Our ride started out muggy, but cooler than previous days on Thursday morning (Sept 2nd) and was a fairly nice until about lunchtime in Perrinton. We made it to Perrinton for lunch just in time for it to start sprinkling. We weren't too worried about it at that point because we were taking a short break for eating anyway. Our support vehicles were curious as to how we were doing, so they met up with us at the VFW Hall, cheering us on as we left. Less than a mile north of Perrinton is when the rain really started getting steady. We ended up having to ride in steady rain for a good 2 hours. Though we were all soaked and bummed it was raining, we kept remarking it could be worse, so on we rode to Vestaburg. By time we got about 6 miles from Vestaburg it stopped raining and we were able to dry off some. Bob was really happy with the time we were making as we made it to Vestaburg High School about 2 hours earlier than he had ever made on his first day destination. What I was ready for when we finished that first day, instead of group showering in the high school locker room, was my grandma's nice hot sauna. So our SAG's took us on a short road trip to my grandma's so we could eat and shower (in private). However, we were watching the news with the impending doom that was being forecast for the next 2 days. 3 days before, the weather was being forecast as partly sunny/cloudy and warm; what we were now seeing was thunderstorms and a wicked cold front with torrential rain and wind being forecast. We kept up hope that the weather guy was wrong. That night we wake to our tent almost being blown away and rain somehow coming in through the tent sideways.
We wake up to Day 2, no more rain, the sun on the horizon, believing it's going to be a great day. The weather was actually pretty nice, slightly chilly, but the sun was shining... until we got to Lake George... Then the problems came in. Dylan's tire wouldn't hold air and we had to keep stopping to pump it back up until we could get to our lunch destination (Lake George) to fix the problem. While there, there was a significant drop in temperature and a significant increase in wind. With Dylan's tire problems, Bob sent Gordon and I ahead of them until they could get Dylan's bike fixed. Gordon and I rode on, having a pretty good ride, until God decided to open up the heavens with ice cold rain and wind so strong it was practically pushing us backwards uphill. We made it to Falmouth to our support team cheering us on and pepping up our spirits. After a quick snack and beverage, we took off to finish the day out. Though there were times we just wanted to stop, we kept pushing on, trying to sing to pass the time away. With each quick rest stop we took, I was praying Bob and Dylan would catch up with us (after spending an hour getting Dylan's bike fixed) so we could finish Day 2 together in Lake City. After a miserable amount of riding against the wind, we finally made it to Lake City, with Gordon speeding up so he could finish the day. We high-5'ed and had grins on our faces the size of clowns! We only had to wait about 10-15 minutes for Bob and Dylan to ride in behind us. Finally, we all thought, Day 2 done and over. Because of the torrential rain, we skipped camping at Lake City and had our SAG's take us back to Bob's parents cabin for a hot shower and comfortable, dry beds!
What we woke to on Day 3 (Saturday) was more depressing than anything! Loading up and leaving the cabin by 6am so we could be on the road out of Lake City by 7am. It was a frigid 40 degrees... maybe! And the further west we got, the more it started to rain. I prayed and prayed and prayed that it wouldn't be raining by time we got to Lake City. I was partially right, as it wasn't raining as we left town. However, as we got about 1 hour into our day it started drizzling. What happened between about 9am and 1pm is all kind of a haze to me and I really don't want to remember how incredibly miserable I felt. At one time during the heavy downpour of rain and the ridiculous excessive wind, I decided no one would know the difference if I was crying or not... so on came tears... it was so bad I was praying a car would hit me just enough to damage my bike and send me home, so I could lay in a warm, dry bed. We had just made it to our stop at a church about 10 miles south of Kalkaska, got under cover, when the wind started gusting at about 35 miles an hour pushing the rain sideways. Many people at this point just gave up (it wasn't worth riding a bike in this weather...), I forced Bob to stay an extra 10 minutes in hopes the rain would let up a little bit (at that point, I was so wet, it really didn't matter). We finally made it to Kalkaska, had a quick stop at McDonald's to warm up, then set off for our lunch destination in Alden with our support group. We finally made it to Alden at about 1pm, were delayed with more tire problems and a slow serving restaurant (it was a full bar, during the MSU football game). Thank God my aunt lives in Alden, my mom left with her to get our clothes dried and warm before we took off again - though it didn't matter, we were soaking wet again, within 15 minutes of leaving Alden.
From Alden and north, it was just a pure miserable cold, windy, rainy day. We finally arrived in Boyne City at 7:30pm, after being on our bikes since 7am that morning. This day may have contained the challenge of riding up "The Wall" (in East Jordon and trust me, it is a challenge), the real challenge of Day 3 was riding 92 miles through 35 mph gusts of wind and ice cold rain storms. This day made me say never again!
As for the 4th day, besides butts (and various other parts) being sore, it was a breeze. God finally blessed up with the sun (still quite windy, but alas, better than the day before). The 4th day was definitely the most fun, riding through the more beautiful parts of Michigan's west coast, and finally getting to coast down some pretty amazing hills! 6 miles out we could finally see the bridge! We finally made it in about 3-4pm Sunday afternoon with the disappointment of no 40th anniversary medals. Whatever, our support team was there hootin' and hollerin' and congratulating the determination of pushing ourselves through 2 absolutely miserable days.
As for me, I may sign up to ride the DALMAC again, but the next time, if the weather changes from good to terrible, I see no need to "prove" myself. I will say goodbye to that money and enjoy myself in a nice, warm, comfortable house, buried under the blankets and laugh at all the fools riding their bikes in the rain.
(The photos are out of order, I stole some from nieces & nephews - and it isn't all of them, my mother still hasn't given me her copy of the pictures she took)
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| DALMAC |
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