2019 Night Shift

Friday, August 9, marked the 2019 edition of Night Shift. It was the seventh ride in a series of ten. That’s right, there are only 3 more Night Shift’s left!! If you haven’t ridden one yet, you’re missing out and if you haven’t joined us in awhile, you should come back. Time is running out and you’re getting older.

The premium weather was probably the highlight of this year’s ride. We enjoyed high 70’s during the day and evening got down to 48 at its coolest, not much humidity. Clear to cloudy, no wind with some cold clouds of fog in low areas. The usual Perseid meteor showers were on schedule. I didn’t see any this time, but others said they did, Patti up to eight sightings. We had six riders in total, four regulars (Matt L, George R, Rick P and myself) plus 2 newbies: Matt S and my cousin from Illinois, Brian A. Brian has been asking me about this ride for several years and made the four hour trip to participate which was pretty cool. We had ridden together before, but it was maybe ten years ago on the White Pine trail to Cadillac and back - a 180 mile round trip over two days. So it was cool to be riding together again. He impressed us all with is bike apparel choice of blue floral swim trunks and a Curtis Conway Chicago Bears jersey. He’s either crazy, unshakably tough, or just…crazy. That’s probably it. His quirky sense of humor fit right in with us cycling weirdos.

As usual, we really never know who is going to show up last minute for the ride. There were rumors of a few extras coming, but not one showed. Matt S was our last rider, he was a known last-minute show, but as of 7:45 he still wasn’t there. He had me worried. I found out he had gotten lost in the State Park looking for us - wrong campground area. Once he arrived, within minutes he was ready, we took our usual group picture and we were off! 8:08pm.

 2019 Band of Crazies

This year’s route was the same as last year - a counter-clockwise loop centered out of Ionia State Recreation Area. Lots of hills, really nice gravel, hardly any traffic. There is maybe two stretches of a mile or less of busier roads, but that’s about it. It’s really nice. I chose to ride my fat bike again this year. For future rides, I will likely switch back to my gravel/cross bike instead. The fat bike is a lot to pedal, even with its carbon frame, it’s a beast, but it is very comfy (I may have not had enough air pressure in the tires this year) and safe for my shoulder injury.

Stage 1: 21.5 miles

All riders but Matt S cleared the “Bag Check” section. (some downhill bumpy off-road two track within the first few miles.) He had to stop to collect his items. From there it’s a short ride on some single track to about ten miles of gravel and paved rail trail to Ionia, then to Muir before we head north. This is a good section to get the bugs worked out (or inhale some) before dusk descends upon us and headlights get turned on. I had to stop about five miles after this to (secretly) turn on some LED wheel lights I had installed during the day. They automatically changed colors and looked great rolling on the fat bike. It was a good $30 Meijer purchase. They’re mostly just for fun, but I think several motorists saw them and wondered what the heck was going on so I guess you could argue that they’re for safety too. Matt L also had one set zip-tied to his frame, so once again we were a rolling light show.

We made it to the now infamous “George road” at mile 18.75. This is an unmarked “road” which is more like a farmers two-track that leads around his field. It’s weird - very “seasonal” and not maintained. Brian had earned a right wrist injury a few weeks ago in Colorado, so he had to take it easy on his cross bike on bumpy sections and fast downhills that would jar him too badly. This road is a fun section, definitely marked as a “road” on Google but last year George had us wondering if this was truly part of the route. We did get temporarily confused as there is a paved driveway part way through that we almost took instead of the rest of the gravel. After this, it was only another two miles to our first stop where we all enjoyed some refreshments and laughs. Spirits were good and lively. There were a few curious vehicles suspicious of our activity there, but after slowing or turning around, they left us alone. After the token (soon to be trademarked) “the bikes aren’t going to ride themselves” announcement from Judy, we were off.

Stage 2: 22.3 miles

I don’t remember much about this section other than the hills pick up rather quickly. Matt L and Rick P were usually the two up front while the other four of us shared time at the back and middle. I don’t think more than just a few times all night did our group get too spread out, so that was nice. Somewhere along this section I heard a hillbilly yell from his house “Nice wheel lights bud!” of which I acknowledged with a loud laugh and “thanks man!” George was planning to bail out after this section as our next SAG stop was just a half mile or so from his house. As he peeled off, we all kept going and met up with the Crankshaw’s and my wife who were waiting for us in a nicely lit business parking lot. At this point, we were mostly pretty tired, noticeably more quiet than at the first stop. I changed out my jersey and put on a long sleeve Under Armor under it as the temps were getting cooler. We bid farewell to the SAG riders and George (he came back to hang out), and were off again, now five riders.

 SAG Stop #2.

My wheel lights.

Stage 3: 14.2 miles

Termed the “Mountain Stage” or “Dog Zone Stage”, we somewhat reluctantly left our stop for this segment. We were excited to get to the always-entertaining Belding Wesco, but also not excited for the forthcoming hills and loose dogs. I think it was in this stage where there were some drunken antics going on in the very dark distance and some guy yells out “ALIENS!”. (A hilarious flash-back to the inaugural Night Shift in 2013.) We couldn’t see him/them at all - they were somewhere in the dark. I also think he shot a bottle rocket at Brian and I, but I’m not sure. I didn’t see anything, heard only sounds so I could be wrong about that.

About eight miles in on this segment, I started to feel a left calf begin to tighten, then later a right quad. I stopped to ingest some Hammer Endurolytes and intake some caffeine and more fluids as that usually does the trick. Those cramps went away, but now my inner left thigh was burning and started to cramp. Or what I thought was cramps. I had never had that pain riding before and had to stop a few times to stretch off the bike. That didn’t even seem to help. Really confusing and frustrating.

As we approached the scene of my infamous dog panic toss from last year, we could see that there, once again, was a dog that came out to chase Rick and Matt, but quietly scooted back to its house before we rode up. It was only a few miles till we would be upon the Belding Wesco, our entertainment mecca for the night.

We learned last year that a lot of things happen at the Belding Wesco at 2 am. We had hyped up this stop a lot for the newbies, I was hoping it wasn’t going to disappoint. Random loudness and hillbilly exhaust and high-revving rusty pickup trucks are just some of the fun. We were excited when a minivan pulled up with about six drunken (or high) twenty-somethings in it blaring LOUD music. Definitely not a standard minivan sound system. The tunes were about the hardest of metal money can buy - along the likes of Mudvayne or Slipknot. Lots of demonic screaming and fast drums. I don’t mind the music, it has its place in my music library, but it was a bit intense at 2 am in a gas station parking lot, stone-cold sober. A few times people got out of the van to stooper around, but otherwise we weren’t sure what they were actually doing. They didn’t appear to be shopping or getting gas. It was after this that Judy told us her idea of a future ride...Tour de Wesco. We could seek sponsorships and just ride from gas station to gas station looking for exciting situations. Maybe we could get free popcorn? Judy dreamed of magnets on the Crankwagen that say “Follow us to Wesco!” So many ideas, so little time.

 Cousin Brian and I being silly.

The special food for this stop was the Crankshaw’s delicious “Gravel Jacks” - their take on Sloppy Joes. It’s always a rider favorite and was at the right place and time this year. Instead of destroying Judy’s camp chair, I destroyed two whole sandwiches. I don’t remember anything else really entertaining. Soon, we were off again.

Stage 4: 25 miles

This stage has our longest straight sections. I kind of like it because you don’t have to think much about the route as you’re getting really sleep deprived, but it does seem to drag on. Unlike, I think all previous years, I didn’t feel like there was any sort of “time-warp” stage in our ride this year where a segment of the evening (sometimes hours) just disappears. This stage lasted just as long as it should have and we felt it. Lots of corn fields, and some cold, foggy low lying areas. Oh yeah and hills. Brian noticed all the apple orchards that Michigan is known for. I must take them for granted, because unless it’s a beautiful cool fall morning, I don’t seem to really acknowledge them.

We soon approached our last SAG stop near the Fallasburg Covered Bridge outside of Lowell. It’s always a nice, dark, cool and quiet spot for a break. And downhill! Which means of course, we have a nice jaunt of uphill to get out of that spot. Boo! We were all pretty tired. I was still cramping and taking in more than enough of my usual remedies (chocolate milk, caffeine, Endurolytes, water and drink mixes), but they didn’t seem to be dissipating. And I was still peeing frequently. SO weird! Because I couldn’t figure this out, now I wasn’t having fun - and this is usually the part of the evening I’m acting depleted and weird. Some synapses not firing on cue. I did take some time here to try and lighten everyone’s mood and performed my impersonation of Peter Sagan in his English-Slavic dialect. I think only Matt L took appreciation, for he knows what that is all about. (Interested? Look up #asksagan on YouTube or Facebook. I love that guy! I would truly like to meet him one day. Award winning professional rider with unheard of bike handling skills and a “regular” guy attitude.)

Final Stage: 21 miles

We were all pretty tired at this point and yet, we were only miles away from the KOM (King Of the Mountain) competition. We were all pretty reluctant to leave the SAG. This section of Montcalm Road, also known on Strava as “Rude Awakening” is a sharp incline where we decided last year to hold a hill climbing challenge. Matt L was its first winner last year and earned himself a 5’x3’ KOM flag and small KOM pennant flag to wear on his jersey. We all lined up for the start and with a 3, 2, 1, GO - we were all off. Except pretty much me. I couldn’t clip my left foot in (a problem all evening) and then I pedaled about fifty feet up this “mountain” and the cramps came back with a vengeance. Still not clipped in and now about thirty feet behind the others, I had to dismount and stretch. C’mon, not even for one length, could I go cramp-free? This was where I realized though that if I stood up and pedaled, no cramps, but the quad burn is elevated. So to finish the climb, I took on the burn and just kept pedaling. Defending champ Matt, took the crown once again and again I came in last.

This last stage also has some nasty hill climbs. At 87.5, there is a long steady (paved) climb out of Lowell towards a really nice, beautiful .75 mile sharp decent at mile 90 that will get you over 30mph coasting (on gravel) - but then an equally as painful .75 mile ascent at 8-10% grade back up the same topography a few miles down the road. Again, I wa standing and pedaling. It hurt bad, but there was no cramps. When we got to the top, Matt S was still pedaling up the hill and when he reached our group the look on his face wasn’t a pleasant one. I asked him, “Matt will you still be my friend?” I was surprised that he quickly responded “Yes, of course!” I knew then that he must not be right in the mind and we needed to finish this thing out quickly. (ha ha)

The sky is getting lighter!

 Nearing the finish.

The rest of this segment is my favorite of the route. Mostly downhill in trajectory, the sky is also starting to lighten up. We roll into Saranac, find the crushed gravel rail trail and steadily pedal our way back to camp for the finish.

We rolled into camp within 1 minute of last year’s elapsed time (Garmin vs Wahoo records). Really funny actually, I felt like I was slower this year, holding people up - but maybe that was just because of the cramps. There was a fancy chalk finish line for us (which we entered the wrong way) that the girls created for us before going to bed that evening. It was a welcome sight, so much so that we all posed for a picture near it.

 Someone please draw chalk outlines around us!

It was another successful Night Shift. The newbies seemed to like it. I felt bad that Matt S had to quickly leave and head home so he could sleep some of it off before attending a wedding that afternoon/evening. The rest of us showered and retreated to our campsites for a few hours of rest before our traditional pot-luck breakfast full of conversation and story sharing. I woke about an hour into my slumber, with incredible cramps (STILL) and could barely walk. It hurt so bad, nothing could stretch it out, I wanted to scream, but everyone was sleeping still. Couldn’t even stand up straight. I can only surmise that I wasn’t cramping at all, and I had actually just really aggravated some thigh adductors and/or tendons. (Don’t assume I actually knew what these were called, I definitely Googled “inner thigh pain”.) I had been peeing all evening so I had not been dehydrated at all, which is why none of my “tricks” to fighting off cramps didn’t work. Really weird. Guess I need to stretch more? Not sure.

Anyways, it was a good time. 2019 in the books. Glad again to have done this now for seven years with a constant, good group of people out for a good time and sleep-deprivation challenge. The company and landscape of middle-lower Michigan really can’t be beat. (Even if most of it is in the dark. ) Hope to see YOU next year!!