Apple Cider Century 2009

The Apple Cider Century is one of the largest organized rides in the area. 5000 riders (officially) can chose routes from 15 to 100 miles through the cornfields and wine country near Three Oaks, Michigan. Every few years it is held on my birthday, so of course, the day was all about me. The crowd was mostly well-behaved; the sag stops were full of outstanding food; the route was quiet and scenic. If you like the idea of riding in a huge parade of other cyclists, this ride is fantastic. We can't blame the organizers for the weather, but the skies were blue, the day was mild (60 - 74), and only the 20 mph winds in the afternoon detracted from an otherwise perfect day.

One thing the organizers do better than anyone is mark the route.

Even though my max heart rate had dropped that morning, Don and I still decided to attempt the 100 mile ride. Sue, Ben, Annie and Mark rode a shorter route, and we were able to meet up with them before and during the ride. Sue pulled the Burley.





Don and I arrived early, had a filling breakfast at the firehouse, registered and picked up t-shirts for everyone. We invaded Don's son's house in Three Oaks (coincidentally also named Don) because the line for the bathroom was 20+ riders deep. Don rode strong for the first 30 miles or so.



It was crowded on the roads. Some riders dropped all pretense at courtesy and rode in the opposite lane, which complicated on-coming traffic dramatically. The organizers had police stationed at busy intersections, though, so we were waved through many stop signs.



It was crowded at the rest stops. At some of them, the food was served inside, and cleats tear up linoleum, so you had to take your shoes off in order to eat. This created problems for Don, who has heel spurs, but the organizers didn't have any answer to that. Starve or suffer... fortunately, he had us with him, so he only had to take his shoes off to register. Last year the potato soup was fantastic, but this year it was awful. Still, there was plenty to eat and it wasn't cold.

We met some riders from Chicago who told us how much they liked the South Haven area, and that they had a vacation home in another small town along Lake Michigan. As they left, I thanked them for spending money in Michigan, and I noticed that most of the riders were from Chicago.



It was crowded at the bathrooms. There were plenty of bathrooms, but the crowd overwhelmed the capacity.


The first rest stop on the 100 mile route was 26 miles away. I drink coffee, and my prostate is approximately the size of a cantaloupe, so I'm never going to last 26 miles without a ... rest. Fortunately, there were plenty of cornfields, with tall concealment for privacy. And no lines!


We weren't the only ones who thought of this.

The country roads were well chosen. The route was different this year than last because the roads near Three Oaks are in bad shape. Basically, the asphalt is there to connect the potholes. Three Oaks itself is in bad shape -- it went bankrupt from incompetent (but apparently not corrupt) politicians and was taken over by the state. It was originally settled by hard working German immigrants, and has a long history of conservative, traditional small town values. The main industry died when, sadly, corsets went out of style and the technically dominating Featherbone company went out of business. Artsy-fartsy urban residents moved in and began to try to change the locals, who just want to buy gas and get to work.

Despite this conflict, you can still get great lunch meat at Dryers, and great ice cream at Oakers: the town itself as a lot to offer.

Our route took us north to Baroda. I know one guy in Baroda, a Mason, and I saw him waiting for a line of us cyclists to pass a stop sign. I don't think he saw me.




After the first long set of hills, Don began to tire.



After the second set of hills, Don got tired AND discouraged. We had been biking well all year, but today was not going well. My theory: he had just been to the heart doctor, and whatever change they made didn't work.



The day wasn't a total loss: we got to meet up with Sue, Ben, Annie and Mark in New Troy.



Ben was wearing his favorite target jersey. I was wearing a seer-sucker cotton shirt over a wool ibex jersey. This was a little warm on the climbs, but comfortable the whole day.



Annie and Mark were lying down just like their uncle Ben.


Look! My Uncle is unconscious!



Ben was tired from staying up all night looking for ghosts.



Annie is tired too. Not really, but Ben made it look so fun.



Now THIS is fun, drinking our cider.

My favorite part of rides like this is seeing the other bikes. I saw one other Sojourn, and a couple of nicely outfitted Surley Long Haul Truckers. I saw an A. Homer Hilson ridden by someone with a Rivendell jersey, which had to be ironic. There was a nice Cannondale city bike -- it had fenders and straight handlebars, and an Electra Townie that I've heard make good commuters. There weren't many Tandems or recumbents, but there were a few. There were a couple of Burleys, but none were as used as ours (two crossings of Michigan, one circumnavigation of Lake Michigan, and several day rides like this one will add some wear and tear). No bike shop can afford to stock all these different kinds of bikes, so seeing them all in action is a lot of fun. There were plenty of retro-downtubeshifting-ten speeds. Or so it seemed.

All in all, it's a great ride and we'll probably do it again. What I'd really like to do is ride it NEXT weekend without the crowd.

PS: I've realized lately that the cows watch us. In town there are cameras everywhere, all channeled to the Government, but in the country we are watched by Cows.



Cows have a meeting, dividing the ride watch among themselves.



Nothing to see here, moooove along.

Packing list for the Ride around Lake Michigan

Our Lake Michigan Tour was not only fun to ride, it was also fun to plan. Part of the planning was to read other bike tours and see what other tourists brought. This is what I brought:



Sue carried very little for herself -- personal toiletries and some clothes; what weighed her down was children clothes and other equipment. Diapers and toys were mostly stored in the back of the Burley, but some of it was loaded on Sue's bike.
Because I brought so much work equipment (2 laptops, for example), I didn't take a lot of kid equipment.

My luggage was my Ortlieb Handlebar bag, a Nashbar trunk bag, and two Nashbar Panniers. The trunk bag held up reasonably well, and I use it on every ride; it cost $15 and although it's OK, I lust for the Nigel Smythe Big Loafer from Rivendell.

Sue and I both bought the Nashbar Panniers for $44 a pair, and we each had one fail on the trip. Mine failed in the first couple of days, and when I called Nashbar, they said I could send it back and get a full refund (the shipping would be on my dime). Then I could order another one and it would show up when it would show up and again, I would be asked to pay for shipping. So Nashbar's "100% Guarantee" doesn't stand up well in practice. I just used duct tape, and it didn't fall off too often.

My handlebar bag works very well, although it shakes in bumpy terrain.

I ended up leaving without a shirt -- I had nothing but bike jerseys until I bought a t-shirt in Zion, Il.

Pannier 1:



Computer equipment: Small laptop in padded case, charger, power strip, various usb and network cables, mouse. Also chargers for my phone, hearing aid remote, Garmin PDA and bluetooth headset.
Clothes: Bathing suit, Jeans (discarded a few days into the trip), shorts, underwear, t-shirts (left at home)
Contacts
First Aid Kit.

About the First Aid Kit: it had a picture of a bike on it, so that's the one I bought. I actually asked my Dr what kind of first aid kit I should get, and he thought that an eppie pen would be a useful piece of equipment, but had no idea about what first aid kit was any good or what should go in it. So I went with the picture of a bike, and Sue laughed at me until we used it. It was bulky, but not heavy, and had lots of stuff in it I thought might be useful. I also carried some of my contacts in there. I did not get an eppie pen, nor am I sure what one is.

Pannier 2:



Computer equipment: Large laptop in a padded case, charger, mouse, mouse pad, wireless card
Bike clothes: 3 shorts, 5 jerseys
(not shown) Toilet case with the usual, maps, power bars.

I like power bars on long rides. When there's nothing around and you're hungry, one of those is fantastic to eat and keep going. But I bought a few more than I needed because of a deal on Amazon, and instead of leaving most of them home, I brought them along. I think they weighed like 12 pounds for 24 bars and I ate about 5 or 6 the entire trip.

Trunk bag:



Clothes: Jacket, Street sandals, full finger gloves, headband
repair: lube, multi-tool, chain tool, patch kit, spare tubes, small parts (e.g., extra waterbottle screws, cleats), duct tape
Personal: bug spray, sun block, glasses

Handlebar bag:



Reading glasses, knife, lock, pen, hand wipes, notebook, cell phone, bluetooth headset, hearing aid holder and remote, flashlight, Kleenex, Sunglasses, wallet, protein drink mix, extra bug repellent, map case with today's map, (not shown) Garmin PDA/GPS, Camera

Everything packed:



On the bike:



Computer with HR monitor, water bottle, coffee thermos.

What I would change:
1. More street clothes, so I looked better off the bike.
2. Less laptops -- I think I could have done without one of the laptops.
3. smaller first aid kit (but don't tell Sue, I've been justifying the large one for a long time).
4. Fewer power bars and bug repellent. We passed a Walgreens at least once a day, so it would not have been hard to get what we needed when we needed it.
5. Maps: Sue and I never found the time to pore over the maps together before we left. I would have liked to spend more time jointly mapping the ride.
6. A hat.
7. Ortlieb or Carradice panniers.

What I would NOT change:
1. My bike
2. The company: Sue, Annie and Mark
3. everything else.

It is absolutely incredible how well all this equipment worked, and how few changes I needed to make on the road.

Fred Meijer Heartland Trail

The Heartland Trail starts (almost) in Greenville, and stretches to Edmore at the moment, although it is planned to reach Alma. It's wide, flat, well paved and popular. Don, Vic and I rode it on Labor Day.




We met a retired fighter pilot riding on the trail who took this picture.

Vic and I talked about tires, clipless pedals, clothing. I just replaced the stock tire on my bike -- which I bought this year! 2000 miles isn't much, but it has suffered a considerable strain from trailers, my weight and 1000 miles of panniers. The front tire is barely worn. I like clipless pedals, but I know many strong riders like Sue and Vic who do not use them. It's much better without them off the bike. I am experimenting with clothing: not the attractive shorts I get to wear, which I absolutely love no matter what they look like; but I want to experiment with different shirts. I've had bad luck with cotton t's because they stick and do not dry. Wool could be good, but it's really expensive, and the one jersey I have is cut for the "starving European" look, not the "I have a desk job and eat like an athlete" look. So it accentuates that which shouldn't. I've also heard good things about seersucker -- from the Rivendell website -- but I haven't had a chance to try that. I'm pretty happy with the jerseys I have, except that off the bike they don't work well as fashion statements. I'd like to find something that looks decent off the bike, but performs well on the bike.

For our mid-ride meal -- breakfast -- we stopped at a gas station for a $3.99 buffet. Vic bought mine (thanks Vic), so I owe him $4.23. Actually, Vic handed me a 20 to pay for both of us, then counted the change carefully.





The trail runs right past the end of a race track. You can see the safety hay bale at the end of the track to protect cyclists from out of control race cars. There's also a sign that says that we can't stand or stop.



I asked Vic to take a picture of me with a water tower coming out of my head.



Here we are, loading up the vehicles at the end of the trail.

While driving home Don and I were almost hit head on -- we had to swerve off the road with one wheel off the pavement -- when a car going the opposite direction chose to give a Tandem three feet of passing room, pushing that car well into our lane around a corner. If we had collided, the metal on metal contact would have been.. irony.

It's a long drive to a short ride, so we probably won't be back until there's a few more miles on the trail.