Reading

Going Up Down East – My journal of my 2023 bike tour, a big circle from DC to Bar Harbor to Erie PA to DC. I had forgotten how much it rained. Also, I seemed to do much more walking than any other tour except 2024’s Kentucky fiasco.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. (My first 2025 Christmas present book.) Rick Rubin is the answer to the question: what do Johnny Cash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Tyler Childers, and Run DMC have in common? He produced all these acts and many more. He claims that when he began producing rap acts as a student at NYU he knew very little about music (he played some guitar in a punk band) or music production. Oddly, this book mentions only a handful of musical artists in passing. It’s more about how you go from a vague idea to final product, one that first and foremost pleases yourself. It’s not surprising that the book is woo woo as all get out, given the fact that he’s been a practicing meditator and Buddhist for over 50 years.

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller My second 2025 Christmas present book, also non-fiction. Miller’s romantic live crashes and burns. She falls into despair. How to climb back out? By studying the life of a world-renown taxonomist who rapidly recovers from one crisis after another. Interesting enough. But when the story takes a series of incredible twists and turns. And about those fish….well, you’ll just have to read it.

Watching

The Beatles Anthology Episode 9 – This new installment tells of how the “Threetles” reunited to make the Anthology series, and rejuvenate two John Lennon demos, Free as a Bird and Real Love. The abandonment of Now and Then, a third Lennon demo is briefly explained. Not worth the time.

Train Dreams – A meditation on a long life through the eyes of Robert Grainger, a logger, a railroad worker, and a hermit who’s story runs from the late nineteen century into the 1960s in the northwestern US. Absolutely wonderful. Great acting (Joel Edgerton, William H. Macy, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, among many others), great cinematography, great editing, great score. On Netflix. Worth every second of your time.

Jay Kelly – Noah Baumbach’s tale of an aged actor – played with more than a hint of irony by George Clooney – who agonizes with regret over the life choices that enabled his rise to mega stardom. Despite terrific performances by Clooney and many others (including Greta Gerwig, Laura Dern, Jim Broadbent, and Stacy Keach), the story just didn’t connect with me. For the record, I am no fan of Adam Sandler but he’s really quite good in this.

Nick Johnson’s TransAmerica Bike Tour – On a way-too-cold day I decided to ride my CrossCheck in the basement. To keep me amused I watched this series of videos on Nick’s 2011 ride across the country on the TransAm. His experience was very similar to mine. (And yes the dogs of Appalachian Kentucky made him absolutely miserable.)

Sheelagh Daly’s Trip Across the Wilds of Scotland. This relatively short video tells the tale of Sheelagh’s 10-day solo ride across the Scottish Highlands. Mud and rain and cold and winds and fierce looking livestock didn’t deter our heroine from having an epic journey.

Riding

On the 16th, I managed to reach 82,000 miles on The Mule. As the month wore on, I became increasingly anxious about reaching 10,000 miles for the year. After all, I had twice been surprised my medical calamities in late December of prior years. I pulled it off though, reaching 10,000, for the eighth year in a row, on the 20th. A couple of days later I donated blood as a celebration. Here’s a helpful hint: do not lift weights and ride a bike for an hour before donating. I was knocked for a loop.

For the month I rode 684.5 miles, 168 was done indoors on various bikes: the CrossCheck and the Tour Easy in the basement and the recumbent torture device at the fitness center. I deliberately took it easy after the 20th, reaching 10,164 by year’s end. Instead on some days I went for long walks with my trusty cane.

I finished the month at xxx miles.

May It Please the Court: Our daughter Lily took two months off to study then crushed the Connecticut bar exam! She was admitted to the bar in November at a

ceremony before the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Trolls: The day after the bar ceremony, my wife, daughter, and I drove to Rhode Island to check out four troll statues. This might be the coolest thing ever. When is the DC-area going to get some?

Natchez Tracing: I signed up for a nine-day, van-supported tour of the Natchez Trace Parkway with the Adventure Cycling Association. This road goes over 440 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. No commercial traffic, no stop signs, no traffic lights. Perfect weather and 14 other riders whose sole objective is to have fun on two wheels. Not half bad. The hardest part was the 16-hour drive home.

70 Years: My personal odometer passed 70 years in August. Over the last three years the effects of aging have started to creep in, but I am still on the green side of the lawn.

Speaking of the Lawn: When my lawn mower died this Spring, I decided to hire a lawn service. Given the fact that the best mowing days are also the best riding days, this should have been a no-brainer years ago. The cost was reasonable. Also, it was entertaining to watch the crew mow the lawn, something that took me over an hour, in less than 15 minutes.

Crash, Crash, Crash: For the first time in memory, I crashed my bike three times. The first one was during a traverse of the empty C&O Canal at Riley’s Lock. It looked easy but the incline on the opposite side of the canal was much steeper than it appeared. Fortunately. the only thing that broke was a wee bit of plastic on my right brake lever. My next crash came when I was test riding an HP Velotechik Street Machine, a two-wheeled recumbent with underseat steering. I false started in front of two friends and fell to the side, with my right foot entangled in the pedal. I hit flush on my upper right arm causing a sever shock of pain to shoot from my shoulder to my elbow. (I also cut and sprained my left ankle.) I decided not to buy the bike. My third crash happened on The Mule as I was finishing a day ride on a very hot day. My head was down as I slogged up a slight incline near home. I hit the back of a parked car. Doh. Although I fell to the left, the deceleration caused a sharp pain in my injured right arm, setting back my recovery from the previous crash by a week.

Ahhnald: When the $70-million renovation of our local recreation center was finished, my wife and I signed up for recreating. We both do weight training two or three times per week. She also does yoga classes. I rude recumbent bikes. The weight training has helped stabilize my messed up back. Also, my damaged right shoulder seemed to improve markedly.

Another 10,000 Miles: For the eighth year in a row, I rode 10,000 miles. I also perfected the art of the late afternoon nap. Coincidence? I think not.

Carpal Diem: I had carpal tunnel surgery early in the year. I was back to normal in a couple of weeks.

Getting the Band Back Together: I did four bike events this year. The highlight of them all was my 17th (?) 50 States Ride. (I’ve lost count.) We had a great posse with Chris, Michael, Kevin and I joined by Sara, and Neena, as well as the long awaited return of Domitille, and Timothee.

And as is tradition, the 11th highlight of the year….

It Is The Heat After All!: Whoever said “It’s not the heat it’s the humidity” didn’t live around here this summer. We had multiple triple digit heat waves. To add to the mayhem, there were windstorms that brought down beaucoup trees, killing two motorists near my home.