Pedaling Pilgrim Blog Home

Miles to date: 2,862.2

It’s always difficult to leave the homes of loving friends who lavish us with wonderful food in a pleasant environment. It’s especially difficult when you learn your friends are fellow Under Dispensers! I credit Jen for setting the dispensing tone in the Gatz household. Dr. Gatz (or Doctor Pink as known by close friends) just brings home the bacon from his family medical practice, where his “job” is to throw patients big words like cephalhaematoma, sphygmomanometer, spondylolisthesis… just enough to make him sound like he knows what he’s doing before he refers them to a specialist for real care. This capability and his fabulous hair have made a comfortable life for Doctor Pink. But his wife Jen is his best quality; and her dispensing direction is representative of what a great person she is. I look forward to future visits to the lovely Gatz home and the proper revelation of toilet tissues.

After last night’s post, I received a congratulatory message from the WordPress app due to my 50,000 words published on the blog. That’s 50,000 words with my right thumb! I know there are some unbelievers out there, but I tell you all letters come from the right thumb; maybe my mind moves so slowly that this method keeps perfect pace.

We’ve have a few discussions in recent days about type 1, 2 and 3 fun. I had never heard of this concept before. Type 1: roller coaster, beautiful sunset, music concert… something that takes zero effort and results in instant dopamine increase. Type 2: fly fishing, kayaking across a scenic lake, hiking Machu Pichu… something that takes some effort, but it’s enjoyable as you go. Type 3: Badwater marathon, solo sailing around the world, biking 75 miles into Eastern Montana headwinds… something that is physically and emotionally demanding and possibly painful at the time, but elicits retrospective smiles and joy. Today (typical of most days) was a blend of all three types.

We had a casual 9 mile ride from our overnight hosts to Pete Eldridge’s beautiful mansion in downtown Kalamazoo (scenic and easy type 1). We picked up Karl Klem who rode with us effectively all day, through some gusty but scenic roads and paths out of Kalamazoo (type 2). Then we survived a beat down by wind gusts and fast paced traffic in close quarters (type 3).

The wind blew fairly heavy in our faces early and often through the day. We averaged about 12.5 MPH across the duration of the journey, which was excellent given the conditions. This was somewhat enabled by having a fourth rider to face the wind in front of of us: Karl was a big help once we got him sufficiently trained in our ways and conditioned to scale back his speed to our sight-seeing pace.

Maybe surprisingly, we’ve had very few crashes in our 2,800+ miles-to-date. In fact before today, only two times has anyone greeted the pavement with something other than the soles of their shoes. Today, we doubled that count. The first instance occurred when we were descending on a long wooden bridge. We learned today that Karl is deathly afraid of these bridges, or wet wood in general. He’s likely to go several extra miles or face cement delivery trucks in order to avoid wet wood. So, as Karl chose to dismount and walk his steed across a long stretch of damp boardwalk, it seemed appropriate for Geeto to wipe out as he turned a little too early when nearly reaching the pavement at the end of the wood. Then, a few minutes later (we think as a sympathetic gesture) Karl crashed when trying to dismount to water the lawn; he banged into a rolling garbage can and sustained a few telling injuries that look more significant than they are. He intends to tell his wife about the unleashed dog that attacked him as he sheltered the pilgrims from danger… please let him live his lie. Falling into a garbage can at zero MPH while stopping for a wee is not how he wants to be regaled.

As the journey resumed, a bit more normality returned to our day: we were pleased to experience another PBJ lunch break. Finally, Geeto and I opened up to one another about the superiority of crunchy peanut butter; we were able to procure proper peanut butter for our current stage and expect to shun creamy varieties from here onwards.

As we entered the last 6-mile stretch to the Marriott in Albion, we came across a fellow bike packer who was taking a rest on the quiet rural road. Angela is from Portland OR; she flew into Chicago a few days ago and was at the start of a 900 mile tour around Michigan. She was self-sufficient and solo, prepared for camping when conditions permit. Though she said she no longer “stealth camps”, we were impressed by her independence and positivity (and my mom will be happy to know – Angela is a strong supporter of the orange safety flag). I was happy to learn she too has a blog to document her travels: www.gypsearoad.com

On arrival in Albion we met Kevin Marks at the Malleable Brewery – this was the only bar in town; or this was the only bar with alcoholic beverages – we did find a “dry bar” up the street, which must be the only one in the country. Kevin greeted us with gifts: peanut butter, jelly, bread and Nutella! I’m glad to know Nutella will be back on the menu. My initial response though was shameful as I poo-pooed the raspberry jelly and the creamy PB (though he also provided a jar of crunchy); never look a gift horse in the mouth, even if it’s a raspberry flavored horse. Thanks again Kevin for the groceries and the cold recovery drinks!

For stage 40, we ride to friend Todd Janke’s house on Bass Lake in Pinckney MI. Todd and Rick Balon plan to join us for 40 miles of our 60-mile day. Day 40: Albion to Janke’s

It was a great day that felt like a return to our normal travails. We were in good spirits all day despite some of the type 3 fun challenges. It’s the same old same old out here on the road: Same Old Same Old

Note: I did figure out last night that I had run out of storage on blog site; I opened the pocketbook for more space and will again be able to post videos.