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.

Health update

After my fall last Wednesday, September 25, with the resulting broken clavicle, they told me they wanted me to have a consultation appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, and that took place today at Domino Farms with Dr. Asheesh Bedi. He was very personable, and we had a nice discussion of my situation. I had written a note to him on my laptop, explaining that, "For my job it is critical that I be able to drive. I feel ready to resume that, but only with your approval." He said, however, that mine is what they call a "gray zone" fracture, with some separation of the bone and a decent chance it will heal itself, as most clavicle fractures (the most common fractured bone) do, but also a chance that it won't. And, as regarding driving, he recommended that I wait 3 more weeks before resuming it - I have a follow-up appointment for October 25, at which time they'll do another x-ray. So, all things considered, it is not quite the unmitigated positive news I had hoped for, but at least I know now, and can continue to move ahead.

Michelle often kids me about my "gift of patience." As we were leaving today's appointment, I grinned at her and said, "Well, I guess have to practice my gift of patience."

A further change

Michelle and I had a surprising conversation this afternoon, initiated by her, in which she said that she realizes how much riding means to me, and therefore wants me to feel free to continue—as long as it is with strict limitations. For now, I should do no more long rides on the road (such as to Saline), and should ride primarily off-road on bicycle paths or trails, other than the short route to and from work once my broken clavicle has healed up enough for me to resume. I'm certainly good with that, and grateful to her for this show of mercy—and as far as getting to trails concerned, it isn't as if they are right outside our door (with the exception of the Lohr-Textile Greenway, which begins only a few hundred yards from us), but it is not as if they are inaccessible either. So I am certainly breathing easier tonight.

Changing conditions

In the wake of Wednesday's fall where I fractured my right clavicle, I've been thinking a lot about my cycling, and have come to some difficult decisions. I am concerned in light of the several falls I have experienced over the last few months, and particularly because, with this one, I have a clear mental image neither of the environment that led to it, nor of what I did wrong. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, unable to get up, and someone called an ambulance and away I went.

I have really enjoyed riding very much, but it seems as if it is not a safe mode of exercise for me. So I have listed my bike for sale on craigslist, and am going to investigate the possibility of getting a recumbent bike, which I am told is more stable, or possibly even an adult trike. It's all up in the air at this point—but that's what I'm considering, anyway.

154th ride

Today was a highly disappointing day in my riding career—and even to put it that way is a substantial understatement. After riding to work again this morning, and then working a longer than average workday (until nearly 4:00), I set off to ride to our 5:15 Weight Watchers meeting. I had been planning to ride by way of Saline again, but unforeseen delays in my afternoon work duties ruled out this roughly 13-mile ride for time reasons. So, instead, I planned to ride south on State to Textile, and take it west to Maple, and then back up to the Weight Watchers meeting. But those plans took a detour, when, riding on State, a little south of Ellsworth, I fell. After my August 29 fall and broken rib, I had vowed to try harder to really focus on safe riding. Particularly distressing to me today, though, in retrospect, is the fact that I do not retain a clear mental image of the environment, or of what I did wrong. I am not aware of having taken any chances, or unnecessary risks. But clearly, I did something wrong—someone insisted on calling an ambulance, and they insisted on taking me to University Hospital and on calling Michelle, who met us there.

In the course of treatment through the ER, I was administered a set of x-rays, as well as a CAT scan of my head (since initial reports indicated that I was acting somewhat "goofy"—but then, I think this is just my nature). Pleasingly, the CAT scan came back completely normal—but not so the x-rays, which indicated a rather severe triple fracture of my right clavicle. Upon hearing this, I was happy to note that there was some justification in my having accepted the trip to the hospital (though, initially, I was a bit chagrined that I hadn't found it within myself to get up and keep on riding).

I am happy to have been sent away from the hospital in a nice navy blue sling, emblazoned with a large maize block M.

As I write this, at home some hours later, I am experiencing considerable pain and discomfort in the shoulder. That has increased greatly since the initial event, which was largely pain-free. But as the magnitude of it has set in to my system, it seems to be overcoming me.

In light of all this, it seems almost unimportant to note that I rode roughly 4 miles today, in about 26 minutes.

153rd ride

On another completely gorgeous day to ride, I almost precisely replicated yesterday's ride—all but the last couple of miles before getting home, when I took a slightly varied route. But I rode again to Saline on the way home, for a 13.1-mile ride, and when combined with the morning's ride to work, this gave me 15.2 miles for the day, in 1 hour and 26 minutes.

152nd ride

After giving myself a day off yesterday—a rarity—I was glad to be able to get back to riding today. After riding to work this morning and then working a fairly good full day, I did a long ride to give me my fullest day of riding since returning on September 14 after my August 29 broken rib, going to Saline and coming back up to Ann Arbor by a 12.8-mile route, to total 14.8 miles for the day in 1 hour and 27 minutes.

 

Back in the spring, Doug Franklin and Doug Tidd counseled me, on my rides to Saline, to avoid riding on Michigan Ave. (US 12) and Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., respectively. I have followed that advice diligently since that time. However, today, after careful consideration, I decided to ride a route that included a short stretch on Michigan Ave. My reasons were that it was short (only a couple of miles), and the road there is straight and well surfaced, with excellent visibility, and for the most part broad paved shoulders on which I was able to ride (and also, today, I was riding it in brilliant daylight, at 4:00 p.m.).

151st ride

I rode once more with my friends Kahle Strickland and Dave Palmer this morning, as we did back on the morning of July 4. This time Dave and I both went up to Kahle's house in Brighton, and then we went to ride in the Island Lake State Recreation Area, where Kahle and I have ridden previously. We would all have like to ride farther, but I was somewhat pressed for time, and am also still recovering from my broken rib, so we kept it down today, riding 13.2 miles (to bump me just over 1800 miles for the year) in 1 hour and 11 minutes. We'll surely do more in the future, though!

150th ride

After riding to work again this morning, and then working a relatively full day, I rode to church to do Sunday's projections, and then when I came out to ride home, it was raining pretty good. So I went back in, fired up the computer, and checked the map on weather.com, to discover that the line of showers was just passing by. So I waited a few minutes, and then set off in a light sprinkle (with my flashing lights going) which soon stopped. And by the time I got home I was happy to see that I had done 9.3 miles for the day, in 53 minutes.

149th ride

This morning, I had to forgo riding to work, since I need the car to get to handbell rehearsal at 6:00 today—then I'll pick Michelle up late, since she has to stay at school for curriculum night. After getting out of work on the early side of average, I had hoped to leave at 3:30 and do a 13.5-mile ride to Saline. But at that hour, the Tigers will still in the final stretch of an exciting matinee game against Seattle. So I stayed until they finished it, a little past quarter to four, to take the four-game series from Seattle 3-1, and in the process reduce their 'Magic Number' for clinching the title to 4. (That is, any combination of four Detroit wins and Cleveland losses will guarantee us the Central Division championship.) Now we hope that Cleveland cooperates, so that we can clinch the title at home this weekend before the home fans, in our final home series of the regular season (unlike 2011 and 2012, when we clinched on the road).

Anyway, as a result of this late departure, I did a considerably abbreviated ride, of 7.6 miles in 40 minutes, so that I would not arrive at handbell rehearsal all out of breath.

EVENING

Since my ride this afternoon had to be shorter than I had planned, I was delighted when our handbell rehearsal finished this evening in time for me to work in another short ride before picking Michelle up from her marathon day at school. So I rode the Lohr-Textile Greenway, that broad paved path that parallels Lohr Rd., running down as far as Textile. This replicated my first ride when this journey began, back on January 19. (Though it took me 61 minutes then, as opposed to 29 minutes tonight—so I'm glad to see that I have made some improvement!)

And, given the dramatic decrease in daylight since I last rode in the evening, I was very glad for my flashing headlight and flashing taillight, and to be doing the bulk of my ride off-road. This 5.6-mile ride (in 29 minutes) gave me a total of 13.2 miles for the day, in 1 hour and 9 minutes.

148th ride

Today I rode to work again in the morning, but then had a 5:00 store meeting to attend at the end of the workday. Due to this, I was unable to do a longer ride to Weight Watchers as I usually do, and so rode directly there after the meeting, for a day's total of 4.9 miles in 31 minutes.

147th ride

This afternoon, I did what was easily my longest ride since my fall and broken rib on August 29, and then resuming riding this past Saturday. I rode to work again this morning, noticing that it's really cooling down—my memories of riding to work just before my injury were that it was frequently in the seventies, even at that early hour, but this morning I believe it was 33°! However, I'd better get used to it, if I want to continue to ride through most days this winter, as I hope to.

Then after work, I rode the shorter (slightly) and less demanding of my two routes to Saline. I wanted to hurry because Michelle and I are going to a big concert, and treating ourselves to a dinner date first, and I wanted the chance to spruce up before she got home. Anyway, even with this short(er) route, my daily total was not inconsiderable—11.6 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes. (Not a very good pace, but at least I met the goal I like to aim for of riding at least an hour a day.)

146th ride

Today was a good day, in that it represented my return to riding to work for the first time since my fall and broken rib on August 29. Going out to the garage to get my bike, I felt a combination of novelty and old familiarity.

After work I felt conflicted—on the one hand as if I could and should do a long ride home via Saline, but on the other hand remembering Michelle's expressed desire that I work back into it gradually and just ride straight home today. Two of my best friends among my work colleagues, Robert and Craig, both expressed the opinion that I should do the shorter ride and let a longer one wait until later in the week. In the end, I compromised, and did a ride slightly longer than a direct route home (5.6 miles vs. 3.4), but less than half the distance it would have been had I gone to Saline. This gave me a total ride of 7.7 miles for the day, in 41 minutes.

The brief stretch I have to ride on State St. south of Briarwood, where drivers are making their way onto I-94, is an area about which Doug Tidd has expressed reservations about me riding it, calling it "dangerous" (particularly in the late afternoon, with people in a hurry to get home from work). Well, it lived up to this billing today. As I was riding in the lane leading up to the ramp onto the freeway, a hurrying, careless drive in a dirty older white 'muscle car' came zooming up behind me, then squealed on its brakes, and swerved to my right around me, the young male driver screaming at me from behind his still-closed window, and throwing me a one-fingered salute. Yet, again I thank and praise God for His protection, and continue to ask Him to help me to employ all the care and good judgment I can in my attempts to ride safely.

145th ride

After Michigan's putrid first half against Akron, I allowed myself to be tempted by the gorgeous weather on this resplendent late summer/early fall day (brilliant unbroken sunshine, and a temperature in the mid sixties) to go out and do my first bike ride in a little over two weeks. The broken rib I experienced in my fall on August 29 is not yet 100%, but it was easily good enough for me to ride easily (and carefully). Michelle said that she was going to go ride, and I asked her if she'd like company. So we did a slow, easy 2.8 miles together through the subdivisions near our home—a route which is familiar to her—and then, when she felt she was done, I went back out and tacked on another 6.7 miles, doing twice a loop that kept me fairly near home, to give me a daily total of 9.5 miles in 55 minutes. Feels great to be back at it!

                    

I got home to find Michigan losing 24-21 to Akron with about 3 minutes left—but I was just in time to see them engineer a touchdown-scoring drive, and then barely hold off Akron from scoring to win it themselves.