Labor Day: I had planned on riding Big Nellie to the baseball game on Labor Day but I went on the day before and witnessed the Nationals’ ninth consecutive loss. Being the baseball addict that I am, I went twice more. Hey, the ballpark is 15 miles from home. During my most recent game I looked up and saw two friends, Lucy and Steve, on the big screen beyond center field. Lucy was selected to play a game: guess which National will hit a home run and win $500 in Nats Bucks (money you can spend at the ballpark). Alas, no Nat hit a homer. Sad trombone.

Big Nellie’s 54th: On September 1 the weather was ideal. The riding objective was 67 miles. This would bring Big Nellie’s odometer to 54,000 miles. I began with a ride to the local rec center to lift some weights. The rec center is a little over three miles from my house, but I stretched it to 15. The next 42 miles took me into DC where I saw DC things. First. I passed a large crowd boisterously protesting the Trump takeover of Union Station (as a Secret Service helicopter circled overhear). Next I encountered a new extension of the cycletrack on First Street, NE. It took me north through the infamous car sewer known locally as Dave Thomas Circle. (Before its recent redesign it had a Wendy’s burger joint in the middle of the intersection. Thomas was the CEO of Wendy’s.) A few miles later I came upon the new extension of the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Sadly it ends after only a quarter mile at another car sewer called Riggs Road.

50 States: A secondary purpose of the September 1 ride was to check out the on-street parking situation for this Saturday’s 50 States Ride. There is beaucoup on-street, all-day, free parking. As for the ride, the posse is now: Chris, Kevin, Neena, Sara, Domitille, Timothee, and me. Michael is also riding but, because of an injury to his knee, he expects to ride only a portion of the event. I’m sure we’ll add a few more victims on Saturday.

Pedalling Made Easier: I put pedal extenders on Big Nellie along with my fancy pants Catalyst platform pedals. The extenders move the pedals about an inch further away from the frame. This slight modification has made quite a difference in terms of comfort and efficiency. Back in 2019 I suffered through 3,000 miles on a sore left knee and left hip. Knowing what I know now, I may have ridden without pain had I used pedal extenders. I ordered a new set of both the extenders and the Catatlyst pedals for The Mule. The Mule abides.

Rocket Man: I plan on doing 50 States on The Mule. Everyone else I am riding with is using a conventional, non-recumbent bike so riding The Mule means I won’t get dropped (as badly) on climbs or zoom way ahead on downhills as I would on Big Nellie. During a day ride in Alexandria The Mule and I stopped for a snack. I checked my phone and stumbled on the fact that I was about three miles from the grave of a famous man, Werhner von Braun. He was the father of the program that designed Nazi Germany’s V1 and V2 rockets. At the end of the war, he and his rocketry team (and other German scientists) were brought to a top secret interviewing facility at Fort Hunt Park. The program was known as Operation Paperclip. After the war, he and his team were secretly moved to Huntsville, Alabama to begin work on US missiles and, eventually, the NASA space program. Ultimately, they designed the Apollo Saturn V rocket.

Double Stab: Not wanting to go through another year of worry about Covid, I arranged to get a booster shot at a local drug store after the state of Virginia declared that prescriptions were not necessary for high risk (old, asthmatic) people. I also got a flu shot. Take that Bobby.

Crash #3: This has been my year for bike crashes. In the Spring, I managed to crash my bike in the C&O Canal. Instead of taking a side path through the woods to get to the towpath, I decided to ride into and up out of the canal at Riley’s Lock where the canal is dry. I did fine until I made it only part way up to the towpath and toppled over. (My friend Leslie did the same thing a few months later.) During my road test of the Streetmachine recumbent bike this summer, I toppled over and messed up my upper right arm and shoulder. My arm aches from time to time, especially when I am trying to sleep. With stretching, weight lifting, and medications, I almost had it back to normal when I crashed a third time. I was riding up a slight rise in the road near my house. I was tired and had my head down. Where the road widened I looked up and there, not two feet in front of me, was a parked car. I hit it with a glancing blow and fell on my left side. The deceleration force, however, was enough to re-injure my right arm. Argh.

Sunrise: It’s that time of year again when the sun is coming up over the river at Dyke Marsh on the Mount Vernon Trail just as I am riding to Friday Coffee Club. The sight makes up for riding the first three miles in the twilight.