95th ride

Today was a big day in my development as a bicyclist, with my first ride outside of the great state of Michigan! Ft. Collins, Colorado, where we are now vacationing, has a bicycle library, and this morning we went there and picked up a bicycle for me as well as a helmet and lock ("at no charge—we insist!") As I rode, I discovered Ft. Collins to be an extremely bike-friendly city, with not only the bike library but also a plethora of bike lanes to support this conclusion.

I was unable to ride yesterday, when Michelle and I flew to Colorado to visit Christy's family. I had hoped to, and had plans to pick up my bike from the Ft. Collins bike library, but they close at noon, and the lengthy delay in our flight meant that we just got in too late to make it—so I had to wait until today.

This morning, though, after we had breakfasted, we went down there, and while Michelle and Izzy walked around outside exploring, Christy accompanied me into the Cafe Bicyclette to help 'translate,' and I was soon outfitted with a nice red bike with 8 gears, as well as a helmet that fit my oversized head. I first tried the largest he said they had, and that was a bit small, but when Christy then asked him if they had any larger, he said no, "but these models over here tend to fit a little larger—let's try one!" And with that, I was in business.

I rode from that location in Old Town to the Loewens' house—an easy 3-mile ride that took me 18 minutes, pedaling slowly. Michelle and Christy have both exhibited concern over my adjusting to the altitude, but I experienced no difficulty whatsoever, and hope later today to do some riding on a nearby trail that Christy has highly recommended.

- LATE AFTERNOON -

Mid-afternoon today, I went out and rode the western part of this nearby trail that Christy has recommended—the Poudre Trail

(pronounced POO-der), named for the nearby river. I first got Reg to draw up a small map for me—in part for my benefit, and largely because Michelle wanted to drive to a couple of points along the way to check in with me and make sure I was doing OK (and act as photographer, too, I was pleased to learn once I was out there).

It was warm (94° and sunny), but went fine with the water I brought along, and I ended up with a 7-mile ride in 41 minutes.