured out to 24.0 miles, which I sauntered through quite leisurely, in 3:01.

79th ride of 2016 - Thursday, 5/26/2016

Our stretch of unbelievably great weather is still with us; the only change is that very humid air has moved in, combining with the heat to leave it quite muggy. When I began my ride today, at 8:45, it was already 70°, and when I finished, a bit before 11:30, it was 76°, and I was really feeling it.

I pushed myself, though (I am feeling increasingly comfortable with the new trike, and confident that my numerous mechanical breakdowns are now in the rearview mirror), and did three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park (for the second day in a row), in a record time for me, completing the 26 miles in 2:34:35.

78th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 5/25/2016

Our stretch of glorious weather persists, as I rode once again this morning in bright sunshine. When I began, at 8:45, it was already 67°; by the time I finished, at almost 11:30, it had climbed to 79°.

On Friday, May 6. I saw a train on the tracks just west of Marsh Park for the first time in the nearly year-long time I've been riding that trail. Today, I saw another—two in one month!—and this time, unlike before, I actually had to wait almost a minute for it to clear.

The train was one of two noteworthy aspects of today's ride. The other was that my mileage went over 1000 for the year! I didn't reach this level until early August last year, but then, I didn't even get my trike until May 2. Last year I finished at 2423.8 miles. This year, I'd like to see if I can do 3500.

Also, I've noticed that a praise song that came into my head during a ride a few weeks ago is now frequently looping through my thoughts as I ride. This is certainly a nice passage of texted music to have recurring this way!

Oh, Lord, I love You, I want to love You better,

Help me to serve You in everything I do!

Oh, Lord, I love You, I want to love You better,

Help me to be like You!

Today I did three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, completing the 26 miles in a little over 2:41. And, crunching the numbers just now, I learn that my average riding speed for the year so far is a rather tepid 9.18 miles per hour.

77th ride of 2016 - Tuesday, 5/24/2016

Today was even more summery than yesterday—80° (EIGHTY!), with only a few thin, scattered clouds in the mostly sunny sky. However, I scaled back from the 34-mile ride I did yesterday, and today settled for consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, completing the 18 miles in 1:47:50, riding slowly and casually and finishing almost 6 minutes slower than my record of 1:42:08. Now, if I can do three round trips tomorrow (and I certainly should be able to), that will put me just over 1000 miles for the year—a mark I didn't pass until early August in 2015. (But then, I didn't even get the trike until May 2 last year.)

76th ride of 2016 - Monday, 5/23/2016

Today was, in many ways, the nicest ride I've done to date, including in 2013 when I rode over 1700 miles on my regular bike, before repeated falls and injuries (due to my balance issues) caused me to switch to riding a trike. The weather today was certainly a big factor in my evaluating it as "nicest" -- it was 54° and brightly sunny when I began at 9:30, and 72° when I finished, at quarter to one. Additionally, it was my longest ride to date on the trike—4 round trips to Marsh Park, and I completed the 34 miles in 3:13:03. I had ridden 4 round trips twice previously (last August 1 and September 26), but that was before I added on the now-obligatory concluding half-mile lap in our condominium complex that boosts my Marsh Park rides to a whole number of miles. So those earlier rides were both 33.5 miles, making today my longest ride on the trike.

Today's ride was noteworthy for two encounters with friends. In the latter part of the first round trip, as I rode north alongside Lohr Rd., my dear friend Paul Davoux and his wife Kay passed me and honked to be sure I'd notice them. Then later, in the first half of the third round trip, I approached a road that crosses the trail, and a car pulled up, the passenger window opened, and a blond woman called out, "Looking good, Allen! Are you having fun?" I smiled and gave a big thumbs-up, but my distance vision (even corrected) is weak enough so that I couldn't be sure who it was. I later thought it could have been my friend Doris Granum, who is blond and lives down that way, but I could not really determine if it was her or not.

Early in the ride, to show the beauty of the spring morning, I got this picture (going south beside Lohr Rd., between Oak Valley and Ellsworth):

And for comparison, here is a picture of a similar portion of the route (although looking the other way—north) when I rode last November 21, a Saturday morning after our first snow of what would turn out to be an extremely tepid "winter."

My friend Doug Tidd (who got me started on cycling, back in 2012) has told me that a common challenge for cyclists is to ride a "century," or 100 miles in one day. I'd like to gradually build up to that challenge, even though it's harder on the trike than it would be on a bike, I believe. It would take me 12 round trips, or 3 times the length of today's ride (!), so I'd be riding a pretty full day of almost 10 hours of riding. I figure if I could add one round trip to my weekly long ride (on Saturday) every two weeks, I'd make my goal this fall:

5 round trips - mid-June
6 round trips - end of June
7 round trips - mid-July
8 round trips - end of July
9 round trips - mid-August
10 round trips - end of August
11 round trips - mid-September
12 round trips - end of September

We'll see! It's a tall challenge, but I've always been one to set big goals.

75th ride of 2016 - Sunday, 5/22/2016

The accident that so turned my life upside down and inside out happened just before noon on Saturday, May 22, 1993. That afternoon the doctor told Michelle that I would very likely not live the night, so we now observe May 22 as Life Day. Here is a picture that ran in the Jackson newspaper, as it occurred just outside Jackson. I can be seen (though not clearly) on the stretcher at the right of the picture; I was run off the highway by another driver, and my small car tumbled and ejected me from the window. I ended up incurring a closed-head Traumatic Brain Injury that left me in coma for 2 months and in the hospital until December 7. I'm happy to be much more mobile now, 23 years later!

This afternoon, I celebrated Life Day by sailing through a single round trip to Marsh Park in a few seconds under an hour. I had hoped to do a longer ride (perhaps as many as four round trips), but (1) I rode following the Tigers' encouraging 9-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, and it was a relatively long game, so my ride didn't start until almost 4:30; and (2) Michelle I wanted to eat out tonight in celebration, and I really didn't want to go too late. The heavens were smiling on me, however—my ride took place in unbroken 72° sunshine.

74th ride of 2016 - Saturday, 5/21/2016

I "lazied out" yesterday and decided not to ride. Still, though, I feel very good about the way I used my time, completing two compositions for male chorus. One, a setting of the powerful Langston Hughes poem When I Grew Old, calls for accompaniment of piano, horn, and cello. The other, brief and playful, is a setting of the e.e.cummings poem maggie and milly and molly and may, and requires the pianist to dance nimbly (but easily) over the keys.

So today I was glad to get back on the trike, and went out just past 8:30 on a cool (58°), cloudy morning, riding consecutive round trips to Marsh Park. I completed the 18 miles in a fairly good time of 1:43:48 (my record for this ride is just over 1:42), and decided to hold myself back and do only the two round trips because of the call of yet more composing. Having done my annual piece with the Emerson Orchestra this week (in concert Thursday night, and then again at a school assembly yesterday afternoon), I am beginning now on next year's piece.

Also, two major milestones. Today's ride put me over (1) 900 miles for the year, and (2) 100 hours of elapsed riding time.

73rd ride of 2016 - Thursday, 5/19/2016

It's another gorgeous day for riding—67° and sunny. I had wanted to do two or even three round trips to Marsh Park—2 would have put me over 900 miles for the year. But instead, I remain just a few miles short of that plateau, having settled for a single round trip. I completed the 10 miles in a new personal record for me of 53:46. (I had done it in 56:01 on December 7.)

I was once more fighting the urge to compose, and music won today. The last two days I've been making excellent progress on a setting for male chorus, piano, horn, and cello of a poem by Langston Hughes (As I Grew Older), and I was eager not only to continue with that, but to begin a playful setting that has begun to percolate in my head for piano and male chorus of an e.e. cummings poem (maggie and milly and molly and may).

This day is a special one for me, too, on two counts. It is the birthday of my maternal grandmother, with whom I was close. She was born May 19, 1897, on the family's cherry farm at the end of Old Mission Peninsula sticking out into Grand Traverse Bay in northern Michigan. She was also a lifelong pianist (she used to play for the silent movies back in the teens of the last century, as a girl, and entertained her fellow residents—which she amusingly called "the old folks" when she was closing in on 100 herself—at the nursing home where her life ended. In between she played for many dances throughout her adult life. And secondly, tonight the orchestra at Michelle's school (Emerson School) is playing in concert a piece I wrote for them (Simple Springtime) and I have been invited to guest conduct them, as I have on numerous prior occasions. (Here is a link to a video of last year's performance.)

https://youtu.be/MgJOALiScYw

72nd ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 5/18/2016

Today was an absolutely GLORIOUS day on which to ride. I sailed through consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, completing the 18 miles in 1:42.

When I began, about 9:15, it was 53°—and when I finished, it was 58°. Pedaling along in my short sleeves and soaking up the bright sunshine, I reflected on how I didn't miss last winter's sub-20° rides (January and February) AT ALL. 

71st ride of 2016 - Tuesday, 5/17/2016

When I rode today at 12:15, it was already a balmy 58° (so that I was very comfortable riding in short sleeves), and it had had the 60° mark by the time I finished. I wanted to do two round trips to Marsh Park, and was making excellent time (one of my best in ages), but late in the ride a light rain began to fall, and it was projected to intensify as the afternoon proceeded, so I allowed myself to settle for a single round trip, completing the 10 miles in 55 minutes.

It is not as if I have nothing to do with the extra time, however—I'm making good progress on a new piece I just began this morning for the male chorus in which my brother sings, with accompaniment of piano, horn, and cello, and setting a poem of Langston Hughes.

70th ride of 2016 - Monday, 5/16/2016

This morning when I went out to ride just before 9:00, it was a beautifully sunny but brisk 41°. But by the time I finished it had heated up to a toasty 55°! I had wanted to do 2 round trips to Marsh Park, but due to schedule commitments today, I had to limit it to one, and completed this 10-mile ride in 62 minutes. SO nice to be riding again without fearing that the trike is going to fall apart somehow!

69th ride of 2016 - Sunday, 5/15/2016 (A new era with a new trike)

I hadn't been able to ride since a week ago yesterday, so I was very eager and glad to be able to get out there today. Last Saturday (May 7), the frame of my trike broke yet again (the third time—it happened previously last August and last November). In a heartening display of customer service, the Grand Rapids manufacturer, TerraTrike, offered me an "even trade," taking my old Traveler model off my hands and giving me a new Rambler.

My friend Doug Tidd took me to Jack's Bicycle in Dearborn yesterday afternoon to effect the trade, as Stowe, a TerraTrike employee, brought the new one over, transferred hardware from the old to the new (such as lights and the mirror), and adjusted the new one, including its chain, so that it fit me just right. This picture shows me on the new Rambler, with Stowe. (I learned that he was born in Germany, and elicited a big grin from him when we were finished and I told him, "Vielen, vielen Dank!"

It was good that I wanted to ride so badly, though, because as I was riding home from church this morning, I was dismayed to see a bit of light snow—and I thought, "This is just wrong for the middle of May!" I got a little of it during my ride, too (even though it was a balmy 39° when I began, about 11:20), and the small crystalline icy snowflakes stung my cheeks.

I monitored the trike carefully to see how it compared to the old one, but I was mildly surprised to find that it rode almost precisely the same—except that it was blessedly absent the assorted clacking and rattling that the old one had developed as its joints and connections loosened up over time.

Anyway, due to the weather, I kept the ride relatively short, just going down to the north edge of Saline and back, for a ride of 11.5 miles in 1:14.

68th ride of 2016 - Saturday, 5/7/2016

Today gave me all the "adventure" I needed or wanted. After doing three round trips to Marsh Park on each of the last three days, I wanted to gear up and do four today. I took my time, and set off a little past 9:00 a.m. All was going well until I got to Marsh Park, and stopped to take a short break. I got up, and a couple of minutes later, when I sat back down on the trike, an ear-splitting CRACK was accompanied by the center joint collapsing to the ground. (The sound was loud enough to draw alarmed glances from parents at the play structure with their kids 200 feet away.) I was quickly able to spot where the frame had broken at the hole in the center joint where the pin goes.

I texted Michelle and, bless her heart, she came to pick me up without complaint. After I explained to her what had happened, and showed her the damage and noted that I expected this would require replacement of the frame yet again, she said, "You know, I wonder whether it might not be time for us to explore other options." I told her that on one of the previous frame issues, TerraTrike had offered me the option of an identical frame except that it didn't fold. (I think, but am not positive, that this was for their Rover model as opposed to my Traveler.) Here is a closeup I took of the damage after I got it to Jack's.

Anyway, I took the trike to Jack's and explained to Richard, asking also about the possibility of the Rover frame. He shrugged and said, "If they offered it before, I don't see why it shouldn't still be OK now." 

So, at present, I'm back to "waiting mode." Even if they do agree to that other frame, though, I'll need to explore what kind of options (if any) exist to transport it. A back rack for the car? A roof rack?

In light of all this, it seems almost impertinent to point out that I rode a whole 4.7 miles this morning, in 33 minutes.

67th ride of 2016 - Friday, 5/6/2016

Another good ride today, of 3 round trips to Marsh Park (for the third day in a row). I completed the 26 miles in 2:56. When I began, at 8 a.m., it was 45° (and sunny), and by the end it had warmed up to 63°.

The notable aspect of today's ride is that, just west of the park, a north-south railroad track crosses the trail, and in the 500+ times I've ridden it, I've never seen a train on it. But today, during my first round trip, as I neared State Rd., I could hear a train's whistle, and then after I crossed State and as I started down the hill toward the park, I could see a long freight train crossing the trail ahead of me. But it had cleared by the time I got down there.

66th ride of 2016 - Thursday, 5/5/2016

Today I pushed myself to ride three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, for the second consecutive day (for the first time ever). I wonder—can I do three days in a row?

I was just slightly faster than yesterday's 2:54, completing the 26 miles today in 2:49. And it was again lovely riding weather, partly sunny and 60° when I began at about 11:30 but up to 66° when I finished.

And the milestone for today's ride was that I went over 800 miles for the year.

65th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 5/4/2016

I rode three consecutive round trips to Mars\h Park this morning, for the first time since March 22. I've been beset by a lot of issues in recent weeks—health, mechanical problems, and weather. My ride today was slow—I covered the 26 miles in 2:54, though my record for that ride is 2:10:34, last October 22, on a day when I was really flying (for me)—but I'm glad that I at least got it done.

It was mild enough this morning that I wore a polo shirt, but riding, I was glad to have a jacket over it, with temperature in the low to mid-fifties. It was cloudy, and they had been calling for rain to move in this afternoon. I rode between 9 a.m. and noon, and my timing was exquisite, as it began raining just minutes after I finished.

64th ride of 2016 - Tuesday, 5/3/2016

I found out this morning why my seat was wobbly late in the ride yesterday. When I went to check it and tighten up whatever needed it, I discovered that one of the bolts in the seat clamp had fallen completely out! It was not safe to ride that way (I consider myself very fortunate that I was able to make it home yesterday without incident), and no place local would have that specialized bolt, so I made up my mind that I was going to have to pack it up and head back to Jack's Bicycle in Dearborn.

At Jack's, Richard was fairly nonplussed by this new problem, and in a short time provided me with a spare bolt and I was on my way back to Ann Arbor. Nevertheless, the travel time meant that I could not do a long ride today, and another contributing factor to this was minor mechanical difficulties in assembling the trike. First, there was some problem in joining the tubes that support the rear of the seat. And then, once I got it together and began to try to ride, I discovered that the chain had come off the rear gear, and was wedged in a way that made it challenging to get right. But persistence finally paid off, and by a little past 2:00 I was off.

This after was absolutely ideal riding weather—61°, with lots of puffy clouds, but lots of sunshine, too. I rode to Marsh Park, but then on the way back, turned on Wilson Rd. and did my loop down around Saline High School, to return home having completed a ride of 12.6 miles in 1:22.

And another nice feature of the ride was having much of a new praise song ("I Love You, Lord") pop into my mind as I rode, so now I'm eager to write it out and flesh out the rest of it.

63rd ride of 2016 - Monday, 5/2/2016

After a busy day yesterday coupled with Michelle not feeling well, so that I didn't ride, and a busy day today so that I couldn't go until late afternoon, I was glad to get out there, and had hoped to do consecutive round trips to Marsh Park. However, my seat was wobbling and—I must be getting old!—out of caution I decided it would be more prudent to shorten the ride so that I could thoroughly examine it before riding tomorrow and tighten up whatever needs tightening.

I therefore settled for a single round trip, completing the 10 miles in just under 65 minutes. And wearing my (Estes Park) hoodie felt just right in the 4:00 p.m. 52° gray gloom.