Rested and Ready, I Hope

Tammy took me out to see our first game at Target Field for my birthday last Saturday night. Neither of us follows baseball and I could only name one player on the Twins but we were there for the experience more than anything. The Twins lost but that didn't matter. We enjoyed ourselves and both commented that we'd like to do it again. We even drank beer and munched on salted peanuts the way real fans do.

I golfed in the annual retirees Red Eye Memorial golf tournament on Tuesday. There were off and on rain showers the first 2 hours of the tournament but the rain let up by the time we made the turn. It's always a fun time, especially the gathering at a local pub in town where we get a chance to catch up with one another afterward. There were two older men in our foursome, Archie and Roger, age 84 and 87 respectively, and I was so impressed by them. I would not have guessed their ages based on their golf swings. They both said that staying active is the key. They didn't have to convince me of that. I have a difficult time sitting still for very long.

I took all of last week off my bike. I've been riding quite a bit more than usual the past 5 weeks in preparation for tomorrow's annual Dawn to Dusk ride put on by the Silver Cyclists group out of Lakeville, and it finally caught up with me. I did a 110 mile (177 km) ride two weeks ago this Sunday and although I felt fine on the ride, the next day it hit me hard that I needed a rest. I spent the next several days in such a tired state that I couldn't even consider riding. My resting heart rate was about 12 beats higher than its normal 38 - 41 beats per minute. That's a sure sign that my body needed a rest. I sprinkled in some walks over the next 10 days but that was all.

I went out with Rob and Steve Wednesday morning for a few hours of easy spinning. I'm good-to-go for tomorrow's big ride and my bike is ready. I'll be leaving from home in the dark around 5:30 to rendezvous with a group of about a dozen others. We plan to roll out at 6:00, a few minutes before sunrise and return around the time it finishes its arc across the sky. We'll hook up with a group of about 30 riders in Northfield and they'll lead us out to a point about 20 miles south of the city. We'll take it from there. I'm quite sure it'll be dark by the time I get home after a celebratory beer with the finishers. I've added a headlight to my bike.

For anybody interested, I'll put a link to my Strava beacon on Facebook that will show our progress throughout the day. I believe it updates every 30 seconds. The weather forecast couldn't be better with a temp in the low 80s (27ºc) and light northwest winds.

Our hummingbird feeders have been getting lots of use lately by a pair of hummingbirds that I'm quite certain are the same pair that returns each year. They're especially active now as they work to store up as much fuel as possible for their long journey south to warmer climes—a journey that takes a couple weeks. I expect they'll begin that journey in the next few days.

That's all I've got.