155th ride of 2017 - Thursday, 9/28/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2500.2

This morning I got out relatively early (8:00), and did a good ride to put me just over my next mileage milestone. I rode 23.1 miles in 2:27—consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, one lap in Stonebridge, and then 4 concluding laps in Heatherwood (our complex).

I was torn the whole ride between the desire to get the mileage, and the desire to get started on a new composition project. Stephen Baker is the son of my Interlochen classmate and good friend, Brian Baker. Stephen is a fine church musician (organist and choir director). At his previous church, in Caledonia, New York, he did one of my choral works. Now, at his current church, Bethany Lutheran in Spencer, Iowa, they are holding a festival of new church music in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (late October), and he commissioned from me a choral piece. I hope to be traveling there for the performance (the last Sunday in October), and Stephen has just asked me if I could share with him any organ works that he might play that Sunday. I do have some in mind to share with him, but also just got the inspiration this morning to write a new work for his consideration. So I'm eager to get started on that ... so eager, in fact, that I very nearly allowed myself to stop just short of 2500 miles. But in the end, I decided it would be unconscionable to fall just short when I was so close, so I tacked on those laps inside our complex.

In the end, though, I decided to tack on the laps in our complex to give me the mileage I needed.

154th ride of 2017 - Wednesday, 9/27/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2477.1

Today the weather finally broke, and our recently ghastly temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s are history! I had hoped to ride at 10 a.m., but it was raining then, so I decided to wait it out, not having to worry about contending with heat today. I finally got started just past 11:30, and it was 71° and sunny. I rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park for the first time since Friday, completing the 18.4 miles in 1:56, to finish in 78° conditions.

I got some mental exercise, too, putting my problem-solving skills to work. The app I use on my phone to track rides, Map My Ride, calls out stats periodically—the time, distance, average speed, and split speed (that is, for your most recent mile). It did this every mile, and I now believe that must be the default setting.

However, a few days ago this feature quit. I noticed it when I passed the first mile of my ride, and heard nothing. However, it was periodically present—just not every mile.

So, at the park for the first time today, I googled "Intermittent voice feedback Map My Ride" ... and got nothing. Putting my thinking cap on and analyzing the situation, it occurred to me that, although I missed the first mile's feedback, and subsequent ones, I was usually getting a reading just as I reached the park (5 miles). It surprised me that this hadn't occurred previously to such a heavily numbers-oriented guy as I am. And upon checking the settings, I found that you could specify the Interval of feedback. Somehow, a few days ago, it had slid back from that default 1 mile setting to 5 miles. For the last part of today's ride, I set it on .25 mile, and that seemed to me to be helpful. (I find that the knowledge of my speed helps to give me incentive.) Other possibilities were .5 mile, 2 miles, 10 miles, and 25 miles. So, I'm glad to have figured out this issue.

153rd ride of 2017 - Tuesday, 9/26/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2458.7

After missing the last two days (Sunday I couldn't ride because of a musical performance my daughter was in; and yesterday morning I had to take the bike in for repair, and when I got home it was too hot), it felt great to get back out and ride again today.

Yesterday I took the trike back to the dealer where I got it (Jack's in Dearborn) for attention to some relatively minor issues—proper adjustment of the handlebars, and also tweaking of the brakes so that they worked as well as they should, and also got a headlight put on, as I've been without one for about a year.

Today I went out at 9:20 and rode a single round trip to Marsh Park. I had hoped to go further, as it was so nice riding with the trike right again—but the heat was tough to bear (already 70° when I started, and 76* when I finished), and a composition on which I'm making good progress was calling to me. I debated, but finally, between the two, I felt it more important to give more energy and commitment to my musical calling than to riding.

152nd ride of 2017 - Saturday, 9/23/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2448.5

Today was a day of diminishing expectations. I went to be last night and woke up this morning hoping to do three round trips to Marsh Park. However, before I began, I remembered that I had planned to hold it at two until I get the brace off my hand.

Then, however, during my first round trip, it became clear to me that I should hold it to one. The misadjustment of my handlebars has my left leg rubbing on the brake cable on the upswing of each pedal rotation, and this has both opened a sore on my left leg, and is also slowly damaging the cable, I fear. I have been unable to remedy it myself, so I have an SOS in to my more mechanically able cycling friend, Doug, to see if we can right the situation.

Anyway then, today I rode just the single round trip, 10.2 miles in a slow time of 1:13, with my leg screaming at me, "You fool! You shouldn't be riding!" But our summery weather persists—At 9:15 when I began, it was 71°, and up to 77° at the finish, with bright sunshine throughout.

My heart was singing, though, with memories of last night. First, Michelle and I and my daughter Christy dined al fresco on the roof of Palio, an Italian restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor, and got a fellow diner to take this picture of us. Then, following dinner, we crossed the street to The Ark where we had tickets to hear Acoustic Eidolon, my favorite non-choral musical performers: a husband-wife duet from Colorado. Both are brilliant performers—Hannah on acoustic cello, and Joe on a custom instrument that he designed and had built, a 14-string, double necked instrument that he calls a guitjo (guitar+banjo).

151st ride of 2017 - Friday, 9/22/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2438.3

The autumn equinox is at 4:02 p.m. today, so this is the first day of fall. But it SURE DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT! When I set off for my ride this morning at 9:20, it was 69°; when I finished, it was 82°, and it's supposed to top 90° again today, as it did also yesterday.

Yesterday mechanical issues prevented me from riding, so today I was glad to be able to get out there again, and did consecutive round trips to Marsh Park (18.4 miles in 1:51).

I was utterly stunned at the park the second time, when I heard a tentative voice ask, "Allen?" I turned to see a dignified matron, who, upon seeing my confusion, quickly identified herself. I had gone to school with Lori Patterson (now Lori Patterson-Tindle) at Addison over half a century ago. But she has changed in that time .... gotten taller, I guess! 😇

A new mechanical issue - Thursday, 9/21/2017

I did not ride this morning. Yesterday toward the end of my ride, my handlebars slipped out of adjustment (the left one way in, and the right one slightly out), and this morning when I started, I couldn't fix the situation, but thought I'd try to ride carefully anyway. This has happened in the past, and I was able to tug them back into position. But I was was unable to do that this time. And today, I got just down the first hill and the handlebars worsened so that I couldn't steer at all.

I managed to get it home, but was unable to adjust it myself. So loaded it onto the rack to take it to the bike shop (fortunately our local one, Wheels in Motion, rather than having to haul it all the way to Dearborn) along with a note explaining the situation and asking if they could show me the trick in case I had to make a similar adjustment in the future. It turns out it was a two-step process with the wrench on each handlebar post -- one on the top of the post, and one which I hadn't seen on the side. In 5 minutes I was all set, with no charge, and the technician offered to help me get the trike back outside and put it on the rack too after he saw my hand. So now I'm good to go, but I think I'm going to give myself the day off and work on other projects.

150th ride of 2017 - Wednesday, 9/20/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2419.9

Today was my first ride since my follow-up appointment with the orthopedist yesterday where they took a new x-ray and found that it is healing appropriately, and  I was able to lose the splint on my hand, trading it in for this brace instead.

The brace is considerably less restrictive than was the splint, while still providing necessary support. However, it does permit me greater freedom of motion with my right hand, so that I can now shift with that again—not easily, or free of all discomfort, but at least it is doable!

I rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park today, doing the 18.5 miles in 1:53. I've decided that I'm not going to try to ramp up my distance any until the brace comes off—hopefully at my next follow-up appointment, on October 16.

Summer is definitely going out with a bang! Highs for each of the next several days are supposed to be in the eighties, and when I rode this morning at 10:00, it was already 70° and extremely humid, up to 76° when I finished.

149th ride of 2017 - Monday, 9/18/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2401.4

This morning I rode what I hope will be my last ride with the cast on my hand. I have an appointment with the orthopedist tomorrow, and I'm hopeful he will proclaim I am healing and the cast can be gone. The strap was once more bothering me in the webbing between my middle and ring fingers, so I was happy to settle for a shorter ride. Also, during the second half of the ride, I was "enjoying" a light rain—not terribly troublesome overall, but a bit of a bother on my glasses.

So, with these factors, I did a single round trip to Marsh Park, riding 10.1 miles in 58 minutes.

A couple of other items of note today. (1) I went over another milestone in mileage. (2) I heard on the radio that the autumnal equinox occurs this Friday afternoon at 4:02, thus making official what I've been feeling for at least a couple of weeks now—bye-bye, summer!

148th ride of 2017 - Sunday, 9/17/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2391.3

Today, after taking two consecutive days off from riding, I was highly motivated and eager to ride. I hoped to do a couple of round trips to Marsh Park in order to push myself over a new mileage milestone. I was both physically and psychologically ready for this. But, leaving at 7 a.m., it was cool (though not forbiddingly so, at 57°) and extremely foggy. Within minutes my glasses were a water-soaked prism, and even pulling them down to the tip of my nose I could barely see through the thick curtain of gray.

The conditions made me grateful for the trail, which prohibits motorized vehicles. Consequently, though, I decided to settle for a single round trip today—10.2 miles in 56 minutes. But then, wouldn't you know it! Shortly after finishing my ride, the increasing sunlight began to dissipate the fog! Oh well ...

147th ride of 2017 - Thursday, 9/14/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2381.1

This morning, on another splendid fall day (though it is technically still late summer) I rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park (18.7 miles in 1:43), enjoying almost unbroken sunshine, 56° when I began at 8:30, and 67° when I finished. I had hoped to ride three round trips today, but a strap on my removable cast ("splint') was cutting into the webbing between my middle and ring ringers (on my right hand), so I cut it short.

146th ride of 2017 - Tuesday, 9/12/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2362.4

Felt great to get "back in the saddle again" this morning after not riding Saturday, Sunday, or yesterday. I did consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, riding the 18.4 miles in 1:40, in lovely fall weather—when I left at 8:30, bright sunshine had it up to 48°, and when I finished it was 59°.

145th ride of 2017 - Friday, 9/8/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2344.0

This morning it was almost chilly when I began my ride at 8:30, with a thick unbroken cover of clouds and 53° conditions! I was really glad I had worn a long-sleeved, ribbed, somewhat thicker shirt (but still with shorts, of course 😎—and then by the end of my ride it was a toasty 59, and the clouds had almost entirely cleared out.

It is not painful to ride with my broken hand and cast—just awkward and uncomfortable to grip the handlebar, and totally impossible to shift. (I will confess, though, that I have on a couple of occasions when I've been on a straight stretch with no one else close to me, reached across and rotated the right gear dial with my left hand.) So today I was able to bump it back up to two round trips to Marsh Park, completing a ride of 18.4 miles in 1:42.

144th ride of 2017 - Thursday, 9/7/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2325.6

After I discussed my mileage goals in my blog yesterday, my friend Doug (just slightly younger than I—he is the one that got me started riding a few years back) commented, offering this wisdom:

Goals are good but the goal should not become a burden. Enjoy the ride and when other pursuits call be flexible.

Today, although I had planned to try a longer ride, the discomfort persists in riding with the cast on my broken right hand, so I heeded Doug's counsel and limited myself to a single round trip to Marsh Park, riding the 10.2 miles in 58 minutes.

143rd ride of 2017 - Wednesday, 9/6/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2315.4

This morning exhibited the dramatic change of seasons we have recently experienced. Early (before 7:00), when I was listening to the news, it was 37° here in Ann Arbor! By the time I started my ride at 8:00, it had heated up to 47°, and it was 54° by theme I finished.

I rode a round trip to Marsh Park, completing  the 10.1 miles (in shorts and a hoodie) in 59 minutes. The book I'm writing (a thinly-fictionalized account of my life, which I doubt will be publishable) was calling to me to come home and work on it, and I couldn't resist.

I still haven't completely abandoned all hope as to my goal of 4000 miles for the year, though it looked much likelier back in the spring before some setbacks I've encountered. I've been tracking all year my mileage each day to calculate the miles per day I'd need to average for the remainder of the year to make 4000. Although I started out the year at 10.96, that soon took a sizable weather-related hit. For the majority of the year, it's fluctuated between 13 and 14, though I've gotten below 13 for a couple of brief stretches. But my recent inability to ride due to my fall and injury provided quite a setback, and today the figure stands at 14.52 for the remaining 116 days of 2017. This still seems to me as if it should be quite doable, but of course much depends on the weather late in the year ... and I simply can't afford many more days like today, where I cave in.

142nd ride of 2017 - Tuesday, 9/5/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2305.3

As today is Michelle's first day of classes, I guess that mentally I've officially made the switch to fall, and so rode in a hoodie this morning. (But I still rode very comfortably in shorts. 😎

Leaving at 8:30, I did consecutive round trips to Marsh Park in splendid sunshine (58° when I began, 62° when I finished)., and reached another mileage milestone today—the first in a while, due to my injury.

141st ride of 2017 - Monday, 9/4/2017 (LABOR DAY)

Total mileage for 2017: 2286.9

I didn't labor as much on this Labor Day as I had intended to. Leaving at 8:00, I figured I'd ride at least two round trips to Marsh Park, and possibly even 3. But instead, I settle for just one. No particularly good reason -- my hand wasn't particularly aching, and the weather was suitable (if fallish—47 when I began, with a bit of a breeze, and 64° when I finished).But some writing i'm doing was calling to me, and I wanted to get back to that. As well, Michelle spoke of spending a good chunk of the day together, and I didn't want to have to cut that short because of time spent riding. Last night she spoke of today as "the last day of summer," and cast in those terms, it sounded rather sad.

I was happy to get back to riding this morning because yesterday I could not. I decided not to ride early morning in order to husband my energies for a big family gathering we had at my daughter Christy's house during the afternoon and into the night. I was happy that we could get this picture with my Mom ("Grandma Hellie:) and most, but not all, of her descendants. Across the back are me, Michelle, my brother John (JB), his wife Darlene, and my sister Marianne, up for a brief visit from her home in Georgia. In front are my son John, Mom, and my daughter Christy. Sadly unable to be with us were JB's children Ben, and Courtney (Courtney spending the weekend with her fiancee Michael at his parents' home in Pennsylvania), and Christy's children Izzy and Danny, who were spending the weekend with their dad.

140th ride of 2017 - Saturday, 9/2/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2276.5

This morning, when I set out just before 9:00 a.m., conditions were spectacular—a perfect temperature of 54°(neither hot nor cold), calm conditions, and brilliant sunshine. These all remained throughout my ride, except for the temperature, which crept up to 67°. 

However, the morning was not without incident. Going south on the trail for the second time today, I came up behind a man cycling almost like a skier slaloming. He seemed to be deliberately weaving back and forth from edge to edge of the trail. I timed it to get by him, but just as I was ready to pull ahead, he made an atypical cut back in front of me so that we nearly collided. All I could do was growl out a HEY!, whereupon he looked at me, muttered a sheepish OH, and pulled over to let me pass.

It must be the day for it! About 3 miles later, I came up behind a teenage boy riding the same way. But him I got by without incident.

I had planned to do three round trips to Marsh Park. But this was sufficiently unsettling, combined with the persistent discomfort in my right hand so that I remain 

unable to access all the trike's gears, to persuaded me to settle for two instead, and I did these consecutive round trips (18.7 miles) in 1:46.

139th ride of 2017 - Friday, 9/1/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2257.8

I battled a healthy wind (10 mph, from the east), and for some reason, my inability to access all the gears on the trike (due to my hand injury and cast) was particularly problematic today. Consequently, I lazied out and settled for a single round trip to Marsh Park, riding the 10.2 miles in a relatively good time of 1:02.

I could certainly tell that with the advent of the new month we've bid farewell to summer, though! I went out at noon, and even with abundant sunshine it was only 61° (with the wind making it feel cooler)—although it had heated up to a sweltering 64° by the end. 😁