1,000

Today I reached 1,000, It is the second earliest in the year that I have ever arrived at this mileage. The only time I got there earlier was in 2003 when I rode every month all the way through the winter. That year I had 100 miles in January, almost 500 heading into April and then had the all time record for most miles in April. I was younger then, I am older than that now.

So how was it riding 1,000 miles by May 3rd? It was really, really hard work. I felt bad lots of times. Obviously though, I am starting to feel pretty good about it. I am starting to feel just a little bit fit, more like that person who I was last year. Jim Valvano said this in an admittedly quite a bit more serious situation but for me it still applies, "Don't give up, don't ever give up."

One of the benefits of keeping a bike log is the easy reference that it provides to other rides. I keep mine in a spread sheet and keep columns for mileage, average speed and comments. The column for May rides is next to the column for April rides. The comment for April 3 of this year is 56, 20 mph SW wind. The comment for today could have been exactly the same except that it wasn't ever quite 56 while I was riding. It was warmer a month ago. I have the gear and we have already discussed what average means.

Today I checked the same weather page which yesterday asserted a wind chill of 35. In what I found to be a commentary on the legitimacy of wind chill at actual temperatures above freezing the page today gave a wind chill of 37. Yesterday was 60, today was barely above 50. Today was very distinctly more chilly.

This isn't going to be interesting to very many people but I found it interesting enough to make me ride around the block twice to make sure I had this right. One of the common complaints from Minneapolis people about Saint Paul is that you can't find anything because the address numbering system makes no sense. The response from Saint Paul always is, of course it makes sense if you take the time to try to understand it and have the native intelligence necessary to comprehend it. Saint Paul doesn't assign 100 numbers every block and this confuses people from a city where the streets in one direction are numbered consecutively and the avenues in the other direction are in alphabetical order. That's not the way Saint Paul does it. Saint Paul numbers 480 to a mile, 8 blocks to a mile.

So Saint Paul people know that you won't find house numbers beginning with 01 after every intersection. Still, the numbers do intersect sometimes and every 5 blocks (5x60=300) you can expect to find address numbers beginning at 01. Albert Street is one such street, those familiar with the western part of Saint Paul (note that you cannot say west side or west end as those are the names of specific neighborhoods) know that Albert Street is 1400. Aldine is 1700 north of Summit, Davern is 1700 south of Summit. Lexington Avenue is 1100. Avon Street is 800. Mackubin is 500.

Albert Street is 1400. The house on the left is 1396, the house on the right is 1402.This is the Como area of Saint Paul and Albert Street is a bit discontinuous through this part of town. For this one block between Almond and Albany Albert Street is an unpaved alley.

I told you most people wouldn't find it to be very interesting. But for me it is the same sort of knowledge as knowing where and how to find the alley that runs diagonally through a block, from one corner not to any opposite side, but to the opposite corner. I love Saint Paul.

The yard of these bicycle people has been pictured previously. They have signs. One of the signs has been changed.I have ridden past this building many times with never much of a second glance. I have now noticed that it isn't a church any more.A close examination of the photo will reveal, however, that there is still religious statuary in the garden next to the building. I am unable to tell from the outside if the building has been converted to a single residence or to some sort of apartments. I did note that there is only one satellite TV receiver attached to the roof.

Here's another building that isn't a church anymore.Actually, it has never been a church. That is the Panthéon in the Latin Quarter in Paris.

The building was constructed during the reign of Louis XV to be a church. Unfortunately for Louis, construction was not completed until 1790 during the early stages of the French Revolution. There was no longer a king to decide these sorts of issues and the National Constituent Assembly decided to convert the building into a secular mausoleum for prominent Frenchmen. The Panthéon building was never consecrated as a church. Among those buried in its necropolis are Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and Louis Braille.