58th ride

After riding to work this morning and then working a good, full day, I rode to church after work to prepare Sunday's projections, and then, on the way home, stopped by Great Clips at Meijer to get my hair trimmed (for the first time in over a month, I was surprised to realize, as I last got it cut before Christy and her family visited in late April). For a long time today I was concerned that I'd have to leave my bike in the garage at Firestone and bus home, since much of the day was rainy, and they said that thundershowers were a distinct possibility. But then, we got a window of no rain, and it looked as if this was going to permit to ride after all, so I did, for a day's total of 8.3 miles in 54 minutes.

57th ride

I rode to work again this morning (once more very comfortably) and then following work sweltered home (88°) via Saline. Despite the heat and my long black pants, I didn't really find the riding overly uncomfortable—except that it was most unpleasant to be riding into a headwind (moderate) again on the way down to Saline, whistling through the holes in my helmet and buffeting my ears. At any rate, this gave me a day's total of 14.7 miles, in 1 hour 24 minutes.

56th ride

I rode to work this morning, very comfortably in short sleeves, reveling in the 72° temperature at 7:30. Then afterwards, I had planned to ride a longer ride to Weight Watchers, but since I was kept at work considerably longer than usual, I chose a shorter route, and ended up with a daily total of 8.6 miles in 54 minutes. Though this ride was relatively small, it did enable me to cross two plateaus—over 600 miles for the year, and over 60 hours of riding time.

55th ride

Today I rode to work (in a light rain), and directly home from work. I felt a little lazy, if not "guilty," to do such a short ride home—but I was really beat this afternoon (residual effect from yesterday's long ride, no doubt), and prayed about it all afternoon, seeking wisdom and good judgment. In the end, I felt that this was what I should do, so I settled for a very light daily total of 5.5 miles in a poky 35 minutes. Another factor in my decision was that possible thunderstorms, though not yet in evidence, were forecast.

Observation

Made some of my work colleagues chuckle this morning when I told them that my ride to Chelsea yesterday tired me out, and then added, "I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm no longer a young man." Nevertheless, I plan to try a Chelsea round trip again this coming Saturday—it's vitally important that I continue to build if I want to carry out my plan of riding to Mom's (53 miles) on June 29.

54th ride

I got Memorial Day off to a good start this morning by doing my longest ride to date—and yet, it still wasn't quite what I had wanted to do. I had set out early (at 6:00 a.m.), intending to ride a 37.1-mile round trip to Chelsea. But, though the early part of the ride went fine (I got to Dexter without incident, and found Dexter-Chelsea Rd., about which I had been mildly concerned), upon coming into Chelsea I somehow missed my turn on Freer Rd. (I'll blame inadequate signage) and ended up coming, behind the clock tower, into the north end of town. Then, riding south on Main St., I thought Jackson Rd. met it south of town, so I just kept going. But what I should have done was to turn left on Old US 12. Instead, I ended up on US 52, headed south out of town.

Once I realized the predicament I was in, I was pretty sure that Scio Church ran all the way out to 52, and I could take that back to Ann Arbor. If I was wrong, my only options at that point would have been either to ride 52 all the way down to 12, and then take that back east, or to call/text Michelle for an emergency pickup, which I was loathe to do (both from the standpoint of building independence and finishing what I had started out to do, and also in not wanting to worry her). So I was ever so happy to see the sign for "Scio Church Rd" come looming up after a few miles.

However, after what seemed like an endless stretch on Scio Church (though it was in reality only about 10 miles), I pulled in to Emerson School and texted Michelle anyway: "Hate to ask you this, but could you pick me up at Emerson? I'm fine - please call." She called, and faithfully came to pick me up in a few minutes. So, this 33.8-mile ride was, as I say, my longest ride to date (easily beating the 26-mile round trip to Dexter that I rode on May 4), accomplished in 3 hours 19 minutes—even though it wasn't what I had set out to do. I suspect part of the reason I caved in early was because I failed to take any rest or water stops—an error I'll have to correct on future long rides.

And we were happy to see Michelle's colleague, Ruth Wilson (who lives in Chelsea, ironically) pull in and greet us as we were loading the bike onto our recently acquired trunk rack.

One other note—enticed by yesterday afternoon's lovely warm sunshine, I almost made the mistake of setting out in a t-shirt this morning. But that would have been quite disastrous—it was 45° at 6:00 a.m., and remained cloudy throughout the ride. So, instead, I threw on a long-sleeved maize and blue fleece, and was tremendously glad for it.

53rd ride

When I rode to church this afternoon to do my weekly data entry work, I deliberately lengthened my ride considerably, going out to the far northwest part of Ann Arbor (Jackson and Zeeb), and then in to loop around the hospital, before coming back out to church. This made for a trip of 20.8 miles, which I rode slowly, in 2 hours 8 minutes.

The computer at church didn't work, so that I'll have to go back later in the week, but it was far from a wasted trip, as I needed to ride anyway, and was able to get in a good one. The low point, though (or 'high' in terms of heart rate) came as I was riding near the hospital, going down Glen Ave. in order to make a clockwise circuit of the hospital. I was riding slowly, but carefully and well, near the curb, when a car with two young African-American men cruised slowly by. One rolled down his window and yelled coarsely, "Hey - get yo ass out da street!" But then they continued on, and I was happy that the altercation remained at the verbal level, since I have never been in a physical fight in my life, and don't feel that age 56 would be a good time to start.

52nd ride

After taking yesterday off, I was glad to climb back in the saddle today. I killed two birds with one stone—I am an avid blood donor, and so, since I had an 8:00 a.m. appointment to give (for my 126th time), I rode the six and a half miles over to the donor center, and then rode home afterwards.

At 1 hour 24 minutes for the 13.4 miles, it was a slow trip (just over 6-minute miles)—but then, I was never trying for speed today, particularly on the ride home after giving blood. When I left home at 7:15, it was quite nippy, at 39°—but by the time I came home, though my jacket was still welcome, I was able to dispense with my gloves, as it had warmed up into the low fifties.

51st ride

I thank my friend Doug Franklin for suggesting a route home from work by way of Saline which enabled me to avoid riding on Michigan Ave. (US 12), which he judged to be "very dangerous" for riding after seeing that my maps of previous rides took me on a brief stretch of it. This pared half a mile off my ride, cutting it down from 14.2 to 13.7 miles, but it still made for a very good workout, and coupled with the morning's ride to work, gave me a daily total of 15.9 miles in 1 hour 33 minutes.

However, this savings in distance was more than made up for by the weather. This morning I was comfortable riding to work in short sleeves (though I don't know the exact temperature, but I suspect it was around 60°). But by the time I got out of work (at 1:00 today—this variable nature of my hours is one undesirable aspect of my job, though, under the circumstances, I realize I am fortunate to have a job at all, and grateful for it), the temperature had dropped precipitously (to 47°), the wind had picked up, and a light rain had begun. As I rode, it changed nature several times, so that I was alternately blessed with a fine mist and stung with small drops, all the while with my rear tire throwing up a spray that soaked my back. One nice feature was that, in contrast to my previous rides to Saline (into a headwind), I had a substantial tailwind today. But of course, the flip side of this was that the stretch back northward from Saline to Ann Arbor was quite difficult—and this was not a welcome challenge at a point in the ride when I was tired, cold, and thoroughly soaked. At any rate, once I pulled in to our complex, never was I so happy to see our home, and anticipate the prospect of getting warm and dry.

50th ride

I rode to work this morning and home directly this afternoon (in a strong wind), thus settling for a paltry day's ride of 5.5 miles in 34 minutes.

Partly, I was cutting myself a break, since today is Life Day—an event Michelle and I celebrate since my life-changing accident occurred on May 22, 1993—twenty years ago today—and following my brain surgery at University Hospital in Ann Arbor, the neurosurgeon told Michelle that there was a strong chance I would not live the night. In and of itself, though, I would try not to let this occasion cut short my hopes to ride a longer ride home each day. But, more importantly, after training to become a medical transcriptionist, and doing it at University Hospital from July 2011 through June 2012, I found that I both liked transcription and was good at it. Now I've had the good fortune to pick up some free-lance transcription work for Kris Palmer, a friend from church who owns a media relations company, and I'm now transcribing for her an interview with a figure from the automotive industry—similar to what I've done for her in the past. (Evidently I bamboozled her into thinking that I was competent enough that she could try using me again.) Having just received the recording two nights ago, I was eager to move this forward, and felt that today it was more important than devoting a longer time to riding.

49th ride

I could not ride to work this morning, because Michelle and I had a 3:00 appointment, and in order for me to get there I needed the car. So I planned to do a ride in the late afternoon. I strongly considered doing a long ride, but then hot weather (85°) and the threat of rain made me consider going to LA Fitness instead and working out on the elliptical/recumbent machine. After our appointment, though, the rain seemed to be holding off, and I felt I could bear the heat, so I rode outside after all. But I told Michelle when I left, just before 5:00, "I'm just going to do a baby ride—10 miles." Now, I hope and expect that considerable growth and development as a cyclist still awaits me; nevertheless, I am very glad to have reached the point where 10 miles (which today took me 58 minutes) seems an easy ride, since this certainly wasn't the case when I began early this year. And today's ride helped me to cross two big plateaus—500 miles for the year, and over 50 hours of riding.

I rode one of my old running routes—the one, in fact, in the midst of which the arthritic inflammation of a vertebra shut me down as a runner. Ironically, this happened just outside the office of the chiropractor, Bill Thatcher, who would later treat me (before a different doctor diagnosed the arthritis with the aid of an MRI). And, a couple of weeks ago, Doug cautioned me that "Just because a route was good for running, you can't assume that it will necessarily be a good bicycling route. You need to reexamine it with that in mind." So, I've tried to do that. One other serious contrast that I've been forced to bear in mind is the way they differ because of length. What was an average run (my most frequent route, for example, was my 4-mile 'Figure 8') is much too short too be worth riding; and a challengingly long running route, such as today's, makes for quite an easy ride.

48th ride

I rode to work again this morning, in perfect conditions, and then after work rode home via Saline, by the same route as I did a week ago today, for a daily total of 14.7 miles in 1 hour 26 minutes, and my total time last week was 1 hour 43 minutes. It's all the more surprising in light of the fact that today, I was riding into a headwind all the way to Saline. It was not a strong wind (in the neighborhood of 10 mph), but, couple with today's unseasonable warmth (currently 89°) it was definitely all I wanted.

47th ride

At Christmastime of 2009, I met an older man on the running track at Bally (subsequently acquired by, and renamed, LA Fitness). I remembered having seen him in the past, but had never made the effort to meet him. I introduced myself to him by showing him my card, and he told me his name was Len. The next day I took him a note with contact information, in case he wanted to email me, and I promptly heard from him, thus beginning a strong friendship. Leonard Gajda told me at the time that he was 72 years old, and had been running 6 miles a day for 25 years. He said that he had graduated from MIT and worked his entire career in various technical areas in Ford Motor Co starting as an analyst and ending in mid-level management ... "I retired in 1990 and have been living the good life since then."

Len still runs, but since I no longer do, today I made arrangements with him to ride over to his home in Ypsilanti for a visit. This was a very enjoyable ride on a gorgeous day, a 14.9-mile round trip that I did in a leisurely 1 hour 30 minutes.

46th ride

I decided to give myself the day off from riding yesterday, and instead spent the late afternoon and evening hours with Michelle, since she would be gone all day Saturday. So this morning, I was glad to get back at it, and did a long ride, going to Gallup Park (via a route suggested by Doug, rather than the route I had selected, for better riding surfaces and better traffic conditions with which to contend), through the park to the east, and then home via Huron River Driver/Golfside/Ellsworth.

When leaving work yesterday I experienced the unusual situation of being asked by our Service Manager if I would like to come in Saturday morning. Thinking he was joking, I said no, but then he asked, WOULD you come in? Then our manager (Harley) who was there, interjected, "Why don't you call in the morning? We might like you to come in for an hour to run down to Saline and pick up a part for us." Our lead technician, Craig, who was also standing there, grinned and added, "You could ride down for it—that'd be a good workout!" So, anyway, following Harley's request, I called shortly after 7:00 a.m. (when the store opens), and Harley told me, "Why don't you just run down to Bill Crispin in Saline at 10:00 and pick up that part? Or it could be 11:00—whatever works out for you." So, figuring I'd ride about two hours, I set off. But then, when I was riding through Gallup Park, my phone chirped with a text from the Service Manager saying the part was in, and I could get it anytime. In light of this, I figured I'd best head home as directly as possible, since I was still several miles from finishing. Accordingly, I cut my planned route somewhat short, but still had a very good ride anyway.

Gallup Park, along the Huron River, is the site of many enjoyable memories. While I was in St. Joseph Hospital during the second half of 1993, we had many afternoon outings there with John and Christy, and I also ran a 5K race there (the Gallup Gallop) on July 12, 2009 (in 29:34)—and, most recently, we had a lovely picnic there with Christy and her family on April 27, when they were visiting from Colorado.

45th ride

Today was an utterly gorgeous day to ride—temperature in the seventies when I finished work, and skies that were partly/mostly sunny. Accordingly, I chose to ride home again via Saline, as I did earlier in the week—although today I chose a slightly shorter route back to Ann Arbor than I did on Monday and Tuesday (for an afternoon ride of 12.5 miles today). Combined with my ride to work this morning (in brilliantly sunny conditions, and only slightly cooler than yesterday, but still very tolerable in my short sleeves), this gave me a day's ride of 14.7 miles in 1 hour 19 minutes.

44th ride

I neglected to blog yesterday about my ride. I considered going for a third straight day of riding home from work via Saline, but in the end was dissuaded from that by the prospect of getting home in time to see a little of the end of the Tigers' matinee contest. That plan didn't work out so well, however - I got home in time to see the 8th and 9th innings, but when I arrived the game was tied at 5, and I saw them surrender a 9th-inning run to lose 6-5.

With that, I set off to ride to our evening Weight Watchers session, lengthening the route. Combined with the rides to and from work (the morning ride was particularly lovely, in sunshine and temperature and in the low seventies), I did a day's total of 11.1 miles in 1:13.

43rd ride

I rode to work again this morning, but since it was some 10 degrees warmer today than yesterday, it was not painful at all. Then after getting out of work way early (about 1:30) I decided to challenge myself to riding home via Saline for a second consecutive day. It was made still more challenging by a strong headwind that I had to fight all the way down to Saline, but I just told myself to keep going, and that a slow ride was OK today, and I ended up with a daily total of 16.4 miles in 1:41.

42nd ride

I rode to work this morning in nice sunshine, but a temperature (32°) sufficient to make me very glad that I had worn long sleeves and a jacket over the shirt. Then, after work, I decided to lengthen my normal ride home (3.4 miles) and did so considerably - going to Saline for a trip home of 14.6 miles, giving me a daily total which was far from my longest, but significantly in excess of my average daily ride, going 16.8 miles in 1 hour 43 minutes. When I got to work this morning, even though the 13-minute trip was quite brief, my hands were so stiff and cold I could hardly use them. By this afternoon, it had warmed up significantly, but was still far from hot, and the jacket felt very good.

41st ride

I rode to church late this afternoon to do my weekly data input work for them, and went a moderately lengthy route (10.2 miles in 56 minutes) there and back. I had set out to ride a longer one (16.4 miles), but the ferociously strong and biting wind knocked that aim down within a few miles. Just about every factor was working against me today - in addition to the wind, it was cold (low forties), and I was riding with the taste of a bitter Detroit Tigers defeat in my mouth, as they had led the Cleveland Indians nearly all afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game series, but then surrendered the tying run in the 9th inning and Cleveland's winning run in the 10th. However, the one thing in my favor was that after my jarring collision with the curb yesterday, Lorne Groe went over my bike with a fine-toothed comb, test rode it, and pronounced me "good as new." This brought me great peace of mind.

40th ride

Today's adventurous ride turned out to be much shorter than intended. After last night's meeting of our small group from church, we didn't get home until about 11:30. Nevertheless, I pushed myself to get up and do an early ride today, and set off at 6:15, intending to ride to Gallup Park, along its path to the eastern end, and then return home, for a total ride of about 20 miles. At that early hour it was still quite nippy (low forties), and I was very glad to be wearing the long sleeved t-shirt that I had received for running in the Holiday Hustle 5K race in Dexter on December 5, 2009. My hands were cold, though—and I had my faithful taillight flashing to heighten my visibility in the early morning pale light.

Just over 3 miles into the ride (21 minutes), I was riding on the walk along the south side of Eisenhower Boulevard, going at a pretty fair clip, when I crossed Stone School Rd.—and didn't see the curb cut. At the last second I could see that I was going to smack head on into the curb, and braced myself, hoping that I might be able to jump it somehow. This was, however, a foolish hope, and it threw me off onto the ground. I was uninjured (save for a small scrape near my right knee), but the bike did not fare so well—when I tried to climb back on and pedal, it would not pedal, and though I am not mechanically inclined or able, it seems to me as if I have bent or damaged the chain or chain wheel somehow.

I pulled out my cell to call Michelle, and though I'm sure she was not pleased to be awakened this way at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday, she came immediately and without complaint to pick me up. (When I tried to tell her where I was, she couldn't understand me, so I texted her my location.) We haven't a car carrier for the bike yet, but we were able to get the back seat to lay down and put the bike far enough into the trunk to get the lid of the trunk nearly closed, and then hold it down with the cable from my bike lock. So she has now (thankfully) returned to bed.

39th ride

This morning I rode to work again in slightly less idyllic conditions—cooler, and moist from rain which had fortunately stopped—but it was still good for riding. Then after work this afternoon I rode to church to prepare the projections for worship, as I do each week, and from there home, for a total day's ride of 8.3 miles in 49 minutes. This is a little shy of the 10-mile standard I like to try to which I like to try to hold myself, but for today, it will suffice.

When I come home from church, there is a very enjoyable stretch from shortly after the intersection of Scio Church and S. Main/Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. almost to I-94. It's pretty much all one big long downhill, so now that I have a bike that allows me to gear up and pedal the whole way, I'm really enjoying this—riding on the broad paved path that parallels the road itself, and of course scanning carefully ahead of me to ensure that I'm not headed for a collision. But that stretch happens to be almost always free and clear (something I knew from running). I don't just pedal pell-mell down it without interruption or braking, but still, I can get up a pretty good bit of momentum which helps me to ascend the grade crossing over I-94.

38th ride

I rode to work again this morning in entrancing conditions—sunlight once again, and calm skies and mild temperatures. After work I rode home the most direct way again, so that I could catch all of the 4:00 Tigers game, which I just did make. Then following a frustrating loss (down 5-1 early, we came back on the strength of a 3-run pinch hit 6th inning home run, but never could close the gap from 5-4), I went out this evening and rode my 8.8-mile Textile Big Block in 44 minutes (enjoying the mild weather and prolonged daylight), to give me a total day's riding of 14.3 miles in 1:14.

37th ride

I rode to work this morning in beautiful conditions—mild temperature, and clear early morning sunshine. I was hoping to lengthen my ride home considerably, going down to Saline. But in the middle part of the afternoon, rain moved in for a time, so I decided to scale it back. When one of my colleagues (Dustin) grinned and told me, "But the rain has now stopped!", I replied, "Yeah, but I don't want to press my luck." And as I rode, I allowed a combination of three factors—the threat of the return of the rain, already gathering heavy traffic, and the spray of rainwater from the ground thrown up by my rear tire so that it sprinkled my back wuite nicely—to persuade me of the rightness of this decision to ride directly home instead of the longer way. So I settled for a daily total of a mere 5.5 miles, in 33 minutes.

One incident from yesterday's ride that I forgot to mention then seems significant now. Riding in rush hour, I allowed the heavy traffic to persuade to do something I virtually never do, and rode on the sidewalk on my stretch along Eisenhower. And while I was climbing a large grade to cross a railroad track a little east of State, I came up behind a young man wearing a Tigers cap backwards sauntering rather indirectly back and forth in the middle of the walk. Gathering all the voice I could muster, I hollered, "Bike coming!" He looked back over his left shoulder and said, "Oh—sorry buddy!" But then when I eased by his left elbow, missing him by several inches, he sucked in his breath and exclaimed, "Jesus!" While I was sorry to have caused this outburst, I was happy to have missed him.

36th ride

After work today, feeling the pressure of not having ridden much yesterday (and none at all on Sunday), I pushed myself to go out and ride my 9.8-mile Platt Big Block. I was slightly pressed for time, as I am going to Adrian this evening for a concert in which my younger brother John (namesake of my son) is singing, so I pushed myself around it in 55 minutes.

35th ride

Today I rode so little as to hardly be worth discussing it. I rode to work this morning, and then had planned to ride to Ypsilanti after work to visit a friend. But after my longest workday to date (7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.), I didn't feel I had it in me to ride safely what would have been an additional 14.4 miles (there and then home) at that time of day (rush hour). So, I just came home instead, via Bagger Dave's for a turkey burger and then Meijer to pick up some cream cheese and Best Buy to get a large flash drive (in order to be able to transfer data easily from my laptop to my desktop computer). So the total was about 5 miles, in just over a half hour riding. Better than nothing, I guess (but not much).

34th ride

On this clear Saturday morning, I did my longest ride yet, going to the small village of Dexter via the Ann Arbor-Dexter Road, and coming back along Huron River Drive. This destination had significance for me, as Dexter was the site of the last running race I was able to do—the Holiday Hustle, a 5K that took place there on December 3, 2011 (I had also run it each of the previous three years). While running it, the arthritic inflammation of one of my vertebrae that eventually caused me to realize I could run no more began to affect me, so that by the end of the race I could barely stand upright. This picture, from near the end of the race, shows the pronounced list, or sag, sideways with which I was contending—the starting time of 4:30 p.m. at that time of the year meant that we finished in near darkness.

Coming back today, I followed the road that is the major spine for the Ann Arbor-Dexter Run, a large local event that takes place late each spring. 5K, 10K, and half-marathon distances are offered, and I always wanted to run the half-marathon, but never was able to. I was in the best shape and most nearly did it in 2008 (June 1), but a couple of weeks before the run, Michelle caught a heavy cold from her students and passed it along to me, and I had to step down to the 10K portion of the run. Still, it was fun to ride along many of the areas I had run on that day, including the memorable spot where Maple Rd. comes down a large hill and meets Huron River Dr. After running down it at the beginning of the race, and then doing the lion's share of the run along the drive, we had to climb back up it at the end—a stretch that then race director Hal Wolfe aptly dubbed the "Maple Monster." I also did the 10K portion of it in 2009 (when I broke an hour—a time good for me, but quite poor by real running standards) and 2010, as well as the 5K portion of it in 2007.

Today's long ride took me 2 hours 37 minutes. However, I was slowed considerably by heavy traffic (both pedestrian and vehicular) in Ann Arbor. As I neared Michigan Stadium (the "Big House") public address announcements made the reason clear—today was commencement for the University of Michigan, and already, before 9:00 a.m., people were beginning to gather for that. And I had taken my water bottle and hoped to stop for a short break somewhere along the river on the way back; but as it turned out, I just kept going, being afraid that if I got stopped, it would be too difficult to overcome inertia and get going again.

33rd ride

Today, Michelle and I were both exhausted at the end of a busy week. So, when we got home we climbed into bed for what she called a "power nap," both sleeping very soundly. And then tonight, since she was going to a performance of the musical Shrek at Pioneer High School (in which many of her former students were participating), I took advantage of the evening mildness and sunshine and rode over to church to prepare the projections for Sunday's services. I rode the most direct way, which measured to 7.1 miles, in 36 minutes—below my usual daily standard, but I feel OK about this since I'm planning to exceed my average considerably in the morning.

32nd ride

This afternoon, I enjoyed a terrific visit with my good friend (Rev.) Barry Ludwig, Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church. And then following it, with my heart singing, I went out and rode my 8.8-mile "Textile Big Block." While this fell a bit short of the 10 miles that I am coming to regard as a minimal daily standard, I'm OK with it, particularly in light of my time of 42:32—a significant improvement over my first ride of it on March 27 in 47 minutes, as well as subsequent rides of 46 and 45 minutes on April 8 and April 22. I was also happy to see that this brought me up to 298.1 miles for the year—had I known this while I was riding, I might have pushed on to 300, but that would make it tight schedule-wise for me to get to Michelle's 7:00 concert tonight.

31st ride

Tonight because of a scheduling conflict, Michelle was unable to drop me off for our 6:00 Weight Watchers meeting. So, deciding to kill two birds with one stone, I grinned and told her, "I'm glad I have wheels!" We only live about a mile away from the meeting site, so it was an easy ride over and then, afterwards, wanting to ride a longer ride, I lengthened it considerably, going almost down to Saline, and overlooking a turn I meant to make, and so ended up going a total of 12.1 miles in 69 minutes.

I was riding with a happy heart, though. From my initial weight in late February, tonight I made my first goal, passing 5% of my body weight. Now the next goal will be 10%, and then to keep on going. Overall, I'd like to lose about 60 more pounds from where I am now, for a total loss of about 30% of my starting weight. That 5% goal tonight was strongly helped by a loss of 4.9 pounds this past week. My weekly pattern has been Good/Bad/Good/Bad -- now I want to see if I can get two consecutive good weeks.