8th ride

I stopped this morning at Performance Bike to pick up some items I needed -- a cable and lock for the bike, a tire pump, and a small pouch to strap onto the handlebars to enable me to carry my cell phone, wallet, and keys.

I am more grateful to my friend Doug for the loan of the bike than I can say, but at the same time, I am looking forward to getting my own sometime later this spring.  The biggest drawback of the one I am using now is a problematic rear gear wheel, which will not allow me to downshift into a low gear so that I can pedal on downslopes. The pedals simply rotate too quickly, and, as I learned the hard way early on, my feet fly off the pedals out of control. This means that on virtually any downhill grade, I have to coast, keeping my hands on the brakes in order to avoid going too fast. While this is not unpleasant, by any means, it is certainly not conducive to fitness, or burning calories.

I gave blood this morning (for the 125th time), and had considered riding to the donor center. But, as it is 6 miles away, and I would have needed to ride home following giving blood, plus I didn't yet have a lock for the bike, I ended up feeling it would be prudent to wait on this until a later occasion.

Today in 50-degree sunshine, I rode comfortably in my biking shorts, but it was cool enough so that my Detroit Tigers jacket felt good. I traveled a 9.4-mile route (the longest I've done so far) that I'm calling the Big House-Stone School loop. Much, but not all, of it followed routes I have run, and I continue to be grateful for this opportunity while missing the running itself indescribably. This took me north on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd./Main St. to renowned Michigan Stadium (nicknamed the Big House by legendary ABC broadcaster Keith Jackson), where I turned right on Stadium and took it to Packard, and then followed Packard southeast to Stone School Rd. I then rode Stone School south past Pheasant Run Apartments, where we lived from December 1993 until we bought our condo in the spring of 2004, to Ellsworth Rd., and then followed Ellsworth west back to our home.

One useful bit of information I've picked up is that in order to negotiate intersections easiest, I need to ride loop courses in a clockwise direction (as I have always done).

7th ride

WOW - three days in a row of being able to ride outdoors! It felt a little odd to be riding on Good Friday afternoon, but after getting off work mid-afternoon, I had plenty of time before tonight's service, and so decided to go for it. It was a little cool in my biking shorts, at 51 degrees, but the bright sunshine felt absolutely glorious!

Today I rode another of my old running routes - a 5.4-mile circuit that I call the State Big Block. My best time running it was 54:24 (on March 21, 2009), and today I rode it easily (if not lazily) in 36 minutes.

6th ride

Between picking up Michelle from school today and our Weight watchers meeting this evening, I had time to work in a ride -- for consecutive days of outdoor rides for the first time. WOO HOO! And the 51-degree sunshine felt almost like summer, compared to what we have been through!

I rode one of my old running routes, a 4-mile route that was my most frequently traveled one, that I call the Figure 8, in about 25 minutes. I had planned to ride it twice, but once I got out there, I decided it was better to be conservative. For one thing, I discovered that it is considerably more challenging to negotiate busy intersections safely (of which this route has several, particularly at rush hour) on wheels than on foot. But I prayed hard for wisdom and good judgment, and am happy to report absolutely no incidents today, of even the slightest nature. This raises my biking mileage for the year to just shy of 40 miles, which is still pretty paltry, but steadily growing now.

5th ride

Well -- I am encouraged that, at least, my rides are getting slightly more frequent. Perhaps one of these times I'll even be able to ride on consecutive days!

Today I had wanted to ride in the sunshine after work. But this afternoon I was practically falling asleep, and decided to take advantage of the longer evening daylight that we've gained since the time change to Daylight Savings Time the first weekend of my month, and nap after work instead, riding this evening. So I did that, even though the clouds had moved in, and it was a bit nippy at 42 degrees with a bit of a breeze. But it was nothing unbearable.

I rode a circuit I'm calling the Textile Big Block, a rectangular area averaging a little over 2 miles per side, taking me east on Ellsworth over to State, and then south to Textile, west over to Lohr, and finishing up by coming north on the Lohr-Textile Greenway that follows Lohr, an 8-foot wide paved path for runners and cyclists that I first rode back on January 19. And today's ride was accomplished almost without incident -- but, just as I was congratulating myself on this, I approached Ellsworth, much less than a mile from home, and had to stop for cross traffic. When I tried to step down and support myself, my right knee buckled, and I went down. This caused a motorist to stop and ask me, in alarm, "Are you OK?" I smiled and gave a big thumbs-up. When I was equally positive to her follow-up, "You're sure?", she gave up and moved on, and I proceeded on the last brief stretch of the ride.

Today puts me at just over 35 miles for the year -- a total that would be much higher if I could count the nearly 100 hours I've ridden the elliptical so far since New Year's at LA Fitness. But I'm not concerned, as I know that figure will improve significantly if spring ever arrives in earnest.

4th ride

I've been dismayed to be unable to get outside for a ride since my one on March 9, due to the lingering winter cold (quite unseasonable in these first days of spring). But today, it let up enough for me to give it a try. (It was still brisk, though, at 37 degrees.) Even though I was at LA Fitness this morning before 7:00, waiting for their 7 a.m. Sunday opening so I could do a faithful hour on the elliptical, I felt I could and should get out this afternoon, too. But I cut myself a little slack, and, rather than challenging myself overmuch, I did a first ride of another of my old running routes. This is one I call the Church 10K, because I have measured it out at 10 kilometers (or 6.2 miles, a common distance for running races). It was amazing, though, how much quicker the miles melted away on wheels! My best time running it was 1:00:27, back on November 11, 2008 -- but today, riding it quite easily and comfortably, I did it in just over 40 minutes.

The ride was not totally without incident, but it was nothing major. A couple of miles away from the end, I needed to stop and blow my nose because of the chill, and when I tried to stop and put my foot down on the curb, I lost my balance and toppled over (onto the sidewalk, away from the road). A woman driving by was quite alarmed, parked her car in the left turn lane with her flashers on, and hustled over to me (even though I had first given her a thumbs-up), saying, "Are you sure you're OK? I'm a nurse." I showed her my card, and managed to convey the information that I had just had to stop to blow my nose - at which she chuckled. Nice to have guardian angels watching over me, though.

3rd ride

Both weather and schedule have conspired to keep me from riding for over 3 weeks, but I was able to get out this afternoon. I had hoped to ride a 6.5-mile route I was calling the Avis Big Block, down State St./Rd. to Avis Farms, an industrial park south of the airport to where I've had to drive customers from work several times. I thought I had scouted out a route through it over to Lohr Rd. on the west, which I could follow back home. But I was unable to find the way through, and had to turn around and come back the way I had gone, completing a ride of about 8 miles in 59 minutes. Here is a map of the route I had hoped to ride.

The ride was not without a couple of (minor) incidents, however. I am developing a cold, and the 43-degree temperatures and mild breeze had my nose running freely, so a few minutes into the ride I pulled well off Ellsworth so I could pull out my handkerchief. However, I lost my balance when trying to stop, and tumbled over into the grass. It was nice to know there are helpful people around, though, as a woman stopped, circled back to me, got out and said, "Sir, are you OK? I saw you fall." I gave her a thumbs-up and a smile, though, and was soon off again. Then, down in the industrial park, I heard a faint clatter, felt the side pocket of my pullover, and realized my cell phone had fallen out. ("Why does a man who can't speak carry a cell phone?" you might well ask. A fair question - but it isn't quite the case that I can't speak at all.) So, I turned around, rode back about 50 yards, and found it, grateful for both good hearing and for the fact that on a weekend the area was absolutely deserted.)