Watch out May, here I come.

My goal for today was 20 miles.  It was very, very windy and as I started out this afternoon, I began to wonder how far I should go.  Even down-shifting didn't help me much as I was trying to keep up with the wind.  I rode for 6 miles and told myself that it was just to windy to go any further.  So I turned around and headed for home.  I figured 12 miles was better than nothing.

    After supper, I started out again.  This time I was planning to ride 4 miles and then head back for home.  At least I would have my 20 miles in.  But once again it was very windy and I had to force myself to keep on "trudging" down the road.  I took a different way coming home and when I looked at my mileage thing, I found out that the way I thought was longer was actually a mile shorter.  Great!   Now I have to ride another mile before I could go in the house and relax.  I turned around in my driveway and headed back down the road so I could make up the extra mile.  As I was riding, I decided, "Hey, I'm out here, I might as well ride another 5 miles".  So I kept on going and by the time I got back home, I had my 325 miles in.  I sure worked hard for those miles today, but I did it.  With the 1 mile on my other bike, I only have 1685 miles to go.
 
     I did see some robins today and a couple of blue jays but nothing that I could get a picture of.

Tomorrow starts a new month and I hope I can get more miles in than I have this one.  Hopefully, we have no more snow.
      Until next time, when I take off on my journey and the "Tread Meets the Payment."

Rainy Days

Not much riding this week.  It has rained and rained.  On Tuesday evening, in between thunder storms, I did start out on 9 mile to the Rail Trail.  I was going to ride around the block.  But when I got almost to 8 mile, I heard thunder and thought I should turn around and go back the way I came.  The sky was looking pretty black again.   I figured if I did get caught in a rain storm, I could stop at Curt and Sarah's and at least have shelter while I waited for the rain to stop.  But all I got was a few sprinkles, so I made it home ok.  That was a total of 5 miles for that day.

     After work today, I rode to Sanford and back and as I pulled in the driveway, I looked at my mileage and realized that I wanted to go for another ride later on.  I needed 20 more miles.   So after eating and relaxing a little bit, I took off and rode for 10 miles.  That put me 1 mile past the duck memorial toward Midland.  I saw water, and more water, and more water.  I also saw my first flower along the trail.  And, oh, yeah, did I mention I saw lots of water.  For those of you who don't know the area, theTittabawassee River that runs through Sanford overflowed its banks and the ball park is flooded and in some areas along the trail, there is tons of water.  I also saw 3 deer.  I stopped to grab my camera and the one deer stood there watching me for a minute but by the time I had my camera out, he (or she) had gone back into the brush.  But it was still neat seeing them stand there watching me.
    The bugs are starting to come out now and I don't like them hitting my face as I'm riding.

    On the way back home, I met our good friends and neighbors, Randy & Edwina Novak.  They were on their way home so I rode with them to 8 mile.  They turned and I went straight on the Railtrail to 9 Mile.  It was nice having them to ride with for a while.

    So another day has ended in my quest for 2011 miles.  I did make 301 miles so now all I have left to do is 1710.  At least I made 300 before May 1st.  I'm happy with that.

     In the meantime, I will keep on peddling and I will see you next time, "when tread meets the pavement."

2 More Days of My Adventure.

After a delicious Easter dinner with my family, I took a short nap.  Then I decided to "hit the trail" so I got my bike out of the garage, filled my water bottle and started out.  I wasn't sure how far I would ride but I knew it was a beautiful day and I wanted to be outside in the fresh air.

     There was no wind which was a big relief to me as I rode along.  I went toward Sanford on the Rail Trail and much to my surprise there were hardly anybody riding or walking.  It was a nice change as I didn't have to worry about me running anyone over.  I think I saw 2 people, both on bikes on my whole ride.
   I got to the duck memorial spot which is just outside the city limits of Midland and decided to turn around.  I had made good time as it was easy riding.  When I was going past our neighbor's house--the "Novak's", which is the neighbor closest to our house, I heard people clapping and cheering for me.  I turned around and went to talk to them.  They were all out in the yard and saw me go by.  They are and have been the best neighbors in the whole, wide world.  It was nice to have my own cheering section.  Thanks Novak Family for your support.

       Later in the afternoon before it got dark, I decided to go around the block so I could get 20 miles in.  I actually rode 22 miles so I was happy with that total.

    Yesterday, as soon as I got home from work, I hopped on my bike and rode around the block.  I only had a half hour as I had to take Clif to therapy on his knee.  But I made it in 20 minutes, not bad for changing gears from working to riding.
  
     After supper, I took off  and rode once again to the duck memorial .  It was windy going and several times, I thought that "turning around would be a good thing to do", but I pushed myself and kept on going.  On the way back, the sun was starting to go down but I knew I had time to make it home before dark.  And I did.  My total miles for yesterday was 23.

   Today it's raining and windy but I'm hoping after work to get a few more miles in.  We will see.  I do not ride in the rain (unless I get caught in a rain storm) as I ride for fun and it's no fun to have the rain running off your head, or making my glasses steam up so I can't see where I'm going. 

    So my grand total this year is 269 miles.  It doesn't seem like a lot to me considering I started riding March 17th.  But I have to remember all of the snow days that we had in there, plus there was 5 days that I couldn't ride when Clif had his knee surgery.  I guess, I'm not doing to bad considering everything.  I will keep plugging away as I only have 1742 miles to go.   One mile at a time, as the "tread meets the payment".

    See ya later.

A Beautiful Day to Ride.

After I got home from work today, it was so nice out that I wanted to go for a bike ride.  I decided that I would ride 10 miles.  When I reached that goal, I realized that I wasn't far from the Tridge.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a bridge for people to cross on downtown Midland.  There are 2 rivers that connect there, the Chippewa and the Tittabawassee.  It's a neat place to visit.  So I kept on going and made it to the Tridge.  On the way home, I noticed a goose on a little pond by some thick brush.  I stopped and took a picture but I haven't checked my camera yet to see if it turned out or not. 
     After returning home, I fixed supper and then after a little bit, I decided I wanted to go for another ride.  I had a goal in mind, of 7 miles one way.   It was a beautiful evening and so I reached my goal plus 1 extra mile by the time I had gotten back home.
    Not bad for a day's journey.  I rode 35 miles today bringing my grand total to 212.   That only leaves 1799 miles to go,  Hey, I'm under 1800.  
      I hear we might get rain tomorrow.  I hope not as I'm on a roll and want to keep "rolling down the pavement".  See ya next time.
      

What happened to spring?

Since my last post, I have rode toward Coleman one day.  It was a nice little ride.  I only rode 6 miles and then turned around.  It was in the evening and I didn't want to get to far and have to ride in the dark.  I stopped and took a picture on my way back but will have to get Cindy to show me how to add it to my blog.
     The same week, I rode toward Midland and got farther than I have rode before.  On the way back I saw a snake crossing the rail trail so I stopped and took a picture of it.  Just before that I had spied a black squirrel in a tree, so I very carefully came to a stop and walked away from the squirrel to carefully get my camera out of my back pack.   When I finally got it out, I turned it on and slowly walked back to try to snap a picture of it, but much to my dismay, the squirrel was gone.  So when I saw the snake, I decided I wasn't going to let him (or her) get away from me.  This is another picture that Cindy will have to post for me the next time she is home.
     Because of Clif's surgery last week and the bad weather, I haven't been able to ride for a week and a half, so last night I told myself I had to go for a "short" ride.  It was very chilly and a tad windy but I knew I could make it around the block.
     When I got to the Rail trail, I told myself that I would turn towards Sanford and go a little bit further.  Even though it was chilly, I had stopped and put my gloves on so at least my hands weren't cold.  Well, my "short ride" turned into riding almost to the Midland city limits.  By the time I got back home, I had rode for 17 miles.  Not bad for a "short ride", huh?  That is the farthest that I have rode yet.
    So now I have a total of 173 miles.  All I have left of my goal is 1838.  If the weather co-operates, I can cut that down quite a bit this weekend but we will have to see.
    Till next time when the "Tread Meets the Pavement." on my 2011 journey.

A Beautiful Ride in the Evening

Well, as I continue on my journey, last Saturday night, I was debating whether to ride my bike after church on Sunday or take a nap.  As we were eating dinner, it started to snow, and it snowed, and it snowed.  Great big flakes and it was very wet and heavy.  That took care of what choice I should make.  I took a nap.
    Yesterday, on Monday, it was really windy and cold.  But I did get a mile ride in.  I figured every mile that I can ride is one more closer to my goal.
      Then tonight after supper, I knew it was windy and kind of chilly and I tossed the question back and forth in my mind, "Do I ride or do I not ride?"   I decided to ride.  I wanted to get 10 miles in and so I took off.  It was pretty easy riding to Sanford, and not as hard as I had thought it might be.
      On the way there, I saw a little creek and as I watched the water flow, I noticed some bubbles.  I didn't stop to explore them that closely, but they were kind of awesome as they floated along.
    I arrived in Sanford and kept going.  I needed to ride at least 5 miles to make my goal.  I ended up going 5.5 miles and I turned around.  As I turned, and headed back toward home, I was facing the sun, and it was very bright.   By the time I had gone about a mile, I noticed the sun was going down and boy, it was dropping fast.
     I normally stop to rest a few minutes at a picnic table that they have along the rail trail but decided I should keep on pedaling.  I don't have a head light on my bike but I do have a reflector on the back that blinks.  So I stopped just for a minute to turn that on and grab a small Twix bar out of  my packback.  (that gives me energy to ride more)  :)
    As I pulled in the driveway, I could still see but it was getting darker.  And I looked at my miles that I had gone for today, it was 11.  That made me happy.
      So now I only have 1898 miles left to go.  And so, until next time, when I will be glad to have the "Tread meeting the Payment."

     

     

Spring is here.

It's been a good week for riding my bike.  Except it has been cold and today it was windy.  Yesterday on my journey, I heard the frogs croaking.  It was sunny even though the air was chilly.  So I knew that spring is in the air.   I saw a squirrel stand on his hind feet and look at me but I knew that if I stopped to get my camera out of my backpack, it would be gone.  So I kept on riding.  I rode the furthest that I have ridden yet.  I rode toward Midland, past the bowling alley.  The Rail Trail was pretty good except for a couple of spots.  The one spot had a narrow path through it and on either side was snow, ice and slush.  So I had to make sure that I stayed on the narrow section.  It reminded me of our journey to Heaven and how we have to stay on the narrow path if we want to make it through.  If we go to the "side" just a little bit, we will run into some very hard travel---slush, snow and ice that will drag us down and maybe even "tip us over". 
     The one thing that I have noticed so far on the Rail Trail that really frustrates me is people with dogs but the dogs aren't on leashes.  I'm not scared of dogs but it's really hard to know what the dog will do as you go by them.  Yesterday I thought I was past the dog and he came right up to my tire.  I'm pretty sure there is a rule that dogs have to be on leashes, but guess these people can't read the sign.
     Another thing that I don't like is 2 people walking on the trail together and they take up the whole trail.  I guess they don't think that anyone else has a right to use it till they are done.  I've seen this almost every day that I have rode.  I need a louder horn that I can blow back a ways so they know I'm coming.
      Anyway, my journey is going good.  I now have 102 miles so all I need is 1909.   I'm looking forward to when school is out so I can ride early morning and see the beautiful sun rising above the trees.  Maybe I'll even see some deer like I did last year.
     Thanks to all of you for your support and until next time, "When the Tread meets the Payment."