The Goal: Bike from Grand Rapids, MI to Big Rapids, MI (approx distance 55 miles) along the whitepine trail on Saturday, and back on Sunday.
The Riders: Mark, Scott, Pat, Sterling, Cory, Justin, Michael, Eric, and myself.
What Happened:
We started out at about 9:30 am and surprisingly Justin was not late at all, and our last member showed up just in time to make the start time. The first 15 or so miles north of Grand Rapids is nicely paved and we all crank through it pretty fast. Pat aka "The Spinner" is already way ahead due to his time in the gym on the biking machines he frequents. We make our first stopp right as the paved trail turns into some hard packed dirt. Everyone is in good spirits at this point.
Our next leg leads us through a few small towns such as Cedar Springs, Sand Lake and we struggle a little as the trail gets worse, but make it to Howard City for the appointed half way point and lunch break. The Spinner makes it there ahead of Eric, Scott and myself by about 15 mins and we find the Steelhead bar/restaurant first. The rest of the guys are not too far behind us. The beer and food rocked at there. I highly reccommend it to anyone visiting Howard City. We've went about 26 miles by this point.
After an extended lunch break and I think 4 pitchers of Oberon (really great local brew for those non-michiganders), we saddle up and head out. This is pretty much where hell starts I think. The trail turns to either rock covered or sand. I have a new hatred for sand after this trip. Everyone struggles to keep up. Eric and I ride about 10 miles or so and take a break to wait for everyone. During this, we see a strange man just standing on the side of the trail in the middle of nowhere, a horse and buggy, and maybe 2 other people. That makes it 4 people other than us on this trail so far. We have about 15 miles left now to get to Big Rapids. And they were a killer 15 miles. We had to stop and walk once or twice up some sandy hills. My quads were just burning, and I am out of water by now as is everyone else.
Then the rain started, and it felt really really good for about 10 mins. But then it started coming down so hard you couldnt see and I was soaked to the bone soon after. We finally reached a gas station at about the same time the pavement started for Big Rapids and were very happy to buy some more water. We waited up here for the group and once everyone was in set out to find the Hotel. We made it there in 4 hours and 44 mins total biking time from Grand Rapids.
Getting to the Hotel was nice, but once we checked in getting in the hot tub and pool was the best feeling ever. I was dead tired and could have fallen asleep in that hot tub real easily.
More eating and drinking ensued after that. Mostly drinking on everyone else's part. I however pretty much crashed and slept through it all. I couldnt even stay awake for the Pistons game, not that I missed much there.
There was a nice breakfast spread on Sunday morning. That tasted mighty fine. 9:00 am hit and everyone minus the Cory and Sterling was ready in the lobby to take off for home.
The return trip did not start out well. We went about 1 mile and stopped to buy some water. That is where the problems started for me. My water bottle inside my pack leaked and everything was soaked. Then my bike fell over and the handle bars bent a little. Another mile and my luggage rack broke off the frame and we had to stop and rig the thing back together with some Zip Ties (best invention ever) and bungy cords. I think the rain was starting up again now, but just a sprinkle. Another mile and Pat's tire blew. Luckily it would hold some air and he could pump it up and go. So yeah the first 4 miles or so I think we stopped 4 times. That was not a good pace.
Then the rain started for real, and did not stop the entire trip home, except for maybe 10 mins or so. We stuck to the paved roads on the way home, because the trail sucked dry, but wet it was worse. The problem with paved roads was that was almost no shoulder. A couple trucks got close to us which really sucked. We made it to Howard City again and stopped for lunch without much else happening. The food once again rocked. But we were all soaked and got cold sitting just sitting there.
Starting back up after lunch really sucked. It was really really cold, because of the wind and wetness. But evert so slowly we made it back. It was really really nice hitting the paved trail again on the south end of Cedar Springs. There was a slight downhill grade and Eric Mark and I probably averaged a 17 mph speed the last 15 miles. We made it to the car at about 3 hours and 55 mins. You can see the big difference between the trail and paved roads.
All and all it was a great time. I have never biked that far, and now I can say that I have.
Total Trip miles: 102 (approx could be closer to 110)
Total Trip Time : 8 hours, 39 mins
Total times we cursed The Spinner out and swore he was juiced: alot
Amount of training miles a rider must complete next year before being invited: 60