TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2016 - 3394.9
Today's ride was surprisingly gloomy and cheerless, given the fact that I rode under a clear sky. But after a very full and busy day, I wasn't able to ride until we got Michelle home from school at 4:30, and at that time the daylight was quickly fleeing, with the temperature at 31°.
A good chunk of the day's busyness was hauling around our 30-year-old TV that we no longer use, but still works fine, trying to find a home for it. But Salvation Army, Goodwill, and the ReUse store all told me no. When a worker at ReUse told me they don't accept TVs, I asked him, "Where?" He suggested, "I'd take it to the recycling drop off station." I hated to do this, as it seems wasteful, since the TV still works. But I went there — only to find they are closed Mondays. So I'll go back tomorrow.
I had wanted to do two round trips to Marsh Park today, but two incidents early in the ride sucked all the gumption out of me.
1) The high winds during my early morning ride yesterday had badly tangled the spinners, or 'tornadoes,' on the back of my trike. I didn't have time to disentangle them yesterday, and forgot to do it today before I set off. A few minutes in, I remembered and stopped to do it, but in the low light and cold I was unable to get it done. (Once I got home I brought them inside, and it was child's play for Michelle to straighten them out.)
2) Then just a few minutes later, I rode one part of the sidewalk where overhanging branches have stolen the spinners in the past (breaking them at one point). Even though I am very conscious of the danger, I could not avoid it today, and when the branches pulled them out and I heard the clatter as the poles struck the sidewalk, I stopped the trike to retrieve them—and the last bit of desire to try for a longer ride vanished.
Accordingly, I rode a single round trip to Marsh Park, completing the 10 miles in 1:15, very glad for that flashing headlight! The daylight, which was "quickly fleeing" when I started, was almost wholly gone by the time I finished. It was not yet quite pitch black ... but such a condition wasn't far off.
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