2022 mileage: 1986.1
Wanting to spend time celebrating with my sweetheart rather than selfishly spending a lot of time on a long ride, I deliberately kept it modest today. However, this decision did not come entirely easily, as it was my last ride on the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail of Gulf State Park. We are leaving tomorrow morning, and there will not be time for a ride, other than the 2 miles down to the rental shop to turn in the trike.
I do not bid farewell to the trail without a certain sense of regret, as it has provided an excellent riding option for me down here. But one hopes that by now, upon our return to Michigan, the opportunity for outdoor rides will be much more consistent.
I left this morning about 6:40 in brisk 62° conditions, and by the time I finished, a bit past 8;00, the temperature had risen to 65°. I was happy to note upon walking into the condo that the birthday girl was still asleep; Danny was gaming on Christy's laptop at the table, and Christy and isabelle were down walking on the beach. (It remains quite windy today, with impressively high waves.) I got in a farewell (to the trail system) ride of 16.6 miles in 1:31, happy to be able to push myself to an average speed of 11.0 mph.
Each of the last two days, I saw a fellow trike rider -- on Tuesday, we exchanged waves and knowing grins, and yesterday the fellow I saw was more taciturn. Today I saw no trike riders, but this may have been a function of the early hour and the substantial rain we received last night -- the ground were still quite wet.
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