160th ride

On this lovely spring Saturday morning, I thought I'd ride early (before starting work at 9:00), and was pleased to be able to figure out a route that took me all the way to the heart of downtown Saline (Ann Arbor Rd. and Michigan Ave.) while honoring my pledge to Michelle to stay on walks and off the road. However, it was not quite a 'trouble-free' ride.

At 7:30 on this Saturday morning, Saline was quite sleepy, with almost no one out and no traffic, and this was probably a good thing. Shortly after turning back north for Ann Arbor, I took a wrong turn. And upon realizing this, I attempted to right my course by doing an about-face while staying off the road. I slowed almost to a stop for this, but the narrow sidewalk meant that my tire got caught in the grass and caused me to topple over, so that I struck my face on the inside portion of the cement curb. While I didn't incur any serious injury, as happened on several occasions last year, I did cut my face somewhat—and, more seriously, smashed the left lens out of my glasses. I was OK to keep riding, though, and so made my way cautiously northward back home. Though my left eye is the one most seriously nearsighted, I knew the route (walks and trail) well enough to make it without difficulty.

As I made my way on the Lohr-Textile Greenway, between Textile and Ellsworth, I passed a runner who, alarmed by the blood on my face, asked, "Are you OK?" But I quickly assured her with a thumbs-up, a smile, and a vigorous nod. Amidst all the drama, it seems almost unimportant to note that this 13.2-mile trek took me an hour and 18 minutes (a small portion of which was spent on the ground, however).

159th ride

After a very busy day (an elongated work day, followed by a spate of errands that saw me not arrive home until just past 7:30), I had a quick bit to eat (a couple of delicious English muffin pizzas that Michelle whipped up) and then slipped out the door at 8:30 for an extremely brief ride. This was all I could work in safely before it got too dark, but I was glad to be able to go at all.

I retraced the ride that I did for my first ride, back on January 19, 2013–riding the Lohr-Textile Greenway down as far as Textile Rd., but whereas on that occasion it took me 35 minutes, tonight I did it in almost exactly a half-hour flat. And I was happy to arrive home, at 9:00 p.m., before it was too dark to ride safely.

While is is very mildly frustrating to have to begin each of my rides now exactly the same way—down the Greenway—my gratitude to God and to Michelle for my being able to ride again is so great that this frustration is hardly noticeable at all. And, looking on the bright side, I'm getting to know that path very well, and I'm sure I'll continue to do so.

158th ride

My ride today was a good one. The Tigers played the fourth and final game of a series in Oakland in which they were so far 1-2. The game, a real nail-biter at the end, began at 4:00 p.m. Michigan time, and didn't finish until past 7:00—but Detroit managed to win it and thus split the series. Now they head to Seattle for a weekend series—and then, blessedly, return to civilization (the Eastern Time Zone)!

I therefore went out with my heart singing and did my longest ride to date since restarting, going 12.2 miles in 1 hour and 3 minutes. I did the same route as I did on Sunday (down the Lohr-Textile Greenway, then on Woodland and Industrial down into Saline), except that I extended it further today, and where Industrial meets Campus (which runs by Saline High School) I followed Campus over to State Rd. I thus replicated a good portion of the route that I used to ride home from work frequently last year, but with two major differences. (1) On the outbound portion of the trip today, I rode from Ann Arbor to Saline, whereas last year I would ride from work to Saline down State Rd. and then come back to Ann Arbor via the route I rode today, so my direction was different. (2) The biggest difference is that whereas last year I rode on the road, today I stayed entirely on walks and paths. I thank God, too, for giving me trouble-free rides so far since restarting, and realize that I need to redouble my efforts to ride carefully and conservatively—to avoid being lulled into complacency by the measure of success I've experienced so far.

157th ride

After not riding the last two days due to knee pain I was experiencing following my 5+ miles of walking on Monday, I was glad to get back to it today. It almost didn't happen, though—but after displaying a bit of a snit late afternoon, I took a nap and then got my act together and went out about 8:45 (grateful for our extended daylight at this time of year) and rode a ride similar to Sunday's, although just slightly different at the end, continuing on Woodland all the way down to Maple and then turning around to return home. This gave me a nice 9.9-mile ride in 51 minutes. I fleetingly almost allowed myself to be tempted to push on a bit further, but then I remembered the good-natured advice my daughter gave me after the knee problem: "All things in moderation."

I found myself chafing a bit at the restrictions I have agreed to, of only riding on paths and walks, and staying off the road. But as I pondered it, I very quickly realized that I need to focus on the great joy of being able to ride again, instead of pining over something I can't do, and so bent all my efforts (and my prayers) toward focusing my heart in that direction. Perhaps someday I'll be able to ride on the road again—and perhaps not. I hope so, but if it doesn't happen, I'm OK with that.

More than once, however, I encountered pedestrians (dog-walkers, especially) who looked at me with an irritated expression as I came toward them, as though they were thinking, "Hey, buddy, you belong on the road. This is a sidewalk, not a sideride." But I just tried to display my best manners and good nature.

156th ride

This evening, a mild war was going on inside myself. After a moderately busy day (early church this morning, followed by an hour's drive to my Mom's, and then a further trip with her, my brother JB, sister-in-law Darlene, and niece Courtney to visit the cemeteries in Morenci and Hudson where my Dad and other family members are buried, and then the return to Ann Arbor), a part of me just wanted to throw in the towel and skip a ride tonight. But I knew I should ride, and hated to waste the glorious weather (a sunny, calm, 78° evening). So I set off on the same route I took yesterday, praying for wisdom and good judgment about what I should do—prepared to settle for a short ride, but a part of me really hoping to be able to go a bit farther today.

In the end, the "farther" hopes won out. As I rode easily, and without trouble, I continued to monitor myself to see whether I should turn back or keep going, but in the end went marginally farther than yesterday and at a slightly better pace (10.75 miles in 51 minutes, as compared to 8.4 in 47 minutes). I went as far as to where Woodland intersects with Campus in Saline, not far from the high school, and an intersection through which I rode frequently last year when coming home from work via Saline. So all in all, I'm pleased to have gone—and especially pleased to have had another trouble-free ride.

155th ride

This sounds rather overly dramatic, but I sincerely did not know whether I would ever get to ride my bicycle again in the wake of my fall and resulting broken clavicle last September 25. So I was beyond thrilled to hear Michelle say last night, and confirm it again today, that she'd be fine with me riding so long as I stayed off the road. I was so overjoyed to be granted this reprieve that I gladly made that pledge. Since the fall last September had caused three very minor cracks in my helmet, we felt it would be wise to get a new one, so I went to Wheels in Motion this afternoon (where I had gotten my bike last spring, at the recommendation of my friend Doug Tidd) and got a new helmet, which proudly shows the winged helmet design and colors of the University of Michigan.

I deliberately chose a fairly limited ride (compared to some I did last year)—in part because this was necessary to stay within the restrictions to which I agreed, and also because I've lost so much conditioning in the last 8 months that this was all I wanted. In 47 minutes, pedaling easily, I rode 8.4 miles down the Lohr-Textile Greenway (that broad, nicely paved path that runs along the eastern side of Lohr Road), and followed it when it turns west and runs along the south side of Textile as far as Woodland, and then rode on the sidewalk along Woodland down as far as Industrial, where I turned around and headed back home. And this on a spectacular sun-drenched 71° spring evening; I left before the Tiger game was over, which was an uncommonly rare decision for me, but as they were losing 11-1 in the 8th inning, I figured, "Why not!"

I shouldn't be surprised after so long a layoff, but a couple of other things were in evidence. One was how much less able I was to get comfortable on the hard, narrow bicycle seat; and another was how the tires has lost air as the bike sat unused in our garage all through our hard, long winter. The tires had less than 40 pounds of air pressure in them, so, after consulting the note I had taped to the wall of our garage last year to refresh my memory, I hooked up the pump and pumped them up to about 95 pounds each, giving me a good ride.

I am going to use an excess of care and caution, which is not necessarily easy for me, since being conservative (either behaviorally or politically) is contrary to my natural inclination. But I feel rather like a cat that has already used up 8 of its lives, and I intend to make the most of this gracious additional chance.

Although such an apples-and-oranges comparison is patently foolish, I am aware that by this time in 2013 I had already ridden 525 miles (finishing the year with over 1800). But that's OK—I'll just do what I can now, rejoicing in the opportunity.

Still waiting

After falling and breaking my clavicle on Sept. 25, and the October 1 appointment with the orthopedist who severely restricted my activities for the next few weeks while I healed, I was quite hopeful that my follow-up appointment today would enable me to resume most everything, as it has seemed to me to be healing well. However, the Physician's Assistant I saw said that, in the fracture, it had been offset pretty substantially. And the good news was that the x-rays show that it hasn't moved, so I'm on the right course. But it is not all the way healed yet, so, while I'm OK to resume driving (and thus go back to my job for which driving was necessary), I'm still prohibited from riding outdoors until at least after my next follow-up appointment on November 26. She said that riding a bicycle was "most problematic" in the case of a clavicle fracture, and it wasn't entirely clear to me whether she meant that riding causes such fractures frequently, or whether she meant that the patient had to be especially carefuly when at the stage where I am now, not to rush a return.
While this is mildly disappointing to me, I'm most happy about being able to drive (and work) again—and after all, I will concede, that as the old sayings go, "Better safe than sorry" and "Better to err on the side of caution." Meanwhile, being able to drive again will make it much more feasible for me to get back to LA Fitness to ride on the elliptical. And, on days when I absolutely must get outside, I always have the option of walking.  So, all in all, I would classify this as good news. I still plan to take up riding again when I am able to, however—though I admit that it may have to be quite limited until springtime.
The Physician's Assistant also cleared up a mystery for me when I asked about the large lump that developed over the clavicle. I had expected that it would gradually have gone away as the healing took place, but she said that the severity of the break caused a large ball of bone to form asymmetrically around the injury. With time, it will gradually abate somewhat—but will probably never disappear entirely, and that side will always display a difference from the other.