Reading
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. For a couple of months, I have been following a young man named Denver Camp on Instagram as he hikes the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. His journey brought to mind the hike of Bill Bryson, a comedic author who also seems to be fond of researching every little thing. So I re-read my copy of A Walk in the Woods, his account of a somewhat disjointed attempt at hiking the AT with his friend Katz. The first 80 pages or so are as funny as anything I’ve ever read in my life. The two men abandon their attempt at a through hike (doing all 2,200 miles of the trail) The book goes off on one tangent after another about the geology, flora, fauna, and history of the trail. Bryson wraps up the book describing how he and Katz attempted the last 100+ miles of the trail in Maine. Along the way, Bryson makes it clear that the National Park Service has been a dysfunctional, incompetent mess for generations. I agree.
Riding
I broke 900 miles for the third month this year. More than 500 of my miles were spent riding Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent, in preparation for a blood test on August 3. I took three days off. Two of them were spent hanging out with my son and his girlfriend who are visiting from Thailand.
So far this year, I’ve ridden 6,014 miles, a bit more than last year. I’m on track to ride 10,354 miles. Not half bad considering that I haven’t done a tour this year.
One of my rides this month was my annual pilgrimage to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in DC to see the lotus and water lilies. Another was a day tour of Talbott County on Maryland’s eastern shore.
I signed up for the Washington Area Bicyclists Association’s 50 States Ride in September. I have two more in my sights, the Great Pumpkin Ride our of Warrenton, Virginia and WABA’s Cider Ride in early November.
Watching
I’m not a soccer fan but I did watch the last ten minutes of Argentina’s comeback win against England. It was insanely intense. England forgot the old adage, “Never sit on a lead” and it cost them as Argentina pelted the goal with shot after shot. I watched the final between Spain and Argentina. Spain was head and shoulders above every team it played and Argentina was no exception.
And, of course, I watched nearly all the Washington Nationals baseball games. Improbably, the team that was downright terrible from 2020 to 2025 now is in the hunt for a playoff spot. If they can find a decent relief pitcher or two and stay healthy, they just might squeak in. More likely, they’ll fade by Labor Day.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 