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.