Distance ride - 60.14 miles
Saline through Tecumseh to Adrian, and back. Left at 2:15 pm, returned at 7:45 pm.
* Leg 1: Started at Monroe, just off Michigan Ave.; Monroe becomes Jordan; Jordan becomes Arkona, which becomes Goodrich, which becomes Hack, which becomes Britton Highway; turned West on Clinton-Macon; stopped at Boysville;
* Leg 2: Clinton-Macon to Macon to North Raisin Center Hwy, across M-50, West on Sutton, Southwest on Occidental; stopped at Party store; called Kathy Goolian from payphone;
* Leg 3: continuing on Occidental, which curves onto Valley; cross M-52, left on Bent Oak, right on Riverside, left on Budlong; stopped at Kathy and Betty Goolian's house;
* Leg 4: Budlong to Riverside to Bent Oak to Valley to Occidental to Sutton to North Rasin Center Hwy, cross M-50, into Tecumseh; stopped at gas station with broken pay phone;
* Leg 4.5: followed construction detour into Tecumseh; discovered I was missing my cyclometer part of the way there, went back to broken pay phone, discovered the cyclometer in my handlebar bag; found a pay phone in Tecumseh; called Ian to let him know I'd be late;
* Leg 5: Main St. Tecumseh to North Raisin Center Hwy to Macon to Clinton-Macon to Britton Hwy to where the road turns into Hack; stopped at the intersection of Britton Hwy and Hack;
* Leg 6: beginning of Hack to Goodrich to Arkona to Jordan to Monroe, ended at my car;
Stats
* Leg 1: 10.18 miles; 37 min on bike; 16.1 avg mph; rested for 16 minutes
* Leg 2: 13.53 miles; 52 min on bike; 15.9 avg mph; rested for 20 minutes
* Leg 3: 6.13 miles; 24 min on bike; 15.7 avg mph; visted with Kathy and Betty for 45 minutes
* Leg 4: 11.61 miles; 42 min on bike; 15.9 avg mph [stopped to phone, but phone was broken]; rested for 5 to 8 minutes when combining this stop and the next?
* Leg 4.5: 1.45 miles; 8 min on bike; 15.8 avg mph [found a working phone]
* Leg 5: 9.59 miles; 49 min on bike; 16 avg mph; rested for 9 minutes
* Leg 6: 7.64 miles; 28 min on bike; 16 avg mph
Cumulative Totals
I record these only because I calculated the average miles per hour for each leg, since I had not reset the cyclometer between legs, and I want to preserve the original data.
* Leg 1: 10.19 miles; 37 min on bike; 16.1 avg mph
* Leg 2: 23.72 miles; 1 h 29 min on bike; 15.9 avg mph
* Leg 3: 29.85 miles; 1 h 53 min on bike; 15.7 avg mph
* Leg 4: 41.46 miles; 2 h 35 min on bike; 15.9 avg mph
* Leg 4.5: 42.91 miles; 2h 43 min on bike; 15.8 avg mph
* Leg 5: 52.5 miles, 3 h 18 min on bike; 16 avg mph
* Leg 6: 60.14 miles; 3 h 46 min on bike; 16.0 avg mph
Interesting Happenings
When I made my first rest stop, at Boysville, I actually saw some boys. This was kind of neat - I didn't expect to see anyone, and wasn't even sure I was at Boysville.
On the way into Tecumseh, I saw seven skydivers coming down from the sky. Their parachutes were very colorful, and were rectangular rather than spherical. I was very excited to see this - I had never seen skydivers anywhere other than in war movies. I tried waving to them, but no one waved back. One by one, they landed. But while they were still up high, they seemed to be using their parachutes to ride the air currents.
Once I got to the party store off of Occidental, I asked how far it was to Adrian, and was told that I was in Adrian. This surprised me because I'd assumed I had a lot farther to go to reach Adrian. I figured I'd give my step-relatives a call to see whether they would welcome a visit. Kathy Goolian, Ian's step-aunt, answered the phone, and seemed delighted for me to visit. It was another 6 or so miles from the store to their house.
I sat and talked with them for awhile, which was very nice. I don't get to see them very often, and have never visited them by myself. I had only been to their house once before - when I was helping Kathy move in with her mother Betty.
On the way back home, I noticed that a lot of fields had been mown and had fresh un-baled hay lying in the fields. I noticed a couple fields that had giant rolls of hay waiting to be gathered and stored. I even saw two hay trucks pile high with fresh-cut bales of hay. I wondered how many more hay cuttings there'd be by the end of the season.
Impressions of Ride
This is a very strong ride. I was extremely diligent in the hydration and food department. At every break except the last, I ate a quarter of a PB&J sandwich and a banana. At the last break, I ate some cheese and some soft tortilla. I drank two 24 oz bottles of sports drink, and plenty of water.
I had avoided coffee in the morning in favor of tea, so I only had to use the bathroom twice, despite all of the fluids.
I noticed on the way down to Adrian that anytime I went due West, I was heading into some headwinds. The winds were not strong enough to discourage me from my route, and on the ride, there were many different twists and turns anyhow, so I was never going due West for very long at one time.
I was a bit frightened when I turned around from Kathy and Betty's house, knowing that I had to complete another 30 mile ride, when the last long ride I'd taken was only 44 miles. Also, it was after 5, and it had taken me two and 1/2 hours to get to their house. I was worried about whether I could handle a full 30 miles, and whether I'd run into dusk.
But the second 30 miles was very strong, and I only began to tire in the last leg, which was less than 8 miles from the end of the ride. I probably had in my favor no more headwinds.