A Cripple Does Ten Miles... and Likes It

I provide no link to a breadcrumb map of my ride today since, of course, there is NO data due to a broken antenna, which of course I didn't notice until I got home AFTER the ride.  BAH
I awoke last Tuesday with a throbbing unexplained pain in my left shoulder blade, accompanied by some numbness in my left hand and wrist, that led us to spend the day in various Urgent Care facilities getting EKG's and pulse and blood pressure etc. monitored, with no indications of actual heart or stroke trouble.  However, the fact that I'm an old fart, with diabetes, resulted in enough alarm that I was also scheduled for a Nuclear Stress Test which occurred yesterday.  Since I ride the bikes semi-regularly, I did well on the treadmill - according to the treadmill operator.  But I've been experiencing chronic pain in that shoulder and neck, with the main source of relief being lying down and taking it easy.  I almost rode the bike yesterday, as an experiment to see if I could hold up my head long enough to do a ride, but ran out of time after spending most of the day at the chiropractor's and then the heart hospital doing the stress test.

OFOT (Old Fart On Treadmill)

This morning I decided if I could make it through that stress test I could probably ride my bike, too, so I did.  It was AMAZING how much riding the bike made me feel ALIVE again.  Jacque and I have marveled at the restorative power of bike riding when we see others:  alzheimer's sufferers and others with grave problems riding bikes and trikes and improving their lives and abilities as a result. Now I have my own experience to add to it.  The recumbent seating position not only helped the strain on my sore neck and shoulder but the riding along took my mind off my troubles and I was able to avoid thinking about my aches and pains and they actually faded away the longer I rode, though of course I tired a bit early since I haven't ridden for so many days.
There's just something about cruising along under your own power and feeling the wind in your face and seeing the world go by.... if YOU haven't tried it, you should.
Now it's a couple hours later and I still feel better than I have the last several days.
Now to break out the soldering iron and repair that bicycle-J-Pole antenna again........

Trip Started:  9:56 AM    Trip Ended:  11:51 AM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.8       Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp  84 F      Highest Temp:  87 F
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  10.51
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  6.4 MPH                                8.7 MPH                    27.6 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour  38 mins                      1 hour 12 mins          26 mins  39 secs