What Now?

So the big plan has been to ride across a significant part of the country, and this summer's trip was a warm-up for something yet to come. Alex and I had a great time together preparing for the ride, and then heading down the road and exploring new places. A ride from Osseo to Maine would take about 6 weeks to accomplish.

What has been difficult is that everything has been on hold; things I like to do. The motorcycle is still in the garage, the dock is still on land and not in the water, and the boat is still at Lake Diane Marine. On top of that I have several projects around the house that I really need to do. Even though the ride kept us occupied and extremely tired at the end of long days, there was still plenty of time to miss the rest of the family. Going on a 6 week ride would require everything to be on hold again, but for a much longer time. At this point I don't know if riding across the country is still what I want to do, but riding is something I am going to keep doing. Maybe the whole family will somehow be involved...maybe a support vehicle and an extended family vacation or another 2 week ride, but on the east coast or upper mid-west. There are plenty of rides in Michigan too. I think the extended ride will still happen, but after I retire and have the ability to organize my time the way I want it to be. Hopefully Alex will still be interested.

Petoskey to Mackinaw City - Day 11

Alex and I were so excited for this day to arrive. We would be getting to the bridge and the rest of the family was coming to meet us. Unfortunately, I was still feeling less than my best from the previous 2 days of riding in the heat and extreme hills. We made a plan to ride the first 14 and the last 11 miles of the scheduled 50 to the bridge. Robin and Emily picked us up in Harbor Springs and we drove through the "tunnel of trees" along the lake shore. We stopped for lunch in Cross Village at a great Polish restaurant called the Legs Inn. What an interesting place! It had cool wood carvings, great food, and a patio with a great view of the lake for those who like to eat outdoors like we did. I guess Bob Seger has a second home up there and frequents the place often. No sighting of him this particuliar day.

After lunch we drove for a bit before Alex and I got back on the bikes for the last 11 miles. I told Robin to meet us in an hour, and that she should have time to check in at the hotel. Was I ever wrong...We rode those 11 miles with a very brisk pace. Alex was saying that he'd never been as excited as he felt then. We averaged 16.5 mph which is considerably higher than our normal pace of 12.5-13.2 mph. We got there before the girls, and called them to come meet us. We took a lot of pictures, shared high fives and hugs. Yes, we cheated a little on the last day, but riding 440 miles is pretty darn good if you ask me. We were only about 1.5 miles from the hotel, and decided to ride that too. It was a good trip, and I am one proud father of an amazing 13 year old boy!

We capped the big ride off with a day on Mackinac Island. We did something we had never done there on our previous 2 trips...explored more of the island on rented bikes!

East Jordan to Petoskey - Day 10

Knowing that this would be another extremely hot day, we decided to get an early start. Bananas, donuts, and milk fueled the start of our ride. Our route took us through the rest of the town we had not yet seen. Within the first few miles we found ourselves again in the hill country of northern Michigan, and were walking the bikes up the hills. On the largest hill of the entire ride, a motorcyclist who was starting his descent yelled over to us. "It's a wall, isn't it?" It was not even 8:00 and we were dripping wet with sweat. This pattern f ride and walk went on for about 20 miles before leveling off for the final 8 miles into Petoskey. I appearlantly miscalculated the mileage for this day. It was only 28 miles when I thought it would be 37.

We found the hotel around noon, and they told us check-in was not until 3:00 pm. After a lot of questioning, they found a room for us to get in right away. The heat and hills were taking its toll on me. I was feeling light-headed and slightly nauseated - similar to motion sickness. I think it was heat exhaustion. I was concerned about my ability to ride another day on rodes with extreme hills, so we rented a car to scout the next day's route. The middle of the route was going to be very difficult.

Williamsburg to East Jordan - Day 9

We said our goodbyes to the Cobb's after a tasty breakfast, and started our 54 mile ride. It was still cool, but only for a little while. My legs felt fresh from the 2 days of very light riding and plenty of fun, but Alex said his had felt better when he was riding every day. There were a couple of big hills within the first 5 miles of the day, but after that things were very nice for most of the trip. At 1:00 pm we had the option of turning left to travel into a very small town to look for a restaurant when none was indicated on our map, or to go right for 6.5 miles to Ellsworth where we knew there was a place to eat. The left turn would have taken us about a half mile downhill that we would have to back-track (uphill, of course). I knew I could wait for lunch, and let Alex make the call. By this time of day, it was really very hot. After some conversation, and a drink of water, we decided to turn right which took us east. This was some of the most difficult riding we had on the entire trip. The jills were huge, and the sun was bearing down on us hard. There was almost no place to shade ourselves when we stopped for breaks. t took us an hour to make it through to Ellsworth. Our bikes felt quite heavy as we walked them up a hill, only to find another larger hill waiting for us. I felt so bad for Alex - he was really wearing out. He would take a few steps, get a drink, take a couple more, wipe his head, followed by 5 more steps, and then tying his shoe. He could not keep a steady pace. We finally pulled out bikes in front of a charming little cafe. We started removing our helmets and gloves, grabbed the water bottles for a refill, and watched the lady working inside shut off the "open" sign. I went in and asked if they were the only restaurant in town, and they said they would serve us cold items only so they would not have to fire up and clean the grill again. I told them we may want to stay and rest longer than it would take to eat the meal, and again asked if there was another place to eat. They pointed us in the direction of the local bar, The Nugget. after locking the bikes up, we waked to be greeted by "you're not from around here" looks of every one of the 7 locals sitting at the bar. To say we didn't fit in with our spandex riding shorts and our bright cycling shirts would be an understatement. We chose a table on the other end of the place, and had a good lunch. After a good hour, we pushed on for the last 7 miles to East Jordan. Again, we walked up several hills. The las mile and a half were all down-hill, and were we exceedingly grateful. The motel was another mom-and-pop type places, but this one was very well maintained. They had a dock across the street where they were going to swim in an hour after we checked in, and invited us to join. My dome was still red from the days' activities in TC, but Alex wanted to go. We got cleaned up, and fell asleep before it was time. We woke up much later, and missed our chance. I don't think a bed ever felt so good.

Traverse City

Days 7 and 8 were a lot of fun for both Alex and me. It was a 20 mile ride to our hotel on the East Bay side of town. We stopped at one of our favorite places for food in TC - the GT Pie Company, where they give you a free drink if you ride your bike there! We saw 3 other cyclists who were also going to Mackinaw City, but they were doing the camping thing. We chatted it up with them for a while before they left. Our Hotel was next to Pirate's Cove. Since it was Father's Day they had a special - Dads mini-golf for free. We had a blast playing 36 holes. Later that afternoon we were invited to join the Cobb family (Jeff, Laura, Elijah, and Ari) for a get-together at Laura's dad's home. There were 18 people there, and they made Alex and me feel very welcomed. They have a beautiful home on Elk Lake, and the food was terrific too. Jeff and Elijah took us back to our hotel, and we made plans for Monday.

Monday morning Alex and I had most of the day to ourselves, and we took advantage of the time off. It started with go-cart racing at Pirate's Cove, and then we went across the street to the Beach Haus Hotel. It turns out that Laura is running the hotel (a very complicated story). She made arrangements for us to use their beach and they provided us with towels and a place to secure our bikes and belongings. We had the best time that afternoon! We rented a Sea-Doo for an hour and buzzed around the bay, and I was able to convince Alex that the parasailing would be fun. I am not a big fan of heights, but I have to say it was extremely peaceful up there. We were in our swimming trunks, so they gave us a "foot dip" before bringing us back onto the aft deck of the boat. After changing we went to a pizza place for lunch.

We did ride 7 miles that day to the Cobb's home. We were invited over again, but this time for dinner and to spend the night. The kids set up a home-made slip-and-slide in the front yard as soon as we got there, and Jeff made a delicious meal. We talked a lot over a few brewskis, and finished the night by playing video games on the Wii. It was a fun day. The down side was that it was Robin's and my anniversary. This seems to happen to us most years, but we always make sure to celebrate it a little late or a little early. Usually it is a professional obligation that keeps us apart on June 22nd.

New Pics from days 3-6

Big Rapids, Luther, and Interlochen

Alex and I arrived at Interlochen today at 1:00 pm. We had our earliest start - 7:20 am, but I am getting ahead of myself...

We left the Scott's home for the 49 mile ride to Big Rapids a little after 8:00 am Thursday morning. Jed helped us search new directions which took us to the North Pine Trail. The trail was paved for a good 10 miles to Sand Lake where it then became a dirt trail, and we switched to the roads. Northland Drive took us all the way to Big Rapids. The first 10 miles from Sand Lake to the county line were a little scary at times. There was no paved shoulder at all, and the road was moderately busy. Almost all the drivers have been extremely courteous on the entire trip, but there was one semi on this day that came closer than we wanted! The rest of the ride was unremarkable. We were trying to outrun forcasted storms (that never appeared), so we only stopped for a light snack at lunch in Cass. The store owner was very friendly and knowledgable about the ride ahead. We rewarded ourselves with a big meal at Applebees, and a trip to the pool and hot tub back at the hotel.

We left Big Rapids for another 50 mile ride to an area just north of Baldwin, MI. I fell off my bike about 3 miles into the ride while we were still in Big Rapids. The roads were busy so we stayed on the sidewalks until we were out of town. Someone had been installing a chain-link fence, and the slack in the roll of fencing leaned into the sidewalk enough to catch my shoulder which then turned the bike into the fence. I went down hard, but luckily was not traveling that fast. Pride was the only thing that was really hurt. We stopped in Luther for lunch and a local struck up a conversation with us. He was on a bike too, but only because his car was broken. He really thought we should come back for the 4th of July for the Luther Lumber Days. They close off the main street for a dance and live band. They also have a Lumber Jack copetition. Ask me sometime what I call it. :-) We arrived at our motel around 2:00 pm. It was one of those older places along the side of the road. The owner was extremely kind. Our room was not quite ready, so she let us use another room to shower, and then offered to do our laundry. The restaurant across the street had Alex's perfect meal - tacos and nachos. We ate a lot of food that night! Alex fell asleep at 6:00 pm. I woke him at 9:00 pm to brush his teeth. He stayed up until almost 11:00 pm while I slept. All this sleep allowed us to get an early start for Interlochen. We were on the rode by 7:20.

The 50 mile ride to Interlochen was pretty nice. I am noticing that we are still able to keep up the daily distances, but the pace has slowed down quite a bit. I'll try to get some pics up soon. This sectio of the ride offered many beautiful sites. Some former students are here at Interlochen working as councelors. We are going to try to meet up at the Melody Freeze ("MoFro") later for ice cream. I'll try to get some pics up soon.

The Long Day - Gull Lake to Rockford

This has been a remarkable day. It had poured all night,but just when it was time to leave the hotel in Gull Lake, it stopped raining. We swere so happy to get going, because we knew this was going to be our longest day of riding. The map took us around the west side of the Gull Lake with many curves and turns onto roads that have similar names. When we came upon Highway 43 we were supposed to merge on straight, be we turned left. 4.5 miles later we realized the mistake and turned around. Before that, Alex had a flat, and we had to repair that. Combining those 2 events put us about an hour behind.

The rain visited us off and on throughout the day. It was never in the form of a downpour, and we were grateful for that. Every time Alex put his glasses on, it started up again. For the length of the ride, it was better to have the weather we had than an 80 degree day. We took several breaks to recover from riding into the wind. Alex was such a trooper. He kept such a great attitude, even though he was struggling at times. He was even talking about a bigger ride next year.

When I planned the trip, I did not realize how close our scheduled stop in Belding was to Rockford where we have good friends. There was an offer for dinner that turned into an offer to stay over for the night. This made the difficulty of the day fade as we enjoyed their company and hospitality. Dinner was completed with a home-made cherry pie. Thank you to Mandy and Jed. Owen is as cute as ever, and Julian is such a beautiful baby!

Mendon & Yorkville - days 1 & 2

We have traveled 85.5 miles in 2 days. Day one was 54.5, and day 2 was 31. The people at the 

B & B in Mendon were so kind. Lemonaide for us when we arrived and a huge breakfast when we left. The owners, Cherylle and Jeff, were from South Africa, but have been here for 18 years or so. Mendon looks like it used to be quite the tourist spot for those looking for an artsy place to spend the afternoon or weekend. The boardwalk along the St. Joe River was so nice, but as is the case in so many small towns in Michigan, the downtown has been hit hard. There were more shops with "for sale" signs in them than operating businesses.

The first day's ride itself was really nice. We had to significant stops along the way, but were able to keep a very nice pace for us.

Day 2's ride started with a flat tire on my bike, but I just pumped it up and along we went. I will take a closer look at it tonight to see what the issue is. The ride today was short (I found a significant short-cut), but we are limited to making stops where the hotels are. We will pay the price tomorrow with our longest ride - 62 miles! It is supposed to rain/storm too. It will be a long slog if that happens. The owner at the Gull Lake Inn has been really nice, letting me use his computer for this update, and helping with laundry facilities. We also met 3 other cyclists. David was going in the opposite direction, and had stayed at the campground we would have stayed in around Luther if we had stuck to the original plan. He said it was an awful place to stop. I am glad we changed our plans. The other two we saw were getting ice cream across from our hotel. It was a nice chat. You always learn something when you talk cycling with other riders.

One other note...Alex is the man! I am so proud of him for working so hard, and enjoying the experience  we are sharing. :-)

Time to Roll!

The last few days have been very busy. I get all the end-of-year stuff done at both the high school and middle school. Emily was a big help with the music library. Both kids help get the house ready for the Concord Middle School staff fajita party, and Alex and I went to the Lake to mow. On top of all that we were able to fit in several rides to be ready for today. 

Last night we set all of the equipment out on the table to make sure we had everything. It's hard to believe that everything fits into just two packs! We packed it so well that we were able to take an extra shirt which may seem like a little thing, but will make laundry cycles much easier.

We scouted our first two day's rides by car yesterday. It looks like we are in for in some pretty big hills west of Coldwater. We found a short-cut on day two's route, finding the hotel was a bit of a challenge.

We'll update the blog when we can...