Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Heat & headwind part 2

6-22-10 Day 18: Edmore, Michigan to Lake City, Michigan: 71 miles in 5:25 hrs: Rt 66 the whole way.

I was awoke by the strong sounds of thunder and lightening last night around 3 in the morning, just as the evening news had forecast, and a front had moved in and nearly out by the time I cracked the drapes at 6:45 AM. Looked really windy though, and I was a bit concerned that my wonderful southeasterly from the day before would have turned out of my favor what with the bad weather coming from the northwest. Turned on the morning news and found out that the severe weather created power outages and some downed trees in the surrounding areas.

Good move to hit the cheap motel last night rather than get blown away in my little Hotel Hellie! Got on the road at 8:30 AM and started pedaling back to Rt 66 north, and I was fighting a northwesterly headwind from the first pedal stroke. It’s funny, but when you’re not doing something like this you really don’t think too much about wind velocity and wind direction, but ride a bike in it everyday for 5-7 hours and it becomes such a huge deal. You’re thinking about it all the time. Some days you’re graced with a killer tailwind and cranking out fast, effortless mileage. And other days you’re killing yourself riding into a vicious headwind where you can barely muster double digit mph. Today was the latter!

Then you add a everything but the kitchen sink to your trailer….and walla…….it’s a massive struggle to keep a rhythm. Once back on 66 I was fighting a gnarly crossheadwind and working pretty hard to maintain 12-13 mph. My wonderful berm from yesterday took a hiatus on me just north of the Rt 46/66 jcn, and for nearly 20 miles I was riding on this measly little 1-foot ribbon of berm – up and down a long series of rollers. At that time even averaging 11 mph was a major victory. Took me all the way to the town of Barryton before the ribbon berm and the undulating roadway ended and I got back to long, gradual climbing on a berm that was 4 feet wide.

Bad thing was that, and I’ve found this to be the case in my cross-country touring, as the day wears on the wind just keeps getting worse. So the 10-12 mph wind from morning had graduated to 15-20 mph by noon. I mean it was literally standing me up on the flats just so I could get my speed back up. And the wind keeps getting tougher as the day wears on – by 1 PM it was like riding into a wall! Rode 4 straight hrs before a stop, and that first stop was in Marion. Got a liter of ice cold coke and some bottle refills and hopped back on the bike. Now by Marion I was seriously questioning my route making decisions, as I was planning on taking Rt 55 west to Cadillac where I had found several good camping options. But with the wind just getting nastier and nastier I really couldn’t fathom going 10 miles west on Rt 55. And when I stopped and looked at the map at the 66/55 jcn, I saw that I’d simply be adding 10 miles to the day and get no further north than I would if I were to just ride into Lake City instead of Cadillac. Matter of fact I’d be about 5 miles further north in Lake City and put in a shorter day. Problem was that I didn’t have any camping info for Lake City.

What sealed my decision was the fact that Rt 131 out of Cadillac jcn with Rt 66 up in Kalkaska. So I’d save myself 10-15 miles of riding if I simply just stayed on 66. DONE! Not riding into the jaws of that headwind if I didn’t have to. So on to Lake City. By 2 PM the temp was a solid 85, and I mean it was freaking hot. Going through bottles of water pretty fast during the final hr of riding. But with Lake City being a big question mark for camping or even motel I tried to get it in my head that I may have to ride all the way to Kalkaska to find anything – that was the point in going thru Cadillac. By round about 5:25 hrs of saddle time I came into Lake City, and what did I see in the horizon………a Subway sign! Stopped at a gas station adjoining the Subway and checked about camping and the dude didn’t know of anything, but he said there was a motel just a block down the road.

Decided to check the motel just for the hell of it before I decided anything, and be darned if the owner didn’t tell me that since I was on a bike he’d give it to me for 40 bucks out the door. I’ll tell you, times must be tough up here in the vacation lands of Northern Michigan because there’s a lot of these little places that are now OOB. I jumped on the offer since it was just 15 bucks more than a campsite. Now this ain’t the Hilton mind you with candy on the bed and a bloody full complement of toiletry items. Nope, it’s a small efficiency room that’s got a fig, cable, a desk, and it’s clean and ……it has a freaking shower – perfect!

Heck the dude was so glad that I accepted the room that he ran in and get me an ice cold Mt Dew and a bottle of water. Went in and showered off another shaker’s worth of salt from my body and then went to the Subway and used my Subway card for 2 footlongs – a cold cut combo and an Itailan. Woofed them both down in 15 minutes. Then I went back and sat in a lawn chair in front of my room. They’re right smack in the sun, which I used to dry my cycling kit that I washed in the shower. While I was checking out my map an old timer was walking by to cash in his “Cobra” big 24 beer bottles at the gas station down the block. I nodded hello to him and then he came over. I could Immediately smell the beer he’d just consumed, and judging by the 5 bottles, and these puppies are big, that he was a bit trashed.

He asked me what I was doing, where I was going, the whole deal. Well this gent stood there and talked about everything from the hot weather up here, to what routes I should ride on as I headed north, to hunting, to his daughters, to his ex wife, to getting pulled over by the locals for DUI and being escorted home, to his part-time lawn cutting business. I mean this dude could talk. I mean he went on for a solid 40 min, with me politely nodding in agreement or occasionally throwing in a “no kidding” or a “wow.” My bud was 65 years old though looked to be 75. Good natured chap for sure. Then he wanted to know if I wanted to come over later and drink beer and have a frozen pizza. He was going to return the bottles, get some more and continue to keep his Tuesday afternoon party going.

I politely declined telling him that I’d just consumed 2 footlong subs and that I had to get to bed early so I could get up and ride early. Seemed like a nice old fellow but I just couldn’t do another gig like Ryan and I did back in Nipigon Canada where we were invited to stay with a group of partyers who were just off the charts drunk. I had to literally pry my way out of their house so I could go to bed.

Well, that’s the story for today. Looks like the potential for more severe weather tonight, and maybe tomorrow morning. So it’s another day of playing it as it comes weather wise. Still forecasted are the steamy temps. If weather isn’t an issue I should make the Mackinaw Bridge by Thursday and be nearly a day ahead of schedule. Late……….Pete

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