The third day of my sixth DALMAC (Dick Allen Lansing Mackinac) ride this summer.
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| Pure Michigan Hospitality! Boardman, MI. |
Day 3 starts out as the coldest day so far. My weather app shows 37℉ at 6 AM as I am packing up for the day. This does mean the cold weather gear is coming out; tights, two jerseys, one a long sleeve, a winter cycling cap and fingered gloves. There is very heavy morning dew, so my tent will be packed wet and I will have to dry it this afternoon at the next overnight. (And my wet tent, along with 150 other wet tents in the baggage trucks, is why you double bag everything, even in your baggage.)
We are going to be riding downhill for most of the day, dropping from our current 1200 ft. to 600 ft. by late in the day. But we are still riding up and over enough of northern Michigan’s glacial moraines and inland dunes that despite the overall loss of elevation, the day will still have 1,900 feet of climbing in the 67 miles ahead.
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| BRR! |
Breakfast is a quieter affair with our downsized group. The breakfast fare is similar, and I enjoy a mix of eggs, sausage, oatmeal, a couple small pancakes and some fruit. After breakfast, it is back out to the bikes. I change into my cycling shoes and zip my Keene’s into my bag, and then walk them to truck, carefully climbing the damp metal ramp. It always seems harder to walk down the ramp then up, so I use the door’s handrail and step down off the bumper.
I am surprised at how many riders are already on the road as we mount up. I felt no need to rush out on a cold morning and a relatively short day of riding. In any case, we will still have plenty of company on the road. We start off at a pace that soon takes care of the chill, heading north and quickly leaving the town behind. We are now riding in mostly forest, with only a few scattered fields as evidence of past farming.
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| Smooth roads and clear skies! |
We are on M66, a state highway with a little more vehicle traffic, but wide lanes and paved shoulders. The cars and occasional trucks are very accommodating; it also helps that with the long, straight grades, there are dozens of cyclists, in bright clothing and some with daytime running lights, visible for a mile or two up the road.
About 8 miles down from the start, we turn off M66 to follow the “old M66”. We lose the traffic, and immediately start a mile-long grade to gain 200 feet, and by the top, being cold is not a concern. We continue along the top of a ridge for a couple more miles, and then start a 3-mile descent, dropping twice the elevation we had just climbed. I have ridden this twice before, and I remember the 30 mph roll-out on the tandem the last time. I settle into the drops, fingers floating on over the brake levers, until the road brings us back to M66.
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| Steve finishes up the old M66 roll-out. |
While writing these blogs, I realized how much I have ingrained today's tech into my riding, and to compare it to my early experience. Weather is always available, where in the past, unless you had a portable radio, and could find a a local station, and caught the forecast, you were completely dependent on the ride organizers to post something on a bulletin board at a sag or during the overnights. Likewise, the daily search for a working pay phone was part of
my first DALMAC adventure; now texts, emails and Facebook posts flow readily back and forth between family and friends as I work my way north.
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| PIE! The Boardman Church bake sale! |
You lived by your map book and painted Dan Henry’s on those rides; now my GPS is loaded with the routes, and gives me turn by turn directions. Speed was a rarely known data point, and mileage was recorded by a mechanical cyclometer, clicking away on my front hub. My electronic minion on the handlebars collects speed, cadence, route, heart rate, elevation and temperature, minute by minute, all logged away and sent through my phone to a website later in the day. This replaces the daily notebooks where I tried to track each day’s mileage, when I remembered to write it down. And even that journal is replaced with an iPad, or the synced notes on my iPhone, where I also travel with a library of a half dozen books, and a dozen favorite albums.
The elevation data is also another interesting aspect of the GPS. In the past, you remembered the big hills, but you never really thought about the constant changes of the terrain as you crossed the state. Inland Michigan is almost 500 feet above the surrounding great Lakes, and crossed by many streams and small rivers. The GPS elevation data really brings that to life. It was also interesting to talk so some riders who were not using a GPS, one was a TCBA volunteer, who didn’t realize you could download the route and elevation profile to your phone.
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| An abandoned farm on Valley Road - near Kalkaska. |
Lights are another big change; I have come a long way from the simple 6-watt generator and battery arm & leg light that came along on my early DALMAC rides. I have both front and rear daytime running lights which I have been using for the 2 full riding seasons. Both are visible for over half a mile, and I
strongly recommend them for all road riders. I am happy to see at least a 1/3 of the riders using them, and hope more will be using them next year.
After another stretch on M66, turn west to go up to the church at Boardman, where the congregation has hosted a DALMAC bake sale for many years. I enjoy some pie, a sandwich and a GatorAde, and pick-up an extra cookie bar for the road. It is still cool, but the sun is bright and day is slowly warming up as we head out again. We are soon rolling north on M131 through Kalkaska, and then turn west on M72.
A few miles west of Kalkaska we turn of the main road on to Valley Road. It is a relatively recent route change and new to me. We are following a winding road through a mix of small hillside farms and forest; it reminds me of both riding in New England, and the roads in Traverse Bay area, another day’s ride north. It is great improvement over the long run on a state highway that I recalled.
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| A "two-day" cookie! |
Another dozen miles and we arrive in Rapid City for an official sag stop featuring 6” cookies, and a few miles later our lunch stop at a cafe in Alden. We are on Torch Lake, and this is a summer resort area, so for many of the businesses, Labor Day is the end of summer. Yes, we will be followed in a few weeks by the Leafers, then the hunters after that and probably some snowmobilers in the months that follow. But I grew up in a family that ran a small Michigan lakeside hotel for two generations; Labor Day in Michigan is always the end of The Season, of summer sun and play, the signal to return to school, work and life’s other obligations.
Our riding day finishes with a long stretch along the eastern shore of Torch Lake, though the lake is only occasionally glimpsed through the trees and between homes and cottages. The road is freshly paved, and the traffic is light, and the day has warmed enough that I am down to a jersey and arm warmers. We finally begin the last climb over the ridge before we drop into Central Lake, and another high school.
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| Now that's cooking! |
At the school grounds, I find my bag and a spot for my tent, and soon have everything out and my tent drying. The sun is bright, and the everyone is in a festive mood. The weather is perfect for the outdoor barbecue the school is preparing, complete with an open grill and roasted sweet corn. It’s a perfect end to the third day and over 220 miles so far.
After dinner, I take a short walk into town for some socializing with Steve and a few of his Lansing friends. It’s a very comfortable evening, though with the clear sky, it will probably cool off quickly, and it does. We return to the school just before dark, and I settle into my tent for the night, looking forward to a good night’s sleep and another day of riding ahead. Life is good.
Day 3 by the numbers:
Start: Lake City
Finish: Central Lake
Mileage: 67.1 (227.9)
Riding Time: 4 hours, 22 Minutes
Lunch: Alden
Elevation: +1914 / -2498 ft
Continues in
2017: DALMAC Day 4 - Century Day
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| 227 miles in, Life is Good |
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