Day Six-Monroe

Aaron: well so I got to ride the last day because the was only 20 miles. So before we went we had to decorate our bikes since it was the parade. The trip wasn't bad, I got a sucker from the candy stop (they have it every 7 miles or something).  Later on they had maps on the ride, battle fields, and the licorice  lady.  I do not like licorice, so while they were eating licorice I played the drums.  They had tubes and you hit them (wow I just told you how to play the drums!).  Well, I was popular.  A person video taped me and a lot said I was good. We saw a statue of general Custer on his horse. So when we got Monroe we saw a nuclear plant and power or coal plant.  We had a parade (which was very fast).  We had lunch and had a fun time.  We dropped off Mrs. Atherton (A friend that did it with us) and headed home.

(Amy)

Our last day!  Happy to be getting a rest for the legs, but sad that our time together is over.  Our evening UNO games, meals I don't have to cook, evening entertainment. . . all fun things.  I won't be sad not to have to set up and take down the tent or to have to deal with packing and unpacking of clothes and stuff.  

After the rainy day on Thursday, we had a few casualties.  The iPad was in a ziplock inside Sam's saddlebags, but still managed to get wet.  It's been a bit fickle while drying, but it's improving.  Sam's phone, on the other hand, seems to have paid the ultimate price.  It's currently in a bag of rice right now, but the outlook is grim.  

Jeff brought Aaron to Dundee by 7:30 on Friday Morning.  We packed everything up, loaded it into Jeff's car and we hopped on the bikes.  Only two rest stops on this ride since it was only 20 miles. The first was at mile 7, and I needed it with Aaron behind me and the wind was picking up.  The second stop was at a really nice city park in Monroe.  They had a big river and dam there to watch and a big set of pvc drums to play with.  Aaron loved those.  That was our licorice stop for the day.  And with it being the last day, they were looking to unload it, which meant plenty for everyone.  

We made a stop on the way at the River Raisin National Battlefield.  Sam had written a report on one of the Generals involved in this battle, so it was a neat stop to see.  A bike path carried us the rest of the way into Sterrling State Park.  The wind was really blowing by the time we got there. . . There was someone parasailing (?) on a surfboard there.  Fun to watch.  The parade of bikes was next.  Usually you end up in a town and they parade all 700 riders thru town wearing their Palm shirts.  This year, being in the park, they just had us ride around the park on a trail, so. It wasn't quite the same not being right in town with all the people, but it was still fun to see all the riders in one place.  They gave us a picnic lunch after that and then we started for home.  We were very glad to be done, but very excited that we made it through all 274 miles on our own.  And in all sorts of weather.  We did it!!!  We've already agreed that we're not riding next year. . . With Owen's graduation and Aaron's baseball season, it's going to be a pretty busy time.  And I could sure use a year off!  But I gotta say that if the route ends up going through Sanford or Midland or back through Hillsdale again, I just might be tempted.  :)

Day Five-Dundee

Today could've been better.

Lots of rain and lots of pain sums up today. It began fine. We woke up in our own beds, which only made it harder to get up, and after trudging out the door, we did our normal routine, slipped into Hudson's breakfast line after noticing a surprisingly delicious breakfast, and head out the door. We knew it was supposed to rain a lot today, so as soon as I felt the first drop, I preemptively out my jacket on, and we continued. Then, it began to rain. Despite the wetness, there were much more appealing sights. A store right on the route was selling amazing breakfast burritos (those of which were somehow  wrapped to where they wouldn't unwrap. I'll have to learn how to do that.), a PALM-certified stop had cookies at one place, Blissfield had like 5 stores and restaraunts, and the licorice stop had plenty different kinds of licorice. But, rain. I was washed over dozens of time, whether it be the rain, a semi hitting a puddle, or a tent collecting water, then dumping it on me. This was equally bad for our electronics. The iPad switched from maxing volume to muting it and random, and also tried to turn itself off every now and then, and my phone's screen just kinda flickers. I'm sure that's broken. Good thing it's only $15! 

Sorry for not adding anything to my Mom's post last night. Really tired, and I had I had a lot of other things I was looking forward to since I was at home. I'll be sure to post like usual tomorrow and let's hope we have a quick, fun end to the last 20 miles of the PALM ride.

(Amy)

Anyone remember this picture?  It's from last year's ride, but since it was too wet to even get any pictures today, this represents the day quite nicely.  

After a great nights sleep at home, we met Debbi in Hudson and took off around 7:45.  We didn't make it far when Debbi mentioned her back tire felt funny.  I watched her ride and it looked like there was a wobble to it.  She stopped and checked and there was actually a bulge on the sidewall where the rubber was starting to separate from the tire!  So, back to the school for a new tire and tube.  Got going again, but didn't make it out of Hudson before it started to sprinkle.  We made a quick stop at a local corner store for breakfast sandwiches and continued on.  Sand Creek High School had a stop for us with free homemade cookies!  They had made 172.5 dozen cookies!  They were yummy, but damp since it was a full-on rain at that point.  We got back on the road, but hadn't made it too far when Debbi's shoe slipped off her pedal, got stuck in her spokes and ran into the curb and tossed her off the bike.  Yikes!  Once she was up and moving, we realized something was wrong with her brakes, so back to the high school where the roaming bike shop was.  They gave her a quick fix and we were good to go.  That was around mile 17.  All I can say about the next 32 miles was that they were very wet, very cold, and very flat.  Somehow, when we pulled into Dundee High School, it seemed like the day had gone pretty quickly.  I don't know why, but I'm grateful for it.  The rain had stopped when we got there, so we thought we better set up the tents while there was a dry spell.  Unfortunately, the field they have us camping in has turned into a bit of a swamp.  We trudged thru most of it to get to the far end where it was a bit drier...at least no standing water.  So keep praying that we wake up dry in the morning.  

Jeff will be here in the morning with Aaron.  We'll take Aaron for the last leg and the he can be a part of the parade and picnic after.  Keep hoping for dry weather!!

Day Five - Hudson

(Amy)

Easily the best day so far for me!  Aaron got to ride with us for a while, we were in familiar territory, and we knew we were sleeping in our own beds tonight!!  

We took off from Coldwater with Aaron around 7:30 or so with sunny weather and cool temps.  It was an enjoyable ride.  Lots of turns to keep it interesting and lots of conversation with Aaron.  Around mile 17 there was an Amish farm that heard about the ride and were ready to sell us baked goods.  Aaron got a slice of apple pie, Sam got 2 cinnamon rolls and I had a strawberry hand pie.  All delicious.  And some of the riders even managed to get one of the men to take them for a ride in his wagon!  Wish we could have gotten a picture, but I wasn't looking to make anyone uncomfortable after they were so welcoming to us.

We kept thru Quincy and before we knew it we were at mile 21 in Reading.  Our goal there was a stop at the Pizza Barn for some ice cream.  But they dont open until 11 and it was only 10:30 as we rolled into town.  Luckily, they opened early for our group, and we ordered up!  (any thoughts of weight loss from this trip were dismissed early in the week!). 

The ride from Reading to Bankers was hilly to say the least.  Lots and lots of hills.  The goal was to get to Bankers for our daily watermelon stop, let Aaron have some melon and then have Jeff pick him up and head to Hudson to set up the snow cone machine to sell at the school.  Worked out perfect.  Aaron was ready with a sore butt and feet.  Although, he kept saying "I'm not even sweaty!" while riding.  To which I replied "Then you're not pedaling hard enough!".  

Ignore Jeff's weird face.

The three of us continued on to Hillsdale.  Lots and lots more hills.  We stopped in town and ate lunch at Jilly Beans.  Hillsdale had planned well for the group.  Lots of maps for the riders to find lunch spots, people helping give directions, etc.  Now was the LONG stretch.  11 miles on Bacon Road to Hudson. And lots more hills.  Specifically the enormous hill in front of Camp Michindoh.  I decided long ago that I would just walk up it, not even bother trying to bike it.  But, by the time I got there, I figured I'd at least try it.  I geared down as low as I could go, and I'm proud to say I did it!  Sam was waiting for me at the top, and we sat in the grass and caught our breath while we watched for Debbi.  It was fun watching everyone coming up as they got to the top, huffing and puffing, hoping that was the last hill of the day (so far from it!).  

We finally made it to Hudson.  They also did a great job of making everyone feel welcome.  Look who we found at the high school!

The snow cones were good treats when we got there.  But we threw our things in the back of my car and took off for home.  A quick (hot!) shower in my very own bathroom (that I didn't have to share with 300 other women!) and I took off for Aaron's baseball game.  Now back at home in my very own, comfy bed.  It's going to be tough leaving at 7 to start riding to Dundee.  Especially since there is a 70% chance of rain all day and most of the night.  BUT, I'm looking forward to Friday, so I guess we have to get thru a boring, rainy ride on Thursday first.

Day Four-Coldwater

Today was great!

The night was very windy, with the tent caving in on mom's side quite often, and neither of us got much sleep at all. Aside from that, breakfast was finally satisfying. Bagels, "mini-bagels", muffins, cereal, bacon, and more. Then after some quick packing we head off. We had a strong headwind in the beginning, but as we went on, it slowed, but was still noticeable. Not many points of interest, but most of the day was nice and flat which made a great day. There was one thing in the beginning of the day that sparked my mom's interest, but didn't really catch with me.

(Notice my less than excited face)

The Langely Covered Bridge, one of the only ones left in existence. I didn't really think it anything too special, but nevertheless, it was pretty cool on the inside.

Then, a small city happened to have create a similar reaction, but with a much better taste.

The city of Colon, the "Magic Capital of the World." It received mixed reviews. The magic shops were few and they weren't exactly impressive, but I think it was because we weren't sure what to expect from a store solely based on magic. Then, right down the street was a shop with ice cream, and it had my new favorite flavor, Salted Turtle, salted caramel ice cream with caramel and caramel cups. Yum!

The rest of the day was quick stops. Dinner was unannounced for some reason, and Aaron and my dad should be here any minute with the next half of the week's supplies. It's been a great time and I'm glad we did this again!

(Amy)

So the storms went north of us, but we got the wind!  Other than the windy ride today, it was gorgeous weather.  Much different from last night when we thought we would see Dorothy and Toto any minute.  No real rain last night, just a lot of wind.  Enough to keep collapsing the side of our tent (MY side) and whipping the rest of the tent into a frenzy.  So, I was up till about 3am staking and restaking and trying to hold up my wall of the tent.  People were up and around by 5am, so it was a light sleeping night. . .I'm expecting to sleep like a rock tonight!

Our first interesting sight was indeed the covered bridge, and yes, it WAS interesting!  And pretty too.  See?

Colon is the Magic Capital of the World.  Hm.  Well, maybe magicians think so, but we just found 2 old buildings with a stage, creepy lighting and tons of playing cards, and dusty boxed tricks for sale.  It did not appeal to the magician in me.  Where were the top hats and rabbits to pull out of them?  How about a magic wand that turns into a flower bouquet?  The stop wasn't ruined, however, as we had our daily watermelon break that the ride hosts. . . . 

. . . and Sam got his Salty Turtle ice cream.  Keep your eyes out for that flavor, the taste he gave me was incredible!

We finally made it to Coldwater High School.  It was a pretty ride and great weather, but it's still tough on the legs.  

53 miles in 7 hours and 11 minutes.  I love that we aren't in a rush (but it sure doesn't feel slow!) and are taking lots of breaks.  Makes the ride enjoyable!

Those are our "Yay, we're here and we're done for the day" faces.  :)

So we got our bags and set up the tent and waited for Jeff and Aaron.  They were bringing 3 more days of clean clothes for us and I was hoping for a pep talk to finish the week.  :)  Aaron looked exhausted from playing all day, so I told him he needed to get some good sleep if he was going to start out with us tomorrow.  I'm hoping he won't be too excited to sleep!  I'm hoping he (and I!) can make it to at least Reading tomorrow.  I'd love it if he could get to Bankers by our house.  We'll have Jeff come pick him up, then he and Jeff will head to Hudson High School to set up Snow Cones to sell for Science Olympiad.  After that, Aaron has a baseball game in Pittsford that Sam and I will go to after we get to Hudson.  The BIG exciting thing is that we will be spending the night at home tomorrow!!  Debbi lives right in Hudson, so she is going home, and we will treat ourselves to a real bed and shower too.  

So that's the plan for tomorrow.  There are 3 potential ice cream stops tomorrow, and I've promised Aaron that he will get to one on the ride.  Hoping the Pizza Barn (who sells ice cream too) will be open in time!

Day Three-Three Rivers

(Amy)

It's 5:30 a.m. and people are just starting to get up and move around for the day.  Breakfast starts in an hour.  No rain last night!  Yay!!  We will be packing up dry today, and that is always a bonus.  The main concern today is weather.  No wifi at this school, so we can't check any recent forecast, but Jeff called last night and said they are predicting severe storms for Hillsdale.  And since we're pretty much due west of Hillsdale now, I'm thinking we're bound to get it just before them.  Praying for dry weather, but if it must rain then we just hope for no dangerous stuff for us!

(Sam)

Today, a mix of Owosso feels and Greenville weather. It began great. The weather wasn't perfect. Foggy and windy, so our glasses and mirrors got fogged up, but it was fine. Then we had our first rest stop at 8.5 some miles, and we felt great. Time flew by and refreshed as when we started. Happy with that we, continued, assuming the rest of the day would go well. It didn't. At the 20 mile mark, everything began going VERY slowly. Lots of hills and relative time all made the day go crazy slow. Furthermore, I was getting really hungry, and there weren't many rests throughout the whole ride. Until the 35 mile mark of Mottville. 

Communication got through to Mottville's only restaraunt and bar "The Jaywalker." However, the amount of riders didn't. According to our waitress, they expected only an estimate of 50 riders from the PALM administration, and we came in numbers of about 500. They also had about 3 servers, so they were overwhelmed, and it took us about an hour and a half to get our food, but as hungry as I was it seemed longer. Finally the food came, and I ate a BUNCH. Then we kept going until a quick storm passed through that forced us to stop for a few minutes on a porch belonging to a very welcoming man. Then we finished, quickly put our stuff up and ate dinner. Wasn't too bad  for my tastes, but everyone else loved it. For dessert, they had sherbet. Good day in the end!

(Amy)

First off, I know we have several people praying for us to have a safe trip, so I need to say thank you!  This storm that Sam was speaking of was reported to us to be severe, with 60 mph winds, tornados possible, lots of lightning, etc.  remarkably, we missed most of it.  Some due to the fact that it went further north than expected, and some because of the LONG wait at the restaurant.  Either way, it sure helped us out.  

So we DID have a good start today! It was quite foggy, and we had a constant mist to deal with for our glasses, but not bad.  Some beautiful scenery, lakes, wooded areas.  There WERE a lot of hills, but being on this side of the state, it's expected.  We just walk or gear WAY down to make it easier.  As Sam said, we hit Mottville right around 12:30 in time for lunch.  Unfortunately, it was the ONLY place for lunch, and Sam was getting crabby (he definitely needed to eat) and Debbi and I were limping along at that point.  So we stopped.  So did everyone else.  Yes, it did take 1.5 hours to get our food, so we didn't get back on the road till 2:00.  Burger for Sam and a club sandwich for me.  We gulped it down so fast, I don't think either of us tasted anything.  We knew we were too late to miss the storm, so we just road like crazy to try and miss most of it.  We made it to about 7 miles before our stop for the night (Three Rivers High School).  That means about 45 min or so in the rain.  We did have to stop once on someone's porch when lightning started stringing around us, but back out in the rain as soon as it passed.  

(That's my handy dandy 97 cent pencil holder that I'm keeping our map dry with.  Best investment of the trip!)

So a grand total of 51.9 miles in 6 hours and 13 minutes for today.

Thanks to the rain, we've heard of several people crashing on slippery railroad tracks (one that ended up with a trip to the hospital), and believe it or not one of our support cars got his back window shot out with a BB or pellet gun.  ???  Crazy people.  

So we're all set up and dried out here for the night.  Taking off by 8 tomorrow for Coldwater.  We're supposed to be going past a covered bridge tomorrow - should be cool to see!  They are calling for sunny and 80 tomorrow, so no weather worries.  Jeff is meeting us in Coldwater and dropping off some clean clothes.  Then he'll drop Aaron off early Wednesday morning so he can ride the Coldwater to Hudson leg with us.  Keep praying that I can handle 50 miles with Aaron attached to the back of my bike!

Day Two-Dowagiac

And we continue.

Today began very wet. Big storms last night and everything was drenched. We began with packing our stuff and then we walked over to the school for breakfast, which was less than satisfying. Usually, we have bagels, cereals, muffins, juices, everything we want. But today, the best we had were mass-produced cinnamon French toast and some Cheerios. So not great, but still filling. Then we set off. A pretty normal day, cloudy, not too wind, cool. Great day for riding. After a few hours of small sights here and there, we finally made it to the first point of interest, Niles. Niles is reeeaally small, like, Pittsford small, and almost all the restaurants were closed. We found only two places, a grill that happened to slip our eyesight and a small breakfast place. Now, our small ice cream shop in Hillsdale had a piece of paper on the front telling people of our venture. So, we thought they did a better job of telling people about the ride than last year. But, the shop didn't know, and only had two or three people working there. My mom and Mrs. Atherton weren't too hungry, but I was ready to eat, so I ordered a small stack of pancakes, and my mom, a glass of water. Funny thing is they were more focused on the big ordered than small things like glasses of water, so I actually got my pancakes before she got her water! After the quick snack, we got back on, and the clouds went away, much to our demise. It got much hotter, and the hills only grew in numbers, and we were very upset. Only a few small breaks in the action (i.e., the Old Rugged Cross Church, where the song was written, and two guys in a truck tossing me a Gatorade.) We also tried out our new energy bars, also disappointing, but still filling. And a really old Porsche, but I didn't want to stop again to take a picture. (Sorry grampa.)Then we just kept going until the end. Finally, we set our stuff up, which dried very quickly, and here we are. We have no wifi in the school, so you'll be reading this Monday, hopefully, and we'll continue our original schedule of posting.

We turn to mom.

(Amy)

Wow, what a day!  After signing off here last night, the skies opened up and the thunder and lightning began.  Along with some fireworks at midnight (who shoots fireworks in the rain??) and a train coming thru town at 3am (who apparently REALLY needed to announce their presence with the ol' train whistle.  A lot.).  We got up around 7ish, ate a basic breakfast (not as impressive as last year's choices), and packed up. Naturally, everything was soaked, so it weighed a ton. We left Bridgman about 8am and headed out.  

What I have learned is that I'm definitely a year older, and Sam is most definitely a year stronger!  Every leg of the day he would be quite a distance ahead of us and would kindly wait at the break stops for us.  We stopped at all the break stops and refilled our water a lot.  However, we were all exhausted by the time we got to Dowagiac (our stop for today).  We had agreed that 10 mph was a pretty good pace, so that's what we tried to stick with.  And according to Debbi's little computer we averaged 10.4 mph.  But we're thinking we gotta slow it down tomorrow.  It started humid and 70ish, and it ended sunny and HOT!    So maybe we just dehydrated in spite of all the water?  We'll tweak things tomorrow.  Slow it down some (sorry Sam!) and go easier up the hills (there were a lot!).  

42.7 miles for today in 5 hours and 37 minutes.  Not bad for the first day!

Interesting sight of the day:  The Old Rugged Cross church that Sam mentioned.  Apparently the beginning of the song was written in Albion, and it was completed here in Dowagiac and first sung here in this church.  Who knew?  

Anyway, there is a breeze outside now, which is helping dry everything out.  Now keep your fingers crossed for dry weather.  No wifi here tonight (Sunday night) so I can't update, but last time we checked the weather, they were calling for strong storms all day Monday.  Yuck. 

We're off to Three Rivers in the morning.  Hope we can post tomorrow to catch you all up!  

Day One-Bridgman

Well, here we are again.

Unfortunately, we're not in the same moods as usual.

We can all remember the joy and excitement for my mother and I as we were about to embark on the wondrous journey across our fine state of Michigan.

It's just not the same.

I've found the most likely cause to be our lack of hype for the expedition. It's not that we weren't excited this year, but rather what we did. I did a total of fifteen miles of riding in preparation for this. That was an average day for us last year. (Probably my fault for being uninterested.) I figured, I already know what to expect, so why go? Sadly, this led to our lackluster feel for the event. Additionally unfortunate since the idea was mine.

We arrived here in Bridgman after a long 2.5 hour journey along with our special guest, Debbi Atherton, a veteran PALM rider with two rides under her belt (I suppose more of a veteran to us than anyone else.) Once getting there we did our natural routine of setting up camp. Afterwards, we went to a church service with a particularly humorous priest. Then, we said our goodbyes and got some food. The first day doesn't have an organized meal, but always has some sort of food on-site for you to eat, and a central concession stand did the trick for us, settling our stomachs with chips, hot dogs, drinks and pickles (because that's the thing to add to every meaty dish apparently. I found it rather repulsive), and whilst we ate, we sat around together and talked about our stops, and, learned  about future happenings. Next, we went to the meeting, which provides useful info for the upcoming day, but since this was the first one, most of it was beginners info, stuff hardly worth sticking around for, but we did anyways. Then we realized a strong error on my part. On the way to church, I had left my phone in the car and forgot to pick it back up! So, until Wednesday, when we meet up with my dad (we'll go into more info later) we'll be without a phone. We tried to contact my dad over e-mail, but didn't respond quick enough for our interest to last. Also, Blogger signed us out since we last signed in (about one year ago. I don't blame them.) , so we e-mailed them about the Blogger info, but interest had peaked earlier, and we went on to the rest of our activities. (Thanks dad.) That also means that I'm typing this in notepad instead of Blogger. However, despite the beginning feel of disappointment, I still feel that this year will be equally as great as last year. To end, the entire week calls for rain, and the weatherman isn't as off target as it was last year. I hope he's reading his charts upside down or something.

(Amy)

Yes, the feeling is definitely "here we go again".  We were able to get our tents set up in a nice shady area.  Far from the school, but close to some restrooms by the football field - yay!  As I type, there are raindrops starting to fall on the tent.  Not pouring, but enough to let you know they are there.  It's only supposed to be showers tonight,  I think mostly clear tomorrow, and then the big chance of storms is Monday.  Everyone pray that passes us by!  My mindset is this: expect rain and be pleasantly surprised when it doesn't.  We'll see how well that works.  :)

So, no phone until Tuesday night when Jeff meets us in Coldwater.  And we can't upload this until Monday sometime since there is no wifi in tomorrow's school.  We're going upward from there.  Positive thoughts for the rest of the week!   And French toast for breakfast tomorrow.  And I don't have to cook!!  Yippee!!!!!

On my own

In the immortal words of Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald, this morning I was . . . "on my own, this wasn't how it was supposed to be".   With the boys' schedules as crazy as they are at the end of the school year, it's been each man for himself (so to speak) in terms of training for the ride.  Aaron is usually willing to go with me, but there just hasn't been many opportunities between activities and weather (I refuse to go out in the rain voluntarily!).  So, after they took off for school this morning, I set off on a ride with my goal being at least 10 miles. 

And this time, I had new toys!  My old seat ended up being held together with duct tape after last year's ride, so I'm breaking the new one in.  So far, so good.  During one of last year's storms after we had parked for the day, my bike got knocked over and my mirror got bent into some unusable shape.  The new one isn't as cool as the Orange Crush bottlecap, but it's functional.  And finally, the new gloves to replace the pair we left in a diner in Owosso after an extraordinarily grumpy morning ride.  All seemed to have fit in on the ride today pretty well.



I started out toward Bankers to catch the PALM route going from there into town.  I rode it backward last time I went out, and decided to really see how it's going to feel in a few weeks.  Oh boy.  It's a gentle, steady, uphill most of the way into Hillsdale.  The perk being that there is an ice cream shop once you're in town.  Aaron and I will have our work cut out for us on that section.  I have a feeling that our motto for his days of the ride will be "slow and steady win the race!".  Shortly after I started, I realized I hadn't fixed my toolbag yet and had left it at home.  I realized this when my seat started swiveling around.  Hm, not good.  I finger tightened it a couple of times and hoped for the best.  I made it home with no major catastrophes, but that bag is getting on the bike this week!

Today ended up being 11.3 miles.  I'm hoping for another couple of rides this week.  They are calling for a rainy weekend, so I don't know how that is going to end up.  With me working most of next week, I'm thinking I might have Jeff drop me off at the hospital in the morning with my bike, and I'll just ride home.  That would make for a few mandatory short rides if nothing else.  It sure can't hurt!

10 mile victory!

I managed to get the boys out and we did 10.4 miles!  Yes, it included a stop at the Udder Side.  Mackinaw Island fudge scoop for me, suicide slushy (a little of every available flavor) for Aaron, and a cherry Cow Lick on a Stick (think a ice cream bar on steroids) for Sam.  They melted pretty quickly, but they sure were good!  They were offering $3 pies to raise money for the Humane Society, and it would have been delicious, but how do you get a pie home in a saddlebag?

The ride went pretty good too.  We took Bunn north to US12.  That gave us hill practice, as there are some doozies on Bunn Rd.  US12 gave Aaron practice with being close to traffic.  It makes him a little nervous, but you have to get used to it.  And with Riverfest going on in Jonesville this weekend, we had plenty of traffic to deal with.  Apparently we're improving, because it's getting easier (emphasis on the "-er" part) to keep us straight and on the edge of the road and not zigzagging into traffic!  

The ride home, however, was a different story.  We took the bike trail to Walmart and then took Lake Wilson to Mechanic to Bunn to home.  And we were against the wind the entire way.  Ugh.  Awful.  But we did it.  And Aaron and I made it up every hill, never had to walk it - yet.  I'm assuming hills on the PALM will require some walking, but so far, so good.  

So I'm calling this weekend a success.  We got out, we got a decent ride in, and with no major (or even minor) issues with the ride.   Next weekend, Aaron wants to ride to Wendy's for Frostys.  At this rate, I'm going to be gaining weight from all this "training"!  :)

Training, again. 5-14-15

Sam seems to be keeping in shape with track practice.  I, however, need to be more diligent and need to squeeze more bike time in.  So I went out this morning.  Bright, sunny, chilly.  It really wasn't too bad. 

I had to take a few things to church this morning, so I took Sam's bike instead of mine so I could stash my stuff in his saddlebags.  Oh, we found a new set of bags for him for a steal.  The kitty litter buckets worked, but were quite heavy and cumbersome.  We're going for sleek, baby!  So, I took off on a route, trying to avoid morning traffic (if there IS any traffic here).  On the way back, I decided to check out part of the PALM route that takes us into town (I just rode it backwards.  The route.  Not backward on my bike!)  Anyway, it was a pretty section of Reading Road/Bankers Road that goes past the golf course.  I was admiring a bird as he flew along with me and was amazed at how close he was getting. .. until I realized he was just trying to get close enough to poop on me.  I saw the white streak coming and then heard the splat just a foot or so from my front tire.  Thank goodness for birds with bad eyesight!



So 12.6 miles overall this morning.  I think I like Sam's bike.  His frame is an inch or so smaller than mine, and I think it fits me better. And I like his gear ratio.  Hm, wonder if I can talk him into a trade.  Maybe I'll make him take mine on our next ride and see what he thinks.  I think I need a lot more riding.  I was enjoying the ride this morning, but decided that I was ready for a rest at the end of it.  And that was not even 15 miles yet!  Ugh.  I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!!!

It's warm, we must ride! 5-3-15

We must!  I think the hardest thing about going this year is that we know what lies ahead.  Last year, we just went on blind faith that this is something we could do.  People we knew who had ridden the PALM had told us we could do it, so I suppose we just thought we could.  Now we know.  We know that we can, but we also know that it's going to hurt occasionally. . . sometimes. . . often. . . ok, A LOT!  :) 

So Aaron and I have been practicing on the tag-along bike.  We have ridden together with this bike lots of times before, but he was much smaller.  Now he's 75 pounds and used to riding and being in control of his own 2 wheeled bike.  It's taking both of us some getting used to, but we're getting better!   All three of us went for a 6 mile ride this weekend.  Started at the trailhead at Sandy Beach and rode up to Burger King.  Stopped for a slurpee then rode back.  It's a flat section of the trail, and Aaron and I discovered we do really well on flat ground.  Hills (big or small) are still a challenge for us.  Mostly because his tag-along does not have gears, so on the steep hills when I downshift, he's stuck in a single gear and it's nearly impossible for him to peddle.  So, we'll walk the big hills, and get a good workout on the small ones. 

Again this year, with Sam's track schedule, we're sort of stuck with weekends for riding.  He doesn't usually get home from school until 6pm, and after dinner and homework, it's just too late.  And Saturdays have been booked with Owen's track meets, so it's Sundays for our rides.  What happened to "a day of rest"??  Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.  And I think that is going to entail encouraging, cajoling, bribing. . . whatever it takes to get us out!  I'm thinking next time we start back at the trailhead again, but this time make it to Jonesville before heading back.  The trail just happens to end at The Udder Side in Jonesville, and if we just happen to be there, we may as well get some ice cream to refuel! 

Here we go again!

Was I planning on riding the PALM again this year?  No, not really.  I knew Sam wanted to go, though, so I never really counted it out as a possibility.  Then as the deadline to sign up got closer, Debbi Atherton, a friend and coworker of Jeff's mentioned that she would like to go again.  So I thought some more.  Then we found out we could register for free.  How can you turn that down??  :) 

The route this year is a southern route.  Starting in Bridgman and ending in Monroe at Sterling State Park.  As luck would have it, it passes straight through Hillsdale and one night is spent at Jeff's high school in Hudson!  Because the school is hosting a night, they get so many free registrations as a thank you, and Debbi managed to get 4 for us.  So our only cost this year will be food for the week and any bike "stuff" we want for the ride.  This year's group includes me, Sam, Debbi, and Aaron is even going to join us for 2 legs!  He will ride on a tag-along with me from Coldwater to Hudson and then hopefully he'll ride the last day with us to cross the finish line and be a part of the parade.

Day 1:  Bridgman to Dowagiac - 42 miles

 

 

Day 2:  Dowagiac to Three Rivers - 52 miles



 

 

Day 3:  Three Rivers to Coldwater - 53 miles



 

 

Day 4:  Coldwater to Hudson - 53 miles (the black X is our house!)

 

 

Day 5:  Hudson to Dundee - 50 miles

 

 

Day 6:  Dundee to Sterling State Park, Monroe - 21 miles

This is what Aaron's tag-along bike will look like:

 

There is no way we can expect his legs to last 50 miles, so this is our best option.  He and I have ridden with one plenty before, and he can push us right along if I ever want to rest my legs a bit! 

 

Now we just have to get rid of this snow so we can start riding and getting in shape.  I hope I don't regret this!