He Was Young - And Now He's Old

OK. Last month I turned 60 - on July 18 to be exact. As I have often pointed out, that is actually an expression of location. To say "I'm 60" means that, since the day I exited my mother's womb, I have ridden around the Sun on this muddy dirt ball called "earth"  back to the original place for the 60th time. It's as much a location thing as it is a time thing. Another thought. Since the sun is not really stationary in the universe, but traveling on some trajectory and carrying its orbiting planets along with it, our trips around the sun are not really like traveling round and round the center of a flat plate. They are more like following the spiral of a Slinky. So we never really go back to where we were before.

All of that is some non-normal thinking about what it means to be 60. The easy explanation of what it means to be 60 is "it's been 60 years since you were born." But, what else does it mean? It means your kids are grown. In some cases it means they have kids. It means the morning question "Did you sleep well?" is a question that is actually seeking information. It means, no matter how optimistic you are, you finally realize there are more years behind you than in front of you. It means you relish the idea of being "carded" when you ask for the senior discount (an event which, by the way, would NEVER happen).

I've decided to commemorate the achievement of having traveled 17.53 billion miles thought space.  I plan to do something memorable this year. First, I followed through on standing commitments to myself concerning bicycling. I rode the MS 150. That two day event is a standard part of my year. That commitment has to do with MS and my sister more than my agedness. However, it carried extra agedness meaning this year. You can read more than you want to know about that ride in earlier editions of our blog. It resulted in the worst biking injury I've had, to date, and yet another completed ride and a fairly decent (and brief) DVD, since Marilyn was there to shoot a little footage at the Finish Line. Second, I rode, last month, in the Tour de Goatneck. The Goatneck is a 70 mile ride and satisfies my decision to ride, in miles, an organized ride equal to the number of years I've reached in July of each year. I call it my annual BMR (birth month ride) Since I'm only at 60 years, the Goatneck will satisfy that commitment for at least another decade. The main memorable thing I'm planning this year - my 60th air breathing year - is the G.R.E.A.T. Ride. I will describe that ride below. First, though I need to report on the Goatneck - since I have pictures.

There were six of us who rode, two young men who accompanied me last year, two who are

 committed tot he GREAT Ride later this year, David Park (my son-in-law) and me. The two GREAT Ride riders rode the 41 mile route. The rest of us ride the 70 mile route. It was a "cool" day - high in the mid-eigthies and overcast most of the day. The four long riders stayed together by waiting for each other at the rest stops. Then, we would agree on which stop was to be stopped at next and ride our own pace to that stop. That way we were together, yet free to pedal at our own strength on the course. We finished the course in pretty much the same order as we arrived at most of the Rest Stops. I was second of the four. My average speed for the day was 16.2 mph. I set a new personal best maximum speed of 42.7 mph. Everyone enjoyed to day and the companionship. The Goatneck is a good ride. I enjoy haivn it as my BMR.

The Grande/Red Excursion Across Texas Ride - the GREAT Ride. I've decided to describe this in another post. tune