Made the mistake of picking a camping spot near the porta potty, figuring it would be easier for Tony. We were awakened many times by the sounds of tent zippers unzipping, peoples flip flops going "slap, slap, slap," and by the door of the porta potty slamming. None of it made for a very restful night. It was very windy.
Got the tent down and the gear on the truck with no problem, went and had breakfast and were on the road by 8:08 AM. Each rider has a map/route book, plus the turns are marked with a small yellow state of Michigan mitten, painted on the pavement, with an arrow, showing which way to go. They are kind of small, so we have to watch for them. There are also other riders to follow. Everyone starts at their own time and goes at their own pace.
Palm is noted for being a family ride, there are many families here, some with kids as young as 2 years old. Some are pulling the kids behind. others have the kids on tandems, or a tag a long, and some kids, are riding their own bikes. The oldest rider is 93, his name is Bob. He has ridden many PALM's.
He used to have a beagle named Babe, that rode on a board on the back of his bike. When Bob got to a hill, Babe would jump down and walk up, then get back on, to go down the hill. There are a few other dogs in the tour. A Jack Russell, named Buster, a Sheltie, and a black dog that rides along with someone on a single trike. Button is still doing the "chirp/whine" thing because he wants to be with me, but it is quieter with the muzzle on him. Hope that he will eventually quiet down enough, that he won't need the muzzle. He is very popular, already has his own fan club. Some people have referred to Tony and I, as Mr and Mrs. "Button."
The area between Ludington and Hesperia is peppered with woods and farms. Of course I found a barn to take a picture of. I find myself really admiring them, they come in various states of repair or disrepair, and can be big or small. I've always thought it would be neat to convert one into a house. (Tony may not realize that when it comes to things like that, it's a good thing he can't see, or I would likely have him busy all the time. Yep, I'm a sucker for old houses too.) Perhaps it is the outline of the barns against the sky line, they have a sense of rural grandeur to me. I'm saddened to see them falling down.
Many hills in todays course. Very glad we have our mountain drive. It gets us to the top, very slowly, sometimes at only 2MPH, but we spin it to the top, without our knees hurting . Spinning is when we pedal fast, but not hard. Upright bikes, known as diamond frames, would likely tip over if they were going as slow as we go up some hills. There was one hill on the route that was 3 miles long. Took us awhile to get up that one. It wasn't a terribly steep hill, just a very long one. Riders had the option to take a 3 mile detour on the bike trail to avoid it if they wanted to. We opted for the hill, and got up it fine.
A boy of about 11 or 12 kept passing us today, then pretty soon we would pass him, playing a game of "leap frog." This happened with quite a few riders, since we go down the hills at over 20 MPH. But when it came time to go up, they would pass us. Found out later, that the boys name was David, he is on this tour with Ann, his Grandma. They are from the Ann arbor area. We had a lot of fun with the leap frog game.
Ate lunch in Shelby, right where the bike path comes into a nice little park. There was a nice. "Taco Van" there, that had very good authentic, mexican food. Had bean burritos for lunch. Ate lunch with David and Ann, getting better acquainted with them as we ate. Everyone on the ride is very friendly. Tony had a hard time with the heat, the last few hours. I made sure he had planty of the electrolyte mix, Solstic, in his water. It really helped him. We were both pretty hot when we got to the Hesperia High school at 3:30 PM.
The high school cross country team was there with 4 wheels and wagons, helping people get thier gear to the camp sites. There was one with a long wagon, they loaded up our trike, our gear, and Tony , Button I, hopped on the wagon and found a campsite in the shade, NOT too close to a porta potty. We were by the ball diamond, in a group of about 4 or 5 other tents. When we got there, the boys offered to set our tent up, I was so hot, I was happy to let them do it. I think we may have been the only people that got their tent set up for them. I would happily pay each night to have our tent set up. I am tired after riding all day. grateful, once again, fo God's provision. One of our neighbors was a fella named Mike, who was from Tennessee. He and the group he was with, had all met on different bike tours. They were very nice people.
The cafeteria was very hot and the lines for supper were long. The heat of the day caught up with me, I was so light headed, I thought I might just pass out, but thank goodness I didn't. We hope to connect with our friend Kristina, who now lives in Hesperia, while we are here. After supper her Pastor and another guy, (we don't know either of them,) managed to find us, and came and talked to us, offering encouragement and prayer before they left. It was really nice. Their whole church is praying for us. It is nice to know that we have so many who are are holding us up in prayer on this ride. We did mange to connect with Kristina and her daughter Jazmine too. it was so nice to see them both again, and we had a nice time catching up with what was going on in each others lives.
The blow up bed we borrowed for the trip is really quite cumbersome, and takes up the whole tent. It is also heavy to haul back and forth to the truck and our camp sites. It would add far to much weight if we were touring independently, we'll go with something lighter next time.
I am trying to keep a journal on our ride so I can use it to do this blog, but by bedtime, I'm so tired, that I keep falling asleep while I am writing it. Maybe tomorrow, I can write in it earlier. Seems like when we get here, we have time to set up the tent and shower, then it's time for supper. Not nuts about the group shower thing, but we are surely in need of a shower at the end of the day. So tired after supper, that we just want to go to bed. So far we feel our training has been adequate, but it may be too soon to tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment