September 2021 – Big Nellie and The Mule Go Long

Another month of aimlessly riding in circles is in the books. Early September brought the usual extension of summertime, but the month ended with day after day of absolutely perfect weather. It was my highest mileage month of the year, clocking in at 1,051 miles. The newly refurbished Big Nellie carried me 598.5 miles. The balance of riding, but for one mile on Little Nellie, was on The Mule.

It took me a while to regain my confidence on Big Nellie. This is normal considering the fork broke off back in June, landing me in a heap along the Mount Vernon Trail. After a while I started feeling like I was part of the bike. I even rode it to a Nats game, to Friday Coffee Club, and on some explorations all across DC. (I am extra careful riding Big Nellie in traffic. Drivers and other bicyclists don’t expect to see me when I am so low to the ground. Oddly, the opposite is true in the country; drivers stare at the weird bike and tend to steer at me. Mirrors are life savers. Caveat Bentor.)

One highlight of the month was my 13th 50 States Ride. As with my two 80-ish-mile rides on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I did this one on The Mule. The Mule does hills better than Big Nellie. And I wasn’t really keen about driving across the Bay Bridge and its crosswinds with a huge recumbent tailfin on the car. (I needn’t have worried. I once drove back from Indiana with Big Nellie hanging off the back of my Accord.)

Another highlight of the month was the return of Friday Coffee Club at Swings House of Caffeine on G Street NW. I have to work on the getting-out-of-bed aspect though. I am no longer accustomed to waking before dawn.

I did attend three Nats games, the last one with my daughter. I’d like to say these were major league baseball games but the Nats are pretty much a AAA club with a couple of ringers (Soto and Bell). If they had a bullpen, they’d be on the verge of mediocrity. There are three more games against the Red Sox. Despite the fact that I lived in Red Sox Country for 11 years, I am not planning on going to the games.

For the year, I have ridden 7,748 miles, on pace for over 10,300 miles.

Oh, and one last thing, I had a Covid vaccine booster shot a couple of days ago. Other than a sore arm for a day, I haven’t had any side effects.

Get the jab, y’all.