Temps of 55 degrees this morning. Cold enough that we all had on our jackets as we began our morning routine. Cycling clothes were laid out last night, panniers packed with power bars, Revive (our electrolyte glucosamine powdered drink mix,) trail mix and fig bars. Tony and I headed to the school to get cleaned up, back to the tent to pack our bags and take the cots down. Between our bags and Tammy and Ariann's there was soon quite a pile in front of the tent, that was now in the process of coming down. So glad to have a young man with a golf cart there to haul it to the truck. I held on for dear life as he bounced, zigged, and zagged his way through the tents and bikes. 2 trips and it was all done. Wish there was a golf cart dude at every school. The parking lot is usually alive with activity, this morning was no exception.
Filled our water bottles.
And chatted with a friend.
Last year we called Palm the year of french toast, which was present at nearly every breakfast. This year may be the year of eggs. Remembering Tammy's experience yesterday, we all passed on them today. The 5 of us made our way out the driveway at 8 AM. Such a joy to be riding with friends and loved ones.
Paw Paw MI is named for the pawpaw trees that once grew along the banks of the PawPaw river. These trees are less common today because many of the shade trees they grow in, have been cleared away. An attempt to grow the trees at the hIgh school failed because without shade the treesl withered and died.
The village of PawPaw is found where the east and south branches of the PawPaw River meet. It was incorporated in 1837. It is known for it's vineyards. St Julian and Warner's wineries began here. An annual Wine and Harvest Festival is held each year, shortly after Labor Day.
The paw paw tree produces an exotic fruit, called the paw paw.
If picked green, it is bitter and will remain so. Picked in a ripe state the fruit will likely have some soft brown spots. I have never tasted it, but it is said to taste as sweet as strawberries and a bit like vanilla custard. . The aroma of ripe, sliced pawpaw's is one of delight , however if eaten green, they are sour and bitter. It seems odd that such a tropical tasting and looking fruit can survive MI winters, but somehow they manage. As far as I know, we didn't see any Paw Paw trees while riding through this area.
Hills were on the menu again today, but our legs felt strong, we were ready to take them on.
Dottie the official , volunteer photographer for PALM each year tangled with the raised curb of a new sidewalk a few weeks ago and was in no shape to take pictures, so I snapped a few random ones in her place.
We had strong N NW winds today, helped keep us cool, but also made a fierce headwind, which slowly gnawed away at our energy, taking it so quietly that we didn't feel it go, until we stopped and then started to ride again.
We were glad to have the shade and watermelon at Campbell Lake. It was a nice place to take a break and some pics.
Tanny and Arrian cooled off in the water.
Tony and i were riding along as nice as can be when suddenly he said,"Someone is trying to get me."
"What do you mean?"
"They are pulling on my neck, choking me!" he said with enough panic that I stopped. I got off the trike and saw that the string from the hood of his coat had become tangled in the rear gear cogs. Not wanting to move the trike and make things worse, for the trike or Tony, I helped him remove his coat. Kiersten came along just in time to help get the string untangled from the cogs. I held the rear deraileur forward to make slack and she slowly fished and pulled the string out. Once Tony recovered we all had a good laugh and were on our way.
Miles up the road as we approached a hull, I downshifted, only to feel chain on the front gear rings slip, and suddenly we were unable to pedal. Upon closer examination we saw that the chain had dropped between the 2nd and 3rd chain rings, and was now tightly jammed in.
We were in the lead, so soon Tammy, Ariann and Kiersten came upon us and our problem. Jeff came by too and soon a SAG truck was there. It took a lot of hard jerking to get the chain loose, but Jeff and the SAG person managed. The bike mechanic soon came by to check the problem out.
She proceeded to tell us that this gear ring had been added to the trike and that's why we were having so much trouble. I was pretty sure that all the paper work I had on Rollin, did not list the large gear ring as an added option. I mentioned it once, but could see that it would do nothing to remedy the situation, so I then kept quiet about it. She pulled the chain out, adjusted the front deraileur a bit and sent us on our way. On my next down shift, it happened again. Tony and I pulled the chain loose ourselves this time and continued on.
We caught up with Tammy and Ariann at a Subway for lunch. By then we had just had our 5th chain jam. We called the mechanic, who was in a nearby park, sent Tammy and Ariann ahead and made our way to the mechanics truck.
By now the day was heating up and we were glad she was parked in the shade. She puzzled over the problem, then decided to try and bend the 66T chainring a bit closer to the middle one. She also put zip ties on our front chain tube for added tension because we kept throwing that chain. The zip ties worked, the other fix didn't. We finally made the decision to ride the rest of the day in our middle gear ring and use our mountain drive for hills.
This of course meant that we were unable to go very fast. Caught up with the group at the watermelon stop at Campbell Lake. It was a nice place to take a break and some pics. Ariann and Tammy cooled off in the lake.
No place to get lunch today, Jeff rescued us by taking sandwich orders, going to Subway and meeting us at a stopping point. He was our hero, again.
More hills, plus some very rough roads after that. It all made for the latest finish time we have ever had on pALM. We pulled into Battle Creek at around 7PM. It was a long tiring day. Praise the Lord that Tammy and Ariann had the tent up and Kiersten and Tammy had also put our cots up. We headed right to supper, then the showers. We missed the meeting tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment