Monday, 4/29/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1891.8

Yesterday was exceptionally busy, as I played a piano solo at church in the morning, and had one of my compositions premiered at a concert here in town at 3:00. Consequently, I gave myself the day off from riding. Today, getting back to it, I chose to ride inside (though the weather would have permitted an outdoor ride), and as I pedaled, I watched the first half of the classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (up till intermission).

This gave me a ride of 17.7 virtual miles in 1:27.

Trailer for 2001: A Space Odyssey

Saturday, 4/27/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1874.1

During my ride this morning, I watched the highly praised 2011 baseball movie, Moneyball.

This gave me a ride of 25.1 virtual miles in 2:10.

Trailer for Moneyball

Friday, 4/26/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1848.9

After taking yesterday off, I got back into it today with an indoor ride, while watching the first hour of Mary Poppins Returns,

This gave me a ride of 12.0 virtual miles in 1:01.

Trailer for Mary Poppins Returns

Wednesday, 4/24/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1836.9

Cold weather persists here—now, at 1:30, it is 42°, but this morning it was considerably colder—so I chose to ride inside again this morning, while watching the 2000 film Chocolat, which sounded appealing to me as a devoted chocaholic.

This gave me a ride of 22.1 virtual miles in 1:57.

Trailer for Chocolat

Monday, 4/22/24 - 10th outdoor ride of 2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1787.6

Saturday, though I didn't post about it, I rode inside for just over an hour while watching the first half of Mary Poppins. And yesterday, I didn't ride because I went for a good hike instead, with my friends Tom Brown, Tom Clark, and Bryce Babcock.

This afternoon, I rode outside in glorious weather—63° sunshine, though I battled a challenging wind, which is always nettlesome. I rode the Platt/Packard Square.

This gave me a ride of 13.6 miles in 1:59.

Relive video of today's ride

Friday, 4/19/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1787.6

This afternoon while I rode, I watched the movie Somewhere in Time, which was shot on Mackinac island.

This gave me a ride of 21.5 virtual miles in 1:43.

Trailer for Somewhere in Time

Thursday, 4/18/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1766.1

Today (late morning and early afternoon), I rode while watching the 1962 film version of the great musical The Music Man.

This gave me a ride of 29.6 virtual miles in 2:32.

Trailer for The Music Man

Wednesday, 4/17/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1736.5

As one might expect, I am tremendously fond of musicals. And behind The Sound of Music (my clear favorite) and Les Miserables (part of which I watched yesterday), my third favorite is probably My Fair Lady, which I watched during my ride today.

I think that I am particularly fond it because it deals with the technique of speech and pronunciation, which has always fascinated me, and which makes my condition of being unable to speak clearly since my 1993 Traumatic Brain Injury so terribly ironic.

This gave me a ride of 34.5 virtual miles in 2:52.

 Trailer for My Fair Lady

Tuesday, 4/17/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1702.0

After another heartening Tigers comeback win this afternoon, the weather was sunny and warm (about 70°). But it was relatively windy also, and I didn't want to battle the wind, so I wimped out and rode inside on our stationary cycle. Last Friday I watched the first half of the movie Les Miserables while I rode. 

The musical, which I treasure, came into my acquaintance roughly 40 years ago, when my dear friends David and Cynthia Lenz recommended it to me. Today I watched the remainder of this deeply moving production.

This gave me a ride of 17.1 virtual miles in 1:16.

Trailer for Les Miserables

Monday, 4/15/2024 - 9th outdoor ride of 2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1684.9

Today, I began at 10:45, intending to ride the 13.6-mile loop route that I ride frequently. However, my plans had to change, and when I limped back into our driveway an hour and 45 minutes later (less than an hour of actual riding time), I was never so glad to see our home!

I saw two good friends during the ride. First was Doug Franklin, who I seem to see every few weeks (at least) during his long daily walk up from his home in Saline. I passed him both during the early part of the ride, and also as I was finishing it up. Less than three miles into the ride, I experienced a problem. How, and why, this happened I have absolutely no idea. But somehow my chain developed enough slack that it got tangled and wound around the front gear.

I took a look at it, but of course was unable to do a thing with it. Then I thought I might have to Uber ou to Michelle;'s school, to get our car, so that I could bring the trike back home. However, eventually I was able to reach my good friend Dan Cogan (a retired lawyer), Dan has bailed me out of problems on a number of previous occasions, both out on the road, and at home in my garage, helping me both with flat tires and with chain issues. I finally got him to teach me how to do the tires, and took notes on my phone, so i hope I'm OK with that now. But the chain is another thing entirely.

It didn't take him too long to straighten me out, but when I asked him what he did, hoping to learn something that would help me in the future, he merely grinned and shrugged. Once he got me fixed up, I could (and perhaps should) have resumed my original plan. But by that point I was sufficiently disconcerted that I changed my plans, and decided to do the shortest ride I ever allow myself, which I call the Silo Ridge loopugged

This gave me a ride of 6.3 miles in 56 minutes.

Relive video of today's ride

Sunday, 4/14/2024 - 8th outdoor ride of 2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1678.6

I rode on Friday, but neglected to post about it (riding inside while watching the first half of the movie Les Miserables), and then yesterday I took off, devoting a large swath of time to watching a baseball doubleheader that was a discouraging use of my time, as Detroit dropped both games.

Today, though, I was glad to be able to get back to riding on a GLORIOUS day! First, I spent a good chunk of the afternoon watching my Detroit Tigers host their divisional rival, the Minnesota Twins, in the finale of a weekend series. After trailing 3-0 for nearly the whole game, it looked as if we were about to lose our third straight to Minnesota. But then, just when all hope seemed nearly gone, Detroit exploded for 4 runs in the 8th inning to take the lead and, eventually, the win.

I was tempted to take the day off today, too .... but that game buoyed my spirits so much that I pushed myself out the door, and rode a round trip to Marsh Park. A brief ride, to be sure, but I'm still getting my legs back after the winter. On the way home I took this picture. It was good, too, to be able to ride outside, for only the 8th time this year.

As the picture sort of shows, summery weather hit us unexpectedly today! Fortunately I checked the temperature before leaving, and changed out of the hoodie and jeans I had worn most of the day into short and a t-shirt, or I'd have melted! When I began, at 5:15, it was a sunny 79°, and by the time I finished, it had "cooled down" to 77°.

This gave me a ride of 10.0 miles in 1:15.

Relive video of today's ride

Thursday, 4/11/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1651.8

Well, once more I was driven back to riding inside, as today we are experiencing a daylong rain. As I rode this afternoon, I watched a 1973 baseball movie that I've known about for a long time, but had never seen before: Bang the Drum Slowly. At least, it is nominally about baseball, set against the background of a fictional major league team (the Mammoths, who use the logo of the real life new York Yankees) ... but it is really more about friendship and relationships, and contains very little actual baseball.

This gave me a ride of 20.1 virtual miles in 1:39

Trailer for Bang the Drum Slowly

Wednesday, 4/10/2024 - 7th outdoor ride of 2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1631.7

Who knows? Maybe today will FINALLY be the day that allows me to turn the corner, and reestablish outdoor rides as a regular feature of my schedule. It was certainly a beautiful day today—when I began, just past 11 a.m., it was mostly sunny, and 61° (the temperature cl imbed to 65° during my ride)l I rode the Packard/Platt Square——a little chagrined at how slow I was, but I kept telling myself that speed wasn't the important thing ... just to be out there doing it.

This gave me a ride of 13.6 miles in 1:47

 Relive video of today's ride

Monday, 4/8/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1618.1

During my ride this afternoon (following the solar eclipse), I watched the 1999 baseball movie For Love of the Game, about a (fictional) Detroit Tigers pitcher who is at the end of a brilliant career. I had never known of this movie before stumbling across it one day last year, but it has become a real favorite of mine.

This gave me a ride of 29.3 virtual miles in 1:53.

 Trailer for For Love of the Game

Sunday, 4/7/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1588.8

After taking Friday and Saturday off, working on preparing for a piano solo I played at church this morning, I was glad to be able to get back to it today, and rode inside while watching my very favorite baseball movie, Field of Dreams. (This was even though, after my Tigers sprinted out to a 6-1 record to open the season, including a victory on Friday in the Home Opener, which I attended with a friend), they haven't won since, and now sit at 6-3.

This gave me a ride of 21.0 virtual miles in 1:41.

 Trailer for Field of Dreams

Thursday, 4/4/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1567.8

I did not ride yesterday, as I was caring for my granddaughter, who developed a severe headache during the morning and texted me from school to see if I could pick her up early, rather than waiting until after school for her usual Wednesday night stay with Michelle and me.

A couple of days ago, I heard the 1998 romantic comedy There's Something About Mary discussed in relatively glowing terms on the radio—it is often called a "box office classic." I couldn't remember whether I had ever seen it, so I watched it during my ride today. Having watched I can say both fairly definitively that I had NOT seen it previously, and that the praise for it was largely lost on me. I found the movie overall, despite a few silly, farcical moments, to be pretty unrelentingly shallow and stupid.

This gave me a ride of 23.1 virtual miles in 1:53.

 Trailer for There's Something about Mary

Tuesday, 4/2/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1544.7

Today was forecast to have rain most of the day, so even though I am eager to return to outdoor riding, I rode inside once more. This time, I watched the beloved film The Sound of Music, but, unlike when I saw it last (on Friday, March 22), I didn't stop at Intermission, but pushed through and rode to the entire movie.

This gave me a ride of 34.3 virtual miles in 2:56.

 Trailer for The Sound of Music

Monday, 4/1/2024

2024 MILEAGE - 1509.3

During today's ride, I watched the second half of the movie Interstellar, which I had begun on Saturday. I think, though, that the season for indoor rides is just about over, and I'll have to accustom myself to pushing along out in the fresh air again.

This gave me a ride of 17.1 virtual miles in 1:19.

Trailer for Interstellar