Thursday, 2/27/2025

                       

2025 Mileage: 565.9

I got in a good ride at Planet Fitness late this morning.

Again today, I rode while listening to Interlochen Public Radio. And a piece that particularly caught my attention, and which I found extremely attractive, was the Symphony no, 1 of Prokofiev, written in 1917, when he was a 26-year-old young man. His inspiration was the classical symphonies of Haydn (1732-1809), and it is said that this symphony, also called Prokofiev's 'Classical' Symphony, is an attempt to show what Haydn would do if he were writing in the early twentieth century.

This gave me a ride of 13.4 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Prokofiev, Symphony No. 1 ('Classical')

Wednesday, 2/26/2025

                      

2025 Mileage: 552.2

We have experienced what I've heard called "fake spring" the last couple of days, with sunshine and temperatures in the forties. However, today when I came out of Planet Fitness after my ride there early this afternoon, a pretty and light snow was falling, and I thought, "There goes fake spring!"

Again today, I rode while listening to Interlochen Public Radio.

This gave me a ride of 13.1 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Tuesday, 2/25/2025

                     

2025 Mileage: 539.5

Today ended up being an unexpectedly busy day; nevertheless, I was able to get to Planet Fitness this afternoon and squeeze in a ride.

Again today, I rode while listening to Interlochen Public Radio.

This gave me a ride of 13.2 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Monday, 2/24/2025

                    

2025 Mileage: 526.2

After taking a rest day yesterday (as I played a piano solo at church), I was glad to get back on it today, at Planet Fitness.

Again today, I rode while listening to Interlochen Public Radio.

This gave me a ride of 13.2 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Saturday, 2/22/2025

                   

2025 Mileage: 513.0

This morning I dug out early (7:00) and got myself over to Planet Fitness to ride, having a somewhat busy day ahead.

I rode while listening to Interlochen Public Radio.

This gave me a ride of 12.8 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Friday, 2/21/2025

                  

2025 Mileage: 500.2

The last couple of days, I've allowed myself to rest due to pain. Yesterday I told my wife it was back pain, but then I realized that it was actually the holy trinity of pain - back, knee, and foot pain.

Today, although I was not yet 100%, I felt that it was important for me to get back on it, so I just took it a little bit easier than usual at Planet Fitness, while listening to Interlochen Public Radio.

This gave me a ride of 12.7 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Tuesday, 2/18/2025

                 

2025 Mileage: 487.5

Got to Planet Fitness again for a ride this afternoon, while listening to my Devotional Music playlist on Spotify.

This gave me a ride of 13.4 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Monday, 2/17/2025

                

2025 Mileage: 474.1

After a brutally cold winter day, on which I was happy to stay home snuggled in my recliner (after an early morning devotional meeting of my small group of men at church), I managed to push myself out the door late afternoon and head over to Planet Fitness for a ride.

This gave me a ride of 13.4 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

Sunday, 2/16/2025

               

2025 Mileage: 460.7

Our handbell choir, The Rings of the Lord, played at the 9:00 service of our church this morning. That meant that I had to be there at 8:15 for a warmup rehearsal ... then after church, I went over to Planet Fitness for my ride, listening today to Interlochen Public Radio. A piece that especially caught my attention was the Triple Trumpet Concerto by Georg Philip Telemann, with well known outstanding trumpeter Wynton Marsalis playing all three solo trumpet parts, via that magic of overdubbing technology.

This gave me a ride of 13.3 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

     Telemann Triple Trumpet Concerto, played by Wynton      Marsalis (third movement - Allegro)

Saturday, 2/15/2025

              

2025 Mileage: 447.5

Michelle and I are meeting Christy and our grandchildren this morning for an outing, so I knew I would need to ride early. I left at 7:00 to go to Planet Fitness, and ride while listening to the soundtrack from Wicked.

This gave me a ride of 13.3 virtual miles today, in 1:00.

                            Wicked - Defying Gravity

Friday, 2/14/2025

             

2025 Mileage: 434.3

This afternoon, I was happy to be in out of the cold, pedaling away at Planet Fitness while listening to the inspiring music of Acoustic Eidolon..

This gave me a ride of 13.e virtual miles today, in 1:00,

                      Acoustic Eidolon - Toowoomba  

Thursday, 2/13/2025

            

2025 Mileage: 421.0

I had to get our oil changed this morning, So after the several inches of snow we received overnight, I drove carefully over to Briarwood at the 7:30 appointment time I had established yesterday, and then from there, as long as I was at Briarwood anyway, I just continued on to Planet Fitness to get my workout done, while listening to my Devotional Music playlist on Spotify.

This gave me a ride of 13.2 virtual miles today, in 1:00,

                             Blessings (Laura Story)            

Wednesday, 2/12/2025

           

2025 Mileage: 407.8

I took yesterday off, being completely exhausted (I could hardly keep my eyes open at a midday book study at church); Monday, though I rode, I neglected to write a blog post about it. Today I was able to get to Planet Fitness before the several inches of snow that we're projected to get tonight began, and rode while listening to my cousin, Rich Harris, playing his trumpet.

This gave me a ride of 13.2 virtual miles today, in 1:00,

               Circle of Love, played by Richard Harris             

Sunday, 2/9/2025

          

2025 Mileage: 381.9

Today i went to Planet Fitness in the early afternoon, once church was finished—in plenty of time to get him to watch the Super Bowl.

This gave me a ride of 12.2 virtual miles today, in 1:00, while listening to piano hymn arrangements (Chris Springer).

Open Our Eyes (Chris Springer)              

Saturday, 2/8/2025

         

2025 Mileage: 369.7

In order to clear the decks for other activities today, I got myself up early and headed over to Planet Fitness to ride at 7:00 a.m., grateful for their 24/7 hours. (Besides the attendant, I was the only one there.)

This gave me a ride of 12.2 virtual miles today, in 1:00, while listening to Interlochen Public Radio, .            

Friday, 2/7/2025

        

2025 Mileage: 357.7

I use Finale notation software to compose, but was alarmed back in August to receive a letter from the President of the company titled "The End of Finale." The gist of it was that, after 35 years of existence and millions of lines of computer code, they decided that its further development and support was no longer sustainable, so they were strongly recommending a new application (Dorico) as "the future of music notation."

I bought and downloaded it, and spent most of today fruitlessly trying to access it and get it to work, but I finally took a temporary hiatus from it and went to Planet Fitness to work off some of my frustration.

This gave me a ride of 12.9 virtual miles today, in 1:00, while listening to John Denver,

                                     Rocky Mountain High (John Denver)

Thursday, 2/6/2025

       

2025 Mileage: 344,6

We got several inches of snow last night, and my wife Michelle, a teacher, had a snow day. Conditions were to have improved considerably by afternoon, so she asked me to wait before going to Planet Fitness, and I was happy to do this, settling in and composing during the morning.

This gave me a ride of 10.7 virtual miles today, in 1:00, while listening to my cousin Richard Harris, a splendid trumpeter who has several recordings on Spotify, where I can easily access them.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - played by Richard Harris

Wednesday, 2/5/2025

      

2025 Mileage: 333.9

I rode again at Planet Fitness this afternoon. By February 5 last year, I had already accumulated 777.2 miles, so I've only ridden about 43% as many miles so far this year. The discrepancy is due to the fact that when I rode at home, I would often watch movies, even 2 or 3 hours in length or more.  However, Planet Fitness has a one-hour time limit on their machines. At some point, we plan to get a new cycle at home to replace the worn out one, but until then, I must make do with lower mileage.

This gave me a ride of 13.1 virtual miles today, in 1:00, while listening to piano hymns.

Tuesday, 2/4/2025

     

2025 Mileage: 320.8

Having experienced an extremely busy weekend, I have not ridden since Friday, so I was glad to be able to get back to it today, going to Planet Fitness early this afternoon, after an 11:30 book group that I participated in at church, and rode while listening to my sport talk station, 97.1 The Ticket, on the radio. 

This gave me a ride of 12.6 virtual miles today, in 1:00, while listening to The Ticket.