Daty Thirty Seven- Boogity Boogity

Day 37- (115 Miles)- Tuesday, July 24, 2007-Ludington, MI to Mt. Pleasant, MI (761')

Notice: I think my email is down and has been for a couple of days. I'm not getting any email, so if you're trying to reach me- so sorry. I'm going to shop for a new email provider when I get back on Earth. Bob.

Ride Update: I have ridden 2,787 miles (87% of the total). I have 457 miles and 6 days remaining. (A real pittance).

Today was our first riding day in Michigan and our re-entry into the Eastern Time Zone- in my view, the one true time zone. I know that others believe that their zones are THE CHOSEN ONE, but I'm tellin' ya- the good old EST is the best.

Anyway, the hassle factor yesterday was off the charts as it included some of my very Least Favorite Activities (LFA's). Those include: Waiting in Lines, Crowd Participation, Crappy Food Eating, Being Lost in a Dumpy City, Sitting in a Hot Room and Listening to Morons Talk. So after hours of doing these LFA's, I was ready to choke someone or at a minimum, something.

Today's wake up came at 5:00AM (or 4:00AM in CST, which experts generally agree is the second best time zone). It seemed like I had to go at 90 MPH, to get ready and by 6:30AM, I was loaded and ready to pounce on the pedals. I was in a mood to vent my hostility and to really put a beating on the bike. Starting out alone, I waited for someone interesting to come up and before long Rich and Sarah moseyed on by. I quickly fell in behind them and chatted up Rich for a while. By mile 15 or so I wanted to release additional energy and started apply a bit more pressure to the cranks. By the first sag at about mile 30, Rich had fallen back, but Sarah was ready to trade pulls with me, so off we went.

I pushed myself harder today than at any other time on this ride. Granted the conditions favored a fast pace- temps were very cool, skies overcast, and the hills were negligible. On top of that, we were, at times, pushed along by a bit of a tailwind. Still, there were rollers and we climbed about 2,500 feet in 115 miles, so it wasn't totally flat. But Sarah and I were clipping along at a very brisk pace- at times 20-22 MPH, through about mile 85 and our third sag, where we picked up Derek. Our pace continued, maybe even increased, once he joined us.

At mile 90, we hit an unexpected bit of road construction and decided to cowboy up and ride the gravel. The gravel was worse (looser and deeper) than the 6 mile stretch we'd ridden a week or so ago, but it was, mercifully, much shorter- only about a mile. Once we finished that, the rockin' and rollin' continued. Derek stopped at one point to take a shot of a beautiful old fieldstone church and Sarah and I rode on. He apparently felt slighted that we didn't wait and when he eventually caught us, he breezed on by and wouldn't let me catch him. I'd try, but the boy is strong and he'd just muscle down the road, keeping his distance from me, til I'd quit pushing and then he'd slow down. We played cat and mouse until about mile 105 or so, when he finally grinned and let me know he was done with the game and let me catch him. I bought his lunch and Max and Edna's deli/bakery in Mt. Pleasant. After lunch we rambled on to the Baymont Inn- our home for the next twelve hours.

Sarah was good company today and we talked about horses and farms and bird dogs and all such things. We also talked some about bicycle touring and hiking, which she's into. I fact, she talked about doing a 40 mile hike in a day, which struck me as measurably crazier than what we're doing- and I think she'd agree. She'd had a farm at one point in her life and had dressage and three day horses. She and her family had Brittanies and she knew a bit about field trialing and walking horses, so it was nice to not have to draw pictures to explain what that's all about.

I have had a fear since starting the ride that I was going to misplace my cables and by god, I think I did it. I had developed a very good routine for using and repacking the cables. However, I cannot find the cables and chargers for my camera, iPod and bike computer. Good news is that there are only six more days to ride, but for now, my Garmin computer is dead and I have will limited use of my camera and cell phone. Called the hotel that I think I left them and they can't find them- what a surprise. I may be able to replace the cell phone cable and borrow a Garmin charging cable, but charging the camera or iPod and uploading pics is over. Royally pisses me off.