2024 MILEAGE - 658.1
A few years ago, my daughter Christy recommended to me a movie called The Age of Adaline, which I like very much indeed. I watched it today during my ride. However, due to unusual schedule constraints, I had to split it into two parts.
This gave me a ride of 23.8 virtual miles, in 1:49.
2024 MILEAGE - 634.3
Returning to the subject of baseball movies during this afternoon's ride, I watched Bull Durham.
This gave me a ride of 22.2 virtual miles, in 1:44.
2024 MILEAGE - 612.1
During this afternoon's ride, I watched The Princess Bride.
This gave me a ride of 20.7 virtual miles, in 1:37.
2024 MILEAGE - 570.2
During this afternoon's ride, I watched The Sound of Music.
This gave me a ride of 36.2 virtual miles, in 2:54.
2024 MILEAGE - 534.7
During today's ride, I watched my all-time favorite movie: On Golden Pond.
This gave me a ride of 22.0 virtual miles, in 1:06.
2024 MILEAGE - 512.7
Unlike a few days ago when I tried, today I was able to find and watch the movie Tiger Town, which I enjoyed several times last year. This 1983 film was the very first movie of The Disney Channel, and as much as I enjoyed its focus on baseball, specifically my Detroit Tigers, easily the best part of it for me was to hear again the voice of beloved Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell.
This gave me a ride of 16.0 virtual miles, in 1:14.
2024 MILEAGE - 496.7
This afternoon, after celebrating with a dear friend who turned 80 today, I rode happily on our stationary cycle while watching the baseball movie For Love of the Game, as I continue to ramp up my excitement for the start of the season, which is still a couple of months away yet.
This gave me a ride of 25.5 virtual miles, in 2:11.
2024 MILEAGE - 471.2
I had wanted to see the movie Oppenheimer while it was in theaters in the fall, but I missed my chance. So instead, I watched it during this morning's ride, and found it to be an extremely well crafted presentation of a compelling story.
This gave me a ride of 35.9 virtual miles, in 2:55.
2024 MILEAGE - 435.3
Today was a funky day for riding. First off, I had to spend over four hours waiting at Firestone for our car to be repaired, as our brakes had gone almost completely out. And then, once Michelle and I finally got home late afternoon, I was going to do a brief ride while watching the shortest movie in my repertoire—the very first Disney movie, a 1933 film called Tiger Town, about (of course) my beloved Detroit Tigers. But I was experiencing connection difficulties with my phone, and ended up having to settle for an even briefer ride while listening to the audio stream of the sports talk radio station I listen to, 97.1 The Ticket.
This gave me a ride of 8.4 virtual miles, in 40 minutes.
2024 MILEAGE - 426.9
During my ride this morning, I stayed with my baseball theme of recent days, and watched a great movie about a great man— 42, about Jackie Robinson, who integrated baseball, breaking the color line in 1947.
This gave me a ride of 25.6 virtual miles, in 2:01/.
2024 MILEAGE - 401.3
Even though spring training doesn't begin for a few more weeks, with the Grapefruit League schedule beginning February 24, and Opening Day in Detroit isn't until April 5 (I got our tickets for me and Tom Brown today), watching Field of Dreams during my ride yesterday has really gotten baseball back into my blood (not like it ever really left), so today I watched Trouble with the Curve during my ride.
This gave me a ride of 23.5 virtual miles, in 1:46.
2024 MILEAGE - 377.8
During my ride today, I watched my favorite movie that is about my favorite game (baseball)—Field of Dreams (from 1989). I find indescribably moving the soliloquy by the character Terence Mann (played by James Earl Jones) in a climactic moment in the film:
They'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.
This gave me a ride of 21.6 virtual miles, in 1:42.
2024 MILEAGE - 356.2
The 1942 movie Casablanca is hailed as such a classic that, although I had not seen it before, I finally decided to watch it and rectify this omission during a ride last year (on November 6). But I found today that I really did not remember it, so I decided to watch it again during today's ride—and though I didn't see the entire movie, I watched the first 100 minutes of it (the majority).
This gave me a ride of 22.1 virtual miles, in 1:41.
2024 MILEAGE - 334.1
During today's ride, I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen—a 2003 film that has the distinction of being the last one made by Sean Connery (1930–2020), prior to his 2006 retirement.
This gave me a ride of 22.6 virtual miles, in 1:43.
2024 MILEAGE - 311.5
Again today, I was happy to have the option of riding in warmth and comfort on our stationary cycle, and so climbed on shortly past noon and pedaled away while watching The Return of the King, the third and concluding movie of the trilogy corresponding with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings.
This gave me a ride of 44.7 virtual miles, in 3:12.
2024 MILEAGE - 266.8
Again today, I was happy to have the option of riding in warmth and comfort our stationary cycle, and so climbed on at 9:10 a.m. and pedaled away while watching The Two Towers, the second movie of the trilogy corresponding with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings.
This gave me a ride of 33.1 virtual miles, in 2:51.
2024 MILEAGE - 233.7
I am SO grateful for the stationary cycle that Michelle bought us for Christmas a few years ago. Real winter has, at last, arrived here ... we got several inches of snow overnight, and when I went out at 1 p.m. to do an errand, the temperature of 5° convinced me to break out my heavy winter coat for the first time!
However, I was happy to have the option of riding in warmth and comfort this morning, and so climbed on at 7:00 a.m. and pedaled away while watching The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie of the trilogy corresponding with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings.
This gave me a ride of 44.8 virtual miles, in 3:35.
2024 MILEAGE - 188.9
I recently learned about The Rings of Power, a series produced for the streaming service Amazon Prime in cooperation and consultation with the Tolkien estate, regarding events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth (before the Lord of the Rings). Its quality is highly praised.
After watching the first six episodes of The Rings of Power (A Shadow of the Past, Adrift, Adar, The Great Wave, Partings, and Udun) in recent days, during today's ride I watched the final two, Episodes 7 and 8 (The Eye and Alloyed). Having now finished the eight episodes (my understanding is that Season 2 of the show is to debut this fall), I think that tomorrow I'll turn to the movies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, beginning with The Fellowship of the Ring.
This gave me a ride of 33.0 virtual miles, in 2:18.
2024 MILEAGE - 155.9
I recently learned about The Rings of Power, a series produced for the streaming service Amazon Prime in cooperation and consultation with the Tolkien estate, regarding events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth (before the Lord of the Rings). Its quality is highly praised.
After watching the first five episodes of The Rings of Power (A Shadow of the Past, Adrift, Adar, The Great Wave, and Partings) in recent days, during today's ride I watched Episode 6 (Udun). This first season of the show has eight episodes, so I think that tomorrow I'll watch the last two, and then on Saturday I can begin to turn to the movies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
This gave me a ride of 15.5 virtual miles, in 1:04.
2024 MILEAGE - 140.4
I recently learned about The Rings of Power, a series produced for the streaming service Amazon Prime in cooperation and consultation with the Tolkien estate, regarding events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth (before the Lord of the Rings). Its quality is highly praised.
After watching the first three episodes of The Rings of Power (A Shadow of the Past, Adrift, and Adar) in recent days, during today's ride I watched Episodes 4 and 5 (The Great Wave and Partings). This first season of the show has eight episodes, so I have a few more days ahead of me.
Anyway, this gave me a ride of 32.2 virtual miles, in 2:15.
2024 MILEAGE - 108.2
My dear wife Michelle gave me for Christmas a book about the Detroit Tigers. While reading it this morning, I was reminded of Ron Leflore, a player for them for a short time in the mid- to late-seventies, who made quite a notable impact on the game. The book also mentioned a movie that had been made (for television) about his dramatic life -- One in a Million: The Ron Leflore Story. So I watched that during today's ride.
This gave me a ride of 20.1 virtual miles, in 1:35.
2024 MILEAGE - 88.1
I recently learned about The Rings of Power, a series produced for the streaming service Amazon Prime in cooperation and consultation with the Tolkien estate, regarding events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth (before the Lord of the Rings). Its quality is highly praised.
After watching the first two episodes of The Rings of Power (A Shadow of the Past and Adrift) on the last two days, during today's ride I watched Episode 3 (Adar). This first season of the show has eight episodes, so I have a few more days ahead of me.
Anyway, this gave me a ride of 14.4 virtual miles, in 1:04.
2024 MILEAGE - 73.7
I recently learned about The Rings of Power, a series produced for the streaming service Amazon Prime in cooperation and consultation with the Tolkien estate, regarding events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth (before the Lord of the Rings). Its quality is highly praised.
After yesterday watching the first episode of The Rings of Power (A Shadow of the Past), during today's ride I watched Episode 2 (Adrift). This first season of the show has eight episodes, so I have a few more days ahead of me, even if I double up and do two per day (as I had considered doing today).
Anyway, this gave me a ride of 13.1 virtual miles, in 1:04.
2024 MILEAGE - 60.6
I recently learned about The Rings of Power, a series produced for the streaming service Amazon Prime in cooperation and consultation with the Tolkien estate, regarding events of the Second Age of Middle-Earth (before the Lord of the Rings). Its quality is highly praised, and this morning I watched the first episode (of eight from Season 1; season 2 is to begin later this year) during my ride.
I was glad to be able to get back to riding after a couple of days off. My lower back is screaming at me with sever pain, but I've determined that it's only unmanageable when I either stand or twist, and by using a walking stick to help myself rise, I can make my way slowly around our home, and experience no discomfort whatsoever when seated on the stationary cycle and pedaling.
Anyway, this gave me a ride of 13.3 virtual miles, in 1:00.
2024 MILEAGE - 47.3
During my ride today, I watched a movie about my favorite author, called The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis.
It deals with Lewis's boyhood and life as a young man, prior to his acceptance of Christianity in his early thirties. The story is told by an actor who both looks and sounds like the older Lewis, from late in his life, and he often looks at the camera and addresses the viewer directly.
At one point in a conversation as a young man, he uses the phrase "further up and further in." This strongly captured my attention, as it is a phrase that he works into his well known series of books (nominally for children, but really of great interest to adults also) The Chronicles of Narnia. And it is also relevant to my personal life, as my closes friend, a pastor and fellow graduate of my alma mater, and I often close our correspondence with the acronym FUAFI, standing for this phrase.
Anyway, this gave me a ride of 15.7 virtual miles, in 1:13.
