166th ride of 2020 - Saturday, 12/12/2020

2020 mileage: 4078.5

The weather conditions for today's ride were what I would describe as schizophrenic. This morning featured a cold rain that kept me inside, snuggled in my recliner and composing. Then the rain seemed to ease up enough to convince me that I could squeeze in a ride, so I set off at 12:30, in 52° cloudy conditions, with a significant wind (about 14 mph from the west southwest).

I rode down to Stonebridge for a loop in there, and then continued on the Platt/Packard Square (16.4 miles total) in about 1:57. The first 10 miles or so were tolerable, but far from pleasant, with a steady (though light) rain. But then, during the last few miles the sun came out, making it seem like a nice April or May day and eliciting my forgiveness for Mother Nature. However, not long after my return home, the clouds moved back in.

One technical issue is concerning. About 13 miles into the ride, my phone died. This was a recurrence of an issue I've had several times before—even though my charged auxiliary battery pack was plugged in, it wasn't receiving power consistently. After I got home, I took it to the Apple Store with an explanatory note, saying that I suspect the socket (or "port") where the charging cord is plugged in was problematic. I suspected this because at home, when it is charging on the table beside my recliner, I can hear the charging process go on and off intermittently.

However, at the Apple Store, they said they could not help me today, but gave me a card with contact information for Apple Support, and asked me to have someone call for me so they could talk us through the issue and set up an appointment to bring it in if need be. When Michelle called, they said it could be something as simple as lint in the port, but anyway, I have an appointment for Thursday morning to bring it in. And I'm sure I can get by OK between now and then if I just avoid lengthy rides. I can do a round trip to Marsh Park, but will have to limit it to that until the  phone is taken care of.

Meanwhile, today the loss of power before the end of the ride means that MapMyRide got incomplete data, so my Relive video is only partial. But at least I got something!

Link to partial (Relive) video of today's ride


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