The fall equinox occurred yesterday evening, so Autumn 2026 is officially here. There should be a word to describe the end of summer in Wisconsin, but we’ll have to invent one because all of the obscenities are busy with other things. When the sun went down on Saturday the 12th, summer shot out of here like it wanted to make a point about being unappreciated. We’ve had almost nothing but low temperatures, high winds, and rain ever since. Predictably, these conditions have been bad for my cycling ambitions.
I got back on the bike today for the first time since last Wednesday. Sad, but true: I had six consecutive days off the bike at a time when I had expected to be nearing my mileage goal for the year. With 35 miles today, I am still 155 miles away from that goal. I will be disappointed if I do not reach my goal by the end of September. If I still have work to do in October, then the self-imposed deadline shifts to Wednesday the 7th. Early on the following morning, I will leave for another two- to three-week stay in Pennsylvania, where I intend to worry about nothing.
I used my time off the bike to address some things I had been neglecting, so the news isn’t all bad. In the last week, I finally pruned some overgrown trees and rebuilt a downspout that had been depositing rain into my basement instead of my yard. I also started reading books again. It was stupid of me to have stopped after beginning the year so ambitiously: 18 novels before the end of April. Finally, I replaced the original tires on my Scott Addict (3,995 miles!) with a new set of Continental Gatorskins, which performed perfectly today and should last right through the end of the next cycling season.
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