108th ride of 2016 - Thursday, 6/30/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1632.4

This morning, like yesterday, the call of pending projects (specifically two) kept my ride shorter than I had wanted:

1 - Our church is hosting a concert tonight by a choir of Swedish youth, and Michelle and I are one of the host families (putting up the tour manager, a man named David). I want to help clean our home to prepare for this.

2 - I continue to tweak the job application I was working on yesterday. This is for a writing position, and they are asking for two short marketing-oriented writing samples — not exactly in my wheelhouse. So I'm continuing to polish these, as well as my cover letter.

With these hanging over me, I settled for consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, covering the 18 miles in 1:59:39. When I began, at 7:30, it was a brisk 49°, and when I finished, it had climbed to 72°.

As I rode, a smile lit my face, thinking of last night when Danny, upon seeing the spinners on the back of my trike (shown in action in a brief video included in Monday's blog entry), described them as "tornadoes."

107th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 6/29/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1614.4

Today I enjoyed a ride in crisp, clear early morning sunshine. When I went out at 6:15, I was immediately glad I had done a last-minute about face and returned to my closet to throw on a long-sleeved shirt over the t-shirt I was originally planning to wear. It had cooled down substantially overnight, and was 43°!

Originally I has thought I would do a longer ride today. But that was a plan hatched a few days ago, when I thought a strong push during the last few days of June might bring me to 1700 miles before July. As it is now clear I will fall well short of that, I decided there was no need to push myself, and as my mind was whirling with plans for activities claiming my time today (practicing organ and piano, a new job application I want to put together, and most excitingly, the midday visit we anticipate eagerly from Christy, Izzy, and Danny), I decided to settle for a single round trip to Marsh Park, completing the 10 miles in 1:12.

106th ride for 2016 - Tuesday, 6/28/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1604.4

This morning was a much more enjoyable ride than yesterday. I intended to begin at 6 a.m., but I was lazy and didn't start until 7:00. Even so, it was 64° when I started, and 67° when I finished, about 10:20, as opposed to yesterday's temperature in the eighties while I rode. Today I did three Marsh Park round trips, covering the 26 miles in 3:10, to put me over 1600 miles for the year.

105th ride for 2016 - Monday, 6/27/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1578.4

What's that they say about the best laid plans? Well, today I had hoped to do a longer ride, but the summer heat sapped me sufficiently that, in the end, I settled for a single round trip to Marsh Park, covering the 10 miles in 1:19. I find that I infinitely prefer riding in 20° to riding in 80°, and, as bizarre as it sounds, I look back nostalgically now at the wind-chill days of last winter. Today, when I began at 10:00 a.m., it was already 78°, and when I finished it was 84°. While I could have pushed on farther physically, I just found it too dismaying, discouraging, and depressing to have to ride so slowly. So tomorrow, I'll definitely make it a point to get my ride done much earlier. (That was not an option today, because of a small group of men in which I participate at church at 6:30 on Monday mornings!)

By the way, a number of people have complimented me on the new flags I got for my trike a few days ago (or "spinners," or "tassels" as they have been called by various people), noting how visible they are. So after today's ride I prevailed upon Michelle to take a brief video to show them in action, to which I have added the beginning of Dave Grusin's "New Hampshire Hornpipe" from my favorite movie, "Oh Golden Pond."

104th ride of 2016 - Sunday, 6/26/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1568.4

I got out this morning when it was nice and cool, beginning just before 6:00 a.m. I rode three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, covering the 26 miles in 3:09. On the third round trip, I passed a couple of runners who commented on my new flags (or "spinners," as a runner complimented me on yesterday). "Hey, good idea!", today's guys said—"They sure can't miss you!"

103rd ride of 2016 - Saturday, 6/25/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1542.4

Today's ride displayed change as I rode and thought about it. I am trying to build to the standard cycling challenge of riding a "century" (100 miles in one day) sometime this fall. Today, I was going to do a half century ... 50 miles, or 6 round trips to Marsh Park. And conditions were ideal ... a cloudless sky, 49° when I began at 6 a.m., and 79° when I finished.

It was going well, In particular, I enjoyed trading periodic texts with Christy throughout the morning. About 3 hours in, she texted me an encouraging description of me, that began with the words, "He's goofy, he's charming ..." This puzzled me, though, because while I am certainly charming, I am decidedly not goofy.

In the second half of the fifth round trip, though, I got to thinking. Just last week I bumped up my long ride from 34 miles to 41.3 for the first time, and it seemed to me that it might be wise to stay in that area for another week before bumping up to 50. So that's what I decided to do, and will take on the challenge of 50 miles each of the next two Saturdays (I hope). "Settling" for 5 round trips (still my longest ride to date) thus gave me a ride of 42.0 miles, in 4:58:32.

102nd ride of 2016 - Friday, 6/24/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1500.4

This morning I rode once more in sparkling conditions—calm 73° sunshine. I could no6, however, do as long a ride as I would liked, since I have a noon funeral to attend. (This is for the father-in-law of Brent, one of my best friends from Addison. And Brent is a pastor, so he will be conducting the funeral.) Because of this, I am planning to ride two more this afternoon in order to push me over the 1500-mile plateau for the year. This morning, I rode the 18 miles in 1:52.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

I was rushed, after the noon funeral I attended, but was able to squeeze in a ride to Marsh Park, and then my loop down around Saline High School; the 12.6 miles (in 1:22) took me just over 1500 miles for the year. The weather remains perfect—sunny and 82°.

101st ride of 2016 - Thursday, 6/23/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 1469.8

Today I wasn't able to ride until 5:30, so I limited it to a single round trip to Marsh Park, even though my heart was singing because of the Tigers' 10-inning victory over Seattle this afternoon, that capped off a four-game sweep. Anyway, I completed the 10 miles in a slow, relaxed 1:11.

100th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 6/22/2016

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016: 1459.8

I am very much a person of habit and routine, both by temperament and by intention. For instance, after a ride I always leave my helmet on the seat of my trike. However, for some reason still unknown to me, I wore it into our home after my ride on Monday. I did not ride yesterday, because of our late return from the Tiger game Monday night (1:00 a.m.), and the fact that I was absolutely exhausted.

Today when I rode, I forget to put on the helmet before going outside (not being accustomed to that order of events), and so set off on my ride without it. When Stowe, the TerraTrike employee, brought over my new trike on May 14, he also brought me a TerraTrike cap, which I have been wearing beneath my helmet for each ride. It was the cap that tipped me off today as to the helmet's absence—the breeze keep lifting it, and a couple of miles in I realized what was missing. Fortunately, Michelle was planning to go do some work at school this morning, and hadn't left yet, so I texted her to ask if she might be able to bring it to me. When we met up, I thanked profusely and apologized for it, but said, "I figured you'd probably prefer that to dealing with head trauma." She laughed, "Yes—once in a lifetime is plenty for that!"

I pushed myself to do three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park—I want to see how close I can come to topping 1700 miles by the first of July. Today I moved along at a little better pace than I have been riding recently, completing the 26 miles in 2:41. This was far from a record, though—on May 30, I did it in 2:27:05.

I saw Doris Granum riding again today, with a wave and a bright cheery smile. Also had an interesting experience, during my third time in Marsh Park. While riding the loop of the trail that allows me to head back towards home, I passed a man with his back to me, unloading two little yippy dogs out of the back of an SUV. (I am not a dog person and cannot tell their breed.) He was getting the second of the two—the first was already out and on the ground, unleashed. It took off after me, yipping and scrambling to catch me. I could her his owner calling futilely after him, but after a couple of hundred feet or so, when the dog saw he couldn't catch me, he gave up the chase.

I was also delighted to be able to ride this morning, because this afternoon we are going up to meet Christy, Izzy, and Danny—our first time to see them since they moved to Michigan from Colorado last week. YEE-HAH!

99th ride of 2016 - Monday, 6/20/2016 (First day of summer)

I was very glad to get my ride done in the morning today. Not only because of the heat, though that is a definite factor. But also because of plans I have. For a number of years now, I've observed the June 20 birthday of my good friend and fellow Tigers fan, Tom Brown, by going to a game with him. The last two years, we've been adventurous, doing road trips to Cleveland and Minnesota, respectively. But tonight we're headed for Comerica Park in Detroit to watch them take on the Seattle Mariners.

Anyway, I went out at 9:00 in a temperature of 78° and rode 3 consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, in a fairly slow time of 3:03. When I finished it was up to 87°. The balls of my feet were really burning by the end, from the pushing out against the pedals that I need to do, but I'm glad I stuck with it, finishing the 26 miles.

I was rewarded, also, by seeing two friends. In the middle of my second round trip, Doris Granum, who is recovering from surgery a few weeks ago, but seemingly doing quite well, passed me on the trail, beaming a big smile and throwing up a friendly wave. Earlier, though, on the first round trip, a man rode up beside me on our way away from the park, and complimented me on my new trike. I asked, "Are you Ron?" Sure enough, it was—I met Ron one time at Marsh Park last summer, and though I've emailed him several times, I believe that is the only occasion when I've seen him. So my confusion may have been understandable. We rode slowly side by side for close to a mile, and conversed as best we could.

I was glad to learn some detail about Ron during our talk. After being married for 50 years, Ron was widowed in 2013, but then this winter down in Florida he married a woman named Donna. He said he had shown her the article I gave him about me, and they both find my story "amazing." I told him, "Yeah, I'm a lucky guy." He likened me to a cat with nine lives, "Only you used up one of your in that accident!"

98th ride of 2016 - Sunday, 6/19/2015

I definitely got to "beat the heat" and ride in the cool of the morning today! Starting out at 5:30 a.m., I rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, covering the 18 miles in 2:01. And as this chart, which I compiled a few weeks ago from my records, shows, I passed another milestone today.

It will be a good (and busy) day, as our nephew, Grant, turned 10 yesterday, and his party is today, at their home up in Mason. So after church, we'll head up there—another reason why I wanted (and needed) to ride early.

97th ride of 2016 - Saturday, 6/18/2016

I was really delighted to get an early start today. When I set off, at 6:30, it was 50° and lovely—and when I finished, at 11:30, it was 82° and I was very glad to be done.

I did my longest cycling ride ever today—longer than any I did in 2013, when I rode my bicycle so much and did several round trips to Chelsea. And longer by far than anything I did as a boy—though i rode my bicycle a fair amount, there were never any long rides. This morning I did two round trips to Baker Rd. (Dexter), which netted out to 41.3 miles, in 4:58:59. This leaves me just a couple of miles shy of 1400 for the year—but I'm glad to leave that for tomorrow.

96th ride of 2016 - Friday, 6/17/2016

Today was yet another in our seemingly endless stream of gorgeous days this spring. Riding under a near-cloudless sky, it was 71° when I began at 9:30, and 81° when I finished. I rode three uneventful (read: untroubled, thankfully!) consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, with the mileage just altered slightly because of the way I had to avoid the sidewalk blockages. I completed the 25.9 miles in 2:44.

95th ride of 2016 - Thursday, 6/16/2016

Today I rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, with my mileage just augmented slightly by the sidewalk blockage that is still occurring, thus forcing me to exit and reenter our complex by the back (sidewalk) entrance. And my timing was superb, as a light rain was just beginning in the last mile of my ride. This ride of 18.2 miles took place in a very leisurely and untroubled 2:02.

94th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 6/15/2016

After not riding since Sunday, I was awfully glad to be abe to get out there again today, and had hoped to ride 2 or 3 round trips. But my spirit was sapped, and I settled for onedue, in large part, to a less-than-auspicious beginning to my ride. Some of the sidewalks near us, on which I ride to get down to the train, were ripped up, under repair. Accordingly, I twice had to turn around, go back uphill, and try to find my way around the blockage. I eventually made it, but this robbed me of considerable initiative. Anyway, upon finishing, I checked, and found out that I had ridden 10.7 miles in 1:12.

Michelle had helped me with my air horn a few days ago, and we found that the problem was that it had only come with a partial initial charge, which we had depleted. So we pumped it up, and it worked just fine. Now it is silent again, though, and I cannot figure out how to remove it to pump it up again, so I'll have to enlist her help once more.

93rd ride of 2016 - Sunday, 6/12/2016

I love the early daylight at this time of the year! Today it enabled me to get out and ride in the cool of the morning; today's high, projected to be in the mid-seventies, will be well short of yesterday's 91°, however! Leaving at 6:00 a.m., I did a single round trip to Marsh Park so that I'd have time to come home and do some more composing before church. This ride, while modest, still pushed me over 1300 miles for the year, and I completed the 10 miles in 62 minutes.

92nd ride of 2016 - Saturday, 6/11/2016

After taking the day off yesterday due to a very full schedule, I was eager to ride early today, as it is supposed to reach a high of 90° today. When I went out, at 7:00 a.m., it was already well into the seventies and when I finished, before 10:00, it was 82°.

Today, I had hoped to do my longest ride yet, and do five consecutive round trips to Marsh Park. But instead, I wimped out and settled for three, completing the 26 miles (rather than the hoped-for 42) in 2:40.

Last night, when John asked me what I hoped to ride today, and I told him 42 miles, he said, "WOW! That's a marathon and a half1" But instead, I had to be content with only a marathon. It does at least, however, bring me to where tomorrow's ride should easily put me over 1300 miles for the year.

91st ride of 2016 - Thursday, 6/9/2016

I wanted to do a longer ride today, of 3 or even 4 round trips to Marsh Park. The weather was certainly agreeable: 68° (though mostly cloudy). But composition was screaming at me—a new handbell piece that I just began this morning, had been making good progress on, and for which I had numerous other ideas that I wanted to work with—so I caved in and settled for a single round trip to the park, completing the 10 miles in 1:00:10.

90th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 6/8/2016

I got myself an AirZound for my trike, which promotes itself as "the world's loudest air horn." Once we got home this afternoon, my angel, Michelle, helped me attach it to the trike. She had the clamp, straps, and Velcro sorted out in short order, but had I tried to do it, I'd no doubt still be out there puzzling over it.

While we were working with it, we accidentally set it off a couple of times, and it certainly lives up to its billing! However, I was dismayed when, early in the ride, I tried it, and got no sound whatsoever. My spirit broken by this, I decided to settle for a single round trip to Marsh Park, completing the 10 miles in 1:08 under 68° sunny skies. I figured we'll leave the mystery of the horn to figure out tomorrow, since she is gone tonight to a function for her school.

89th ride of 2016 - Tuesday, 6/7/2016

Our idyllic weather of the past two weeks has taken a big hit. It's still not bad, but whereas I've ridden in temperature of near or above 80° in most recent days, today when I went out at 12:15, it was cloudy and 58°, and when I finished at almost 1:45, it was 65°.

I chose to ride a loop down into Saline, taking Woodland Dr. to where it intersects with Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., and then into the center of town, east along Michigan Ave., and back north on (the sidewalk alongside) Maple Ave. This ride of 13.1 miles took me 1:27.

88th ride of 2016 - Monday, 6/6/2016

This morning, while in the closing stretches of my first round trip to Marsh Park, I saw my friend Doris Granum. She beamed a big, bright smile at me, threw me a hearty wave, and shouted out, "Good morning—glorious, isn't it?" With this comment, she encapsulated the weather beautifully. When I began to ride just past 9:00, it was 68° and calm, with not a cloud in the sky. By the time I finished, the heavens were just as blue, but it had climbed to 73°.

I had wanted, and fully intended, to do three round trips to the park. But late in the second one, I got to thinking, and concluded that if I really want to regain my keyboard abilities (at least in part) on piano and organ as I've been dreaming about in recent days, then it's not going to happen without regular, disciplined, diligent practice sessions. And since "there's no time like the present," I decided to shorten my ride today in order to leave myself with the opportunity to get to church for a good spell of work on both instruments, to try to begin to establish this as a regular part of my routine. So I "settled" for consecutive round trips, in a fairly good time (but nowhere near my record, which is a bit over 1:42) of 1:48:31.

87th ride of 2016 - Sunday, 6/5/2016

After a busy schedule kept me from being able to ride yesterday, I was eager to get back out there today. I set off to do round trips to Marsh Park; but, aching for variety in my route, on the way back from the park the first time, I turned onto Wilson Rd. and took my loop down around Saline High School.

This meant, however, that my ride was shorter than I had set out to do. It was still a worthwhile workout, though, as I was battling a hefty (20+ mph) west/northwest wind the whole way. At least I no longer need to worry about wind-chill! When I finished about 6 p.m., it was 68°, and that allowed me to do the entire ride in short sleeves and shorts with great comfort, completing 13.5 miles in a decent time of 1:20.

I rode with a song in my heart as well, since I waited to ride until the Tigers game was done. They defeated the Chicago White Sox, thus completing a sweep of the three-game weekend series, and climbing back to the .500 level once more. Now I hope they can keep pushing on past it a ways!

86th ride of 2016 - Friday, 6/3/2016

Our great weather continues, and today I went out at 12:45 and rode beneath mostly sunny skies, with a temperature that was 77° when I finished (but I neglected to check it before I started). I had wanted to do three round trips to Marsh Park again today, but hadn't time for this after completing some necessary errands. So I did consecutive round trips, and aded on several half-mile loops in our complex at the end in order to push me over 1200 miles for the year. With this, I completed a ride of 20.3 miles in 2:05.

I also figured that I have ridden just over 350 miles on my new TerraTrike Rambler since getting it on May 14. Onward and upward! My goal for the year is to see if I can get to 3500 miles, after doing 2400+ last year.

85th ride of 2016 - Thursday, 6/2/2016

Our stretch of almost unbelievable weather continue! We got some much needed rain last night, but this morning I rode under a mostly sunny sky, with only a few thin, wispy clouds scattered here and there. When I left, at 8:15, it was 63°, and when I finished, just past 11:00, it was 74°.

Like yesterday, I rode three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, but I was even slower today (by 1:57), finishing the 26 miles in 2:46. If I can do three again tomorrow, it'll put me over 1200 miles for the year.

84th ride of 2016 - Wednesday, 6/1/2016

Got June off to a good start today with three consecutive round trips to Marsh Park. (I sure didn't want to do the third one; but now, I'm glad I gutted it out.) Our phenomenal weather still holds on, although significant clouds have moved in, turning the skies to what I would call "partly sunny." It was 73° when I began, at 11:30, and 80° when I finished; I was able to complete the 26 miles in a moderate time of 2:44.