Thanksgiving Day ride

For at least the past ten years I have tried to get out for a ride on Thanksgiving Day before doing the turkey thing, weather permitting and assuming I am home.  I guess that makes it a tradition.  Yesterday the weather forecast was not looking good, and sure enough it is wet out this morning with intermittent showers.  I try not to be *too* much of a fair-weather friend when it comes to riding, but 35 degrees and rain is not my idea of fun.  Maybe next year.

So far I have not accomplished much this morning other than pet the cats and surf the internet, but I'm thinking pancakes and a little time working on the canoe will be in order before heading over to my parent's house to stuff myself with turkey.  Grace is off with her sister, Ruth, and her family, and her other sister, Pauline, and her boyfriend, at a rented house in Saugatuck.  I have to work tomorrow and will head out after work.

So, about this canoe? My brother-in-law, Jeff, and I decided about a year ago to build canoes together.  Time constraints being what they are we have not had much time to work on them together lately, but I have kept mine moving along.  I keep saying it's possible mine might get in the water before the end of the year, which is not entirely a pipe dream yet.  Whether it gets wet this year or not is not really a big deal, but it is coming along nicely!

This is where it stands as of November 14, which is the most recent pictures I have.  The strip-built bow and stern decks are just set in place here, but once installed, will make air-tight compartments for buoyancy if the canoe becomes swamped.  There are still several details to tie up, but the final finishing is not too far away anymore.

And if the thwart looked a little low in the previous pictures, here is why!  That is a removable seat that slips over it.  When paddling with two people the middle seat can be removed for more room.  When paddling solo the center seat can be slipped over the thwart and the canoe is paddled the other way; i.e. the bow becomes the stern.  The seat will get some foam before it's done since I don't relish the idea of sitting on a hard piece of plywood for very long.

I will get some more canoe pictures up at some point, but I think it's pancake time!

Two days, two board exams, two bike rides

What a crazy couple days it has been.  Board exam time is here, and maybe, just maybe, I can become a certified prosthetist.  And I am two thirds of the way to finding out if they will let me.  Yesterday was the "written" test, which these days is all computerized.  One hundred and sixty five multiple choice questions.  I am not really a fan of multiple choice because you never have a chance to explain your thinking.  At one time I thought essay exams were my mortal enemy, but as it turns out I don't mind them so much because, as long as you provide a good argument, there is more than one right answer.  Today was the written simulation which is a little better as it allows for more than one right answer, though the answer you might want is not always one of the choices.  Anyway, they are done!  And with a little luck I will even pass them both.

My employer was kind enough to give me both days off which probably benefited them as much as me.  After taking those tests the prosthetic center of my brain was pretty well drained.  Wouldn't want to be interacting with patients in that state!  So I went for a bike ride each day instead.  The city loop called, and I answered.

Yesterday I called my friend, John, who is luxuriously unemployed right now and likely to be available for a weekday ride, gave blood on Monday and was feeling a little spacey in the head.  He figured he might be better off lying low and trying to rehydrate a little more.  So out I went to tour the local trails on my own.   By the time I got home my brains were feeling completely relaxed after the rigors of the morning.

Today John was feeling more normal and was ready to go when I called.  We met up at Mitchell Field as usual and hit the trails for a relaxing Fall ride.  Three hours later I got home and it was liberating to be out for that long without feeling like I should be studying.

We stopped at one point near Black Pond and were noticing how rugged the terrain is there.  With the leaves off the trees the lay of the land can be seen, and I have to say, the glaciers really tore things up when they were here last time!  There is no flat land in those woods, and where we stopped some of the hills were so steep they would be hard to walk straight up.  One of these days I need to dedicate an entry here just on the city loop, as it is truly impressive to have such a trail system throughout town.

So who am I?

My name is Ed and as you may have guessed, I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Some might even call me a "townie" as I have lived here my entire life.  My job is a prosthetist, meaning I make and fit artificial legs and arms.  I finished the classwork for a master's degree in orthotics and prosthetics at Eastern Michigan University in April 2008 and lately have been studying for the board exams so that I will be a certified prosthetist.  Pretty cool...I never thought I would be in health care, and I never thought I would be certified in anything so official.  Before getting into this field I was an engineer for eight years.  So far I don't miss it much.

So I will soon have some fancy letters in my job title, but what have I done outdoors?  I have been playing outdoors my whole life.  My parents took me tent camping when I was three months old and apparently I was not even too much of a pain!  I learned to ride a bicycle at age four and have been hooked ever since.  As I kid I rode all over the neighborhood and on the trails in the fields and woods near my parents' house.  I got my first "real" road bike 21 years ago at age 15 and started mountain biking three years later.  I first rode the Potawatomi (Poto), which is the grand daddy of trails here in southeast Michigan, one year later, in 1992.

Michigan has countless beautiful lakes and rivers which I like to paddle.  I built a kayak a few years ago and am currently building canoes with my brother-in-law.  When we get enough snow around here I like to cross country ski, and have made a few trips to Stokely Creek in Canada.  I still tent camp, though mostly out of a car.  I would like to try some bike touring and canoe/kayak touring, but have not yet made the time.  In general I just really enjoy being out in the natural outdoors and get out as much as I can.

November 8 = 65 degrees!?

So today is November 8, 2009.  November is usually a time to start bundling up, thinking about cooking a whole turkey in the oven, and maybe even start your Christmas list.  Yesterday and today reached a high of about 65 degrees and there was scarcely a cloud in the sky.  Not too shabby for November!

I washed the Miata and mowed up the leaves in the yard, all while wearing a short sleeve tee-shirt (yes, I also wore pants).   And a day like today would not be complete without a little time on the bike.

My wife, Grace, and I called up our friends Nate and Jen and took a mountain bike ride out at the Potawatomi trail (aka Poto, Potto).  I don't think I have ever seen so many other trail users out there, at any time of year.  The loops closer to the main parking lot were busy enough that we did not dare "open it up" as there was sure to be a hiker just around the bend.  Once back away from the inner loops the ranks thinned out a bit but we were enjoying the scenery enough that we never did pick up the pace.  For those not familiar with the Poto, the terrain is constant steep hills, ridges, and valleys, compliments of the last glacier to roll through southeast Michigan.  Sorry, no pictures; next time I will bring my camera.  Anyone doubting whether Michigan can have decent off-road biking only needs to take a ride of the Poto to change their mind.