Back From The Big Road Trip

On this busy day, I had time for only a short "Welcome Home" ride.

I returned to West Bend early this morning, ending a 25-day East Coast trip. During my time away, I was on the bike 15 times for a total of 375 miles. And I walked 65 miles, so that’s good. I even managed to lose 5 pounds, though I was not careful with my diet. At today’s weigh-in I recorded my lowest number so far this year. Carrying too much weight is the biggest drag on my cycling performance. With tighter control of my diet now that I’m home again, and with more structured training, I expect significant weight loss between now and the end of Daylight Saving Time.

My overall training volume was comparable to what it likely would have been if I had not been away from home, but strength training suffered. That needs a big reboot.

I had a serious problem with my car during my trip, and I paid serious money to get it fixed. Overall, though, the trip was a huge success. In addition to the time I spent with my mother, I visited with one of my nephews and two of my cousins. I also saw a Pirates-Nationals game in Washington DC with my closest friend since childhood. He and I last attended a baseball game together in Pittsburgh in 2000, the Pirates’ last season at Three Rivers Stadium. This year’s short visit to DC was my first there since 2014.

Lots of driving? You bet! I covered 2,356 miles through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Not DC, though. I met my friend at his home in the Virginia suburbs and we took the Metro to Nationals Park and back again. You don’t want to drive in DC if you don’t have to … or park there. Like almost everything on the East Coast, it takes forever and costs a fortune. I think I’ll be content to have a quietly productive (and cost-conscious) remainder of the summer here in Washington County before I think about my next trip.

Tales Of Brave Ulysses

"How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing."

Enjoying those 90° days, Washington County? I know you’re not used to them. They are far more common here in the Philadelphia suburbs. Considerably less common are 105° days, but that’s what we got at Mom’s house today. By visiting at this time of year, I expected honest-to-goodness summer weather. I have not been disappointed.

A couple of days ago, I was talking to Mom about Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. To me, they are foundational works of Western literature. To Mom, they are completely unknown. She missed them somehow, and she was unmoved even when I told her how Odysseus, a/k/a Ulysses, was tied to the mast so that he could hear the sirens’ song without driving his ship onto the rocks. Their ears stuffed with wax, the ship’s crew passed the danger while Odysseus alone heard the call that had doomed all who had heard it before. He might have stuffed his ears with wax too, but he had to satisfy his boundless curiosity.

Mom is 93 years old and a firm believer in all of the dire warnings about heat exposure that the TV news people are repeating ad nauseam. She really didn’t want me to go outside today. I wanted to know what 105° felt like. At home in West Bend, I have never felt anything like it. We briefly touched 100° back on July 4, 2012. I remember that day. But 105° … ? So, this afternoon I did a 42-minute walk around Mom’s neighborhood and, yeah, it was hot. I had the neighborhood to myself; everyone else was inside with the AC on. With that walk I earned the elusive Toasty badge on Garmin Connect:

The Toasty badge didn’t exist in 2012 – Garmin introduced it in 2018 – and who knows when West Bend will see another 100° day? I couldn’t pass up today’s opportunity.

The temperature dropped below 100° late in the evening, so I tacked on a 20-mile bike ride to complete my day. Mom thinks I’m crazy. I think I really made today count.