It was Monday, and I was up at oh-dark-thirty to get as much work as I could done before today's grueling ride. We were planning to go to Traverse City. The weather was going to be cool again, but instead of heavy cross-winds, we were going to have 20 mph headwinds. The hills were going to be worse, and the ride was going to be 60 miles instead of 40.
Sue woke up with sore knees -- for the first time she could remember. She thinks it was because she had a birthday the day before. She looked at all the factors for the ride, and if we were going to be riding together, she thought we could do it. But we weren't -- to get this ride done, she was going to have to start early, and I had to work until at least 10.
The next day was her mother's birthday, and we were meeting a large contingent of her family in Luddington -- which was three riding days away (Traverse City, Franfort, Luddington), so we planned to get a ride from Frankfort down to Luddington from her dad.
The day before had been draining, and the day ahead was daunting. We remembered the 61 mile day from hell in the UP -- and we did that side-by-side. If we had more time, we could have waited another day -- or just ridden to Charlevoix along a nice bike path and spend a night there, knocking off 10 miles and a chance a better wind the next day. But we had a deadline -- the kids had to be back by Sunday of Memorial weekend for their birthday party. Their actual birthdays were a week later, so we hadn't expected this constraint when we started.
This trip was about having fun, not torturing ourselves and the kids. We and the kids would have more fun hanging out for a couple of days in Ludington, where there was a big pool, a game room and plenty of other things to do. This would allow us to get back on schedule, celebrate Sue's and her Mom's birthday, and rest our legs. We called Ben and he agreed to give us a ride as soon as he could get out of school.
I went back to work, and Sue went off to find entertainment for the kids until Ben came. I worked a little extra, getting ahead with the extra time.
Sue needs to ride with someone who can take a good picture. This is the hill up to our hotel.
I started out going to the bank, which was at the bottom of the hill. The bank lobby was closed, which worried me because I had a long argument with a bank in California about using the drive through with a bike. The lady at the bank was very nice and didn't give me any trouble, which surprised me, given our experience with other Petoskey residents. Sue and I talked about where to have lunch -- she was at the top of the hill, and I was at the bottom. We compromised and ate at the bottom of the hill. Annie scared a 12 year old in the next booth, which was odd to me. Don't they have kids in Petoskey?
This is the light in Petoskey. I think the residents buy pickups to compensate for having such a little one.
At the park, waiting for Ben.
Ben and Annie enjoy their reunion.
We all missed Casey; I'm glad Ben brought her up to see us.
After all the running around, all we had to do was wait, so we hung out at a park and played with the kids. Ben got there, we loaded up the bikes and all our gear, and headed out.
Annie and Mark never got to see Ludington: their mom asked Ben to bring them home. For the rest of the trip it would be just Sue and me.
3 miles, 691 total.
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