Today I got up at a good hour (5:15) and left nice and early (5:45) to ride six round trips to Marsh Park, for a ride of over 50 miles that would have been my longest ride ever. All in all, it went pretty nicely, but as I was coming toward the end of the fifth, my feet were absolutely killing me (or, as the Tigers announcers like to say, my dogs were barking). I was not exhausted either mentally or physically, and a strong part of me just wanted to push on. But the discomfort was so extreme, that when I realized I didn't have to add on that final round trip, I opted not to.
But what, you may ask, if I get out there on that 250-mile PALM (Pedal Across Lower Michigan) bike tour later this month, and those dogs start barking? Well, obviously I'll just suck it up and push on, no matter how slowly.
An incident that was amusing in retrospect, though not so much at the time, was that when I was at the park for the second time, still quite early this morning, I sent messages to my family to update them. Due to my nearsightedness, I often remove my glasses for close work, and I did that on this occasion, setting them down on the park bench beside me. But when I finished my text message, I got up and rode off ... totally forgetting my glasses. I didn't realize it till a few hundred yards later, as I was just leaving the park and entering onto the trail that leads up to State Rd. I quickly wheeled around and returned to the bench ... but they were gone. Fighting down a rising sense of alarm, I quickly recalled that there are two facing benches, some 20 feet apart, and today I had inexplicably sat on the one I usually do not. And there were the glasses!
I also learned yesterday that the app to track my ride consumes great amounts of battery power, so I brought my charger and a book to read, and took care of recharging my phone during my fourth time at the park. The outlet I had scouted out in the men's room was dead, but I was able to find one on the outside of the building that worked just fine. My stay was a bit lengthier than I had expected, but by waiting a bit over an hour I was able to charge the battery from 32% to 92%, which I knew would easily take care of the rest of my ride.
Today was a beautiful day for a ride—and though the 46° temperature when I started at quarter to six was a bit brisk, it made my hoodie feel good, and the hoodie was definitely not needed by the end, a bit before 3:00, when it had climbed to 75°. The hoodie is evident in the following picture; the impression my helmet made on hair, meanwhile, is quite amusing to me!
So, even though I fell short of my hoped for six round trips and longest-ride-ever status, I still had a good, solid ride of 42.6 miles in 6:08. And I also reached a new milestone, exceeding 1300 miles for the year.
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