100 miles… done.

Sorry for the pause in the posting... I started my ICU month on Monday, and it's set things a bit behind in all other aspects of life...

I did it! In the process of training I rode over 1,000 miles, over 500 of which were in June alone. It paid off though, in that most of the 100 mile ride was very comfortable. The last few miles up some very steep hills (really, ride organizers, really?) were rather painful, but I don’t think anything I could have done would have prepared me more for those. As was decided by you all in this post, we rode the Covered Bridge Tour, and I couldn’t recommend it more!

 

We started out in the historic village of Fallasburg, which is about 30 minutes by car outside of Grand Rapids. After registering and eating a very quick breakfast, we hopped on the bikes. Our first stop was in Ida, a mere 14 miles down the road. They had delicious snacks, and a beautiful covered bridge:

It was beautiful and shady for the next portion of our ride, and when we stopped again in Coldwater (past another bridge, see below) I hardly wanted to slow down.

We were about 25 or so miles into the ride, which is where I tend to really hit my stride. I’m properly warmed up, but not tired, and really enjoying myself. After that we went straight north back into Fallasburg for lunch. They served delicious pasta, garlic bread, strawberry shortcake, root beer, and chocolate milk (from the local dairy farmers, no less). Have I mentioned before that I primarily enjoy biking for the food? It was fantastic, and a good prep for our next 50 miles.

The second half of the route was much less shady and included a few more busier roads. The rest stop, however, was at a beautiful historic home in Ionia, MI. They were so gracious as to let me use the bathroom – probably the nicest one on any bike ride anywhere…

After that we cycled past the prison (seems you can’t bike more than 50 miles in this state without hitting a prison), the State Recreation Area (which looks surprisingly similar from the perimeter), the city (town? village?) of Lowell, and some of the most gigantic hills I’ve ridden ever on my bike.
And then it was done!