Ride Update: I have ridden 2,920 miles (91% of the total). I have 4 days/295 miles remaining.
Today I received a nice surprise from Eric Cramer, my financial advisor from Charles Schwab. Eric, an accomplished bicycle racer, knew just what to send. Thanks for the cookies Eric- you da man!!
(To Ron Lau: I have noticed a dramatic change in how I feel riding long distances. And it did begin to occur after 2-3 weeks, but in my case, after 4 weeks I noticed the biggest difference. Today's ride was nearly 90 miles and it was not a big deal at all. While I was training for the ride I would have needed a day to recover from a ride like today's. But I was a girly man then.)
On Monday we put Lake Michigan at our backs and pushed off to the east-in the direction of Lake Huron, so beginning our three day march across Michigan. Today that push finally paid off, as we cruised along Lake Shore Blvd in the city of Port Huron with Lake Huron and some pretty impressive "cottages" along it's western shore to our left.
A couple of us rode through a small lakeside park and down to a public beach on Huron, where we were able see just why they call these the "Great Lakes". Might just as well been the Atlantic- these boys are mucho grande. (The picture of the lighthouse was taken from the Badger as we finished crossing Lake Michigan.)I am still suffering from a nearly total electronic meltdown- my email stopped working about 4 days ago and the guys in New Delhi don't seem to have any answers- at least none that make sense to me. The Holiday Inn in Manitowoc seems to have permanently disposed of all of my chargers and cables that I managed to leave behind. I am powerless to do anything about either situation. Actually, I may take a cab to a Radio Shack this afternoon and try to replicate some of the battery/charger/cables that I lost.
I'm now back from Radio Shack and I did replace some, but not all of my cables. Still don't have a way to charge my camera, so I'll have to use it judiciously and hope I can find one. Also, I think I have solved my email problem, so I should be back in business.
The ride today was quite flat again and the weather was another sweetheart- temps mild, wind manageable, skies pretty much clear. The morning was foggy and humid, but we don't expect perfection. I started today's ride alone and after a few miles hopped on with Joel and Allison when they came by.
Joel complained somewhat that I was riding too fast and I guess I dropped them some- I think Allison wasn't 100% today. At the first sag, Sarah and I left together as Bud, Daco and Cindy were pulling out. So by happen chance, the five of us ended up riding together. Now I have always thought that the three of them were a bit out of my league, but maybe they were holding back today. Whatever the reason, I was able to hang on with them for the next 60 miles- and actually enjoyed the ride.Tomorrow will be interesting- we will ride, as a group, across the bridge into Canada. They tell us that they'll close the bridge for us- that's going to be cool. Following that, we'll spend the next three days in Ontario and then cross back into the US at Niagara Falls. After that, one day to Henrietta and then I get off the Peace Train and re-enter reality. Too bad.
