Morley to Canadian Lakes to Big Rapids Loop

Took the day off yesterday to get in another sweet-ass ride on with perfect weather. It was Marissa's last day of school, so after the festivities there, I packed up my gear and headed to Morley. I wanted more miles in order to prep for my next BIG adventure (secret), but had to be back in time to pick up Nick at the sitters. Running out of seat-time in the upcoming schedule.

I plotted the course the night before using Garmin Connect. Just random roads. Taking the cross bike I knew (and was excited for) the fact that I would end up on a decent amount of gravel roads - which I did.

As I was stuffing my jersey pockets with energy gels, a Honey Stinger (magic) waffle and my phone, etc, I realized that I left my ID, credit cards, cash and other items at home. Now twenty-five minutes away. Dammit! I was to now decide to abandon the route and play it safe to just ride up the rail trail and back. What a waste of a day. A day of exploration. Not going to ruin it, I'm proceeding as planned.

So, for the first first five miles of so I was thinking nothing except what bad things might happen without ID and a cash source. The worry consumed me. I had to talk myself out of it as it was no longer a relaxing, adventurous ride.

Once on the way to "freeing my mind", I reached the Canadian Lakes area. Wow, I have never been there before. What a beautiful area of lakes, homes, beaches and blue skies. I will have to visit there again. Now, headed west out of that area, my next turn led me to a "Seasonal Road". For those of you that may remember from Night Shift, the words "Seasonal Road" in native English translate into "Bullshit Sand". My excitement for this unexpected adventure, dwindled after about a mile of trying to ride narrow cyclocross tires through sand. On the bike, swerving. Bailing. Walking. Clipping in to coast for about 20 feet. Swerving, clipping out. I was in a low-lying area rich with mosquitoes that could have probably carried me off had I not been securely holding onto my bike. They were stealing my blood right through my spandex they were so hungry. I had to keep moving as they were in my (almost non-existant) slipstream behind me. A cloudy mass of random flying parasites being baffled by my breeze.

For a full mile I had the Garmin tell me I was off course or not moving at all. Argh. Shut up! Swatting at mosquitoes. I was now lost - hoping that this road came out somewhere. After about 2 miles I spotted an old, old, barely painted sign that said "Private Road, Keep Out". Woah. Really, I come all the way back here and I have to turn around? NO WAY I'm going back in there with those bugs. I've probably already contracted West Nile, what next? Rabies from that scurrying raccoon I saw?

I eventually came out to better roads after walking/riding/swearing at the last three miles. Got back on course and headed off to Big Rapids via rail trail. Met some people new to the trail and gave them some advice to where to ride (pavement). Got to my usual turn around point - tressel bridge. At this point I was starving-hungry and almost out of water. Wow, money sure is a nice convenience to have when you need something. I got some free water at the gas station bathroom (yuck), chomped the magic waffle and headed out.

It was getting hot, I was starving and all I could do was think about downing an ice-cold Coke once I got a hold of my money!

All in all, it was an adventure. Was kinda pissed about the Seasonal Road, but then again, I can laugh at it now...Night Shift is in two months. I have nothing to be pissed about quite yet.

I learned two things on this ride:
1) The cross bike will likely not being ridden for that ride because of the seasonal roads and single-track as part of the course.
2) Riding a bike is WAY more efficient than pushing one.

 Seasonal Road in all its glory!

 More garbage sand.

Ruts and bullshit. Terr'ble.

I can't figure this one out. I think this is the "road" that Garmin said I could take NorthWest. Ummm, no. It's not even a road - just a section of....nothing. What the hell!? This makes the Seasonal Road look like an Amish highway.

I love this old train depot just east of Big Rapids on the rail trail. There is a trail staging area here.

Great swamp between Stanwood and Morley. I think I stop here almost every ride through here. Look at the bright greens and blues. Fantastic!

BayShore Half Marathon Spectating

May 24 - I was once again on the spectating side of the BayShore Marathon event(s) in Traverse City. Totally fine with me. I ran the 10K three years ago and as I like to advertise, it was my race running debut and my retirement. Running is dumb.

Anyways, as long as my wife wants to run and kill herself, I will watch. Especially from the seat of a bicycle and without any kids in tow.

We had a nice relaxing weekend away (2 days/nights) as the MIL watched the kids at our home.

Patti's race wasn't all that she was hoping. Knee trouble really put her down, she walked most of the race. As it was such a beautiful day, she still had a great positive attitude and was just happy to be participating.

As for my ride, it was a chilly start, but quickly warmed up as the sun crested the Bay. In all, I crossed the penninsula 4 times (brutal). Steep uphills and sweeping decents in and out of spectators and vehicles. (watch out for the cops and pretend to behave)

To the last spectator checkpoint before the finish, Center Road was closed to all traffic. It was a blissful 3+ miles of decent between 30-35mph with two full lanes to myself. No one in sight. So great! Considering the miles I packed on just the day before, this ride was nice. I chatted with a fellow rider also watching his wife. As long as you're not a true "roadie", bikers are really cool.

Sun coming up - near 6:50am. Mile 1 checkpoint - waiting patiently for runners.

Cherry Blossoms!

Funny Sign.

Patti running. In pain, but running nonetheless.

"Scenic Overlook" on closed Center Road. I had to stop to see why a sign was necessary. Wow!

This was our view from our STELLAR $89/night Condo. We got lucky with this one. Everything else cheap was booked. Many of the only vacancies were charging $150-$220/night. We're coming back to this one for sure! (Iceman?)

My view Sunday Morning.

Cannon Cross

May 23 - Took the day off before Patti's half marathon in Traverse City at Bayshore. I love this route. It was a perfect morning. Dropped off Nick to the babysitters and Marissa at school and immediately set up my bike and gear down the road from her school for the Cannon Cross route. Picture day.

Sweet Curved Road near a pond.

Aww, c'mon!

Apple Blossoms!

Sweet old barn near a Bed & Breakfast in Lowell.

My Reward: Sitting trail-side at Rockford Brewing in the sun with a Belgian Ale and eating a Club hoagie from Vitale's. Chatted with a guy fresh off of Peace Corps in Africa for a few years. He was looking for work and riding bikes. As we were chatting in the sun, eating and drinking with not a care he said "Boy, if unemployment was always like this, I'm not sure why anyone would work." I hear ya brother!

 

Dirty Darryl Deluxe (aka Triple D)

Dirty Darryl Deluxe. Any questions?

I arrived at Remus' house after 9pm on Wednesday evening. The plan was to have a few beers, get some sleep, get up and leave the house at 8am, sharp the next morning. We had 60 miles to pull off by 2-3pm that afternoon so we had to get an early start.

I don't want to get all sentimental or sappy or anything, but riding in long stints like this with Matt means a lot to me. We met in college because of mountain bikes. He's come to be a solid friend. We get to catch up on each others busy lives only a few times a year uninterrupted.  Men talking business, laughing, causing trouble, being funny. That's just good stuff...bikes and dudes - no other distractions.

Anyways, the morning was dreary. Breezy (16% wind Remus said, yes, percent), cloudy and cool (around 40 degrees). KITT was smooth and fast. Likely with less than 2 miles on it since being built by the shop, this was going to be a good test of fit and finish. Heading north right away was a nice warm-up as the wind was coming out of the south-southeast - tailwind. As we turned east things got a little harder, but really not too bad. As we had been sweating a little, the breeze quickly cooled us off - almost too much. Hands, feet and upper bodies getting chilled.

We rode through Sleepy Hollow State Park, and as we rounded a bend we spotted one of those speed radar trailer units. We briefly rode past, trying to see if it was working since the park appeared to be uninhabited. Remus poked at it to see if we could turn it on, but there was nothing accessible. As we headed out disappointed, we saw a ranger in a cart coming toward us. I motioned to him to slow down. He eventually stopped and I asked if he could turn it on for us. I told him that we wanted to race through it and take pictures. Remus was laughing, because this was such a big deal to me. HA. He responded by saying it's already "on", it's just kinda finicky and sometimes won't pick up smaller objects. Darn, not working for us then. So we left.

I think it was somewhere around this point heading south to our lunch destination that Remus asks, "Hey, did you bring a tire pump?"
"No, I thought you had one. I have a patch kit though."
"Yeah, well, I have a tube."
We laughed, amazed we could be so dumb to not bring an air source.
To add to the funniness, I said, "well, my bike is new, so I won't get a flat."

We both forgot one of the most important tools to bring on a long ride. Something, anything to put air into a flat or leaky tube. We danced on egg-shells from this point on. Luckily, nothing bad ever happened.

Only nine to ten miles till Laingsburg - for a delicious burger for Matt, and a giant club sandwich for me. We both had that constant shivering feeling even while eating, we swore that place hadn't turned on the heat. When we got back to the bikes, we were both shocked that it seemed colder out than before. Okay, so the restaurant had heat - we were probably minorly hypothermic.

Riding south, now directly into the wind on full stomachs was pretty brutal. My jaw was actually spasming from the cold. Matt wanted us to ride all-out for like 10 miles until we puked so we felt better. Ha...what a great idea. Not!

We eventually reached Rose Lake MTB Trails. Uh-oh. On a cross-bike. Okaaaaay...we'll see how this goes. With exception to it being hard to reach and actuate the brakes and the lack of lower gears, it actually wasn't too bad. Pretty fun.

After Rose Lake it was pretty much just heading East, which typically would mean the head-wind portion of the ride and this late in a long gravel ride, pain. The 16% wind (ha) was now at our backs and we got an incredible tail wind most of the ride back. There were some more hills in this region, but we conquered all. We made it back with time to spare. Overall, a great day with a great friend. The bike was smooth, felt stable and powerful. My legs held up, I felt great. We got chased by lots of dogs, saw lots of cows, scared sheep, confused horses and stupid-faced alpacas.

What a fun day!

 

 

Remus poking at the Speed Machine

Lunch stop parking

 

We found this fancy leather car seat mounted to a tractor tire and couldn't resist.

I'm holding a whipping stick that was stored under the seat.

 

Bridge at Rose Lake. It's been years since I've been here.

New Ride: KITT

On Wednesday, April 16 I got a text message from one, Matt Remus. He was asking (short-notice) if I could take Thursday, April 24 off from work so we can do some power-riding. He was leaving his job of almost 10 years Wednesday and wanted to mark the occasion by riding bikes Thursday. I said "sure!" It was rare timing in that my wife didn't have to work the previous night, work has been slower than usual and they're asking everyone to burn up their vacation before the end of our fiscal year.

In less than 3 hours later from that text and commitment, I had put money down on a new bike. Matt decided that our mode of riding would be off-road and since the $3200 Cannondale F29 Carbon was (again) not in my budget, I had been eyeing cyclocross bikes instead. Cannondale just came out with some nice entry level aluminum cyclocross bikes with road disc brakes. And, at less than half the price of the MTB I was dreaming of, I was sold! GR Bicycle Company happened to be running a week-long sale. Could the timing have been more perfect? Riding with a great friend, a day off from work....on a brand new bike.

His name: KITT. After David Hasslehof's 1980's black back-sass talking TransAm. Let me tell you something about me and bikes. As a kid I was totally into cars (and still kind of am). I used to pretend when ripping around on my bikes that I was any of my television idols, driving their cars. Three of my most recent bikes have been named after cars: The General Lee (R.I.P old friend), my road bike, Enzo (after Ferrari, since it's color is very similar to Ferrari red) and now K.I.T.T., Sexy black.

Rail Trail Tree Hopping

We had a pretty nasty hail and wind storm two weeks ago. A week after the storm, I decided to just blast up the rail trail for a quick ride. Had to hop some downed trees...big ones!

The Day Barry-Roubaix Crushed Me Down.

Wow. I'm not sure what happened. I followed all my usual pre-race routines. The week's hydration. The nutrition. The morning prep. I felt fine and actually more confident than last year in which I hadn't done hardly any riding the month prior. Granted the course was going to be softer than last year with the recent winter thaw and rain the night before. I was sure my time would be a bit slower, but maybe not that bad.

I got shredded. Destroyed. Almost brought to my knees. Let's put it this way...I was ONE HOUR slower than last year. One entire hour. Sixty minutes. 73 out of 75 in my age group. What...the hell?! I've never been that low in the standings. I can't blame that on mud alone.

Everything seemed fine until around mile 10 or so when my calves started to cramp. Okay, I've had that before, no problem. I stopped about a mile or so later to switch out my gloves since my hands were super hot, also to take a minute or so break so I could eat a Clif Shot gel. From that point on, I just kept getting slower and slower and slower.

Around mile 16.5 I was feeling really down. It was also at this time that the final few Rapid Wheelmen starting about 8 waves behind me, passed. At mile 20 I was mad. Flat out pissed. Head down, hardly looking up and around. What is going on? This isn't right. Four mph up the hills. Seven mph on the flats. Granny gear almost full-time. Wondering where my wife was so I could get a ride back to the finish. Done. Toast. If this was my first mountain bike race, it would for sure be my last. Who would submit themselves to this garbage!?

At that point, a friend of mine's co-worker, Rob, came riding up. He asked how I was doing.
I told him "I'm bad, Rob. Real bad."
He said "Okay, no problem, I'll ride with you."
Me: "How are you?"
Rob: "Good, I feel really good. I had a flat tire at about mile ten and decided to just take it easy."
Me: "Well, don't wait for me, you'll be out here all day."
Rob: "Don't worry about it. I got nothing to do. You're gonna finish this race. Not finishing just plain sucks. You'll be mad if you don't."

He was in no hurry. And he was right. Not finishing, sucks. I only didn't finish one race, my inaugural Iceman in 2011. Even though it was mechanical issues that caused me to DNF, I was mad and depressed about that for a full month afterwards. Rob walked up the same hills I walked. Pulled ahead, then stopped to wait for me. Even if I wanted him to go away, he wasn't going to.

When I saw my wife at mile 22, I wasn't sure what I was going to. She was (of course) at the top of one of the steepest hills on the entire route, in which I was walking all the way from the base. She tried to motivate me by yelling at me to get on and ride, I said "waatccch it womaaannn, I'll pushhh you downnn innnaa mud." Only my wife could take this non-personal and just kinda chuckled.

She walked with me to the top where I was seeing stars at this point, slurring my speech.
"Hi. I don't feeeell gooood. I haven't felllt, like, this baaaadd befoore." Shaking my head as if that would help. I was SO bonked. Wasted. OUT. OF. GAS.
"Heeer. Canyooou taaake thheese?" Handing her my other set of gloves in my jersey pocket.
"Caaaannnyouuuu, gettt my wafffflllee ouuutof myyy baacck pocckettt?"
"Mmmmm. Theeese are good." Nodding to myself.

I was barely able to open the packet. Hands not functioning. Crumbs going everywhere. Rob made his way back to find me (presumably assuming I would be in the fetal position in a ditch). I drunkenly introduced him to my wife and off we went. Only one more hour (12 miles) to go.

After this point, I don't remember a whole lot. I DO remember stopping to pet a nice dog once. (I think that was real, anyways.) I remember praying that the Honey Stinger Waffle save me from this hell and magically push me to the finish. And that is exactly what it did. I swear, those are the most amazing things, and they taste great. They've helped me out of a bind a few times before. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. Within 3-5 or so miles of the finish, I could feel some lucidity coming back. Legs working a bit better. Climbing hills. No longer walking. Further being encouraged by Rob. Holy crap. I think I am going to make it.

I did make it. And after all that I made a new friend. I also got my ass handed to me right away, first race of the season. Warning shot across the bow noticed. Yet another experience to carry with me whenever I find myself in this spot again - because I do know, it will happen again.

Before the finish I saw my wife and friend, Jeremy - waiting in anticipation...I spoke to them the theme song from Lego Movie as I rode past...."Everything is Awesome".

What a comparison between last year and this. Geez.