trike-ab-trike-2020

2020 mileage:  2008.2 II found it quite ironic that, after exceeding 2000 miles for the year with my ride yesterday, I was speculating on the possibility of trying for 5000 miles for the year .... and then the whole picture changed. My friend Doug Tidd (the guy who introduced me to cycling back in 2012) was helping to tutor me through some maintenance items, when he discovered problems with my front derailleur that he was unable to address himself, and declared that I would need to return it to the dealer, Jack's in Dearborn, before we could continue. I got the trike there late afternoon ... but they are absolutely slammed with business, and told me they could not really predict how long it would be (but did mention at one point that it could be as much as two weeks). So in the meantime, I am preparing to exercise what Michelle smilingly refers to as my "gift of patience." As it was, I would have needed a big June in order to make 5000 miles for the year possible,...

2020 mileage:  2008.2 I hit a big milestone today, exceeding 2000 miles for the year. And it was coupled with the evident arrival of summer (given that yesterday, Memorial Day, is summer's unofficial beginning), since when I went out to ride at 6:30. it was already 65°, brightly sunny, and quite humid. That temperature climbed to 76° by the time I finished. I rode to Marsh Park this morning, and then down to Saline (to as far as I can go west of town before the sidewalk ends, which is about a mile past Wellers). Not very good speed today, but I just kept on pushing, and ended up with 20.2 miles in 2:22. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1988.0 Got this holiday off to a great start by going out at 6:30 and riding another round trip to Baker Rd. in breathtakingly beautiful conditions. The sky was almost unbroken blue, with only a few thin clouds at the start which increased slightly during my ride, and a starting temperature of 65° that climbed to 75° by the time I finished. I turned in a somewhat sleepy 20.3 miles in 2:17 ... a good time for me by standards of a few weeks ago, but now quite slow. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1947.5 What a SPECTACULAR day for a ride! I almost put it off until this afternoon, due to the weather forecast ... but I'm so glad I didn't! They were calling for the possibility of showers, under mostly cloudy skies, but instead it was mostly sunny, turning to all sunshine by the end of my ride. When I left at 6:30 (in t-shirt and shorts), it was already 60°, and climbed to 72° by the time I finished. I rode another round trip to Baker Rd. today, completing the 20.2 miles in 2:14—great by the standards of 2 months ago, but slow in comparison to yesterday. 😎 Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1947.5 This morning, conditions were very nearly ideal for riding. Oh, the brilliant sunshine we experienced much of the week had vanished in mostly cloudy skies, but the temperature was absolutely splendid—when I began, in lovely early daylight at 6:30, it was 58°—warm enough to ride very comfortably in a t-shirt, but not too warm so as to be uncomfortable. I rode a loop around my old 'home away from home,' St. Joseph Mercy Hospital on Ann Arbor's far eastern edge. (I lived there from June through December 1993 while recovering from my severe May 22 accident.) I had hoped to come home by going through Gallup Park, but I missed the turn I wanted, and ended up having to ride a short stretch of Huron River Drive. I hated to do this, as it flies in the face of the express request of my wife, Michelle, that I keep my riding off the roads and on trails and highways instead. (This request is very understandable, given the plague of distracted drivers with which w...

2020 mileage: 1920.0 Michelle and I observe May 22 as Life Day, in joyful celebration of the incorrect prognosis of  the doctor who told Michelle, in the wake of my critical accident on May 22, 1993, that there was a good chance I would not live the night. In the picture below, which ran in the Jackson Citizen Patriot  the next day, I am being tended to (while unconscious) on the stretcher to the right of the picture. In fact, I have no memory at all of anything having to do with the accident, nor of the next several weeks (as I was in coma for roughly two months)—the last thing I remember was crossing over the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor, Canada, to Detroit about an hour earlier. (I was just returning from a vacation in New England.) At any rate, today was a nice way to celebrate it! I began at noon, with the brilliant sunshine we've enjoyed much of this week gone, as there was unbroken cloud cover today, but a comfortable temperature of 61° that...

2020 mileage: 1899.7 Conditions for this morning's ride were absolutely perfect, so I began early, at just past 6:00, riding in bright early morning sunshine that was 56° when I started and 62° when I finished. I rode a slightly longer route than usual on my return home from the round trip to Baker Rd. today, and then finished in an attempt to break 1900 miles for the year. But i did not check my mileage before beginning, and my memory went astray, so I fell just short of it. But the good news is, I'm pretty sure I'll make it tomorrow! 😎 Anyway, riding is going well and very smoothly these days, and I thank the Lord for that! Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1878.1 Again today I rode a round trip to Baker Rd. I realized that this is my most frequent destination, so after I got home I sat down with my records and figured out that, since I was able to resuming riding it on March 24 (following our long-lasting winter weather), I've ridden it on 24 of 58 days, for a figure of 41.4% of the time. I enjoyed beautiful sunshine this morning, with a temperature of 60° when  I started at 9:45, and up to 63° when I finished. Also, in what by usual standards is atypical, but is almost expected in recent days, I experienced an east wind (actually east-southeast), at 12 mph. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1857.8 Today I rode with -- and then later, into -- a pretty healthy wind (13-15 mph). Once again, though, like on Sunday, the wind was out of the east ... quite atypical and unusual. I rode another round trip to Baker Rd. (20.2 miles in 2:10), beginning at 2:00 when it was 60° (and up to 63° at the end). And two notable things occurred: one positive and one negative. First the positive. About 76% of the way through my ride, just as I was turning from the west-east stretch of Jackson Ave. leading back from Dexter, and heading south along Stadium Blvd., I heard a voice yell, "Allen!" Looking over, I saw my longtime friend Alison Collicott, a former fellow ringer with me in the Alleluia Ringers handbell choir at Westminster Presbyterian Church, and a current faculty colleague of Michelle's at Emerson School. She was smiling and waving eagerly. This was a nice joy! And then the negative. A few miles later, when I was less than 2 miles from finishing my rid...

2020 mileage: 1837.6 We are experiencing a pretty much daylong rain today, but I strongly wanted to get in at least a modest ride. This presented a problem, which I addressed by riding laps in our complex so that I wouldn't be caught out in a big soaker while several miles away from home. One lap is about .47 mile, and in order to do 10 miles, I rode 21 laps, which is (at least) as boring as it sounds. The last time I had ridden laps was back during a late  season snowfall on April 17. I was encouraged today by repeated listenings of Mendelssohn's jubilant Italian symphony (his Symphony No. 4). Looking at the radar weather map, it seemed to me that we might experience a window of light to no rain around 11:30, so I went out then. However, it was still raining fairly heavily at that point, so I sat on a chair in the garage with the door open, observing for a while. Finally, after about 20 minutes, although it hadn't stopped raining completely, it had lightened up enough...

2020 mileage: 1827.6 Taking advantage again today of the early daylight, I left at 6:30 and rode another round trip to Baker Rd. (20.2 miles in 2:17).  All went well, except for a minor malfunction with the MapMyRide app. On the way home, I stopped at the Meijer gas station about a half mile before reaching home, and although I paused the app, it stopped the ride altogether, thus causing me a minor shortfall in my video. It was cool but invigorating—53° when I began, and 56° when I finished. Also, atypically, the wind was out of the EAST today (11-15 mph) rather than the west, as it almost always is. It felt extremely odd to have it pushing me on my way TO Dexter, and then to have to ride into it on the way back to Ann Arbor. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1807.4 Well, I've been unable to ride since Tuesday due to mechanical issues. (The dealer, Jack's Bicycle in Dearborn, had to keep it over to replace the derailleur and one damaged wheel that had a cracked rim and a couple of missing spokes.) But I was able to return in a big way this morning, breaking another mileage milestone for the year (exceeding 1800). Like 2 weeks ago, I rode a round trip to the Matthei Botanical Gardens, in the far northeast part of Ann Arbor. Going out, I went through Marsh Park, and when I turned around at Matthei to come home, I was at 16.5 miles already, which would have given me a 33-mile round trip had I returned home by the same route. But I took a shorter one, coming west on Packard and Eisenhower rather than proceeding all the way south to Textile Rd. and then returning through Marsh Park. Going this way, MapMyRide measured me at 28.4 miles, in 3:03. Here is a view of part of the Matthei Trail, that parallels Dixbo...

2020 mileage: 1779.0 Today was an unfortunate day. This morning I cleaned and lubed the chain on my trike. In the process, it came off the derailleur, and though I tried for quite a while to get it set right, I was unable to do so. (Late in the day, Michelle, who is infinitely more mechanically able than I, attempted to help, too, but was unable to.) I will have to take it to the dealer in Dearborn in the morning -- I was unable to do so today because of schedule considerations. What makes this particularly unfortunate is that we had the nicest weather day of the year so far -- unbroken sunshine, and a high in the seventies. Oh well!

2020 mileage: 1779.0 Yesterday, the cold and hugh wind persisted all day, so I gladly allowed myself to stay inside. Today, though, I got back to it, leaving at 11:00 and riding another round trip to  Baker Rd. (20.3 miles in 2:14), in sunny conditions its a bit of wind (not intolerable -- from the west-northwest at 16 mph) and a comfortable temperature *52° when I began, 56° when I finished(. All in all, a smooth ride, with no issues,

2020 mileage: 1758.7 As yesterday remained cold and windy throughout the day, I had to abandon my hopes to ride in the afternoon—so I was glad to get back to it today! I thought I'd ride at 7:00, but then when I saw the sunrise was at 6:19 (as the days continue to get longer), I got myself out there at 6:30. I didn't have to worry about overheating, though, as it was 43° at that hour, making me glad for my gloves. It did at least heat up to 51° by the time I was done. I rode another round trip to Baker Rd. (20.3 miles in a relatively slow time of 2:30). But a rather unnerving incident occurred early in the ride. Just over a mile in, I ride on a dedicated, elevated sidewalk that runs beside Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. as it crosses I-94. Then after crossing the highway, I have to cross the off ramp for traffic exiting the interstate. Later (on the way home), I stopped and took a picture of this place. Early this morning, though (about quarter to seven), I was quite shaken at t...

2020 mileage: 1738.4 Old Man Winter is evidently loath   to surrender his clutches on us. Tonight it's supposed to be cold enough to allow light scattered snowfall (though, thankfully, no accumulation). And today when I went out to ride a bit past noon, it was 43°. I blithely thought I could handle that—but fortunately, once I stepped outside and the 15 mph wind out of the northwest hit me, I decided I'd better turn around and go back for my gloves. I'm sure glad I did, with a wind-chill of 36°! I had wanted to ride to Baker Rd again but the conditions induced me to change my mind and settle for a shorter ride: the Packard/Platt Square (13.7 miles in 1:35). Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1724.7 Today I went out at 11:00 and rode another round trip to Baker Rd., in mixed weather conditions. It was brightly sunny, and with a very comfortable temperature of 60-64°, However I was contending with a fierce, whipping 20 mph wind out of the west, so that I was riding right into the teeth of it on the long outbound stretch of Jackson Ave. Because of this, I couldn't even think of speed, but just had to keep chugging along doggedly. I ended up with a better time than I had expected (because of the wind at my back in the second half to the ride), turning in 20.2 miles in 2:19. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1704.5 the good thing about today's ride (besides the beautiful weather) was that I reached another mileage milestone, going over 1700 for the year. However, the unfortunate aspect was that I had another Adventure-in-Riding ... a fall ... but at least, thanks be to God, I was completely uninjured. If only I could say the same thing about my trike! I began at noon in 53° sunshine (that rose to 58° by the time I finished), and got to contend with a 13 mph wind out of the north, but wind from the north doesn't really bother me too much anyway, since the bulk of my ride to Dexter is on an east-west axis, I rode another round trip to Baker Rd., turning in 19.3 miles in 2:17. (Slightly shorter than usual, as today's Adventure caused me to ease up a bit and take a slight shortcut home, coming south on Maple Rd. when I get back into town rather than going all the way east to S. Main St.). This shaves off nearly a mile from my route. When I was about 3 miles into ...

2020 mileage: 1685.2 It has cooled down very substantially since yesterday, even though the numbers don't fully reflect it. Whereas yesterday afternoon I rode in mid-fifties sunshine, very comfortable in shorts and t-shirt, today it was 48° with unbroken cloud cover and a bit of a breeze, and I needed every bit of warmth provided by my hoodie and long pants. I had at one point considered riding to Baker Rd. again, but the chill in the air induced me to change my mind, and I was glad to turn in the Platt/Packard Square (13.8 miles) in 1:30. A nice feature of today's ride was seeing my church friend Paul Davoux. Paul frequently gives me a ride to the early Monday Bible Study and fellowship group we both participate in (six men), though, sadly, we have not met for the last two months due to social distancing. Today he said he saw me go by on the trail, so he got in his vehicle and caught me at a section of the trail between Marsh Park and Platt Rd. It is good that he called o...

2020 mileage: 1671.3 On another GORGEOUS day for a ride, I began at 1:00 p.m. in 50° sunshine (up to 55° when I finished) and did my first ride of the year in shorts and t-shirt, turning in another round trip to Baker Rd. for 20.2 miles in 2:08. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage: 1651.2 Now that spring weather FINALLY  seems to have arrived here in Ann Arbor, I did a ride this morning I'd been looking forward to since early in the week, when the forecast sounded like it would be feasible. I left at 7 a.m. and rode from our home in the southwest corner of Ann Arbor (actually Pittsfield Township) to Matthei Botanical Gardens on the northeast side—then I came home by looping around my old (1993) "home away from home," St. Joseph Hospital, and this gave me a total ride of 34.8 miles in 3:48 ... not my longest ride, as I've twice done 50-milers, but I think next to those it is the longest. Due to the plague of distracted drivers, and my own worrisome medical history, Michelle asks that I keep my riding off road ... and I am happy to be able to do that with Matthei as a goal, by riding the sidewalk down to where the Lohr-Textile Greenway begins at Ellsworth Road, and then taking the Greenway to Marsh Park (a mile east of State Rd.) ...

2020 mileage: 1616.4 Well, here we are with a new month, begun with a SPECTACULAR day, infinitely better than my ride in the cold rain yesterday morning. And somehow, the next two days are supposed to be even nicer (even though I may not feel it tomorrow, as I hope to ride quite early [7:00]). When I began today at 11:39, I enjoyed 54° sunshine, and that climbed to 61° by the time I finished. There was just a mild wind (10 mph—not at all burdensome) out of the north.  I rode another round trip to Baker Rd.  (20.3 miles in 2:10), and reached another mileage milestone for the year today—1600. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride