Bicycling
The weatherman did a stellar job of providing day-after-day of excellent fall bicycling weather. I rode 29 of 31 days and would have ridden the other two but dang do I get tired after a couple of weeks on the wheel. This month featured my umpteenth Great Pumpkin Ride out of Warrenton VA, my longest ride of the month at 63 miles. I followed that up six days later with a 53-mile jaunt to take in the fall foliage on the Capital Crescent Trail and in Rock Creek Park. I was not disappointed. (We are near peak right know so I hope to do some more two-wheeled leaf peeping before stick season starts.)
My riding was split pretty evenly between Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent, and The Tank, my Surly CrossCheck. I plan on riding the former from now until my annual physical in mid=November so as to obtain a reliable (and low) PSA test result.
I finished October with 986 miles, 85 more than last year. It was my third longest month of 2026 after May and June. For the year, I stand at 8,761 miles, slightly ahead of last year when I finished the year with 10,233 miles. Another 10,000-mile year is within reach, lord willn’, and the creek don’t rise.
Reading
The Zorg by Siddharth Kara. This is a account of the voyage of the slave ship Zorg in the late eighteen century. The book describes in excruciating detail how free Africans were captured, marched to market, boarded on ships, and transported across the Atlantic. They encountered seemingly impossible, inhumane conditions every step of the way. Many died from sickness. Over 100 were murdered in Caribbean waters in order to claim insurance money. Publicity from the case of the Zorg led to the abolition of slavery in England. This book is a punch in the gut.
The Lost Founder by Jesse Wegman. This is a biography of James Wilson, who was instrumental in the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and in convincing the public to vote for the latter’s adoption. Born in rural Scotland, Wilson became a successful lawyer in colonial Pennsylvania. It was Wilson who promoted the concept of the balance of powers in the federal government. It was Wilson who drafted the words “We the People…” at the beginning of the preamble of the Constitution to emphasize that political power in the US resides with the people and their right to vote (and to change the Constitution). He foresaw the problems inherent in the infamous 3/5ths clause (that counted enslaved people as 3/5ths of a person for the purposes of Congressional representation) and the Electoral College. Wilson is lost to history mostly because he died in disgrace having run up insurmountable debts from speculative land investments. An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Wilson died of malaria after a year in hiding from his creditors in North Carolina.
Watching
Baseball: I watched as many playoff games as I could. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay proved that money can’t buy success which totally screws up the owners’s argument for a salary cap and other anti-labor proposals. Hopefully, the 2027 season will start on schedule. Maybe the Nationals will have a seat at the post-season table.
Videos: I continued to watch the adventures of Mat Ryder as he transitions from his bike tour of the Balkans to an bicycling endurance event next month. He’s nerding out over training software. I am also enjoying Ryan van Duzer‘s trip on the Great Divide Bicycle Route. And then there was a recent post . about a botched overnight bike trip in Ontario by Sheelagh Daly. And lest you think I only watch cycling-related videos, I get a real kick out of Fathom’s reconstruction of Beatles songs. Her recent take on “The Long One“, the Abbey Road medley constructed from song fragments, is unreal. She plays all the instruments (many of which she makes by hand), sings all the parts, and designs and creates all the artistic backdrops for the videos. I find it interesting that, because she can’t sing in the lower register of the Beatles, she has to transpose all the music and vocals into a slightly higher pitch (not that I much noticed). As you might imagine, each video takes many months to produce.
Looking Ahead
My wife has been buying apple cider donuts for the last several weeks. Needless to say, my engine has increased in size a bit. Eating cider donuts is, however, approved training food for next weekend’s Washington Area Bicyclists Association’s annual Cider Ride. There is cider and donuts and (sometimes) pie and apples (donuts>apples, do the math) and bees.
With the end of baseball we have entered reading season. I have my list of books for Santa which should keep me spinning my legs on Big Nellie in the basement until March. Also, I’m looking forward to season four of Lupin and a show (Chernobyl) and a movie (Belfast) or two.
