Route

Main St to Bandemere Park to Huron River Dr. to Zeeb to Joy to Mast to Huron River Dr, back through Bandemere, Main, and Huron - 29.04 miles.

Interesting Happenings

This was a combination of a lazy, adventurous ride and a conditioning ride. I was thinking about my homeless friend Bill and where he might be living right now. The story A Short Friendship with Bill explains who Bill is, and the last few paragraphs describe my search for Bill today.

In addition to looking for Bill, I spent some time enjoying the river. It would be getting very cold soon, and I wanted to get as much out of this beautiful warm day as I could. I wanted very much to be on the water paddling. I know that my next big purchase will be a used kayak.

The most interesting bike-related thing that happened was a very long chase to overtake another rider. I caught sight of two riders ahead not long after the Dexter-Huron Metropark. The first rider was fairly slow and I passed her in short order. The other rider was visible, but distant. I chased him for miles.

Near the Delhi Metropark, I thought I had him because he was slowing on the big hill there. But once I crested the hill, he was way off in the distance again. I knew it was only a matter of time before I caught him because the fact that I had seen him up ahead likely meant that I'd catch him, unless he'd only just entered the road and was faster.

I pumped and pumped, but didn't want to wear out too soon, so I was careful not to overdo it. We were getting pretty far along on Huron River Drive towards Main St., and I realized that if I didn't catch him soon, our paths would diverge and that would be it for this chase.

But I finally caught up with him. We chatted a bit - his name was Max, and was probably in his late twenties. We talked about having both missed a lot of rides lately. He was feeling guilty today and just had to get out on the road. Finally, I told him that I'd been trying to catch him for miles, but that it'd been fun.

Shortly afterwards, we said good bye and he pulled ahead. I detoured through the woods to Bandemere Park, and he took the Main St. route.

Impressions of Ride

I felt out of shape. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I haven't been getting enough exercise lately, between being out of town two weekends in a row, shopping for a car, volunteering on election day, and weather not fit for biking. I've been working out at the YMCA, but not often enough.

By the time I was nearing Zeeb, I wasn't even sure whether it'd be a good idea to go that way because of the hill! That's a far cry from where I was when I was at my peak this summer. But I took Zeeb anyhow, and did fine, although I certainly wasn't setting any speed records. I'm glad I went that way, because at the end of Zeeb is Joy road, which is really pretty, especially at this time of year.