trike-ab-trike-2020

2020 mileage:   2736.3 I'm having an outpatient surgical procedure early tomorrow morning, and they tell me that I'll have to forgo riding for a minimum of 3 weeks. So I was particularly eager to get in a good long ride this morning (as well as to beat the heat), and so rolled out at 6:00 a.m. to do my first round trip to the Matthei Botanical Gardens since July 7, a couple of days before I took my trike to the dealer for repairs which ended up taking over a week. This morning's ride gave me 31.2 miles in 2:09. I was happy, too, to see Jim Alvey again on the Lohr-Textile Greenway in the latter portion of my ride (with a little over a mile left to go). Despit my execrable distance vision, I could tell it was him coming because of the bright lime-green shirt he frequently rides in, and because he always rides with his headlight flashing. 😎 Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage:   2705.1 Glad to have gotten my ride done early today. I began at 6:45, and it was already 64° and sunny—after I finished my round trip to Baker Rd. (20.2 miles in 2:09), it had climbed to 81°. I had wanted to do my 31-mile ride to Matthei Botanical Gardens. But upon thinking it over, after having had to take a hiatus of over a week, I felt it would be better to break back in with a slightly scaled-back effort. A few stretches along Jackson Ave. have grown almost impassable, as the summer has matured and tree branches and weeds have grown up, encroaching on the sidewalk. There are good bike lanes on Jackson, so I could get around this, but it would mean dishonoring my commitment to avoid riding on the roads, and consequently I'm considering the possibility of forgoing that route for a few weeks. My trike was at the dealer having some issues addressed. With over 5000 miles on my chain, I was in need of a new one, so they put that on, and all three ti...

2020 mileage:   2684.9 I left about 5:45 this morning, at which hour it was already very humid and 68°. The air was so humid that when I got 5 miles into my ride, at Marsh Park, I stopped to wipe off my glasses. However, as my usual glasses are still broken from my May 31 fall, I was wearing my older backup glasses, in which the lenses are held in by a thin filament that runs beneath each lens (as shown in this picture), and the right lens popped out. As I continued on, I pondered the situation, and for some time considered continuing on with my (31-mile) ride to Matthei Botanical Gardens. But eventually I came to feel that riding that far with sub-optimal vision (the right lens out, carried loose in my pocket, and the left lens still experiencing fogging from the humidity) might be pushing my luck a bit too much. So I cut it back and just rode the Platt/Packard Square (13.6 miles in 1:37), in order to be at Pearle Vision for their 10:00 opening so I could get my glas...

2020 mileage:   2671.2 During the lockdown, Michelle and I have been doing frequent walks, and one of our favorite spots is North Bay Park in Ypsilanti ... from the parking lot, a nice paved trail leads down a hill (with several switchbacks) to a loop of about 2 miles around a portion of Ford Lake. This morning, I wanted to ride over there, ride down into the park, and then after the loop, challenge myself with the climb back out. Leaving at 5:45, I rode over successfully, through Ypsilanti and then south toward the park. But as I neared it, I was dismayed to discover that to cover the last couple of blocks, I would have to ride on the road, in traffic -- and this would require disregarding Michelle's request that I keep my riding off the road. So I reluctantly, but dutifully, turned back toward home, without quite having reached the park. This still gave me a good long ride (20.5 miles in 2:17), and for the most part I was able to beat the heat. (70° when I l...

2020 mileage:   2650.7 Our fine weather pattern remains anchored over us. And since it's supposed to climb to a high of 92° or so by 1:00 p.m., I went out for an early ride again today, leaving at 6:15 in what was already warm (65°) and sunny weather, and the temperature climbed to 89° by the end of my ride. I rode once again today to Matthei Botanical Gardens, for a round trip of 31.2 miles in about 3:25 (by my best guess). However, one aspect of the ride was frustrating—and that was the fact that the MapMyRide app on my phone did not work.  I have the vocal feedback set to every tenth of a mile (the smallest interval choice offered) so that I can keep an eye on how it's working. After the first couple of minutes I noticed that there was no feedback, so I stopped to check it, and saw that although it was recording my time, it was not recording any distance whatsoever. I then went into Settings in the app, and tried everything I could imagine to get it working...

2020 mileage:   2619.5 I could not do the very early ride that I prefer in this hot summer weather today, due to a 7:00 a.m. ZOOM meeting of the men's devotional group in which I participate. So when I got underway a bit past 8:15, it was already 75° and sunny (the temperature climbed to 89° by the time I finished). But I didn't find it particularly bothersome. I rode again a round trip to Matthei Botanical Gardens (31.3 miles, today in 3:16). On my way home, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that over the last week, this has now become my most frequent ride. On the way home, I had one distinctly unedifying encounter. As I was riding along the sidewalk on the north side of Packard St., shortly after crossing Carpenter Rd. (and while approaching White Castle), an older man lugging two heavy grocery bags that had his shoulders slumped WAY down, came shuffling across Packard 50 yards or so ahead of me. When he reached the sidewalk, he turned east (toward me) and began p...

2020 mileage:   2588.2 I got this holiday (and the 113th anniversary of my Dad's birth) off to a good start by getting back to riding the round trip to the Matthei Botanical Gardens (31.2 miles in 3:19); I left , totally lacking in discipline (by my standards) at the lazy, late hour of 6:20! But I'm glad I could get away that early, because it was already 70· and quite humid (up to 82° by the time I finished), and that will only get worse as the day goes along. It was nice, also, to see my triking colleague Jim Alvey again today, when we passed on the Platt Greenway, as I was returning home and he was headed out. Link to (Relive) video of todays ride

2020 mileage:   2557.0 I have greatly enjoyed my being able to   do the long ride (over 31 miles round trip)  to Matthei Botanical Gardens on each of the last three days. I would have continued that string today if it were an option; but schedule considerations forced me to do a more moderate ride this morning. I began at 5:20 in blessed relative cool (67°), and rode the Packard/Platt Square, a route of 13.6 miles that I covered in 1:19. Link to (Relive) video of today's ride

2020 mileage:   2543.4 Whereas yesterday I was less certain about the historicity of my ride, today I am much more certain - I know that today's ride is the first time I've ever done three straight days of at least 30 miles. I left at 5:45 and rode again a round trip to Matthei Botanical Gardens (31.2 miles in 3:13); We remain caught in a magnificent weather pattern -- it was 63° when I began, up to 82° when I finished, and all under clear, sunny skies with no real wind to speak of. One very significant event occurred this morning. As I was riding on the Matthei Botanical Garden trail, a lovely paved trail which cuts through the woods on the east side of Dixboro Rd. from its beginning at the intersection of Dixboro and Geddes up to Matthei, a dear bounded across in front of me at one point, not more than 50 feet away. I was glad it was no closer; given the results of deer/car collisions (one ran in front of our car when I was driving 8 years ago, totaling the car), ...

2020 mileage:   2512.2 I'd have to comb back through my records to be absolutely certain of this, but I think that today I completed for the first time ever consecutive days of riding over 30 miles.  I did this by beating the heat again today and leaving just before 6 a.m. (62° -- climbing to 80° at the end) and riding again to Matthei Botanical Gardens (northeast part of Ann Arbor) for 31.3 miles in 3:24 It[s funny how the mind works. Both yesterday and today, on my way home, when I got to Ellsworth and Platt (by which point I had gone over 23 miles and had just over 8 miles remaining), the more familiar surroundings made me think, "Almost home!" ຖ Also, I never imagined I'd reach the point where thoughts of doing the 20-mile round trip to Baker Rd. would seem like a "light day"—but so it is. Today pushed me over a mileage milestone -- 2500 for the year. I had hoped to make 2500 by yesterday, but still, I'm grateful to have been able to do this....