THE TUESDAY EVENING RUN WAS EVERYTHING I had looked forward to: sunny and warm, and a fired-up group ready to hit the road. We basically did a park tour – Wheeler Park to Gallup Park, then through the Arb (including a nice little half-mile hill) to campus and back to Wheeler for 7 miles overall.

Couldn’t ride to work on Wednesday due to a customer visit, so I rode after work to the Dexter Library, where my brother and his family talked about their 2006 world trip. It rained on the way back. I haven’t done much biking in the rain, and the experience did not change my mind about why. Nothing like having spray from both tires soak what parts the regular rain didn’t reach. But it did remind me that I need some rain gear for my upcoming multi-day rides.

Tonight’s ride made up for all that. I got out of work as soon as I could and did a nice 23 mile round trip to Saline and back. My target destination was the Drowsy Parrot, a coffee shop I’ve been wanting to visit. They were closed when I got there, so My Favorite Café across the street gets two plugs here – one for being open late, and another for a terrific lemon bar.

Except for the annoying traffic (I took the main road back), the ride was nearly perfect, and I made sure to spend some time “in the moment” just enjoying the ride. Some people jump out of planes or otherwise need to defy death to “feel alive.” A good run or bike ride on a beautiful evening is all I need.