49th outdoor ride of 2023 - Monday, 7/31/2023

2023 Mileage: 2986.3

Michelle and I have come up to Mackinac for a couple days' summer getaway. Because prices for lodging on the island are absolutely insane, we are staying in Mackinaw City, and made a day trip to the island today, where we rented bikes (an adult tricycle, non-recumbent, for this guy) and rode around the 8-mile perimeter of the island.

Sadly, I didn't think to bring my auxiliary battery with me, and my phone died a few miles into the ride, so I have only incomplete stats and video. But estimating the best I can, I think that we rode for about 90 minutes - quite slowly and leisurely, making a lot of stops along the way.

The biggest difference I noticed from my home recumbent tricycle was that with the much higher center of gravity, it rode very differently and necessitated my care and caution regarding this issue.

This gave me a ride of 8.0 miles in about 1:30.

(Partial) Relive video of today's ride

48th outdoor ride of 2023 - Friday, 7/28/2023

2023 Mileage: 2978.3

This morning I left at about 7:00, and rode the Packard/Platt Square in tolerable, but somewhat clammy, conditions. It was somewhat cool to begin with (66°,  climbing to 75° by the end), and terribly humid, in advance of the heavy rains which are projected to move in later today.

About a mile and a half south of our home, I go through a portion of the trail beside Lohr Road that I like to think of as the Tunnel of Trees. As I was finishing up my ride today, I stopped there and got this picture.\

This gave me a ride of 13.5 miles in 1:44.

Relive video of today's ride

46th outdoor ride of 2023 - Wednesday, 7/26/2023

2023 Mileage: 2964.8

Today was a HUGE joy. I haven't ridden with my daughter Christy since last November 5, when I took my trike over to her subdivision in Dexter one Saturday morning and rode with her, Izzy, and Danny. And I haven't done a ride with just Christy since last summer. But we made plans to ride early today, before she went to work, and so set off just before 7:00 a.m., riding a round trip to Marsh Park.

We agreed that it made for a nice ride—not overly taxing, but still substantial enough to make you feel that you achieved something worthwhile.

This gave me a ride of 10.0 miles in 1:29.

Relive video of today's ride

Tuesday, 7/25/2023

2023 Mileage: 2954.8

I was looking forward to doing an early, moderately long ride outside this morning. However, around 6:15, as I prepared to go, I heard on the news that we are once more today under an Air Quality Alert due to the Canadian wildfires. So, rather than ride outside, I climbed back on our stationary cycle, and rode while watching the controversial (and lengthy) 1991 film JFK. I have never been a believer in the conspiracy theories surround the Kennedy assassination, and I don't know that I am yet, but the amount of "coincidences" is certainly remarkable.

This gave me a ride of 38.2 virtual miles in 3:05.

Trailer for JFK

45th outdoor ride of 2023 - Monday, 7/24/2023

2023 Mileage: 2916.

This morning I had to run Michelle to Metro early, as she is gone to an out-of-state professional conference for part of this week. Then when I got home, I rode the Platt/Packard Square on a gorgeous morning—sunny and 68° when I began at 9:00, up to 76° when I finished.

This gave me a ride of 13.6 miles in 1:50.

Relive video of today's ride

44th outdoor ride of 2023 - Sunday, 7/23/2023

2023 Mileage: 2903.1

After a couple of days offf (Friday I had to take the trike to Wheels in Motion to get my mirror taken care of—one of the adjustment screws was not holding, and it was flopping all over—and then yesterday I had to run the cameras for the live-streaming of a noon funeral at church), I was glad to be able to get back to it again today.

I left at 6:30 a.m. (early morning being my favorite time of day, although I hardly consider 6:30 'early') in refreshingly brisk weather (a temperature of 59°, which climbed to 66° during the ride) and rode the Packard/Platt Square. As I was finishing up, I was happy to see Doug Franklin again, on his daily walk.

This gave me a ride of 13.6 miles in 1:42.

Relive video of today's ride

43rd outdoor ride of 2023 - Thursday, 7/20/2023

2023 Mileage: 2889.5

Michelle and I are having dinner tonight with my cousin Rich and his girlfriend Mary.

                                   

Because of this, I wanted to enjoy a quiet and restful afternoon, and this meant a morning ride today. But this was no problem, since morning is my favorite time of the day anyway, and the earlier the better.

I began shortly past 7:00 with a nice, crisp temperature of 65°, which rose to 73° during my ride. And unlike yesterday, today I did NOT forget my auxiliary battery, which allowed me to ride the Platt/Packard Square.

This gave me a ride of 13.5 miles in 1:51.

Relive video of today's ride

42nd outdoor ride of 2023 - Wednesday, 7/19/2023

2023 Mileage: 2876.0

For the second straight day, I had to settle for a shorter ride than I had originally intended. After yesterday's ride, I charged my auxiliary battery, but then I forgot to move it to the table by the door where I generally keep it.

Then when I went to ride today, it was a case of "out of sight, out of mind" ... and when I got out to the trike, having already extricated it from our garage, I was not inclined either to let sit out unattended while I ran back in the condo for the battery, or (frankly) to make such a trip. And since my phone would not have had enough battery charge to complete the ride I had intended (the 13.6-mile square which is probably my most frequent ride), I decided to shorten it and just ride a round trip to Marsh Park.

I would not want to be overly dramatic and make it sound like a matter of life and death to be without phone battery. For the most part it would merely be an inconvenience. But I have so often been beset by mechanical issues that I could not overcome, and had to either text a friend for assistance, or contact Uber or Michelle for a ride, that I never want to ride without access to my phone if possible (darned pesky thing, this being unable to speak).

This gave me a ride of 10.1 miles in 1:29.

Relive video of today's ride

41st outdoor ride of 2023 - Tuesday, 7/18/2023

 2023 Mileage: 2865.9

Today I had to change my plans on the fly. I set off thinking I was going to ride the 20-mile round trip to Baker Rd. (in splendid weather—sunny and 73 when I began at 10:30, up to 76° by the time I finished). However, as I rode, I was experiencing pain and discomfort in both my knees and my feet, so I changed my plans, shortening my route considerably—I rode north on Seventh St. and then northwest on Stadium, as I always do when I ride to Baker; then when I reached Jackson Rd., I turned around and came back south on Maple Rd. and in past the Ice Cube and the library, rather than continuing the additional 5 miles west to Baker Rd.

This view is looking south along Oak Valley, from the intersection of Scio Church and Oak Valley, near the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

This gave me a ride of 8.4 miles in 1:24.

Relive video of today's ride

40th outdoor ride of 2023 - Monday, 7/17/2023

 2023 Mileage: 2857.2

I was waffling today, considering doing the longer (20-mile round trip) ride to Baker Rd. (Dexter), but in the end I decided to settle for the Packard/Platt Square on a beautifully sunny day (74° when I began, at about 10:30, and 78° when I finished).

This gave me a ride of 13.8 miles in 2:02.

Relive video of today's ride

39th outdoor ride of 2023 - Saturday, 7/15/2023

2023 Mileage: 2843.4

Today's forecast was calling for a chance of rain all day, but it looked as if the best opportunity to work in a ride would be fairly early this morning, so I left just before 8:30 a.m. and was able to squeeze in a ride of the Platt/Packard Square without encountering any precipitation other than a few light sprinkles. At the time I left, the temperature was 67°, and it climbed to 69° by the time I finished.

This gave me a ride of 13.6 miles in 1:54.

Relive video of today's ride

38th outdoor ride of 2023 - Friday, 7/14/2023

2023 Mileage: 2829.8

This morning I got in a good ride (but a slow one), leaving just before 6:30, when it was 58°, climbing to 69° during the ride, and rode the Packard/Platt Square.

  

This gave me a ride of 13.6 miles in 1:58

Relive video of today's ride

37th outdoor ride of 2023 - Thursday, 7/14/2023

2023 Mileage: 2816.2

This morning I rode outside, but kept it relatively short, just doing a round trip to Marsh Park. Last night we received some strong thunderstorms, and this morning, although the rain was gone, the cool (61°  at 7:10), breezy, and gray weather persisted. I was also happy to see Doug Franklin again today on his daily walk—twice, as he did a long walk, one I saw him both near the beginning and the end of my ride.

This gave me a ride of 9.9 miles in 1:27.

Relive video of today's ride

Tuesday, 7/11/2023

2023 Mileage: 2806.3

I chose to ride inside on our stationary cycle again today as Michelle and I are still watching our great granddog Benji, and I didn't want to leave him here alone. I climbed on and did a good, long ride while watching the classic movie Schindler's List.

This gave me a ride of 42.4 virtual miles in 3:09.

Trailer for Schindler's List

36th outdoor ride of 2023 - Monday, 7/10/2023

2023 Mileage: 2763.9

Schedule constraints necessitated a considerably shorter ride than I had originally intended. Michelle and I are currently sitting for our great-granddog, Benji. Because Michelle was gone much of the day, teaching a camp at her school, I felt I should stay with him rather than leave him alone in our condo, and ride after she got home.

I was sitting on my trike in our driveway at her projected arrival time of 4:30. But she was a few minutes late, and then I had a 6:00 Zoom meeting that I could not be late for, so I cut my plans way down, and just settled for riding the Silo Ridge loop.

This gave me a ride of 6.3 miles in 53 minutes.

Relive video of today's ride

Saturday, 7/8/2023

2023 Mileage: 2757.6

Today we are experiencing a pretty much daylong rain—not heavy, but steady. As a result, I rode inside on our stationary cycle, while watching the old favorite movie The Princess Bride. 

This gave me a ride of 20.1 virtual miles in 1:36.

 Trailer for The Princess Bride

35th outdoor ride of 2023 - Friday, 7/7/2023

2023 Mileage: 2747.5

I chose not to ride yesterday as we did a big family hike during the afternoon (at Saginaw Forest) with Michelle and me, my sister Marianne, my brother and sister-in-law JB and Darlene, and my daughter Christy.

This morning, then, I got out and rode—not a long one, but faithfully and steadily, enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures and considerably decreased humidity— and did a round trip to Marsh Park. (Another important reason for keeping the ride short was so that Marianne and I could go up and meet my son John for lunch, roughly halfway between his Lansing home and mine in Ann Arbor.)

This gave me a ride of 9.8 miles in 1:20.

Relive video of today's ride

34th outdoor ride of 2023 - Wednesday, 7/5/2023

2023 Mileage: 2727.7

Recent days have been weak ones for my riding. Today was the first ouddoor ride I've been able to do in a week, due to the Air Quality Alerts we've been observing. Then I also took Sunday off as a rest day (as I frequently do), spent Monday engaged in the cleaning project that Michelle and I are undertaking this summer as we seek to declutter our home, and took yesterday off for the holiday.

Today I'm meeting my siblings and several cousins for lunch an hour away, so I needed to keep this morning's ride modest (and it was already uncomfortably summery anyway when I rode at 8:15 - 74° and very humid, up to 83° when I finished, but beautifully sunny. I settled for riding the Platt/Ellsworth Rectangle.

This gave me a ride of 11.8 miles in 1:35.

Relive video of today's ride

Saturday, 7/1/2023

2023 Mileage: 2715.9

Our Air Quality Alert continues, so I rode inside on our stationary cycle again today, while watching Mary Poppins Returns (as a follow-up to yesterday's viewing of the original).

This gave me a ride of 27.4 virtual miles in 2:04.

Trailer for Mary Poppins Returns