Michigan/Wisconsin Solo Tour 2011 Week 2

Day 8-Escanaba to Crystal Falls- Good day of riding (80 miles) with decent weather. More stable now when I get up out of the saddle to climb. And climb I did. Crystal Falls sits atop a fairly steep hill. Today's destination was Bewabic State Park, my last Michigan State park. They were all beautiful with excellent facilities. I will miss them in a few days when I stay at my first WI state park.

Day 9-Crystal Falls to Eagle River, WI.- Beautiful, sunny day and crossing back into Wisconsin! Lots of riding thru the National Forest. Last day of following the Adventure Cycling maps. Nice short ride day (65 miles) and fun to be back on roads I used on GRABAAWR in 2006 and 2010. Stayed at the Best Western located in front of the school were GRABAAWR started those years. Had my second flat of the trip (rear again) upon arrival at the hotel. Great place for it!

Day 10-Eagle River to Merrill- Decent weather for an 80 mile day.Used the WI Bike Maps to plot my route to Rhinelander. They were very good guidance for choosing a low-traffic route. After Rhinelander, I used my old GRABAAWR cue sheets to get to Merrill and the Council Grounds State Park. Made it over Father Menard hill with my fifty pounds of gear without walking! Woo hoo! Council Grounds State Park is beautiful, but the facilities were very poor in comparison the MI state parks.

Day 11-Merrill to Stevens Point- 72 miles of GRABAAWR route today. Cloudy and windy. Today was my day to lose things. First, early in the day I shed my arm warmers and stuffed them in a bag with some food that was strapped to the top of my bag in my trailer. The next time I stopped, I noticed that the bag was mostly empty. Arm warmers and sandwich left somewhere on the road behind me. With the cooler temps and occasional rain, I was taking my rain jacket on and off and stuffing in my middle rear pocket. At some point it came out without me noticing. Bummer! I loved that jacket, my second Sugoi Hydrolite. I luckily did not get caught in a downpour on the way to Stevens Point. Bought a cheap vinyl rain jacket at K-mart in Stevens Point. Staying at a Super 8 tonight. The first floor is completely ripped up and being remodeled.

Day 12-Stevens Point to Adams Friendship- Planned on following the GRABBAWR route thru Wisconsin Rapids to Adams-Friendship, but serious thunderstorms are in the forecast so I plotted a more direct route with the WI bike maps(about 55 miles). The route worked out great. A little dull, but low-traffic and easy to follow. Got the last room at the Oak Crest Motel. More of the same in the forecast for tomorrow, so I will be up early to leave at dawn.

Day 13-Adams-Friendship to Columbus- Route plotted using the WI bike maps. Ugly weather on the radar. Pondered staying put for the day, but finally decided to take my chances. Less than an hour out of town and it is suddenly as dark as night and I can hear thunder behind me. And then the unwelcome sound of another rear flat (number 3). Ugh. Unload the trailer, detach, flip the bike, remove the wheel, extract tube, in with a new tube, pump up, reload...all in less than 15 minutes. I was able to get underway, but had no chance to outrun the storm. When the rain and lightning arrived in earnest, I ducked into the woods. This line of storms was moving fast, so I was not delayed for long. That was the worst of the rain for the day, but more strong storms were forecast for the evening, so I poured on the speed. An 85 mile day. A quick dinner at Culvers and then to the Columbus Super 8 (instead of Atisco Park).

Day 14-Columbus to Delavan- 71 miles to the end of my trip. In my mind, this was going to be a relatively flat, easy day. The last time I rode this route, it was the middle of the night at the end of a 400km Great Lakes Randonneurs brevet. Well, I was wrong. This was very much not flat, especially lugging my trailer. And my knee started being wonky. And then I had my last flat (rear, number 4) just 10 miles outside of Delavan. Finally arrived in Delavan to meet up with my wife and some very welcome refreshments.

Best piece of gear: Garmin GPS. Never missed a turn!
Second best piece of gear: Vinyl tarp. A true multi-tasker. Covered the bike over night, dry surface for staging/packing gear in the morning, wrapped my shoes in it and bungied them to the top of the trailer for quick access during the day.
Total mileage for the two weeks: 1086 miles

Michigan/Wisconsin Solo Tour 2011 Week 1

Day 1-storm damage from the night before. Tree down over Racine county trail. I was able to just squeeze by. Then a large limb that three of us trail users managed to drag off the trail. Made it to the ferry at about 11:00, very chilled. Lake Michigan was quite rough,with six foot seas. Many passengers were seasick, myself included. Very happy to make landfall and start cycling. There is a bike path in Muskegon that takes you all the way around the harbor and ends on the road that leads to Muskegon State park. Wildlife: 6 rabbits, 2 deer, 1 turtle

Day 2- Muskegon to Ludington. Followed the League of Michigan Cyclists Shoreline tour route to Ludington. Route runs mainly along the shoreline (duh!) of Lake Michigan. Lots of fancy lakefront homes and little touristy towns. Towing my BOB trailer for 90 miles was exhausting! Not to stable getting out of the saddle, so climbing has to be done seated. Really need more gear (more teeth) to get over some of the steeper hills. Happy to see the Super 8 in Ludington after a long, rainy, chilly day of riding.

Day 3-Ludington to Interlochen-waited out the rain. Much happier cycling with dry feet. Moving inland today, following the Adventure Cycling route. Another 90+ mile day made longer by a detour near Garlets Corner due to a bridge out. The detour was pretty scenic (and hilly!) Overnighting at Interlochen State Park. Facilities at the MI state parks are really great.

Day 4-Interlochen to Boyne City-Nice and sunny (finally!) Some potentially dangerous riding today on the "Breezeway" between Ellsworth and East Jordan. No shoulder, steep hills, fast traffic...bad combination. Luckily, I made it thru safely. Had to walk three (yes, three!) hills. A first for me, but towing an extra fifty pounds really slows you down. Great burger and banana split in East Jordan. Little did I realize that I had 10 more miles of hills to traverse before getting to Young State Park just outside of Boyne City.

Day 5- Boyne City to Mackinaw City. Five star cycling day. Beautiful weather, beautiful route. Helped that it was a short day of only 65 or so miles. Incredible sand dunes in Wilderness state park. In Mackinaw City I Stayed in the Super 8 Beachside, with nice views of Lake Huron. Scouted out the ferry situation for tomorrow and acquired a tour mascot (a plastic turtle now named Fred). Wildlife: 1 coyote walked out into the road maybe 50 yards in front of me. I yelled at him to send him on his way.

Day 6- Mackinaw City to Germfask. Started with a ferry ride to Mackinac Island and another to St. Ignace. Nice smooth lake. It was another 5 star cycling day. Great sunny, warm weather. Hwy 2, which I would follow most of the day, has a very wide, clean shoulder making for pretty comfortable riding. The shoulder does disappear when in towns, but there aren't too many of those on this end of the UP. Met my first fellow cyclotourist today, Dan and Anna, who are doing the same route as me, but in a clockwise direction. Had a serious mechanical incident today when my chain got jammed between my wheel and cassette when shifting to my largest gear. Tugged and tugged on the chain until I managed to get it loose. Broke one spoke. Luckily, I bought some 32 spoke wheels for this tour, so the broken spoke didn't make it wobble too much. Want to get to a bike shop as soon as I can. Worried every time I shift to my 27 (which I really need to climb). Stayed at Big Cedar Campground, my only private camp on my trip. Facilities were pretty good, but the mosquitoes were awful.

Day 7-Germfask to Escanaba. Brisk tailwind made for fast ride until I had to take an extended break to fix a rear flat. Why did my LBS put an 18-23 tube in my 28 tire? The tube managed to last 500 miles, but then went poof. Quick ride into Gladstone (just outside of Escanaba) and found the bike shop listed on the Adventure cycling map. Great shop. Fixed my wheel and derailleur. I bought a new Road Morph pump, since my old one was not registering the tire pressure anymore. Ditched my prepaid campsite for a cushy Super 8 room in Escanaba (with a recliner!) Wildlife: close encounter with a Turkey Vulture

Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour 2010

What an incredible tour!

Arrived a few days early because I was worried about the altitude (being a flatlander). We got a great condo at the Vail Racquet Club to get some light training in before the tour. This is a great place to stay! A right turn out of the club and you are on the climb to Vail Pass. My first day on the bike, I rode to the top of Vail Pass and back. This is a great pass to start with because it is mostly on a bike path. The next day I rode up and over, descending to Cooper and climbing from the other side. The ascent from Cooper is the easy direction.

The official tour began on August 1, leaving from Edwards and climbing Battle Mountain Summit (9267 ft), Tennessee Pass (10,424 ft.) , and then Fremont Pass (11,318 ft.). I felt good for my first tour day in Colorado. A little overcast for the start of our tour, but I managed to beat the rain into Frisco. The next day we headed for Idaho Springs via Swan Mountain (9,550 ft.) and Loveland Pass (11,992 ft.). Loveland is a LONG climb! Very cloudy/foggy day.

And then there was Mt. Evans (14,240 ft.). If this were a Grand Tour, this would be the Queen stage. We finally got some sun for the climb. Getting to the top ranks among my favorite accomplishments on the bike. Half-mile from the summit I was feeling pretty bonky. I couldn't tell if it was from the altitude or eating, so I stopped and sucked down the rest of my bottle and was revived enough to ground out those last few switchbacks. Off the top of the world and on to Golden.

From Golden to Estes Park via the Peak to Peak highway there are no great passes, but more of the rolling terrain I'm familiar with from the Midwest. There were a few very steep sections. Enjoyed my rest day in Estes Park by previewing our next day's ride: Trail Ridge Road.

Trail Ridge Road was a great ride. Very beautiful in the early morning, with a herd of deer grazing at the park entrance. We had another wildlife encounter just as we started our descent. A pair of Elk were standing at the side of the ride (somewhat too close for my comfort). I eased my camera out and took a few shots before finishing my ride down to Granby. And then the last day, over Gore Pass (9,527 ft.) and CO 131 Summit (8,250 ft.) and the fast ride back into Edwards.
Can't wait to get back to Colorado for another tour!

GRABAAWR 2010

Back to GRABAAWR for their 25th anniversary to relive my first bike tour and get some training in for the Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour. The first time (in 2006), I rode it on a comfort bike and I was very interested to see how different the experience would be on my Trek Pilot. The climbs were definitely much easier after several years of cycling under my belt and a much lighter, faster bike. Father Menard hill was so much easier this time around. Same for the Devil's Lake climb which I had done a couple of times in 2009 on GLR brevets. Overall, the tour was pretty good though it seems that the new owners financially cut corners whenever possible (not marking the century route, for example.) It is still a great tour and I'll probably go back again in a few years.

Myrtle Beach Marathon 2010-CANCELED!!

It was going to be my third Myrtle Beach Marathon. Legs were great. No nagging little injuries. An extra long running season which included many fall trail runs had prepared me for (hopefully) my best marathon ever.

The weather forecast was getting worse every day before race day. After arriving in Myrtle Beach on the Wednesday before the race, I went shopping for a new jacket to run in since a cold rain had crept into the forecast. And then snow was in the forecast. It did snow. The night before the marathon the beach got several inches of snow with high winds. The city decided (controversially!) that it was too dangerous for runners and drivers to be on the roads together. In retrospect, I think they were probably right, even though the roads were fine by 10 a.m., the volunteers would have had to set up the course over night in miserable, dangerous conditions.

I was initially very disappointed when we heard the race was canceled. I slept in on race day (Saturday) and got up bummed. But then I saw runners on the course. Just a few at first, but then a steady stream. I decided to go out and run a few miles with them. We ran sad. We ran mad. But we didn't let all our training go to waste. I was so inspired by the resilience of the tribe that I ran the entire distance and nearly had a PR. It turned out to be my most emotional marathon finish ever. This was my third time running a marathon in Myrtle Beach and I will be back

Rivertown Half-Marathon

New PR at the inaugural Rivertown Half-Marathon in Conway, SC! Well, it was going to be a new official PR anyway, since it was my first road half. Pretty good route except for a couple of miles near the start that were pretty steeply canted. I had to adjust my line a lot to find a flat (or flatter) part of the road. Support on the course was good, with plenty of police/volunteers on the route to keep us on course. I was able to consistently maintain my pace over the course (8:40) to hit my goal time of 1:55. Weather was very good...overcast with temps in the upper fifties to lower sixties. Wore my summer CWX tights and new North Face shirt. Ate one Gu on course about mile 7. Plenty of power left near end to run tempo for the last half mile. Overall, great run!

North Face Endurance Challenge Wisconsin Half Marathon

Ran the North Face Endurance Challenge Half Marathon on October 24, 2009. It was a COLD morning! Luckily for the half marathon runners, we did not start until 10 a.m. The 50 mile runners had started in the dark at 6 and the marathoners at 8 a.m. The half marathon course looped through the Kettle Morraine State Park, Southern Unit starting and finishing at Ottawa Lake. The course undulated quite a bit, but there were not many really big hills, just lots of up and down. The fall colors were close to peak, though the wind and rain over the previous few days had stripped some of the trees (and made for a few muddy patches). My favorite parts of the course were the sections of pine forests...very little of that on my runs at Des Plaines River Trail or Bong Recreation Area. The race was well organized and the route well marked. My only complaint is that the finish line are was too small. I crossed the finish line and had to come to an abrupt halt because the crowd was so thick I could not move. I liked the course for the Rock Cut Rendezvous 25km much more, and think I'll try the 50km race there next year. Finish time-2:12