Day 38 -- Nippy and Flat

July 27, 2005

ROUTE: Mt. Pleasant to Birch Run, MI

DISTANCE: 75 miles

WINDS: 5 to 10 from SW

WEATHER: 57F in am, warming to 72F

TERRAIN: Flat TOTAL

CLIMBING: 700 (somewhere)                

RIDE OVERVIEW: It was chilly at ride start today as the attire below attests, and it didn't get warm until about 1 am when the sun decided to make a feeble appearance and warm things up to 72 degrees. Nonetheless, riders were in a cheerful frame of mind this morning. They had a short day (75 miles) and the elevation view on the back of their route sheets looked like the flat line on a hospital monitor.

Speaking of flat, our terrain today was mostly flat. We climbed only about 700 feet all day. That's hardly worth getting up for, but riders are enjoying the flat stages for awhile. Our next real climbing won't be until the last two days when we'll have to work hard to get to the beach. But today, flat and quiet country highways were the roads of the day. And the roads were virtually lined with blue chicory and white lacy Queen Anne's lace. This did something to soften Michigan's rough roads. I'm not going to stereotype Michigan and say they have the roughest roads in America, but I think if you ask most cyclists, they would confirm that that was the case. In defense of Michigan, however, at least they try to let us know when we get to roads that are probably not suitable for skinny tires. As the road sign to the right clearly points out, we might want to bypass this road.

Today we came into the small town of Alma, that dubs itself Scotland USA, another proud, small Michigan town but one where the citizens have Scots accents and hold a yearly Scottish Games. But what struck me was that everywhere you looked there were signs indicating the high school's mascot, the Alma Panthers.I think they should have used a tomato as their mascot. Then they could have been called the Alma 'Maters.Just a thought.(Sorry for that one, it's really Mike's punny from last year.)

Karen and Mike at Clarence Reeves' farm

Just past the town of Alma, Mike and Karen stopped to talk to Clarence Reeves and his wife Sandra on Baldwin Road. Clarence is a farmer who has a great antique tractor collection. Every time Mike's led this ride, he has stopped to chat and see all of Clarence's newly restored tractors. Clarence told them about his collection and some upcoming shows where he displays his prizes and competes in tractor pulls. He has over 20 Allis Chalmers, Case, International Harvester, and Oliver tractors dating all the way back to 1934 that he has restored to mint condition. Two years ago, Clarence fired up an old '36 Allis that Mike says hummed better than it did when it was new. Mike got to relive some of his childhood memories as he sat on this guy's old Farmall M model (the first tractor Mike used when he lived on a farm). He says he was 12 again! It's a good thing a vehicle was in the way of his getting to a field. He was ready to plow something. It's things like this that make these rides worthwhile and memorable . . . when you unexpectedly meet the nicest people on the road. Mike always stops and is thankful that Clarence takes the time to talk to him and to share his passion for old tractors. For his part, Clarence remembers the crazy cyclist who stops by each year to take a picture of his old tractor and to chat, and he is grateful for this chance to explain a hobby that he loves.

We had only one SS today. I set it up at a dirt road intersection next to a cornfield . . . which many cyclists used for a pitstop. Carol popped into what she thought was the Ladies' but found Earring John had staked it out as the Men's. A quick exit for both of them and lots of laughter! I unveiled the birthday cake that Josh's parents brought the night before -- a large sheet cake with chocolate icing and blue balloons and trim. The first riders were very impatient to cut the cake but we wanted Josh there for a photo of the event. I had to hold off some at knife point (see photo below). Still most riders waited, some impatiently, for Josh to arrive to cut his cake. But several just didn't have the patience and took to the road again. After a couple of radio prods, Josh worked his way up the line and arrived to cut the cake, exclaiming all the time, "It's not my birthday." (His 29th birthday is July 31st, the day we ride into Niagara Falls.) 

As various riders arrived at the stop, they sang Happy Birthday. Think Josh got three or four choruses. P.S. One result of the cake's blue icing was riders leaving the SS with blue teeth and blue chow dog tongue . . . very interesting.

All in all, it was a pretty short day . . . everyone was in by 2:30 and trying to relax or get laundry done. We walked to dinner at Tony's on the other side of I-75. Service was swift and portions were huge--at least the portions of potatoes (mashed, fries, and hash browns) were comically gigantic. Karen and Mike McG, Bob, Larry, and Byron came in after my table had finished. They had pooled their resources and gone to Frankenmuth, a small German village similar to but on a larger scale than Solvang, the Danish community on the west coast.

So much for today, I'm headed for bed. Tomorrow I ride Sweep to Port Huron, the last stop in Michigan before we cross the Blue Waters bridge and spend two days in Ontario, Canada. The states are flying by now.It won't be long before we will start to smell the Atlantic.I hope you will join us again tomorrow for more adventures.

HEARD ON THE ROAD:

• "This day was a piece of cake . . . birthday cake."
• " I think our toughest climb of the day was the I-75 overpass."
• "Gee, maybe we should sculpt this pile of mashed potatoes."
• "Cliff, you're here early and you didn't get lost.""That's because I wasn't riding with anyone. I found out that I can read those route sheets."

OOOPS! OF THE DAY: Goes to Photographer Paul, who was trying for the perfect shot of a Mailpouch Tobacco sign on the side of a barn. He backed up to frame the shot, and fell into a hole as tall as he was. He scrambled out as fast as he could. Scary. Could have been an old well. But then all's well that ends well I guess.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Holding off the hordes who wanted to desecrate
Josh's B'day cake before he arrived to cut it

A jigsaw puzzle scene along today's route.

Mike doesn't want his beloved Roark? No way!

Karen rides past another picture perfect red barn along today's route.

Josh finally arrived to cut his Birthday cake, which he
conceded to do even though "This isn't my
birthday." Guess he wanted to hold off
 his 29th for a couple more days.

Big sky over a big Michigan farm. Murray took this photo,
the one to the left of Josh cutting his cake, and the
one of me holding off the hordes. Thank you Murray