Miles to date: 2,923.4
Cool, clear, casual and composed… it may have been the easiest 60-mile day we’ve had. It’s been a carnival atmosphere the past few days, and today was an extension of that. We started with a threesome of me, Geeto and Shootman; 22 miles in we stopped for coffee in Jackson MI where we picked up Rick Balon (remember Rick who I met at the Sturdy Shelter a week ago who tried to recover Lecy’s Bontrager axle lever?) and Todd Janke (our host for tonight in Pinckney MI). We rode together for about 10 miles then picked up some surprise strangers on a tandem bicycle that joined us for another 15+ miles. We fought a headwind most of the way, but with this gaggle working together effectively, it was a relatively restful ride.
I don’t know what else I can say about the ride today, but Geeto and I are in agreement… we need some grind in the coming days. As I think I said before, if we knew this was going to be easy, we wouldn’t be doing it. It’s been great having friends and family (I see you Ike) along for some stretches, but the party atmosphere needs to stop; we need a dosage of misery; we need some type 3 fun or we’ll soften and tire of this adventure.
We ended today with happy hour at the Zukey Lake Tavern, then on to Janke’s home on Bass Lake. Nancy Janke was a spectacular hostess. Amazingly, Nancy and I agreed that we’d never previously met. We relaxed around the kitchen while she finished preparing a glorious meal of ribs, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts… Nancy had seen the offerings of previous hosts on our pilgrimage and she did not want to be outdone. We packed on plenty of calories at dinner, then Nancy followed that with apple pie a-la-mode and White Russians. The pilgrims abided to the restorative confort that Nancy provided, more than making up for the short-comings of her husband. 😉
After dinner we had one chore… change a Gypsy flat! 🤦♂️ This morning we awoke to 12 PSI on the Gypsy’s front tire (down from the normal 75 PSI). There was an obvious leak but we chose to pump it up and get through the day. I declared a few days ago as I was carrying an extra tire: the next flat on the front, we’ll change the tube and the tire, so tonight we upheld that commitment. It was an opportunity for Geeto and I to manage a flat without Lecy for the first time – we completed the task in less than 10 minutes. This added some confidence to our collective two-man psyche, though with 4 brand new tires we hope to never change a flat again.
Tomorrow we ride into Ontario. We’re hoping Todd will join us to the border; I believe he has a handgun and permit to carry, so he can see us safely through Detroit. And… though the earlier video showed his uselessness in helping our train to move along, he learned from this and provided helpful lead out in 3 or 4 subsequent opportunities. 77 miles tomorrow with just two of us into steady headwinds will likely provide the daunting challenge we’re after, so some help from Todd in the early miles will be appreciated.
We’re excited about crossing the border tomorrow. We’ve got passports ready and are feeling healthy and prepared. If all goes to plan, we’ll finish tomorrow at 3,000 miles to date. Out there is a fortune waiting to be had; if you think I’d let it go you’re mad. Day 41: Janke’s to Belle River
I’m going to add a couple songs to the Pedaling Pilgrims! Playlist tonight… First, as this will be the end on this bicycling carnival, I wanted to offer a congratulatory clap to all of the supporters we’ve had in the past 10 or so days. We have a lot of friends and family in the Midwest, but the love and encouragement we’ve received has surpassed expectations. Thank you all: The Clapping Song. Second, if you look at our route for tomorrow, it seems we’ll have a relatively flat ride for 20 miles, then we’re greeted with downhill travel. For my friend Matt Cassidy: Going Down
If all goes well, I’ll send you a post from Oh Canada tomorrow! It’s hard to believe we’ve come this far.
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