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| Good Morning! |
My fourth day on the road was the first to start under clear and sunny skies as I moved the contents of my tent to my porch tarp and exited my tent. While I boiled water for my oatmeal breakfast, I pulled up my Google Maps bike routing for the day ahead. Google was pretty insistent that I ride US12 part of the way today. From my experience driving US-12, I knew there was a paved shoulder, but I knew I would be sharing that road with lots of car and truck traffic. I was going to stick to county secondary roads where ever it was practical, and in this part of Michigan, I was pretty confident the road would be there.
As I finished my breakfast, I cut up another bag of apple slices. This was Friday morning, and was just finishing up the fruit from my last grocery store on Wednesday night. I took advantage of the sunny morning for a picture of me in camp, and was soon packed and on my way. My route backtracked about 3 miles to the main road, and added two more Gatorade caps to my collection from a small country market. My collection was now up to almost a dozen. I then continued due east, on a smooth, freshly paved road through rolling hills and farmland.
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| Wrapping up breakfast |
For the last 3 days I had been averaging a 10 miles segment every 45-50 minutes, between 13 and 14 mph. My tour planning rule of thumb is 10 mile forward for every hour of riding, and this trip was true to the rule. My first town was Litchfield, at 17 miles. While I had never biked to Litchfield in the past, with each mile east, the closer I was to home, and to familiar names of small towns and lakes. It was just about 10:30 in the morning, and I picked up a sandwich, banana and cold soda for a light first lunch, eating while sitting on park bench in the town square. A guy on a road bike passed through town, the second I had seen since leaving Carmel, but he didn’t notice me or my bike. I finished eating and packed up half the sandwich, and continued east for a few miles.
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| Rolling backroads |
After a short dogleg north, the road continued east, but after a mile, I came to a cross road and for the first time on the trip, my intended road turned to gravel. I was only slightly disappointed, and this was the reason I was using the 920 as my touring bike. On my purpose built, Assenmacher 700c wheeled touring bike, a gravel road was a last resort. The road ahead was the most direct route, so I just down shifted a couple of gears and continued east. The 42mm x 700 (aka 29er) Continental Tour Rides took the gravel in stride, and the 920 was steady as a rock. I just kept my cadence up, and worked may way around the loose sand, gravel and washboarding. My average speed barley dropped. All told, I rode about 6-7 miles of gravel before the pavement resumed.
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| Sandhill cranes looking for a snack. |
At 30 miles for the day, I crossed Moscow Rd, and I was back on my first double century, in 1974, riding into Moscow, Michigan at 2 am, under a star filled sky, with 125 miles complete, and 8 hours to finish the last 75 miles. Before long more road names were familiar, and even a few familiar landmarks. By the time I crossed US 127, I was on regular roads from my first years of riding from home. I passed a farm where I had stacked hay for a summer, and roads to the homes of high school friends. In Cement City, I found another quick shop (1 more cap), and I was surprised again, this time by a high school aged teen who asked about my touring bike, where I was headed, and wished me luck.
I continued on until on couple more miles around Lake Columbia, and turned a corner on another once familiar road, and then into the parking lot of my former high school. This was to have been a reunion summer for my high school class, but then came COVID. I parked my bike in front of the school, set up my tripod and snapped a picture and a few selfies. It was fun to share those on Facebook the 20 or so classmates I have reconnected with over the years.
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| Keep Calm and Gravel On! |
As I was packing my tripod, a women walked up to from the parking lot, and asked why I was taking the pictures. When I explained my class and starting from Indianapolis, she introduced herself as the School District Superintendent and was very pleased I had made the effort. We chatted almost 10 minutes about local history, the 3 generations of my family through the connected schools, and how even a classmate of mine was now on the school board. It was a nice and unexpected connection.
I then headed on into Brooklyn, my last stop before the ride out to my parent’s former home. It was time for second lunch, and the first time on the trip I found a McDonald’s with an open dining room. I took advantage of the WIFI, topped off the charges on my lights, phone and GPS for the day. While my reserved site had electric service (all the Michigan State park offered), I had learned that many RV electric boxes now require a special plug, and don’t offer a basic 110 outlet. I also checked a couple details for a special picture.
The miles out to the Farm were like meeting an old friend, as I rolled past the former homes of classmates and family friends, some dating back to my Dad’s time in high school. The two lane road I had ridden hundred’s of times before now has a paved bike lane, and my years of experience had now reduced some of the hills I had first challenged on a 3-speed. I finally turned on to Hardcastle Road, and soon pulled in to my parent’s driveway, and rolled my bike on the lawn. I found firm a spots for the kick stand and then sat down on the front step.
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| Really missed our reunion, but this made up for it! |
The late afternoon sun cast a long shadow across the front yard, which contrasted with the brightly lit yard and surrounding fields of soy beans. The only sounds were the gentle breeze through the pines along the road, the crickets, a few birds, and the occasional passing car. It was a timeless moment, just one more summer afternoon added to the thousand’s prior in the almost 100 years the house had been a home. It was easy to imagine Mom and Dad, and even Grandma and Grandpa, looking over my shoulder as I setup my camera and tripod, and placed my bike the same way I had so many thousands of miles ago. I tripped the shutter, and I quickly moved behind my bike and picked up my helmet just so, and the moment was finished. I packed up my tripod, said my silent farewells, mounted my bike, and rolled out of the driveway of my parent’s house for the last time.
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| A lot of miles, and memories, between these two photos. |
(Shortly after I completed my tour, my sister took possession of the Farm on Hardcastle Road, the third generation of our family to take ownership.)
Union, Michigan to Hayes State Park, Wampler's Lake, Michigan
61.4 Miles Total
291.4 Total Trip Miles
Total Time 09:09:03
Moving Time 05:17:16
Total Time 09:09:03
Moving Time 05:17:16
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