Tony got the water, while I gathered the snacks. It seemed odd to be putting on sunscreen instead of layers of clothing. A 30 percent chance of rain was predicted, so at the last minute, I went back in the house and grabbed our rain jackets.
Today seemed like a good day to head into LeRoy, and ride the trial. We have 4 miles of hills between our house and town, a good mix of riding terrain. If we take 18 Mile Rd back home, it makes a 20 miles, the last 6 are quite hilly.
It took us a few minutes longer to do the 1/2 mile of gravel to the paved road. Because of rain last night, we had a harder time getting traction on the hills. With rear wheel drive, our trike doesn't do well on gravel. We were glad when we got to the pavement.
An Amish man was riding a recumbent bike, and pulling his little girl in a trailer. His son was riding along side of him on a regular bike. Smiles and waves were exchanged as we passed. A horse, pulling a small, open buggy, trailed behind. Normally, when we meet an Amish buggy, the horse gets very nervous. Perhaps because we are so low to the ground, they view us as a possible predator. It's easier for all, if we just stop riding, and sit quietly, until the horse passes. The horse we met today, didn't seem to be the least bit concerned about us on our trike, so we just kept riding. Perhaps the horse was accustomed to having the recumbent bike around, so we weren't a threat. Cars coming from each directions. Things don't usually get so congested, on our country roads, but since we were going one direction and the Amish the other, there was a mini traffic jam.
The 3 billy goats gruff weren't in sight today, and the 3 dogs that usually bark at us as we pass there, weren't outside either. Most likely the homeowners were still at work. The dogs will have to bark double at us next time we ride by.
When we rode past marshy section, the peepers were really loud. To me, the sound of the peepers sounds like sleigh bells, lots of sleigh bells, in surround sound, and very loud.
For those of you that dont' live near spring peepers, here is a link to a little serenade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SM6leUVorY
I tried to put copy and paste some info on peepers in here, but I can't get it to show up, can't seem to get rid of the box the info was in either, so please accept my apologies.
We saw a man casting with his fishing pole. All he had managed to catch was a the tree in his front yard. Making the best of it, he and his son were pulling and reeling, trying to get it down.
After a stop at the post office, we hopped on the trail, glad to find it clean and clear of trees and debris. It didn't look like the snowmobiles had torn it up too much, over the winter. It is nice to be able to ride along and not be concerned about traffic, but overall, we prefer road riding. It seems there is more to see.
One of our front disc brakes was rubbing and vibrating. If I held it with my hand, it rode along, without a care, but the minute I let go, it was back at it again. I didn't have the right size allen wrench to tighten it, but when we got to Tustin, the hardware store was still open, so I stopped to see if I could borrow a wrench. Ou friend Denny, happened to be working, and helped me figure out where to tighten it. One screw was almost all the way out. Cotton picking, road vibrations, and pot holes. We have already lost a brand new, rear bike light, this season. That gives us a total of 3 or 4 now. We are replacing it with something inexpensive, until we figure out a better way to secure it. We are tired of leaving dollar bills beside the road. Can't help but wonder, who finds these lights that fall off of our trike. We certainly don't find any that come off of others.
We chatted a few minutes, mostly about the weather, especially since it was looking more and more, like rain.
We were about 2 miles up the trail when a few drops hit us. I stopped and got the waterproof jackets, out, by the time we got them on, it was raining quite a bit. It continued , let up a little, and then really let loose, it was pouring down, hard, hurting our skin. I found it difficult to to keep my eyes open. Some thunder, but with nothing but woods on both sides of us, there really was no place to seek shelter, so we kept riding, for 4 miles, until we got to Pibb's in LeRoy. By the time we got there we were soaked. My jersey, under my rain jacket was even wet. I suspect it was from water pouring down my neck. While we were riding, Tony gave me his hankie so I could wipe the water off of my face, and see to ride. I had forgotten the rain covers for our helmets, we had our hoods up, so the top of our heads were dry, but the front was drenched, and made a lovely waterfall across our faces.
After taking our rain jackets off, we decided to order some supper, while we wanted for the storm to pass. A couple, that ride recumbent bikes came in and sat at the booth next to ours. We had a nice visit about biking and the trail. He is the one that maintains the section between LeRoy and Tustin. He had swept it the day before. The section between LeRoy, to the underpass, will be paved in April, but then there is no money to go further. What a disappointment. No idea when, or if, funds will be available to complete that section. Many, including us, have been waiting for a nice paved, trail ride to Reed City. Once that is done, there will be nearly 100 miles of smooth, non road riding. Currently the part between LeRoy and Reed City is limestone, with some sections of gravel. Our friend told us, he is planning on printing up a map of paved roads to Reed City, at least then the option of riding on pavement will be available, and people will know where to go.
Sure hoping that someday, the distance between Cadillac and Grand Rapids, will be completely paved. Here is a link to a map of the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail. Fred Meijer foundation gave a generous grant to be used for trail paving, one of the stipulations to receive funds was that before a section of trail could be paved, the community around it, has to agree to take on the responsibility to maintain that section of trail. The trail is built on the former railroad bed, and prior to paving was gravel and limestone, with some grassy parts. The grant is used up. Many sections of the trail between Big Rapids, and Grand Rapids are paved. Here is a link to more info on the trail.
http://www.whitepinetrail.com/map
By the time we were done with supper, the rain had stopped. We were still very wet, so much so, that I had to wipe, where we had sat, off with paper towels, before we left. Our jackets were nearly dry. It had cooled down some, and because we were wet, it seemed cooler yet. We were glad it was only 4 miles to home. Since our trike doesn't have front fenders, we still got a lot of road spray as we pedaled along.
No pictures for the blog today, I didn't get any taken. before the rain started.
We rode 18 miles today, all but 8 of them, were very wet. Our rain initiation for the riding season is over.
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