164th ride - 11/30/2015

I decided to wait and ride this afternoon, when it was warmest, and thought I'd try for consecutive round trips to Saline. But as I headed back toward home, I decided to take it easy and just do one (since I am trying to fast today, and could feel that I did not have an overabundance of energy), and finished the 11.5 miles in 1 hour and 9 minutes. It was a cool ride, at 43°, but very sunny and enjoyable weather. Wearing my winter coat, in fact, I was quite comfortable, and almost a touch too warm at times.

163rd ride - 11/29/2015

Today, Michelle went out of town with a friend. For me, that meant bussing to church, and as it is on the other side of Ann Arbor and involves a route transfer, this meant a relatively early departure (9:15) in order to make the 11:00 service. So I decided to wait and ride after I got home today. After church finished (just past noon) I walked the few blocks down to the Cottage Inn pizza restaurant I favor, and after a leisurely lunch there and bussing home, I arrived around 2:30.

I decided to wait and ride at 4:00, and had hoped to do 40+ laps of our condo complex, for a ride of 20 miles. (I wanted to stay close to home, since my 'emergency lifeline', Michelle, was out of town, and I didn't want to have to walk several miles home in my biking shoes in case of emergency.) But I was getting tired of the "gerbil on a wheel" feeling of these .47-mile laps, and it was also cold (though I was not uncomfortable, in my heavy winter coat and gloves), and with darkness descending (before 5:00!) I decided to call a halt to it after 21 laps (9.9 miles, which I did in 58:38).

162nd ride - 11/28/2015

This morning I wanted to ride early so I could get back and warm up for the big Michigan/Ohio State game, so I rode at 7:15. I was awfully glad for my gloves, though, at 31°—despite them, my fingertips were almost falling off. And it was The Day of Turn-Arounds.

I was hoping to do multiple rides to Marsh Park, but when I got there, I rode three-quarters of the way around it, clockwise, and then came to chained gates. Why they would be chained I have no clue—maybe to keep out snowmobilers for the time of year that will soon be on us! At any rate, I wheeled around and headed back out the way I had come in.

Since multiple round trips there did not seem feasible, on the way home I struck off south toward Saline, and did kind of a hybrid route, over many stretches I had ridden before, but not all. However, my second problem area occurred on this stretch down toward Saline, when I rode south on Wilson and then turned the wrong way on Bicentennial Dr., and ended up doing a big circle before I got myself straightened out.

After I had gone past the high school, and came to Industrial, I turned left (south) on it, rather than going north as I usually do. This took me down to Michigan Ave. (US 12), but spying a sidewalk on the other side of it, I made my way across at a crosswalk, thinking this sidewalk would take me up into town. But I could only go about a quarter of a mile on it, and then, cresting a hill, I found that the sidewalk ended in a patch of grass. So my final turn-around occurred there. Making my way back to Industrial, though, I headed back up to where it intersects with Woodland, and then I was on familiar ground and headed home, drawn by the pull of the idea of warmth for my fingers and toes.

So the ride was less than I hoped it would be in terms of both distance and comfort, but nevertheless I'm happy to report that it got me over 2300 miles for the year.

161st ride - 11/26/2015

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!

I was up early today as usual, eager to ride. But weather.com was calling for the light showers we had early this morning to end by around 8:30, so I made myself wait, and worked on beginning the sixth movement of my Requiem.

When I went out just past 8:30, the light showers continued, as they did throughout the first half of my ride. Combined with the 46° temperature, and the spray coming up to me from the sidewalk/trail, I was very soon thoroughly soaked and cold, and relatively miserable (though with thanksgiving in my heart—my devotional reading this week has reinforced the theme of the day, urging us to follow the injunction of scripture to give thanks in all circumstances).

I had hoped to do a longer ride, and, in fact, as I neared the conclusion of my first round trip to Marsh Park, I considered turning and doing a second. But, given the conditions, I thought it would be prudent to keep it shorter today, as I was concerned about it leading to illness. So I settled for a single round trip, completing the 9.5 miles in 59 minutes.

160th ride - 11/25/2015

Employing an abundance of caution, I had not ridden outside (except for the laps I did in our condo complex on Monday) since last weekend's heavy snowfall. (They say we got a little over 9 inches here in Ann Arbor, but much of that fell Saturday night after we were asleep.) But I allowed myself to be lured outside by today's gorgeous weather (and the fact that the walks and trail were quite clear now, as shown in the picture below, looking south along the sidewalk from a ways south of Oak Valley Drive).

I hated to waste the glorious weather—who knows? perhaps it will be one of our last nice riding days of 2015—and wanted to do at least two round trips. But after I reached the park and turned back for home, I felt a twinge of pain in my right knee. I was tempted to 'tough it out' and keep going anyway, but was afraid that perhaps such a strategy might worsen it in the long term. So I settled for a single (58-minute) round trip, and am hoping also to do a good ride tomorrow morning to make room for some turkey.

159th ride - 11/23/2015

Not knowing for sure what the prospects would be for riding outside today, I went to LA Fitness this morning and did a brisk, full hour on the stationary bike. Then, this afternoon, I wished to add a bit to that—and it looked as if it might be OK to ride on the trail (and the sidewalk down to it). But, in the end, I concluded that it would be better to err on the side of caution, and give it another day, so I rode laps inside our condo complex. This was tedious, but safe, and at .47 mile per lap, 20 laps gave me 9.4 miles, or just 1 tenth of a mile shy of a round trip to Marsh Park.  It took me 59:47—not a great time by any means, but I just focused on counting off the laps, glad for this option. And water on the ground sprayed up and soaked my left glove, which made riding quite unpleasant in the 31° weather.

158th ride - 11/21/2015

I went out at 8:15 this morning in 30° weather to ride in my first truly wintry weather of the season. We had gotten a light dusting of snow in the early morning hours, and then weather.com was predicting snow to begin in earnest around 8:15. That's about what happened—there was none when I walked out to the garage, but very early in the ride extremely light flurries began to fall, at first so light as to be almost nonexistent, but steadily and slowly increasing both in size and intensity throughout the ride (though it was still not a heavy snow when I finished).

Early in the ride, I briefly considered riding two round trips to Marsh Park. But the tingling pain I began to experience in my toes and my fingers (despite my gloves) soon convinced me to shelve that plan, and just do a single one. This 9.5-mile round trip took me 1 hour and 1 minute—a little slower than recent rides, but I was taking my time and riding with care, both because of the traction (I wasn't sure how slippery it might be), and also because the light snow was enough to decorate my glasses quite thoroughly and obscure my vision. Late in the ride, in fact, I had to perch them down on the end of my nose and look over the top of them—not optimal for a guy as severely nearsighted as I. But I know the route well enough that, by that point, with only a few minutes left, it was no problem.

Also, on the way home, I snapped a picture of the most daunting hill I have to climb. It doesn't look too bad, but it's a challenge. I am able to pick up speed slightly on the mild downhill (though the trike is not built for speed) before the climb begins, and then keep shifting steadily into lower and lower gears as I climb. The view is along the sidewalk I ride paralleling Lohr Rd., from Rodeo Dr. (which is roughly halfway between Ellsworth Rd. and Oak Valley Dr.), looking northward.

I was glad to get the ride done early, as the snow is projected to continue and intensify most of the day. Now I can just stay warm and enjoy football for most of the rest of the day (Michigan plays Penn State at noon, and then Michigan State plays Ohio State at 3:30, with both games on ABC.) It will feel odd to be rooting for Ohio State, but if they beat Michigan State, it would enhance Michigan's fortunes. Then tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie with Michelle—after my ride, I went to the library, and picked up a DVD ("The Best of Me"), which is described as "The perfect date movie; the film is romantic in the purest sense."

157th ride - 11/20/2015

Today I again waited and rode at noon—I guess I have to conclude that this is becoming the new 'normal' for this time of year, despite my great fondness for mornings. And thankfully I remembered to wear a hoodie—but nothing either underneath it or over it. And this garb was insufficient for a cold (44°), windy (from the west at 19 mph, gusting to 28) day, despite the most welcome brilliant sunshine. Consequently, I cut my ride down once again today, and did a single round trip to Marsh Park, completing the 9.5 miles in 55 minutes, despite having to fight my way into the wind on the first half of the way back from the park.

Worse weather is coming, though! Tomorrow morning we're supposed to get snow, and I am hoping to bundle up and do a short ride in it (one round trip will be all I'll aim for), while monitoring the conditions, ready to wheel around and head back home if riding seems inadvisable.

156th ride - 11/19/2015

I was conflicted this morning about the length of my ride. I wanted to do multiple round trips to Marsh Park ... but during the second half of the first one, I began hearing a suspicious noise from my rear wheel, and feared getting to the park (about 5 miles from home) and then needing to walk back home. (I have my cell phone when I ride, and could text for help, but Michelle is at work, as is my friend Doug). While a 5-mile walk in my tennis shoes would just be a nice warm-up jaunt, doing it in my biking shoes with the metal clips on the bottom of them would be significantly more challenging.

So, in the end, I decided to scale back and settle for a single round trip, doing this 9.5-mile ride in 58 minutes. It was sunny but cool (50°) with a fairly strong (22 mph) and steady southwest wind that I was fighting. But, according to the forecast, a marked change is on the way! Tomorrow's high is predicted to be 46°, and they're saying we'll get several inches of snow Saturday morning.

155th ride - 11/18/2015

This morning I went out at 9:30, to ride under gray, gloomy skies with a light wind. (At least it wasn't cold, though, at 60°.) I had in mind doing three round trips to Marsh Park, and got started off fine—but after I reached the park and turned back, it began sprinkling. It was never a heavy rain, but just enough to be irritating to a guy who wears glasses. So I changed my plan and decided to just do a single round trip this morning (9.5 miles in 55 minutes), and, weather permitting, try to add to it this afternoon. I continue to make good progress on my Requiem that I'm composing, so I figured the time could be put to good use that way.

On the way home, I snapped a picture, looking up Lohr Rd. (actually, the sidewalk beside it on which I ride) from Oak Valley. It shows the hill I climb to conclude almost all of my rides. It is not too tough, but coming at the end of a 10 (or 20, or 25, or 30 mile ride), it is not a welcome sight. And it's made worse by the fact that I have to climb two larger hills before it, between Ellsworth Rd. and Oak Valley.

It reminds me of the running I did at St. Olaf College back in the seventies. I didn't run when I was a student (1975–79), but the year following graduation my wife Deb and I stayed on as Head Residents in one of the tower dorms (Larson Hall), and I would occasionally run then, especially in the spring of 1980. St. Olaf sits atop a fairly formidable hill (a campus nickname is, in fact, "The Hill")—much more challenging than the one in this picture—and it was always a character-builder to finish runs by climbing that hill. In particular, when my sister Marianne visited us that spring, and ran with me one day, I remember her being not fond of that climb!

154th ride - 11/17/2015

This afternoon I rode a hybrid of my two most frequent routes. I began by riding a round trip to Marsh Park, which is far and away my most frequent ride. But when I had completed it, and turned around to head south again (having another in mind), I decided instead to go to Saline on the route I've ridden each of the last two days. This hybrid ride gave me 19.4 miles, in a pretty good time of 1 hour and 45 minutes.

It was cool enough (at 61°), and cloudy, with a slight breeze, so that a sweater over a turtleneck felt just right! But at least we aren't dealing yet with any snow, as I heard Al Roker talking about for Denver on the Today show this morning—it certainly would not be out of the question for this time of year in Michigan.

153rd ride - 11/16/2015

Today, like yesterday, I decided to spend the morning composing, and ride in the afternoon. This profited me in two ways—I made good progress on the Requiem I am writing, and I got to ride in another day of glorious fall weather, today 61° sunshine. And I rode the same route today as yesterday, also, down to the northern fringe of Saline, completing the 11.5 miles in a time of 1 hour and 5 minutes (just slightly slower than yesterday, but still a good time by my usual standards). And perhaps the most notable aspect of today's ride was that it put me over 2200 miles for the year. The several stretches when I've been unable to ride because the trike has been in the shop for repair have cost me whatever outside shot I might have had at 3000 miles for the year, but I'm still happy with the total I'm racking up.

152nd ride - 11/15/2015

Today I decided again to wait and ride in the afternoon, particularly since I would have had to squeeze in a ride before church. And I thought my rides in a t-shirt were all done for 2015—but going out at 2:45, and riding in beautiful 67° fall sunshine, I was extremely comfortable dressed that way.

I rode a round trip to Saline, going to the intersection of Woodland Dr. and Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., and had originally intended to do two consecutive round trips of that route. But since I have been making very good progress on the Requiem I am composing lately, I became convinced that I should pour the second hour into composition, even though I hated to keep the ride short, given the gorgeous weather. I did this 11.5-mile route in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

                                    

Additionally, by leaving at halftime of the Lions' game, I though I would spare myself some heartache, as they were playing Green Bay, where they hadn't won since 1991 ("Bush I," as various witty commentators have noted). But when I got home from the ride, to my surprise, they were up late in the game, and managed somehow to hang on for an 18-16 win, despite a last-minute Green Bay surge that almost provided them with the victory.

151st ride - 11/14/2015

I had intended to ride three round trips to Marsh Park today. But I have been making good progress on the Requiem I am composing (my biggest piece to date—a seven-movement work for chorus, organ, harp, flute, oboe, violin, and cello), and could feel that calling me to return and work more on it. So I cut myself back to doing only a single round trip, and finished this 9.5-mile ride in 54 minutes.

I usually like to ride as early as possible in the morning—when "all is calm, all is bright." (Well, not too bright when riding real early at this time of year!) But this morning at 8:00 it was still only 30°, so I decided to devote the morning to composition, and wait to ride until early afternoon, and was rewarded for this decision by an enjoyable ride at 12:15 p.m. in 45° sunshine.

150th ride - 11/13/2015

I rode a round trip to Marsh Park this morning, in seasonably fallish conditions—40° and windy (though not nearly as dramatically windy as it was yesterday, or it's supposed to get later today), with quite a lot of water on the asphalt trail from all the rain we received yesterday and last night, and that sprayed me. And they are saying that 'wind-chills' (BOO!) are in the twenties. I am struck by how strikingly different it is riding now than when I got the trike and had my first ride on it, back on May 2 (shown in this picture). 

I had considered doing two or even three round trips, but ended up concluding that after an eight-day layoff, it would be more prudent to break back in more moderately. The several extended layoffs I've endured this year have certainly cost me the outside hope I entertained of making 3000 miles (I'm now at 2171.8), but 2500 should certainly be very feasible unless an unexpected heavy big early snow rolls in

Thursday, November 13, 2015

Today has been a   day. Last evening, Jack's Bicycle called me to say that my trike was ready to pick up, so I went over this morning and brought it back to Ann Arbor. But by the time I began to assemble it, about 11:30, I was dismayed to find that I could not attach the seat, because the posts that extend from the bottom of the seat hook into posts that extend up from the rack on the back of the trike ... and that rack was missing from the new rear end that TerraTrike had supplied.

After a bit of head scratching, I finally decided I might as well head back to Dearborn, since I could do nothing without their assistance. So I loaded it back into the car and headed back there. When I arrived and explained, Richard (with whom I have worked consistently since I first went there to research options back in late March) said that when he put it back together yesterday, he hadn't realized what was missing since he was not the one who had taken it apart. (I took it there last Friday, and Fridays are his day off.) Anyway, a few minutes later, he had me all set.

By the time I got home, though, and got the trike assembled (with all its parts there as they should be this time), it was nearly 2:00 p.m., I was tired and discouraged from all the maneuvering today, and the weather was not promising (47°, with steady 27 mph winds, gusting to 42, and steadily increasing), so I decided to cave in and give myself the day off.

Jack's Bicycle - 11/6/2015

This morning when I went to ride, and sat down on the trike, I heard it SNAP, as the center joint collapsed to the ground, and immediately once I was able to get up I could see that the clamp had come detached. So, thanks to Michelle's schedule flexibility, and the assistance of my friend Doug Tidd who ran me out to Michelle's school so I could get our car, I was able to take it to my good friends at Jack's Bicycle in Dearborn.

I was hoping for a quick repair, since something similar had happened once before—but they quickly took a look and told me this was something more serious. Due to metal fatigue, the frame around the hole where the pin for the center clamp seats itself had broken completely, so the whole rear end of the frame would have to be replaced. They took a picture and sent it to TerraTrike, to set that process in motion.

Following is the somewhat unbelievable list of all the problems that have caused me to return to Dearborn since researching the purchase on March 28, test riding it on April 11, and then actually buying the trike on May 2.

Tues., 5/12/15     Problems with center joint

Wed., 5/13/15      Shredded front tires caused by misalignment

Mon., 5/19/15      Flat tire

Sat., 5/30/15        Getting replacement bolt for seat clamp

Mon., 6/1/15        Further problems with center joint

Tues., 6/2/15        Damaged derailleur—had to replace it

Thurs., 6/11/15    Another flat tire

Tues., 6/16/15      Damaged plastic tubes that encase the chain

Mon., 6/22/15      Need new tires, after front left blowout

Mon., 8/10/15      Several issues (seat, lights, computer)

Tues., 8/11/15      Center joint would not fold out; minor NC adjustment

Sat., 8/22/15        Center joint “broke” after Kal-Haven ride;

                                    Got it back on 8/31/15 with new frame

Thurs., 9/3/15      Flat tire

Fri., 9/25/15         New front tires and realignment

Thurs., 10/8/15    Derailleur issues

Mon., 11/2/15      Clips on pedals, and reworking center joint (which wouldn’t fold; clamp was bent)

Fri., 11/6/15         Frame broke, middle clamp fell out

Numerous friends have told me that they ought to give me a new cycle, given the long number of problems. I don't necessarily disagree, but I don't see any way to force their hand on this issue, so for now I continue to exercise what Michelle calls my "gift of patience," and hope that we are slowly, gradually, exhausting the list of possible problems as we work our way through them. And, to be fair, while TerraTrike (the manufacture) may be culpable, Jack's Bicycle has been exceedingly good to me, doing the work expeditiously and usually at no cost; and when it's working (which is obviously somewhat rare) I like the trike a lot.

149th ride - 11/4/2015

Our unbelievable stretch of weather continues, as today marked the third of three consecutive days of record high temperatures (today 76°). I went out this afternoon and rode consecutive round trips to Marsh Park—the first consecutive ones I've done since getting my new pedal setup on Monday. I did this 17.5-mile ride in 1 hour and 33 minutes. (This was a good time by my overall standards, but well off my record of 1:29:49 set on October 21.)

148th ride - 11/3/2015

On a brilliantly sunny fall morning (41°), I rode a round trip to Marsh Park again this morning. I was thinking I'd do 3 or 4, but once I got going I felt the call of composition pulling me back home. I may, however, do an additional ride this afternoon (I hope I do), but for now, I've done the 9.5 miles in 54 minutes.

Since Sunday afternoon, when I attended a lovely performance of the Requiem by John Rutter, a work I have both sung and conducted, I have wanted to start a large multi-movement choral work. I have done a lot of thinking about it, and making tentative plans—but I think now is the time to start sketching some of it out a little more concretely.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

On an absolutely gorgeous (summery) fall afternoon, with unbroken sunshine and a temperature of 77°, I rode another Marsh Park round trip, in 55 minutes (for a daily total of 19 miles in 1 hour and 49 minutes). I didn't realize it was that warm until I got out there, so I wore the sweatshirt ("St. Olaf College Dad") that I wore this morning, over a long-sleeved t-shirt. (The t-shirt was one I got when I was still running, and ran the Ann Arbor Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day 2008, finishing the 3.1-mile run on the North Campus of the University of Michigan, where I used to live during 1981–82, before Deb and I had children, in 30:39.) But it didn't take very long at all to come to the conclusion that I needed to remove the sweatshirt and leave it in the garage.

147th ride - 11/2/2015

I went to Dearborn this morning and got from Jack's Bicycle new shoes ("Specialized" brand) that clip into the cleats they put on for me in place of the pedals. (The old pedals were returned to me.) I was concerned about my ability to clip into them—a blunt V-shaped tongue on the underside of each shoe clips into a groove on the cleats, and you then push down to lock two pegs into place to hold it—so I had Richard take extra care to show me how they worked, and take time to explain the workings to me. But when I got home early this afternoon and put the trike back together, and put the shoes on and went out to ride, I was pleased to discover no problem at all. (Maybe it was just beginner's luck.) The first picture below shows the shoes, and the second, a closeup, shows one of the cleats. They are actually quite small—only about two inches square.

Also at Jack's, they had a second issue with which to deal. The center joint would not fold up, so that I could not transport the trike in the car as usual. But I was able to brainstorm a way to make it work, by putting one of the back windows down and letting the rear wheel hang out the window a few inches. At Jack's, they were somewhat befuddled initially, having never seen quite this condition before. But they gathered several of the mechanics together to brainstorm it, telling me that the clamp had become bent (though they couldn't say how), and soon had it working properly again.

It was an unseasonably warm and gorgeous afternoon, and I had to remove the fleece I'd worn this morning and don a t-shirt instead, to ride in sunshine in the upper sixties. I wanted to ride two round trips to Marsh Park, figuring I'd break the new clips in slowly—I'm certain they will provide a vastly more secure and comfortable ride as I get used to them, but I'm still in process on that. However, the second of two 'adventure' components today made me decide to cut it down to a single round trip, whose 9.5 miles I did in 55 minutes. 

The first 'adventure' was at the park, just after I had reached it and started back toward home. The left leg of my pants caught on my headlight and ripped it off of the bar to which it was clamped, so that it went clattering onto the trail behind me. This necessitated a stop, unclipping from the pedals (you merely turn the foot a bit, "like a ski binding"), and going back to retrieve it. Reattaching it was no monumental task (although anything mechanical is challenging for Dr. Borton,
thoroughgoing musician). But I was able to accomplish it, as well as reattaching my feet to the pedals ("good practice!" I figured), and then continued the ride.

When I got back to Ellsworth Rd. (near our home, and the point at which I turn around when doing consecutive round trips), the second 'adventure' component came into play. I noticed that the seat was beginning to wobble, so I stopped, unclipped my feet, and went to retrieve the large Allen wrench (a special size, that came with the trike) in order to tighten the clamp. But it was not there, in the zippered pouch on the side of the seat, where I keep a few tools. After double- and triple-checking, I decided I'd better head home, because I certainly didn't want to get miles from home and have a problem with the seat and no way of fixing it. When I pulled into our drive, I looked carefully in the area where I had assembled it a short time earlier, after returning from Dearborn, thinking perhaps it had fallen onto the ground. But it was not there, either, so I told myself (disconsolately) that I'd have to head over to Lowe's and try to 'eyeball' the right size Allen wrench, probably making several trips between there and home in order to 'trial-and-error' it to get the right size. (Sadly, without the wrench, I had no way of disassembling the trike so I could take it to Lowe's with me to make checking easier.) But then, when I put the trike away in the garage, and started to head into our home, I spied the wrench sitting on the trunk of our car, where I must have lazily laid it instead of putting it in the pouch where it belongs.

Anyway—the bottom line is that I think that I shall be much better off for riding now, and I look forward to proving that tomorrow morning.