92nd ride

 In light of my fall on my return from Chelsea on June 22, Michelle has asked me to forgo for now riding to Chelsea, and confine my rides to the Ann Arbor/Saline area. (The fall was semi-worrisome—not at all worrisome to me, but I can understand how it would be to those who care about me, and especially Michelle after I called her to ask for a ride and she pulled up to see an ambulance there.) So I honored that request while still getting in a good workout this morning by first riding to Gallup Park, then riding the 15+ mile route of Dave Palmer's that he and Kahle Strickland and I did on Thursday morning to get our holiday off to a good start, and then riding home. This gave me a total ride of 31.8 miles, which I did in a leisurely 3 hours, 2 minutes, leaving home at 6:00 a.m. and doing the vast majority of the ride while seeing no one at all.

I had been slightly concerned about my ability to find all the twists and turns of Dave's route, which is still not highly familiar to me. However, I experienced no difficulty at all in this regard, having made up a map first and taken it with me. And the minor seat height adjustment I made last evening proved beneficial. I suspect I may not be quite done adjusting it yet, but will let it go for a little while now.

It was funny, too—as I was nearing home, coming west along Packard between Platt and where Eisenhower forks off, I was quasi-racing with a young fellow in his twenties, riding and pulling a small cart with grass clippings in it and some tools like rakes. (He evidently works for a lawn service.) He was riding in the road, and I was on the walk, as Michelle prefers I do when possible. As we parted ways, he waved and said, "Thanks—that was inspirational!" I smiled and waved, though inside I bristled a bit, thinking, "Do you mean because I'm so old?"