Bike route goals

 Starting simple and short. Over time I’d like to bike these routes. Some in large chunks and others in little pieces that align with available time.

Single Trips

1. Cottage to Ludington State Park and back. About 15 miles each way. Three hours of cycling total.
   
   
   
   
2. Cottage to Pentwater campground (Lake MI Family Campground) and back. About 18 miles each way. Three hours of cycling. Classic out and back.
   
   
   
   
3. MI cycling M119 from Harbor Springs to Mackinaw City: through the tunnel of trees! It’s about 45 miles and 4 hours each way. Could be an out and back or a drop-off/stage cars.
   
   
   
   
4. Cottage to Hart and Hart to Muskegon. About 65 miles and 5 hours. Back roads from Ludington to Hart, connect to the Hart-Montague trail, and finally the Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail to bring it home to Muskegon. Could be an out and back or a drop-off/stage cars.
   
   
   
   
5. Little Traverse Wheelway between Charlevoix and Harbor Springs. About 26 miles and 2.5 hours of cycling around Little Traverse Bay. Could be a nice out and back with a bite in between.
   
   
   
   
6. Beaver Island East and West Side Drives give a nice cycle around the island. Possible to do a ferry ride in the morning, ride the island and take the ferry back in the afternoon. It's about 35 miles depending on route specifics and a 3.5 hour ride.
   
   
   
   
   Multi-Day Plans
   
   
7. Grand Rapids to Cadillac (and possibly back). From Riverside Park to Mitchell State Park it’s 94 miles and a full 8 hour day along the White Pine Trail. Good candidate for a weekend and take Friday or Monday off from work.
   
   
   
   
8. Zeeland to Ludington cottage (and possibly back). From our friends' house to the cottage is 99.5 miles and a full day along the M35 cycling route. Good candidate for a weekend and take Friday or Monday off from work. This is basically an amalgamation of #2, 4, and a chunk of 10.
   
   
   
   
9. MI cycling M20. From Algonac to Ludington on the west. It’s 300 miles and a few days ride.
   
   
   
   
10. MI cycling M35. From New Buffalo to Sault St. Marie in the north. It’s 500 miles and a solid week of riding. Or a good candidate to break up into a few weekends of riding. It could be 8 chunks of 60-70 miles.
    
    
    
    
11. MI cycling M10. From St. Ignace to Iron Mountain in the west. It’s 200 miles and a couple days ride.
    
    
    
    

Resources and Maps:

MDOT Bicycle maps

LMB Maps - League of Michigan Bicyclists

2026: the year of racing

When Paula and I were talking about what 2026 was going to look like for our family I mentioned I was interested in entering some running races. My running has been very consistent since March 2025 due to running over lunchtime with colleagues (making up the hours at night when Anja is in bed), giving me a solid aerobic base to work from. The consistency is different than how I've trained for races in the past - it was usually a sort of 3-4 month effort culminating in a race, then nothing until the next time. Over the last year or so I've felt consistently race-ready, at least for my modest fitness.

So of course, Paula suggests 1 race per month and ups the ante immediately!

We decide to do it. It takes two.

Race 1 (Jan) - Detroit Auto Show 5K

Paula, Dad Manni, and I schlep down to Detroit, leaving Anja with Mom Manni in Canton. My goal is to get close to or under 22 minutes. It's been since 2020 that I've attempted an all-out effort in the 5K and this is the year I believe I can do it. The weather is cold, blowy, and snowy and the course pavement has not been fully plowed. But I gutted it out and did 22:16.33! This is a race in January and the field reflects it - I place 1st in my age group and am feeling good that I'll get under 22 minutes this year.

Race 2 (Feb) - Zeeland Couple Shuffle 5K

Paula, Anja, and I head to Helder Park on the coldest February morning of the year (-15F). We are BUNDLED and the finish line snacks are FROZEN - waters are ice and tangerines are icegerines. The course is not cleared and I immediately note this will not be a PB. We take off and I'm in the front of the race. I look back to let people pass me on the single track made by people's footprints from walking in the foot-deep snow. No one is interested. So, I quickly but gingerly run along this path, not breaking my ankles, until the path opens up and is paved for the second half of the course. No one passes me. No one is close. I hold on and continue to not break my ankles and win the dang race in 23:50! I have no business winning races. But again, the field on a frigid February Sunday morning is small.

Race 3 (Mar) - 5K Green Run - Riverbend Park

Anja and I are in Florida visiting my parents, so Dad takes me down to Jupiter leaving Anja with Mom back at Nettles Island. It's a solid hour drive down so an early morning to get there for the 7:30am start. I'm a little nervous but think under 22 is on the table. I've started to come down with a cough, but my lungs feel pretty solid. Definitely up in the air but I decide to go for it. My mile splits are 6:57, 7:00, 7:00, and 6:20 for the last 0.1K. An older guy - ultra runner - pulls me through the whole race. I just spend time chasing him, hang on, and pass him just before the end (with his blessing). And in turn, I'm passed by the guy who had apparently been chasing/stalking me - but he's in my age group and edges me by 0.99 seconds! Either way I'm stoked to get second in the age group and finally get under 22 minutes (21:42.61)!!!!!

Race 4 (Apr) - Barry Roubaix 36 mile Thriller

The dirty gravel bike race! And I didn't really train on bikes other than doing some mountain biking during spring break in Bentonville. So, understand that my butt was HURTING by the end of it. I was standing up during every downhill. This race was fun! I went down to Hastings with Jonathan and Eric, and we had a nice morning. It was wet enough to keep the sand firm but not too wet to make the roads treacherous. BRX26 also answered the question: how well does running fitness convert to cycling? Not very well. My lungs weren't super challenged but the power from my legs was lacking. Good to learn. It was a solid effort but very middle of the pack result (2:34:29). Very happy with that for my first cycling race.

Race 5 (May) - Tulip Time 10K

Trying to build on a fun 10K last year with my brother in Kalamazoo my goal was to pace under 7:30/mi. It was a chilly morning - in the 30s F. So actually, pretty perfect for a race. Nothing fancy, just nailed each 3.1mi lap at 7:19/mi and had a nice race (45:22.72). Just off the podium but felt good the whole race. It was a nice test to see where I was at. Podium is definitely within reach.

Race 6a & 6b (Jun) - Grand Explorers 5K and Zeeland Zoom 5K

Ran each of these with our friends and their kids. We each ran with a kid - I was lucky to chaperone A to victory! In the GE5K we took third in the podium for the girls U14 and in the ZZ5K we took first in the podium for the girls U9! Super fun and really well-run races to enjoy at a more comfortable pace. Especially fun to see a young runner smoke the races out of the park!

Race 7 (Jul) - the Cross Country Team Challenge 5K - Richmond Park

Before: running a coed team race tonight! Some racers on our team are already down for the count (Kuba is SICK) and it's going to be warm. Excited. Hopefully my day of loose stool yesterday won't harm my attempt to PB.

After: it was a tough one with a strong field. I hadn't run on grass before and the hill was BIG. So didn't get the PR but ran a decent 22:22.6 (pace 7:12/mi). Very fun to run with our group. Andrew and I set out together, but he outpaced me pretty quickly. I caught back up a bit over the hill. No impacts felt from the "day of loose stool". I will need to build in some speed work and hills if I want to get back under 22 minutes. No big deal.

 Race 8 (Aug) - TBD

We're having a baby, so we'll see what actually happens. Maybe the Hudsonville Fair 5K.

Race 9 (Sep) - TBD

Race 10 (Oct) - TBD

Race 11 (Nov) - TBD

Likely the Zeeland Turkey Trot.

Race 12 (Dec) - TBD

Racing season thoughts:

Looking to make some changes for 2027. I don't feel the need to do a race each month but do want to pick some fun ones and do a little more structured preparation for them.

1. Winter 5K, Jan-Mar: 1 race for the chance to run hard without doing too much prep. Enjoy the light field coming out of winter.

2. Barry Roubaix bike race, Apr: spend some time in the winter building power in my legs and trying to match my cardio capabilities with my legs and see if I can move up from the middle of the pack with some more time in the seat and using the new power meter on the trainer in my shop.

3. Tulip Time or other May 5K: build some speed in while it's still cool and nice weather to run.

4. Summer months, Jun-Aug: run races with kids or just for fun if they come up. Don't worry about speed.

5. Oct race (5K, 10K, or half marathon): start building some speed as the weather cools and run hard in October. Preference toward half marathon.

6. Turkey Trot, Nov: most likely Zeeland. Do some intervals and hills to prepare.

7. Enjoy the winter training block.

Training with a power meter

 I love fitness data. It motivates me.

Arguably, having a Forerunner 45 watch got me into running and kept me running. I still love to pore over the stats after each run over 6 years later - now on my Forerunner 745 - 3 to 4 times per week. During each run I set an internal, nebulous pace/strain level and go mostly by feel. Afterwards the data gives me the immediate feedback of how my heartrate and pace baseline changes over time, with the weather, periods of more/less training, and in the moment of each individual run. It helps me gauge how my body feels compared to measured data from the watch that I can review over time. The 7-day load range also keeps me honest as a bulk measure of my weekly effort and I LOVE to keep in the green.

For cycling, the 45/745 are also great tools especially when coupled with a cadence and speed sensor (more for indoor riding on the trainer), but to really dive in deeply and train with more purpose and direction you're talking about adding a power meter to your bag of tools.

Recently I received a power meter for Father's Day - the Favero Assioma MX-1 (left pedal only; a very affordable and quality piece of equipment - but still close to $450 with tariff and charger). It was great fun to take it out last week on a short ride at a very simple but fun local 2-mi MTB trail. But reviewing that kind of data, devoid of context and baseline really isn't why I wanted this thing.

I pedaled my first bike race this spring - the Barry Roubaix (BRX) 2026 36mi course in April. It was an interesting test to see how running fitness would translate to cycling fitness, not having spent much time training on the bike. My main discovery was that my cardiovascular fitness was far greater than what the muscles in my legs were able to harness to deliver speed (and power):

In the BRX race I placed 776/1796 overall (top 43%) and 70/147 M34-38 (top 48%) - definition of middle of the pack.

In 2026 spring (Mar-May) running races I'm closer to top 7%/14% (overall/age group) in 10km and 3%/14-22% (overall/age group) in 5km. Based on 750 miles running since August 2025 compared to 220 miles cycling.

That's where power data comes in - establishing an intuitive baseline for cycling efforts that connects to my heartrate and the feel of my muscles. And then improve my baseline over time!

I didn't really want to add more bulky, expensive, one-use equipment to the household. And I'm very happy to do some mental work and create a less sophisticated training system than pay the big bucks for a complex machine when I can get 80% of the way there in a cruder fashion:

1. 1. Buy a power meter to swap between my bikes: MTB, gravel/road, and the simple+cheap resistance trainer that I already have (CycleOps Fluid2).
   
   
2. 2. Start using the power meter on rides and just review the data afterwards - just for curiosity.
   
   
3. 3. Build a series of power curves on the trainer - cadence and gearing vs power!
   
   
4. 4. Use the power curves to train at different power thresholds for short/long periods to improve my baseline fitness and understand how that power feels to my muscles and cardiovascular system. Be my own personal Peloton/Wahoo/smart trainer control.

So far #1 and 2 have been the easy part. You just need to have the right hex keys, wrenches, and grease to smoothly swap the MX-1 pedal between bikes (I'm using a torque wrench to protect the pedal installation too, because I already had one for my car's oil drain plug).

I have the trainer set up the shop - just need to make the time to inflate tires to a consistent pressure and get pedaling to generate the baseline.

Initial plan for gathering data:

1. 1. Gear configuration (input)
2. 2. Cadence (60, 80, 100 rpm; input)
3. 3. Tire pressure (90 psi every time; assumption)
4. 4. 5-minute average power (primary output - function of the equipment setup)
5. 5. 5-minute average heartrate (secondary output - changes with fitness)
6. 6. 5-minute maximum heartrate (tertiary output - changes with fitness)

Parts 1-4 create the curves and parts 5-6 track fitness over time.

And as a final nerding out - compare to the Fluid2 published curves:

https://www.cycle-ops.com/graph.jpg

https://www.timslife.com/imgsbike/trainer/cyfl2ch2.jpg

 More to come!

Fitness equipment prioritization

 I really love gear. But I get way too into it and find it easy to lose the thread and actually get out there to enjoy the bike or run.

Realistically you need 1. a pair of good shoes (running and cycling), 2. a bike that you like to ride with comfortable helmet, and 3. the time set aside to run and cycle safely.

From there, my prioritization goes in tiers. And my ownership is in bold.

A - Basic clothes

1. Clothes to make running comfortable
1. Shorts
2. Jogger pants
3. Short and long-sleeve shirts that wick moisture
4. Socks that wick moisture
5. Gloves and ear warmers
6. Cold weather layers
7. Belt for water and food (10+ miles / 16+ km)
   
   
2. Clothes to make cycling comfortable
1. Water bottles and holders
2. Socks that wick moisture
3. Basic tools and spares
4. Warm weather bib / shorts
5. Warm weather shirt with back pockets
6. Gloves and ear warmers
7. Warm jacket
8. Cold weather bib / pants

B - Basic data and safety for cycling

1. Running watch that can measure heart rate and pair with cycling sensors
2. Front and rear lights for cycling
3. Hydration pack for cycling
4. Advanced tools and spares for cycling repair
5. Bell
6. Speed and cadence sensors for cycling
7. Smart phone holder - careful how you use this as it could damage your phone. A cycling computer will be hardier and likely a cheaper investment compared to breaking your phone.

C - Advanced data and safety for cycling

1. Power meter for cycling pedals (simplex) - Favero Assioma PRO MX-1, $500
2. Heart rate monitor (improved accuracy and dynamics) - Garmin HRM-Pro Plus, $129.99
3. Cycling computer / bike radar - Garmin Edge ####, $200-700
4. Bike radar / cycling computer - Garmin Varia ####, $100-400
5. Power meter for cycling pedals (duplex upgrade) - Favero Assioma PRO MX-1 upgrade, $500
6. Power meter for cycling pedals (duplex outright) - Favero Assioma PRO MX-2, $850

Molly the hermaphrodite

I started running again this week.  Very painfully and lugubriously, since it's been over 4 years since I could call myself a runner (the glorious past).

At the end of my jog today I saw that my neighbor was out monkeying around in his garage--and I hadn't introduced myself yet, so it was the perfect opportunity to meet!

Rog (not real name) grew up around GR and went to Western for school, now he's living next to me with his partner B.J. (not real name either!) in Hudsonville.  Rog has a great story.  He drives bus and does various and sundry other work at a GR area school.  He's even owned a furniture company already!  Nbd, just a super handy sound & audio engineer that knows his way around furniture and is super handy.  Oh, and he's an opera singer with an epic beard!  Holy jack of all trades Batman!

Anyway, Rog has a couple beautiful little rescue dogs--a pug named Molly and a brindle Boston Terrier (not sure on name...).  The pug has the greatest and most interesting story I've heard in a while.

Rog wanted two male dogs, so he didn't have to deal with any shenanigans.  So he bought Molly, a male dog.  Molly's jewels never dropped though.  It turns out that Molly had BOTH sets of parts!  After some surgeries she is now essentially a female, with no real defects (unusual for hermaphrodites).

Rog said they decided to get the surgery and let her decide what she wanted to be.  I guess she alternates behaviors sometimes with respect to bodily function, but tends to gravitate toward being a female.

That was too cool of a story not to write up.  Plus it turns out I have some sweet neighbors!

Sloats and Frains: Laufen

Out of physical necessity and boredom, I found myself spending a very cherished parcel of time running along the Selz river (creek) from Ingelheim to Großwinternheim during the summer of 2010.  Of course, I was in terrible shape at the beginning of my internship.  Struggling to keep running, I maintained a slow pace, enough at least to preserve some semblance of a jog until I crossed at the traffic circle and left the town proper.  More out of vanity than anything else, my will was to avoid walking.

If I could, I would go back in a heartbeat to relive the time I spent along that trail during the summer nights.  The air was clear and clean though occasionally thick and schwül before a storm.  I learned quickly that you don't drink Mineralwasser before a run, or you'll have a bad time (too much CO2 was my conjecture), and I sweated so much you'd think I was turning into a raisin.

My runs would begin with a westward walk along Binger Straße, past the Turkish restaurant, book store and motor bike shop.  Just off the main sidewalk, I would begin my run by darting down a small alley and jog along the Realschule parking lot.  The parking lot joined a cobblestone path along the Selz next to the large dome recycling containers that look like Cold War relics and litter German cities, towns and dorfs.

Turning south, the cobblestones tag along playfully with the burbling Flüsschen, and I pass Ingelheimers walking and loafing on the path or playing soccer in the fenced in "soccer courts" ("field" doesn't really describe the woodchip coated, spartan, functional enclosures).  My feet pound the stones and inwardly I groan with frustration initially at my out of shape heart, lungs and legs.  It probably takes me three weeks before I can muster up the strength to make it the whole 4.5 km to GWH, and another two to make it back without stopping.

The first road I cross over leaves the town and opens up into meadows of bright, blooming goldenrod, presided over by the local Bismarckturm.  Neighboring the "soccer courts", numerous families plant large gardens that border the path, with what amounts to a farms-worth of vegetables and cultivated space.  Finally the path crosses the Selz, traversing a traffic circle before heading again south into pastureland.

A last kick of civilization soon blends into scrub and hay fields, accompanied by ripe smells indicating the presence of livestock.  Sheep!  They drape themselves over the landscape, bleating contentedly as I pass them.  Lambs dart away from the fence as I come near, and find some less dangerous grass to chew.

The Selz is clothed in a short, but thick layer of trees.  As the path again approaches the stream, it is hard to ignore the collection of habitations resembling a commune that blends in with the trees.  There are audible sounds of domesticated animals, but I never find out if the settlement is inhabited, or abandoned.  One small cart path leads in, and I am much to timid to explore further than fire furtive glances down into the receding gloom, from my perch on the path.

Leaving the cover of trees again, I pass a small collection of apple trees on the left, and on my right ogle the barns and pastures occupied by horses doing their cantering, trotting and other horsy things.  Rather unexpectedly, the trail shoots uphill and skirts some small jumps for BMX bikes, before gently sloping past the first backyards that welcome me into Großwinternheim.

Slowly I loped longer and faster, until I was doing 9km easy, most nights of the week.  Not bad for a wannabe German raisin.

Sloats and Frains: Genesis

I wake up in my one room apartment with the sun drenching my face, prying my eyelids open. Yesterday was a whirlwind of miles in cars and planes, across timezones and an ocean.

My supervisor, Dr. Heckmann, came by in the evening to make sure that I had arrived and was settled. We went for a bit of a walk, and found a payphone for me to call my family and reassure myself with their voices. I went to sleep feeling more comfortable with the unknown...now that it was a little more known. And Nutella. They bought me some food for the weekend, giving me my first experience with the rich, creamy, chocolatey, smooth Haselnuss perfection that is Nutella. In fact, supper on jam and Nutella sandwiches was not uncommon...

The morning was warm, bright and sunshiny. I leave the apartment a few minutes after 9, to do some of the exploring I had been too tired for the night before. I walk along a stream, over a bridge, along a meadow bursting with yellow wildflowers and past some barns. The path goes over the road into town and is paved with cobblestones, trimmed with cement. The Selz burbles along joyfully before breaking from the path that opens into green, scrubby fields mottled with fluffy, sheepy shapes. The picturesque path will later accompany me on many a run during warm summer nights to Groß-Winternheim and back.

As I walk back into town, St. Remigius' bell tower rings loud and bold, imploring, beseeching and celebrating with parishioners arriving for Pfingsten Mass. The bright, cheery mood fills me too, as I begin to decompress from the terror of exams and the immediacy and rush of a good friend's wedding just days before. There is no rush here. We are on holiday, and I am becoming part of this quiet town, if only for the summer. I glory in my status as local-wannabe.

Lazy man changes bike tube!

Last October I was riding my bike to campus, like I had finally gotten in the habit of, when my rear tube popped due to puncture, going up a hill.

Fast-forward over many months of laziness to this evening, July 7, 2013 (I finally went to the bike shop last week and picked up a couple of tubes and borrowed some tire levers from an office-mate this week). I was ready, if I wanted to actually take the time. Strangely, I had never changed my own bike tube before, despite having toured Michigan by bike on the Five UP route of the DALMAC in 2010.

It had actually been hanging over me for a while, that pesky little fact of ineptitude in bike repair. No matter though. With some extra time on a quiet Sunday evening, punctuated by the patter of rain on my back porch, I got to work. To youtube!

Inexperience and laziness had conspired to deprive me of many cycling moons...but that ended tonight thanks to the amazing and oh-so-practical video embedded below.

Mountain bikes are not for touring

Nathan and I went on our first longer bike ride of the year yesterday: from Calvin to Rockford via the White Pine trail. It was quite the beautiful day, and our fellow road dwellers weren't even being jerks. Knapp Street was delightfully downhill (which made me worried about the way back), and Riverside park was full of vim and vigor. We made it to Rockford just fine, and had some lunch/supper before heading back.

At the outset of our return trip however, it became apparent that we would have to battle a headwind the whole way back. Twas quite the trip, and like the title says, I have to implore you not to tour with a mountain bike, unless you want a good workout, which is what we got. In general though, it was a fantastic ride and rather enjoyable. I think it was about 40 miles round-trip; perfect for an afternoon jaunt.

Man sagt auf Deutsch: ich konnte gestern Rad fahren.

武術 (Wushu)

So I had my first Wushu lesson today. Wushu is one of the Chinese martial arts. It employs staffs and swords pretty often, but luckily today was just the basics for me, other than some of the more basic staff work. This is going to take a while. I can barely even get the warmups yet :). No matter, it will just take a lot of practice.


Alotalotalot...of practice.

Boot to the head

I managed to incur a strange injury while running the other day. My roommate Mark and I started running together Tuesdays and Thursdays for 3 miles. Not a ton, but with the idea of staying in shape. Our route takes us down Lake Drive, which has no sidewalk and is particularly busy, so we run along the side on the grass and among trees. Some of these trees/bushes hang particularly low on the side, which isn't a too much of a problem. Anyway, I kind of bumped one of these low-hanging pieces of foliage and didn't think much of it. Well, later as we were jogging past the dorms, I had gotten particularly sweaty, so I went to enthusiastically rub my face on the shoulder part of my shirt. Sweat in the eyes is certainly no fun. So I plunged my face into my shirt, and instead of becoming dry, my face and eyes were penetrated by a nest of burrs that was stuck to my shoulder. Clearly not a horrible injury, but the sweat filling the cut sure made it smart.

In other news, as I was composing this, I got a twitter update from Don Miller about the manuscripts they are hiding around the nation to promote his new book. One was in Grand Rapids, on Wealthy St.: Yesterdog! In mid post, I left with a housemate to scurry over there. It turns out that someone had gone in 5 minutes before we got there. Quite a bummer. Oh well, now I can finish this post.

Ready...set...relax.

Well, my summer research fellowship is finished. I'll probably update soon with a general overview of what went down. Most likely for posterity, maybe for the 1000's upon 1000's of people that read this.

I have two weeks now to do next to nothing. Today was a great start. Brian gave me an amp and speakers that they had no use for anymore, so I've been working on getting it set up with another set of speakers we have, and my record player/ipod/computer. Got a great start today with a trip to Radioshack and picked up "the Unforgettable Fire" from the Corner Record Shop. Tomorrow will hopefully be devoted to getting it all online and set up in Jeff's room (he'll be taking care of it while I'm gone at school). So that's fun.

The best part of today though was softball tournaments tonight. It was by far my best night of the season. During our first game, I had a two singles, a double and an unassisted double play. I bring this up not to be a boring snooze-brag, but to point out how uncharacteristic and statistically impossible such a performance is for me. We did win the first game handily, but the second game was a disaster. We were mercied by our other church team, I re-injured myself and didn't make it to base. This was punctuated by my last out where I watched as the ball dropped in as strike with no swing from me. Awesome. I guess all good things must come to an end. It was still a very enjoyable season and I think I'll remember this game for a while.

Finally, tomorrow morning our Japanese student Moe (Moy-ay) will be leaving. She is part of a Jr. and Sr. High handbell choir from Japan that toured the Midwest this summer. They were in Hudsonville since last Tuesday and put on phenomenal performances. Moe is a small girl but she plays the biggest bells they have. She throws around these massive bells so quickly and with such precision (most songs were from memory), it's reallllllly amazing. I'm convinced she has the arms of an NFL linebacker. Anyway, we will all be sad to see her go.

Well, that's all I have for now. It had been a while though and it feels oh so good to write things even if they are quite trivial and esoteric. Domo arigato.

Wheeeeee!

This summer has proven to be a fulfilling one thus far. I've taken up running/jogging and have been reading like I used to before college made it a chore. The work is also more stimulating than any work I have done before. Progress is measured in the creation/reading of papers and establishment of new procedures rather than square feet of carpet cleaned or classrooms restored. I think that working with a computer during the day has given me a new love of things that don't revolve around transistors or pixels. Truly this has been a learning summer, perhaps this will continue, or more likely, I will run into an unforeseen and painful roadblock that shakes my very core. Anyhow, I have enjoyed the months which have transpired and hope to wring some last productivity and progress from the remainder. ¡Vive el verano!

Also, we went to Michigan's Adventure today. Even though it rained, a good time was had by all.

Also also, never trust the driver of a white Saturn Ion (He is most likely a poor driver who thinks that the lane going around a busy entrance is for him to enter, in order to let people that don't want to turn, use the turn lane to pass him. Though I prefer not to pass judgment, it should be noted that such a man is an idiot, and his car naturally stinks of ignorance.).

Also also also, I apologize to responsible drivers of white Saturn Ions. You should give one of your own a talking to. Teach him how to not be terrible at driving. ¡Ay chico! Soy serio.

You can not be serious...

Tonight played host to some of the poorest tennis of my life. Three sets of lameness and failsauce, punctuated by a few bright winners (though incidentally, I might have fixed my foot fault tendency and gained a better first serve). Which is funny because last night playing with Quack felt like some of the best tennis I'd played in a long time.

I think if Coach had been there tonight, from double faults alone he would have made me sprint 11 miles then do hurdles, after convincing me to shoot myself in both heels with several arrows. It would have been completely deserved too.

I suppose failure is inevitable though, that's why it sucks. And it likes to sneak up on you and kick you where it hurts most. It is a nice reminder of humanity however (and by nice I mean incredibly unfortunate), and serves to knock us off of our high equinaceous beings (note: equinaceous is not a word, but it can be used in combination with "attila" to get one result from a google search).

But I digress...even failing at something as silly as a friendly game of tennis doesn't feel good for anyone, but we deal with it. Humans are resilient like that. Also, it makes for a good angry run; maybe not 11 miles though. I stuck with my normal 3, but immediately following three sets even that was a challenge.

Ahhh...writing feels good. Even when it's read by none and serves as a memento mori.

Summer night run

Leaving the house I quickly become the night,
my body warm and white, blending with the dusk.
Water hangs in the air, holding my breath,
lungs foolishly requesting it back.

Air rushes past, convectively driving away heat,
my Reynolds number laminar, sub-3000.
Sweat pools on my brow,
a dam set for catastrophe.

Venturing into my eyes, the brine wakes me from my reverie,
eyes focus through the pain, on the asphalt ahead.
The street lights flicker on as night falls,
falls like my footsteps as I pass into the distance.

Acclimated to the heat, lungs purr and arms sway,
and perspiration rises from my pores like a flood.
Legs churn past rows of houses and slumbering folk,
I arrive glistening and spent, completely fulfilled, first shirtless run.

Transitions [alternately: Mind spewings]

School is done, and half of my undergraduate life is complete. Perhaps not complete, but completed. There are things I have not done, people I have not met and methods I have not learned...leading me to the conclusion that I am human. I miss the floor, camaraderie, tricking and being. Those men are my family. I will see some again, but for now they are missed.

I must have time for two families, perhaps three, and summer is for those who birthed and developed me. For them I give thanks. I give thanks as I wait for my marks, worrying about the half results I have received and wondering, what errors may I have made. I enjoy them while I can, before another semester of learning draws nigh. Time spent with family is never lost and each moment must be welcomed at whatever cost.

A third thing I ponder as summer approaches, much less consequential or maybe far more. I see couples cavorting, enjoying themselves (a friend now engaged!?!). I have no one to empty myself to, to tell all my secrets. To comfort, to hold and know all is well. Mayhaps she will come (mayhaps is no word), mayhaps I was not meant to find such a girl. Mayhaps my mutterings on this wired journal are my only consolation. This I doubt though, I will have to make time, for I feel that there is one out there for even me.

For now I put these thoughts to rest and will soon venture out. The lawn must be mowed, and there is work to be done. And tonight, my brother and I will...jog.