Pictures of the Year
Top Ten of 2025
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.
On Average. The Weather Is Lovely
Most people around here have probably already forgotten that this summer was peppered with heat waves that made going outside an exercise in stupidity. (Didn’t stop me though.)
Lately, we’ve been dealing with what you might call the polar opposite, frigid air with no end in sight. Temperatures have been running 10 to 15 degrees F – and I mean F – for the last couple of weeks. I should be basking in 50 degree weather, borderline riding-in-shorts weather. Instead, I spend a good ten extra minutes finding layers to layer and sticking toe warmers in my shoes. I have not yet broken out my balaclava and my winter overboots, which I usually use only in January and February, but I can hear them calling from the dresser filled with winter gear in my basement.
So, on average, it’s been a run-of-the-mill year weatherwise. Now if we could just work on the variance we’d have a meteorological hoedown, statistically speaking.
Thinking ahead to decent riding weather in December I took Big Nellie and The Mule in for service. They are ready to rumble. Then snow came. Just an inch but enough to make me wary of a crash, a circumstance that my beat up right shoulder wants nothing to do with. I brought my CrossCheck inside and mounted it on a resistance trainer. I managed one hour before the boredom and intensity of my workout damned near did me in.
The snow, all one inch of it, melted in a day so I’ve been riding outside. I have about 20 miles in me before I start raging at the weather gods and dreaming of spring. (Just four months to go!)
Then it occurred to me that our newly renovated rec center has stationary bikes. I tried the recumbent model our and really liked it. You can mount reading material or plug in your phone for entertainment. It even has a fan to keep me from overheating. I did an intense workout, expecting to ride for an hour before the digital fitness overlords terminated my session with an automatic “cool down” feature after 30 minutes.
Today I mixed and matched. I rode The Mule 7 miles from home to the rec center then rode a half-hour session on the rec bent. Next I lifted weights for a half hour before a second session on the rec bent. Then I went back outside to discover that the temperature had dropped during my time inside. Windy 34 degrees is not my cup of tea but The Mule and I managed to do another 10 miles before headed inside for hot soup.
All of this is aimed at my inane goal of riding 10,000 miles this year. Entering December I had 520 miles left to go. Given the weather, holiday festivities, and shopping, I felt the goal was going to be a serious challenge. So far so good. I have 319 miles to go with 23 days to go. In 2017 I finished the year less than 100 miles short of 10,000 because my cardiovascular system gifted me blood clots for Christmas.
The frigid temperatures have brought out the weirdness in our local critters. I have seen more vultures this week than I have all year. This may be because I’ve been riding Big Nellie with it’s panoramic view combined with the lack of leaves on the trees. I saw four vultures along the Mount Vernon Trail at Dyke Marsh the other day. The other day there was the big snake in my backyard. It turned out to be a harmless garter snake but it was very feisty, trying to bite whenever it was approached.
Today, I spotted this sign in New Alexandria about a mile from the rec center.
If the weather don’t get you, the wildlife will.
November 2025
Stick season has arrived in the DC area. I’m adjusting to riding in 40-degree weather rather well but the winds are a bit of a challenge as always.
Watching
The World Series – On a par with the very best baseball games I’ve ever seen including the fabled 6th game of the 1975 Series that resurrected baseball’s popularity. The 2025 Series was so good that my wife (not a big baseball fan) watched most of it with me.
A House of Dynamite – Kathryn Bigelow’s latest masterpiece about the 19 minutes after a nuclear warhead is launched toward the US. It is told from three perspectives: the military, the White House, and the President. Whoa.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – The latest Marvel movie. Orders of magnitude better that A House of Dynamite. Not! When the best thing about the movie is the set decoration (early 60s NYC meets The Jetsons), you know you’re in for a long two hours.
Say Nothing – A nine-part miniseries based on the book of the same name (see below). Excellent but disturbing and depressing. I had nightmares after watching this.
The American Revolution – A six-part, twelve-hour miniseries on how the US came to be. Another gem from Ken Burns with collaborators Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt. Your school history lessons will seem utterly incomplete after watching this.
Ryan van Duzer’s Natchez Trace Tour – Ryan rode the Trace in October. It was fun to re-visit the ride I did this spring.
Riding
I rode the Cider Ride with Chris, Michael, and Kevin. The No-estrogen Ride. First time I’ve ridden one of these with just the boys in forever. I knew I was in trouble when they dropped me on the first hill at the half mile mark. Still I slogged my way through 60 miles. This was the longest ride of the month.
I rode 787 miles in 24 days during November. I took the CrossCheck out for a 20-mile ride but otherwise the whole month was on The Mule. Big Nellie spent the month in the shop for much needed maintenance. I dropped The Mule off for work yesterday. This will give me a jump on bike maintenance for next year. Also, my local bike shop’s service area is dead so I get The Mule back by mid-week.
For the year, I’ve clocked 9,479 miles. Just 521, or 16.3 miles per day to get to 10,000. Fingers crossed.
Reading
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. An account of the dystopia that was Belfast during the Troubles in the 1970s and later. Absolutely riveting. To quote dialog from A House of Dynamite: This is insanity. This is reality.
Mediocre Follow-Up (The No-Name Tour) – My journal (created from posts on this blog) of my 2019 tour from Northern Indiana to San Francisco. I was surprised over and over again at how my memories seemed to get all jumbled with time. And how much I walked to get over mountain after mountain after mountain.
Connecticut Road Trip – We took a four-day mini-vacation to Connecticut where we witnessed our daughter get sworn in to the Connecticut Bar, saw some awesome trolls in Rhode Island, and had dinner with friends we hadn’t seen in over a decade.
Road Trip – No Bike!
Driving Me Mad
Last Thursday my wife and I drove to Norwalk, Connecticut to visit our daughter Lily. With me behind the wheel, the drive, especially the 30 miles on either side of the George Washington Bridge was quite a shock to my two-wheeled brain. It boggles my mind that people do this crossing on a regular basis.
Some Good Eats
Once we recovered we drove to nearby Wilton for dinner at Orem’s Diner. This place has been in business for over 100 years and is always packed. For good reason.
On Friday morning we drove to West Hartford for a late breakfast at another diner, Sally and Bob’s. We ate here whenever we visited Lily when she was in the University of Connecticut’s law school in Hartford. The diner is an institution and well worth its reputation for good eats.
Lily’s an Attorney!
Our next stop was the Connecticut Supreme Court building where Lily and a hundred or so other folks who passed the Connecticut Bar exam this summer were sworn in, officially becoming attorneys. Woot! Suffice it to say, we were wicked proud of our baby girl. After the ceremony we attended a reception across the street in the Capitol building.
More Good Eats
We drove back to Norwalk and had dinner at a local Italian place. Both the pizza and the rigatoni ala vodka hit the spot. Oink.
Saturday began with an obligatory trip to Dunkin Donuts. I honestly think there are more Dunks than cows in New England. They are everywhere. You could entertain kids with a Dunks version of Eye Spy. For some reason Dunks in New England is much better than Dunks in Northern Virginia. Sadly the Dunks in Norwalk did not have honey dipped sticks which were my go to when I lived in Providence. Nevertheless my tummy was happy for the ensuing two-hour drive to Rhode Island.
Trolls!
Primed with caffeine and sugar, we drove to Rhode Island to check out some of Thomas Dambo’s trolls. Dambo is a Danish artist who uses recycled materials to create these incredible works of public art. Rhode Island has five (with a sixth in the making). We checked out four of them.
The first two were in Ninigret State Park near Charlestown. This is located near some beaches on Rhode Island Sound so it’s a good idea to go when the beach season is over. The first troll was Greta Granit. It’s off the road about a hundred yards down a well maintained windy path through some bushes. The second troll was located a half mile away just off the road near a small observatory. Erik Rock sits comfortably next to Little Ninigret Pond.
Our next troll was next to Browning Mill Pond near Arcadia, Rhode Island, about ten miles to the north. We had to walk about ten minutes on a path along the water to find Young Boulder, sitting in the woods looking out over the water.
Our fourth troll was Iver Mudslider near Belleville Pond in North Kingstown another 10 or so miles to the east. Getting to Iver involved a half mile trek down an unpaved road. It was well worth the effort. During the walk we passed the site of another troll in the making.
Dambo’s trolls are all over the world. This map will help you find them. We met people who go all over checking them out. Now that I think about it, a troll bike tour would be an excellent excursion. Hmmm.
Old Friends
We ran out of time so we skipped the troll in East Providence and headed back to Norwalk. After cleaning up we headed out to dinner at Barb and Andy’s, friends who live in nearby Westport. We hadn’t seen them in over 10 years so we had a splendid evening of fine food, wine, and conversation.
More Orem’s, a Beach, and the Drive Home
On Sunday morning we headed back to Orem’s for breakfast. The place was packed but apparently Connecticutters eat fast and we only waited ten minutes for our pancakes and eggs. Fortified, we headed back south to Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk. We only stayed a few minutes as the cold wind off Long Island Sound convinced us we were underdressed
We said goodbye to our new attorney and headed back. We made it across the bridge smoothly, mostly because my wife was driving. Near the southern end of the New Jersey Turnpike, the road lined up with the setting sun. The road turned away and the sun set just before we were incinerated. The remaining 120 miles involved super strong cross winds. I believe the weather gods want me back on two wheels. And so I am.
Posted an album of troll pictures on my Flickr page.
Cider Ride 2025
Yesterday I took part in the Washington Area Bicyclists Assocation’s Cider Ride. This annual event is about 13 years old. There are three routes; I rode the longest, 60 miles. This is a relatively flat ride, involving only 2,000 feet of climbing. After riding through residential neighborhoods in Northeast DC, participants hook up with the Anacostia River Trail system. The route has used these trails for 11 years after a couple of unpleasant forays in early December on suburban streets.
This year’s version was held in cool and windy conditions. There was no rain but temperatures didn’t seem to crest 60 degrees until the last third of the ride.
I rode with Chris, Michael, and Kevin. Despite the fact that Michael was riding on a bum knee, he kept pace with Chris and Kevin who seemed comfortable rolling along at 15 miles per hour. I decidedly was not. I woefully lagged behind, bothered by a mystery noise coming from my front wheel when I applied my brakes. The first pit stop came at 13 miles at Proteus Bikes in College Park, Maryland. There, a mechanic found the cause of my aggro, a small burr on the right side of my rim. He filed it down with a sanding stone and all was copacetic thereafter.
With my companions itching to ride on, I snarfed a half a donut and a small metal cup (provided to all participants) of warm cider. The next pit stop was 23 miles away. As someone who gets about 15 miles to the donut, I regarded this as a challenge.
After the first pit stop we headed north into the Beltsville Agricultural Preserve where federal farm scientists work on such farm things. (I am a city boy so you’ll get no insights from me.) On the north-ish edge of the Preserve we turned east onto Powder Mill Road, a two-lane highway with smooth pavement and wide, paved shoulders. A couple of miles later we turned into the grounds of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge where the access road wound through pretty darned amazing foliage.
We turned around and headed back the way we came taking a meander through suburban Edmonston, Maryland. At this point we began to whine about the winds which seemed to be headwinds no matter which way we turned.
Pedaling right back into the Agriculture Research Preserve, we headed straight across the mostly barren landscape on the cleverly named Research Road. Because of the shut down, a gate blocked our way but we gingerly rode in the grass around it. Take that, Congress!
Alas, the rest of Research Road climbs up the biggest hill of the ride. Just before the top we came to a gate that is always closed (to prevent commuters from cutting through the Preserve, I guess). Kevin and I walked through the narrow gap around the gate.
We rejoined the speed twins, Chris and Michael, who were waiting patiently at the top of the hill and rolled down to Pit Stop #2 at Buddy Attick Lake Park in Greenbelt. This pit stop is known for serving apple pie but there was no pie this year. (No loss. I’m not a fan.) There were donuts and cider, and plenty of bees competing for the refreshments. I had an entire donut and a cup of cider, thankfully without getting stung or swallowing any of my flying friends.
After the pit stop we returned toward the Anacostia River trail system, Along the way we passed a MAMIL (middle-aged man in lycra) who had crashed in the bike lane. He was being tended to by tow other riders so we soldiered on. Back on the trail system my youthful riding companions dropped me like a marketing call. Thankfully, they waited and led me into Hyattsville where there was some low speed congestion getting onto the Trolley Trail.
The Trolley Trail took us back to the Anacostia River trail system, around Lake Artemesia (which we rode around on the way north), and south to the final pit stop at Bladensburg Waterfront Park. Michael’s knee was starting to hurt so we made short work of the refreshments and headed south on the east side of the Anacostia.
Now Michael’s knee might have been hurting, but Kevin and I still couldn’t keep up with him and Chris. Our travels took us south on the east side of the Anacostia then back north on the west side. Here we rode around the skeleton of RFK Stadium which is being razed for a new football palace. We took the C Street protected cycletrack (which looks like it was transported from a European city. So nice!) on the gradual climb up the east side of Capitol Hill. After playing with cars for a half mile or so we picked up the 1st Street Northeast Cycletrack and connected with the Metropolitan Branch Trail which led us mercifully to the finish.
We convened for post-ride pizza (thanks Chris and Michael) and liquid refreshment at Metrobar, a repurposed Metro subway car.
I drove home with the expectation that I would fall sound asleep during the deciding game of the World Series. I glad I didn’t.
Thanks to the volunteers and WABA staff who woke up early to check us in and endured bees galore at the rest stops. Thanks to Chris, Michael, and Kevin.
And so ends my event riding season. I am pooped.
October 2025
I struggle with October. The weather is nearly perfect for laying in a hammock. Alas, I don’t have one and wouldn’t want to have to deal with one (storing, cleaning, hanging, etc.). So I mostly just ride. My legs are starting to feel the effects of over 8,300 miles of riding in 2025. My body seems to be hanging on by a thread of a tendon, I suppose. My right arm is still barking at me despite my attempts to strengthen it. My back is a disaster area. What I wouldn’t give for the recuperative powers of my youth.
Riding
This month’s event ride was The Great Pumpkin Ride. I’ve done this about a dozen times. It’s hard to beat Virginia countryside in the fall. I did this year’s ride on Big Nellie. All went well except for the fact that my rear wheel started falling off, proving there really is a first time for everything.
I followed that 63-mile day with a 51-mile ride to see the foliage in Rock Creek Park. Otherwise it was a run of the mill month of riding reaching 901 miles. I’m at 8,692 miles so far this year. Will I make it to 10,000 miles again? Stay tuned.
I also started doing 2- to 3-mile walks with my trekking poles. My back holds up and the poling action seems to be helping my shoulder.
Reading
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. Yet another Thursday Murder Club mystery. Osman writes them; I read them. No complaints. Breezy, clever, and funny. A good way to pass the time between baseball playoff games and bike rides.
Watching
Baseball. I’ve seen most of the playoff games including Shohei Ohtani’s game for the ages against the Brewers. I’ve seen a couple of 10-RBI games, one by Fred Lynn and the other by Anthony Rendon. And I’ve seen plenty of 10-strikeout games. Seeing someone do both was a bit mind boggling. The 2025 World Series is one for the ages.
The Comeback: Red Sox 2004 – A three-hour documentary about the 2004 Red Sox post season with commentary from (among others) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Affleck’s memories matched mine to a T. After the Sox won the 2004 World Series, I stopped watching baseball for a couple of years. Nothing could match the Comeback. (Until the 2019 Nats pulled some magic of their own.)
From Rails to Trails – An in interesting historical account of how rail trails became a thing. There are a few good ones within 200 miles of home but my local area has three non-rail trails – Mount Vernon, the C&O Canal Towpath, and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail (and it’s northern extensions along the Anacostia tributaries). The documentary didn’t mention my favorite: the Great Allegheny. If you haven’t ridden it, you really should.
Leaf peeping to Bethesda
For a variety of reasons, I found Saturday’s 62-mile bike ride to be frustrating and exhausting. To make matters worse, I didn’t even bother to take pictures of the beautiful scenery I was riding through.
Today’s ride was better. I left home in shorts into a 43-degree headwind, headed for Rock Creek Park in DC for some good old fashioned leaf peeping. The first ten miles were a chilly slog; I was underdressed and the headwind felt like a relentless uphill grind.
After 10 miles, roughly at National Airport, I found a rhythm. Five more miles cruising along the river brought me to the mouth of the wooded urban canyon known as Rock Creek Park.
I was happy to find that the walls of the canyon blocked the headwind making for much easier pedaling. For a few miles I rode the paved trail without a care until I arrived at the National Zoo. The trail continues along the edge of the Zoo compound, but the Smithsonian which owns the Zoo had closed off the trail because of the government shutdown. The trail which doesn’t actually go into the Zoo itself could just as easily been left open but whadareyagonnado?
I duck-walked my bike on the narrow side path through the adjacent tunnel along Beach Drive, the road along the Creek. Once back in the open air, the rest of the ride was mighty sweet. The grade of the road probably averages about one percent as it winds its way along the creek. With very little traffic of any sort, the riding was peaceful and mediative. I stopped to have a snack and take pictures.
At about 25 miles, I began the climb out of the Park and rode west a couple of miles to Bethesda where I picked up the Capital Crescent Trail for the return trip. As I started out I passed two dog walkers who had between them about a dozen dogs on leashes. The dogs seemed perfectly calm as they ambled en masse down the trail.
The riding was easy and breezy thanks to the tailwind and the gentle down grade all the way to the Potomac at the Georgetown waterfront. As the day wore on, the cloud cover was building. I wasn’t dressed for rain so I got down to business and rode without delay.
In Old Town Alexandria I encountered some mist. Is that rain? Nope, just river water churned up by my friendly tailwind.
The tailwind made the last few miles a piece of cake. I arrived home feeling much better than at any time during Saturday’s ride. Riding when your 70 is something of a crap shoot, I suppose, but just think how the Mule feels having broken the 81,000-mile mark somewhere in Alexandria today. The Mule didn’t complain once. The Mule abides.
Horse Dentists and Wonky Wheels
Yesterday I rode the Great Pumpkin Ride in Fauquier County, Virginia. I have a closet full of the shirts they give out to attendees so I am pretty sure I’ve ridden this event more than a dozen times. The long-sleeved, lightweight shirts are made of technical fabric; they are excellent base layers for cold winter rides.
On Friday night, I stayed up to watch Game 2 of the World Series. I woke up before my alarm at about 4:45. Nothing like riding a 62-mile event when sleep deprived, I always say. After persuading Big Nellie onto my bike rack in the dark, I drove an hour to Warrenton and checked in a little after 7:30. The temperature was a toasty 33 degrees. Ugh.
While waiting around I found myself in conversation with another rider with an interesting English accent. He told me when he came to this country many years ago he worked as a jockey. He raced at east coast venues like Saratoga. After his riding days were over he became a horse dentist. Open wide! He goes from place to place filing down the irregularities on horses’ teeth which allows them to chew their hay better. Who knew? He loves his work. To each his own I suppose.
At 9 we set off, a mass start on a narrow rail trail. I waited a bit to avoid the insanity so I waited for most of the field to get underway. Being a slowpoke and the only recumbent in the field I took care to avoid the impatient lycra-clad roadies who were desperate to set a record on the ride. (I am pretty sure these are the same people who stand as soon as the plane reaches the gate.) Ugh again. In prior years I’ve seen these same folks crash along the course. No two-wheeled karma this year though. I suppose there is hope for the future.
In the past the course took a counter-clockwise route but this year it was reversed. The familiar seems novel when seen from a different perspective. Mostly we rode through farmland, post-harvest and pre-peak foliage. The pallet was dominated by brown leaves and fields of dirt offset by sunny blue skies. (Sorry no pictures. I was busy suffering.)
The first eight miles headed more or less downhill and east into the rising sun. Visibility was difficult. I was cruising down one hill at about 25 miles per hour when out of the sunlight I saw a road rider coming my way. WTF! He must have dropped something but he was unaware that he was backlit and nearly invisible.
The next eight miles were rolling hills through farmland. I noticed that my pedals felt funny on the uphills. Onward. I came to the first rest stop (normally one of the last) at 16.5 miles. I was expecting in a few miles later but grateful as I had a need for a blue room visit. With temperatures soaring into the mid 40s (thankfully it wasn’t windy) I changed into shorts and a vest then joined the long line for relief. The wait was about 15 minutes. Not wanting another 15 minute wait for food, I grabbed a quarter bagel from the crowded food table and set out into a more wooded section of the course.
As I negotiated each hill, that funny feeling in my pedals returned. On hills I use my granny gear, with the chain on the smallest chainring in front. The low gear creates some slack in the chain. The slack is taken up by an idler roughly under my seat.
The ride progressed uneventfully. I managed to avoid two wrong turns along the way. The terrain was rolling. With each climb that funny feeling while pedaling returned. Is my pedal or crank arm coming loose? The more I rode, the worse the feeling became. It became clear that the problem was emanating from the rear of the bike. Was my cassette (the cluster of gears in the back) coming apart? Oddly, the chain wasn’t skipping across the cogs; it was completely disengaging.
The problem worsened. I stopped using my granny gear, opting for my middle chain ring for climbing. After a few miles, the chain problem began to happen in that chainring as well. I’d been riding bikes with gears for over 50 years but nothing like this had ever happened before.
After the rolling wooded area, the course flattened out a bit. An small oncoming SAG (Support and Gear) car came by. The driver could see that I was distressed and asked if I needed help. I waved him off but he did a u-turn and pulled over to make sure I was okay. We agreed that I would continue on to a rest stop in the town of Remington where a bigger SAG vehicle could give me a ride to the finish.
As I continued to ride, I though that maybe the problem was with the rear wheel itself. I made it to a half mile before the rest stop when the back of my bike went totally wonky on the short rise to a railroad crossing. I pulled over and inspected the rear end of the bike. I picked up the back of the bike and the rear wheel dropped off! Somehow the quick release on the wheel had become disengaged. The chain had been keeping the wheel from falling off while I was riding. Dang.
Doing roadside repairs on a long wheel base recumbent is difficult. I managed to get the chain entangled with the right brake pad and to knock the left brake pad cassette out of its holder. I wrestled with the chain, then after a couple of attempts, during which I wrenched my lower back, I seated the rear axle into the frame. Finally, I coaxed the left brake pad back into its proper orientation. I lifted the wheel and gave it a spin. Bob’s your uncle.
Crossing the tracks, I immediately took a wrong turn, adding a half mile to my ride. Eventually, I found the pit stop where the SAG drivers were breaking down the food tables. (No soup for you!) They had heard about the recumbent rider in distress and were ready to help me out. No need, gentlemen. I thanked them and headed out for the next six or seven miles along the rail line, blissfully devoid of hills.
Since we rode downhill out of Warrenton at the start, it was only fair that we’d ride uphill to the finish. I felt very sluggish as I rode. At one point I stopped to see if my rear wheel was properly aligned. No problem. Right as rain. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to ride 62 miles on a quarter bagel and a Clif bar. Ya think?
On the way home I dropped off Big Nellie for some TLC at Bikes at Vienna. Take care of my baby, Tim.
As for riding, I’ll do better next Saturday when The Mule and I take on the Washington Area Bicyclists Association’s 60-mile Cider Ride. Stay tuned and check those quick release levers, y’all.
Dos and Donuts
My wife came home with apple cider donuts. They came in a pack of 8. These are not good for you. I ate 3. I am weak.
I have had a recurring credit card mystery this year. In July I was charged $51 by a company called Spiz. They sell a “meal replacement” powder. They do not sell an apple cider donut replacement powder. Lame! I have never heard of Spiz so I contacted my credit card provider and filed a fraud claim. I received a new card and thought all was copacetic until I received another $51 charge for Spiz meal replacement powder in September. I contacted my credit card provider and filed another fraud claim.
I got to thinking: have I twice ordered anything online that costs $51? The only thing I could think of was my Knee Saver pedal extenders. They cost $45. It turns out they charge $6 for shipping. Bingo. I searched the Kneesaver.net website and clicked on “About” in the menu. Near the bottom of a long page of company history I found that the Knee Saver is a side gig of the Spiz meal replacement powder company. Mystery solved. I called the credit card company and canceled my fraud claims.
I can’t speak for the quality of the powder but I think the pedal extenders are great. Just add water. (I’m kidding.)
The riding weather has been splendid for a few weeks but I haven’t gone for a long ride. Sad face. This year I gave up mowing my own lawn. Last week the lawn service aerated my lawn then spread an astonishing amount of grass seed over the whole thing. I have to water it twice a day. Once at breakfast time and once in the early afternoon. This cramps my riding style to say the least.
The bike computer on Big Nellie quit working last week. I replaced the battery and all is well. It turns out that the tire manufacturer says the wheel size in millimeters is 1540 (the call numbers for a rock and roll radio station of my youth. I inputted this number and, using 10 miles worth of mileage markers on the Mount Vernon Trail, I determined that it was 4 percent too big. Annoying. My tires are made in Germany. No fahrvergnugen for me.
A few days later the same model bike computer on The Mule went dark. I replaced the battery and it woke up. I rode 30 miles, and all was well. The next day I rode to DC. The computer stopped receiving a signal from the magnet on the front wheel. Riding for an hour with a big 0 miles per hour on your bike computer is depressing. I may have to replace the computer.
A few days ago I rode past an man walking his German shepherd. Both of them were old and flabby. I said “nice dog” as I rode by. The man didn’t hear me. Neither did his dog. When the dog saw me he lunged at me and growled. The man said “You should give a warning.” I told him controlling the dog was his job not mine. He told me to “Eff off”. Except he didn’t say “eff”.
Today, I came to a T intersection an half mile from home. It’s a three-way stop. I looked left and right then proceeded to make a left turn. Just as I did I heard an engine roar and a tire squeal. A pickup truck screeched to a halt to my right. He didn’t see or car about his stop sign. I stopped before crossing in front of him. I gave him a WTF look. I started up again and he passed me on the left. He said something that sounded aggressive to me. I yelled “Slow the eff down!” Except I didn’t say “eff”. Effs are contagious.
My early morning rides to Friday Coffee Club now begin in the dark. Last week I even had to wear long pants. Dang. The best thing about these rides is the sunrise over the Potomac.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 