Today's ride was enjoyed under near-perfect conditions. Except for battling a bit of wind (13 mph from the west northwest) it could not have been better! The sky was a clear blue, and the temperature (54° when I began, at 7:15, and 61° when I finished) was delightful! It's funny how, just a few weeks ago, I was rejoicing over the gradual arrival of warmer days; and now, I exult in cooler temperatures.
I found myself wrestling between two desires. For one thing, I've been making good progress lately on a major composition for choir and instruments (flute, oboe, trumpet, horn, tuba, violin, cello, and double bass), and wanted to return to it as soon as possible. But, on the other hand, I wanted to do a longer ride. When Doug and I parted ways in Saugatuck Sunday morning as I left PALM early, he told me, "You know, you could just pretend you're still on PALM, and do longer rides!" (They are doing 46 miles today, from Nashville to Eaton Rapids, going through Charlotte, the town where my in-laws live, and where Michelle grew up.) I know that Doug was kidding, but still, that consideration was in my mind.
In the end, however, the siren call of music lured me away from a longer ride, and I settled for consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, completing the 18.1 miles in 1:54.
When I ride, I wear a piece of gear called a Road ID ... a velcro bracelet around my wrist with an engraved plate bearing emergency contact information. When I saw it advertised a few years ago, I was grabbed by their slogan, "We speak for you when you can't speak for yourself." I thought, "How appropriate! I can NEVER speak for myself!" Here is a picture of it. They are available in a variety of colors, but rather than choose blue (my favorite color since my earliest memories), I went with red, for the sake of visibility.
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