Sunday June 13, 2010

The alarm goes off at 0600 and I get right up. I put on my riding gear and head downstairs. Akerke and Melissa are eating breakfast. Akerke's fever is gone. We had a thunder storm come through last night and it cooled things off a bit. We load our bikes on Missy's rack and head to Burton. On the way Missy stops at a McDonald's so I can get an egg McMuffin and coffee.

Burton is off the beaten path and on our way we do not see any other cars with bikes. I think people are not coming because of the weather. Boy was I wrong. We got to the parking lot and we got one of the last spaces. Bikes were everywhere. We head to the registration desk and check in. The ride is very well organized. All riders will initially ride a 27 mile loop and then if they want to do the 62.5 mile or 50 mile ride they take off from the original start.

I am riding my road bike with skinny tire that carry 120 psi. The skinny tires and high pressure make pedaling much easier than say a mountain bike that has fat tires and tire pressure of only 60 psi. Missy is riding a mountain bike with Akerke sitting in a bike seat. The bike seat is a lot like a kid's car seat. It has a shoulder harness and all the safety features. However, Missy must use a lot more energy to propel her bike than yours truly.

It starts to mist as we move out. I thought, boy!, this is not a good sign. I was a little nervous riding the first several miles because of the vehicular traffic and narrow road. However, once we got off the heavily travelled roads and into the countryside it was much better. My shirt got wet but I kind of liked it because it kept me cool. The only problem was the rain on my glasses. I did stop two times to clean my glasses.

The ride was through Amish country and it being Sunday we saw a lot of folk riding their carriages to worship service. I don't think the Amish have churches but worship at different homes. (I could be wrong!) We drove past one home and you could hear the folks singing hymns. The Ohio Amish farms look to be larger than Amish farms in Michigan. They also look very prosperous.

We did this ride last year so I should have been prepared for all the hills. However, even with my single speed I was able to climb all the hills. Missy also made all the hills even with her heavier load. We decided half way through that today we would only ride the 27 mile initial loop.

The rain stopped about mile 10 and my shirt was dry by the time I got to the end of the ride. We completed the ride about 1130. The nice thing about this ride is that lunch is provided at the end of the 27 mile loop. We had pasta, meatballs, salad and all the cookies you could eat. I bet there were at least 500 riders today. It is a great experience and I hope to do it again next year.

When we got home I took a shower and a nap. We then piled in Missy's car and did some shopping. We stopped at the store that sold that great cheese so I could buy a brick. Next we stopped at Trader Joe's and I bought 3 bottles of 2 buck chuck, ginger snaps and some trail mix. We had dinner at a local eatery and tonight we ate outside. I had a club sandwich. We got back to Missy's in time for 60 Minutes and I immediately feel asleep. I headed to bed about 2100.