172nd ride of 2017 - Wednesday, 10/25/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2769.2

The conditions for riding were, I think, marginally better today than yesterday, but only because of the lack of yesterday's heavy wind that I battled. Today there was a steady gentle breeze—but, at 45°, it was a few degrees cooler today, and as unrelievedly gray, plus a light sprinkle began when I was at the park for the second time. All in all, though, it was a good day to get out there and pedal hard, and I managed to turn in consecutive round trips to Marsh Park, for 18.4 miles in just a few seconds under 2 hours even.

171st ride of 2017 - Tuesday, 10/24/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2750.8

Today's ride was blustery and unpleasant—51° under gloomy gray skies, with a swirling wind of nearly 20 mph. But I'd better psych up and toughen up .... much worse conditions will be upon us soon!

Riding in shorts and a hoodie, my legs were absolutely fine—but my arms and torso were not a bit too warm! When I stopped in at church this morning to practice piano, our custodian grinned and me and asked, "Whaddya think it is—summer?" 😎

I had hoped to do a longer ride ... but once I got out there in the conditions, I was glad to be able to gut out a single round trip to Marsh Park (10.1 miles in 1:10).

170th ride of 2017 - Monday, 10/23/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2740.7

After giving myself a rest day yesterday, it was good to get back to riding today. However, our bipolar weather patterns were on display—in striking contrast to the unbroken blue skies and warmth I enjoyed last week, this morning's ride was cool (61° at 8:30, and 65° when I finished), dark, and gloomy. I was eager to get it done early, though, as rain is supposed to move in around noon and be with us for the rest of the day.

When I elected to settle for only two round trips to Marsh Park rather than push on for three, that pretty much drove a stake through the heart of my erstwhile goal of riding 4000 miles this year, after having done 3500 last year. Oh, I suppose a faint flicker of hope still remains ... but I would have to average 18.11 miles/day for the remaining 69 days of 2017 to make it, and that doesn't take into account the inclement weather that's no doubt staring us in the face soon (our forecast here is for possible wet snow this coming Sunday), plus I'm staring another trip in the face ... Friday morning I leave early for a trip to Iowa to hear the performance of music I've composed, and I won't be back until late Tuesday night, so that means the loss of at least four more days to riding (and more likely five, unless I get up and ride laps in our condo complex with my headlight on Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. before my departure, as I'd given some fleeting thought to doing).

So, at this point, it seems much more realistic for me to hope to get back again to 3500 miles, like last year—this would take an average of 10.86 miles/day for the rest of the year.

Anyway, that gave me a ride today of 18.7 miles in 1:54.

169th ride of 2017 - Saturday, 10/21/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2722.0

WHEW! Today is a busy day with my descendants! This morning I went to the soccer games of my grandchildren, Izzy and Danny, in Dexter. (This picture shows them on the dock during our visit to my sister's house, Lake Lanier, Georgia in July 2016).

Then at 3:00, we are going to a pumpkin-carving party at the house where they live in Dexter with their mother, my daughter, Christy.

In between, though, I was just able to squeeze in a brief ride ... a single round trip to Marsh Park, 10.2 miles in 1:05.

168th ride of 2017 - Friday, 10/20/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2711.8

Today I got to enjoy what seems like another in a virtually endless stream of glorious days (as the following picture shows). This week is virtually the polar opposite of last week, when we got a glut of (badly needed) rain every day. Today when I began my ride at 10:30 a.m., it was in 54°, and when I finished it had climbed to 71°, al under an unbroken dome of blue.

I hope this doesn't come off sounding sanctimonious (though I'm afraid it might), but I want all my riding (and, in fact, all of my life) to be something that glorifies God. ("Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - I Corinthians 10:31.)

I set off today wanting to ride three round trips to Marsh Park. As I went through the second, however, I was heavily wavering and waffling, justifying a shorter ride by whispering to myself the (very true) statement that, after all, two round trips would still be a good ride. Yes -- but it is all too easy for me to justify shortening my plans, and I'm afraid of getting into a bad habit of doing this too often, so I was very relieved at the end of the second round trip to be able to make the turn and start back for the third. This gave me 26.9 miles, in 3:09, and helped me to top another mileage milestone for the year.

167th ride of 2017 - Thursday, 10/19/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2684.9

This morning when I rode at 8:30, it was coo at 49°l—but nowhere close to intolerable—for my wardrobe of shorts and t-shirt. When I finished, a bit before 11:00,, it was a toasty 59°.

I had wanted to do three round trips to Marsh Park again today, and would have had no problem with it physically. But as I rode on into the second, I became convinced that I ought to apportion my time otherwise. I am meeting a lady at church at 1:30 to work on piano duets, and wanted to be able to have a good solo piano practice session before that.

There are two types of piano duets—ones employing two pianos, and so-called 4-hand duets, with both players seated at the same instrument, side by side. I have never researched this, but although neither type is exactly common, it is my feeling that r-hand duets are somewhat more frequent than ones for two pianos. Anyway, 4-hand duets is what we're going to be working on today, hoping to be able to work something up to play it in church sometime. Needless to say, it takes great skill on the part of the composer to make a musical contribution while weaving the two players together, and keeping them from colliding.

Anyway, today I scaled back and settled for two round trips—18.7 miles in 2:11.

166th ride of 2017 - Wednesday, 10/18/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2666.2

Today was a great riding day in several aspects. The weather was absolutely perfect—when I began at 11:30, it was 57*—and when I finished, it was 68°, all under unbroken blue skies. And the wind that was predicted largely held off—there was some, but it was fairly tame. The following picture shows the view from Marsh Park.

Also, I was able to push myself to do a relatively long ride—three round trips to Marsh Park for the first time since August 1, over three weeks before I broke my hand (Aug. 23). This 27-mile ride was not fast, at 3:10 ... but at least I did it!

Finally, I made a new friend. As I was on my way back from the park the last time, while I waited to cross State Rd. I pulled up alongside another recumbent trike rider who had already passed me a couple of times on the trail. He said hi, so I pulled out my card and showed it to him. "Hi, Allen," he said. "I'm Jim." He also made a very understandable observation‚"In this nice weather, I'm trying to get in as many miles as I can. It'll be cole all too soon!"

Jim was riding an ICE, a brand of trike made in the United Kingdom which is significantly faster than mine, but it also comes at a much higher price—and mine was hefty enough. A little beyond that, he peeled off and rode a route that added on mileage for him, but then as I was going north on the trail between Textile and Ellsworth, he passed me again, and noted that he couldn't stop to chat, because he had ridden almost 50 miles today, and needed to get home.

165th ride of 2017 - Tuesday, 10/17/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2639.2

Yesterday I had a follow-up visit with the orthopedist, and after getting and viewing a new x-ray, Dr. Fitzsimmons  told me, "Well, you've graduated! The hand looks good, and I don't need to see you again—unless you hurt it. SO DON'T HURT IT!" 😃

He also told me, "The brace is totally optional. Feel free to wear it if you want—say, if you're lifting something—but you don't ever need to."

Consequently, I rode without it today—and what an incredible feeling of freedom and relief it was, to be able to use my right hand to shift again! I had wanted to ride three round trips to Marsh Park, but found that, not surprisingly, my stamina has taken a big hit ... so I settled for consecutive round trips, riding 18.7 miles in 2:05 on an absolutely gorgeous, sun-drenched day that was 61° when I began, at 12:30, and 67° when I finished.

164th ride of 2017 - Monday, 10/16/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2620.5

My riding in recent days has been pathetically weak—on Friday I devoted the day to music (both piano practice and composition); Saturday, Michelle and I took a road trip that lasted most of the day, to visit her parents (over an hour away); and yesterday I spent several hours driving family members (plus the weather was not terribly favorable, being extremely windy). So, since I hadn't ridden since Thursday, I limited myself this morning and rode a single round trip to Marsh Park, completing the 10.4 miles in 1:04.

When I left at 9:30 it was 44° (that climbed to 47* by the time I finished), and I was rewarded with a beautifully bright fall morning. The following picture shows the view I enjoyed when riding through the Silo Ridge subdivision, on the way back from the park (in the northeast quadrant of the Lohr/Textile intersection).

163rd ride of 2017 - Thursday, 10/12/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2610.3

Today I waited until noon to ride. I was comfortable again today riding in a hoodie and shorts at 56°, but a light sprinkle (not nearly as disconcerting as yesterday's rain) turned my glasses into a prism .... more on this below.

A few weeks ago I wrote an arrangement for male chorus of the Welsh song "Men of Harlech." My friend Les Rowsey is going to use it with his fine choir in Jenison, Michigan (on the west side of the state) for their Early Spring Concert on March 25. This morning I was working on some revisions to it to make it more suitable for them—primarily, filling out the vocal parts more robustly, and beefing up the piano accompaniment—and had made good progress on it. I was eager to get back to it this afternoon.

My obscured vision was problematic on my way back from Marsh Park, when I pulled out to cross Textile Rd. (after having stopped) but couldn't see an oncoming dark vehicle. He saw me, however, thanks largely (I'm sure) to the brightly colored Visibility Vest which Christy so thoughtfully gave me earlier this year.

Anyway, the driver stopped well short of me, so that an incident was never even close. Still, thought, this experience confirmed in me the wisdom of choosing to keep today's ride short. So I settled for a single round trip to the park, 10.2 miles in 1:04.

Also, after I got home, I was pleased to find a package in the mail. I belong to the Facebook group Michigan Recumbent Trikes. But I had joined since their last shirt order was placed. When a new one went out recently, I happily rectified that omission! (Interestingly, its bright lime green and fluorescent orange are the exact colors my brother and I chose for the walls and trim when our parents let us paint our bedroom in our teens. 😎)

162nd ride of 2017 - Wednesday, 10/11/2017

 Total mileage for 2017: 2600.1

Man, today's riding conditions were miserable ... easily the worst I've experienced since last winter.

For one thing, the Indian Summer weather we'd been experiencing until quite recently (even on Saturday, when I rode home from Dexter at  noon, it was 80°) is now a distant, fading memory.

Additionally, we are in the midst of an all-day rain. Though it was not raining hard, it was very steady, and the fact that it had been going for hours meant that even though I waited until 12:45 to ride (52°), so that it had eased up a bit, the trail was quite waterlogged and the spray thrown up on me left the arms of the hoodie I wore drenched and cold. However, though the hoodie topped a pair of shorts, my legs were just fine.

So, in the end, I kept the ride quite short, doing just a single round trip to Marsh Park (though I tacked on a loop on Interfirst Drive and Whitmore Blvd. in oder to  push my mileage over a new milestone), riding 10.9 miles in 1:12.

An unplanned rest day

OK, I turned 60 this year. Since I heard this summer that the "elderly" are particularly at risk of flu, I asked Michelle if I should get a flu shot. She grinned and gave me an emphatic YES. So this morning, I got my first-ever flu shot.

Even though I'm feeling fine, with this built-in excuse, I think I'm going to give myself the day off from riding.

161st ride pf 3017 - Monday, 10/9/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2589.2

Once more today circumstances forced me to shorten my ride. On the way back from the park, I noticed that I had once more forgotten to insert my rear flag in the holder before starting out; consequently, I decided that prudence dictated but a single round trip to Marsh Park, so I did that 10.2 miles in 1:02. It was a shame to "waste" such a glorious day, however—bright, calm, 69° sunshine! Well ... at least we haven't gotten any snow yet! 😎

Additionally, I've instituted a new procedure which I hope will allow me to avoid this problem in the future. I laid the flag across the seat of my trike in the garage, so that tomorrow, I will not be able to ride until I put it in place. Now if only I can make this an ingrained habit.

160th ride of 2017 - Saturday, 10/7/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2579.0

This morning I left home at 7:30 and rode to the McDonald's at Jackson and Baker in Dexter to meet Christy. My grandchildren have soccer games this morning at Dexter High School—Danny at 10, and Izzy at 11—and, as Michelle is gone with the car on her annual field trip with students to Frankenmuth, I had no way to get to the soccer games. Michelle has asked me to avoid riding my trike on the road, and I can get almost but not quite all the way to the school on sidewalks. So I arranged to meet Christy here at 9:30 to give me a ride to the games, and, bringing my laptop in the bag on the back of my trike, I'm able to update the blog as I fuel up a little with a muffin and some orange juice.

It was a nice morning for a ride—63° when I left home, and 65° when I arrived here, and I rode with my headlight on (though it wouldn't have been strictly necessary). The skies are cloudy enough that it was still pretty dark when I left. A good ride—10.3 miles in 1:06, and my plan is to ride back home after the games.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

The AQ (Adventure Quotient) for this afternoon's ride home from Dexter was dismayingly high ... but I guess all's well that ends well.

After the kids' soccer games, Christy returned me to my trike at McDonald's, and I set off in 80° sunshine, fighting a rising wind. I was pedaling along happily and made it nearly 7 miles (almost 3/4 of the way home) when, going south along Maple Rd. just where it crosses Pauline, my chain came off and got all fouled up. 

I could not ride at all, so I pulled off in the grass, turned the trike over on its side, sat down on the ground, and began working on it. Somehow the chain had gotten off and twisted into an actual knot! I was working at trying to get it untwisted (but without much success), and had been at it for 15 or 20 minutes when a nice lady named Mary came by. She asked if I was OK, and I said, "I am, but my trike is not," and pointed to the fouled up chain. She said, "Ooooh ... I don't know chains, but I live just around the corner. Let me get my husband, Fernando, who's pretty mechanical. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, Fernando and Mary returned. To two other women who had stopped and were wearing Michigan State t-shirts, so that we were talking about tonight's game, I said, "Go Green!" And one of them grinned and said, "You better not say that—the guy with the tools just arrived, and he's wearing Michigan gear." I smiled and said, "It's OK ... I went to both." Then I hailed Fernando with a hearty "GO BLUE!" and he smiled and went to work.

He couldn't figure out how I managed to do what I did to the chain. But eventually by patient work he was able to get the knot out and the chain back in place. However, he told me, "Look right here -- this link is damaged, and you won't be able to ride with it that way." Meanwhile, his wife Mary was busy working her phone, and told us, "There's a cycling shop less than a mile away, on Stadium. Fernando, why don't you take Allen over there in our van [the van was full of stuff, which was why we couldn't just drive the trike over there], and I'll start walking the trike over and then you can come back and trade with me." This kindness was absolutely outstanding, and we carried out this plan.

Getting to Great Lakes Cycling, there was only a wait of 15 or 20 minutes before Mary pulled up with the trike. (Fernando had driven back, but couldn't find her.) She grinned and said, "Man, that's hard to wheel!" I smiled and said, "I know!" While they were working on the trike, I had a nice visit with Fernando and Mary, some by speech and some by notes.

Fortunately, they were able to do the necessary repair by replacing two links in the chain, and after spinning the wheels and testing it out thoroughly, I was told that my bill was a whopping $10 and change! My two guardian angels asked, "Do you want us to follow you for a bit?" I said, "No, I'll be OK. My daughter says I like to live on the edge." Mary laughed and said, "I was just gonna say that!"

My ride home from there, a little over four and a half miles, was slow (clogged by Game Day pedestrians), but uneventful. With the interruption, though, after having left Dexter at noon, I didn't arrive home until about 3:15, and was ever so glad to make it!

159th ride of 2017 - Friday, 10/6/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2557.2

After taking consecutive days off (something I very rarely do), I was glad to get back to riding today. The time off did, however, allow me to make great progress composing. I began a piece Wednesday morning and finished it yesterday afternoon, a setting for choir and string quartet of a fairly sizable poem by Robert Frost.

This morning was rainy, so I waited until 11:15 to ride, at which time it had eased up considerably. There was still, however, a very light misty drizzle with which to contend. I had hoped to do a longer ride, but had to settle for a shorter one due to two factors:

(1) The weather. While new precipitation was not much of a concern, the trail on which I ride was thoroughly soaked, and throwing water up onto me so that in short order I was quite wet and cold. I wore shorts and a t-shirt ... at 58°,  I should have been comfortable, and am sure that it would have been no better in soaked long pants and sleeves.

(2) I noticed as I approached the park that my rear flag (AKA spinner, or "tornado," as my grandson calls it 😎) was missing. Since May Michelle and I have been parking our car in the driveway in front of our garage, but with colder weather approaching, we wanted to start parking it in the garage again. The only way to do that is to park the trike in the back corner, below the loft ... and the only way to fit it under that loft is to remove the flag. So when I removed it on Wednesday, I was not used to it being off, and just left on my ride this morning without replacing it. But I have it back on now so that I'll be OK for tomorrow morning.

One other additional, but minor, factor is that Michelle is gone on the annual field trip that she and her orchestra director colleague Leslie take with their students to Frankenmuth for a couple of days. With her gone, I am deprived of the "safety blanket" feeling that I have if she is here, and could bail me out if I become imperiled. Hopefully it would never come to that, but I realize with her gone what a comfort it is to have her here.

So at any rate, I settled for a soggy single round trip to Marsh Park today, 9.9 miles in 54 minutes.

158th ride of 2017 - Tuesday, 10/3/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2547.3

Happy to be able to get back to a morning ride today, I did consecutive round trips to Marsh Park (18.4 miles) in 1:51. Beautiful all sunshine throughout—but when I left, at 8:30, it was 50°, and when I finished it was 72°!

157th ride of 2017 - Monday, 10/2/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2528.9

Today was an interesting day. In the latter part of my ride late yesterday afternoon, I began to hear a squeal/squeak from the right wheel. It was intermittent, but there well over 50% of the time. As I couldn't pinpoint it, or know what to do about it, I was concerned that if I pushed on and continued to try to ride, I might worsen something, so I shortened my ride and determined to go to the dealer with it this morning.

Jack's Bicycle in Dearborn, where I got the trike, opens at 10, and I was their first customer of the day. Due to this they were able to attend to me right away, and determined that all it needed was a small adjustment in the positioning of the brake, and I was away in less than 10 minutes.

I thought about trying to ride earlier in the day, but it was heating up, and I decided to read instead. I rode after we got Michelle home from school, starting just past 5:00. Sunset in Ann Arbor was at 7:14 p.m. today, so I knew I was going to have to push pretty hard to do two round trips to Marsh Park before darkness settled over us. But I knew I could always turn on my new headlight to finish up if need be, and in the end, I didn't need to anyway, finishing the 18.5 miles in 1:43.

156th ride of 2017 - Sunday, 10/1/2017

Total mileage for 2017: 2510.4

I haven't ridden since Thursday—Friday I devoted wholly to composition, attempting to move as far ahead as possible an organ solo that will be performed at a special concert of new church music in Iowa on October 29; and yesterday was busy with composition, attending my grandchildren's soccer games in the morning, and the baseball game of a grandson of a friend in the afternoon (as we sat in our folding chairs in the delightful autumn sunshine, we had a great visit). So I was glad to get back to it today.

For a short time I considered going early this morning, using my new headlight to illuminate the trail. But then I decided to hold off and wait to ride late afternoon, so I left at 4:30 in 66° waning sunshine and did a single round trip to Marsh Park, 10.2 miles in 1:07.

And just a few minutes after I got home, the Tigers finished their last game of the season. They lost, to finish the season with a record of 64-98. It brings to mind a remark Gerald Ford made when he was inaugurated as President on August 9, 1974, in the wake of Richard Nixon's resignation. As an impressionable 17-year-old, I had my mind seared with his observation, "Our long national nightmare is over." Only today's is not a national nightmare, but one largely confined to Michigan. And now I enter the too-long off season, with no more baseball until next spring.