4/26/2020 0 Comments Lower Peninsula bike tourTwo years ago, I biked across the Upper Peninsula, so naturally I am making plans to bike across the Lower Peninsula. I have been thinking about this route for a few months now, and I am excited to ride the length of Michigan in a week. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic happening at the moment, it may have to be postponed a summer due to global health security. Here is my planned route across the eastern side of the state:
Day 1: Mackinaw City to Rogers City (57mi) Day 2: Rogers City to Glennie (70mi) Day 3: Glennie to Au Gres (47mi) Day 4: Au Gres to Saginaw (57mi) Day 5: Saginaw to Fowlerville (59 mi) Day 6: Fowlerville to Adrian (62 mi) Day 7: Adrian to Lyons, Ohio (13 mi) Each night, I would camp or stay with friends/family. Due to the short duration of the tour, I would carry all my food with me. I would rather have my panniers a little heavier than spending money each day on food – but that’s just my personal preference. My tentative packing list includes: Sleeping - tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag Cooking - stove, cup, utensils, fuel, lighter Food - 6 1/2 dinner meals, 6 breakfast meals, 7 lunches/snackiez Clothing - 2 biking shorts, 3 shirts, 6 socks/underwear, 2 bras, 2 camp t-shirts, 1 camp skirt, pajamas, lightweight sweater, lightweight sweatpants, rain/wind coat, rain/wind pants, clip shoes, chacos, helmet, sunglasses, bike gloves Toiletries - brush, shampoo/conditioner, toothbrush/paste, first aid kit, chamois butter, sunscreen, towel Bike - pedal wrenches, allen wrenches, chain lube, bike pump Miscellaneous - headlamp, charging cords (phone, bike lights), solar charger, journal/pen, fabric bags, money/ID, headphones, fire starter Rear panniers/rear rack/bungee cords Behind the seat pack Stem pack
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4.21: 17 miles; 2 hours. (previous blog post)
4.22: 21.5 miles; 1 hour 45 minutes. This ride was refreshingly fast compared to the previous day of strong headwinds and snow. My fingers were frozen the first 5 miles, as I only had biking gloves on, and I was scared that I would have to cut my ride short due to lack of feeling in my fingers. As time went on, I regained feeling in my fingers. The longer Governor Whitmer’s stay-at-home order is in place, the more people are getting stir crazy. There was lots of traffic, most vehicles gave me space on the roads, but not all. Also, with the snow rapidly disappearing, litter and trash line the ditches. If I picked up all the cans on the side of the road, I could probably fund a good portion of fall semester’s tuition – which is not something to be excited about. Happy earth day! 4.23: 31.76 miles; 2 hours 35 minutes. I checked the weather five times. Five times, for “Newberry, Michigan.” Was I riding in Newberry? No. Where was I riding, you ask? Naubinway, and then to Newberry. As my Mom and sister were driving me to Naubinway to start my bike route, there was this haze on the horizon. At first, we thought it was just really cloudy, maybe it was raining, maybe smoke from a large fire. Then we drove into it – snow clouds filled with snow flurries. As I laced my biking shoes, my fingers were going numb, and a strong south east wind was flying across Lake Michigan. I said goodbye to my Mom and sister, put on my winter gloves, and headed east down US-2. The shoulder was wide, three feet of tarmac, then the rumble strip and white line. Turned left onto Borgstrom road with an astounding two inches of shoulder. I didn’t bother with the little shoulder; my bike and I took up the whole right lane. On this ride, I wanted to push myself, but not enough to where my knees start hurting. Guess what, my knees started hurting on this ride, and it was a good reminder to use a lower gear. Overall, it was snowy and cold, but not unbearable. 4.24: 20 miles; 1 hour 40 minutes. Recovery ride day!! After yesterday’s longer ride, my knees definitely hurt. I spread arnica gel on my knees and took arnica capsules for faster muscle recovery. Weirdly enough, my legs hurt more when I was walking around the house than when I was riding. The route I rode was meant to be easy and low intensity with no intention for a new best time. I’m not really good at this type of riding. I get into the groove of riding and just GO. (I guess that’s why my knees always hurt so much each season.) A larger range of gears were used today than on yesterday’s 30-mile route. The weather today was a complete 360 from the day before – the sun was out, wind was almost nonexistent, and kids were playing outside. However, it still was still cold enough for winter thermals on under my cycling clothes. 4/21/2020 0 Comments Pre-SeasonThe 2020 biking season came sooner than expected this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 13th, Alma College made the decision to move all classes online, and for students to move back home to prevent the spread of the virus. I packed up my belongings and moved back home the next day. Although Governor Gretchen Whitmer has put in place a Stay-at-home order, biking and other individual outdoor activities are permitted.
As of today (4/21/2020), I have biked 252.28 miles since March 15th. Right now, I am considering this liminal period “pre-season,” and I am considering the regular biking season in the end of May/start of June. Since being home, I haven’t been biking consistently due to my course load and exams. Surrounding exam week, I took a 10-day hiatus from biking – and it paid off with all A’s! In a sudden surge of urgency and excitement, I created a 10-day biking chart with a goal of biking almost the entirety of M123 and then on M28 back to Newberry – and it just so happens to be 86 miles. I am excited to undertake this goal, especially in pre-season. Today, I rode the allotted 17 miles, with a grueling headwind from the NW. The gusts of wind almost sent me into the ditch multiple times, and I felt like I was crawling. Besides from the wind attempting to topple me, I was decked out in all my cold weather biking gear and the wind had nothin’ on me. 4.21 – 17mi 4.22 – 21.5mi 4.23 – 30mi 4.24 – 20mi 4.25 – 50mi 4.26 – 16.3mi 4.27 – 60mi 4.28 – 17mi 4.29 – 12.3mi 4.30 – 86mi – Newberry/Paradise/M28 Loop My goals for this year includes building my endurance, bike touring from Mackinaw City to the Ohio border, the Hard Rock, and the Iceman Cometh Challenge. |
Author: Eryn corinthCyclist. Feminist. Outdoor enthusiast. Tree hugger. Archives
October 2022
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