Kite Surfing

With our visitors still visiting, we took a longer drive out to Lake Michigan. The main goal of the day was to see the lake and and country along the way. We stopped at Muskegon State Park, where the wind was blowing harder than a Kansas Tornado. The kite surfers were happy about it. And the kids had a great time jumping in the dunes.

Three Days Visit

This weekend we had three Days visit. Cindy's dad and grandparents dropped in for the weekend. We had a nice visit and spent the day seeing the sites around Okemos and Lansing. We drove out to the Capitol Buiding in Lansing, around the MSU Campus and agricultural areas, and did our Lake Lansing Loop by car.

In the evening we carved pumpkins.

Pumpkin Pickup

Homework, piano lessons, and household projects seem to have taken over, leaving little time for recreational bicycling. Darkness is falling early, too, nearly putting a close on tandem rides after work. Winter is coming.

Last weekend, on Saturday, 13 October, we were in need of pumpkins, as most families are this time of year. We could have picked them up at the grocery just down the road, but we thought it would be more fun to visit one of the local pumpkin farms we've seen on our rides. Since we don't actually own a pickup, we used the next best thing - our old Burley trailer.

Quinn and I pulled the trailer behind the big blue Burley. It was a very windy day, but the trip to Tannenbaum Farm was just a few short miles. It was fun.

Tannenbaum Farm is a large Christmas tree farm, as the name suggests, and the pumpkin patch appears to be a recent addition. In the image below, you can see the lines of Christmas trees.

The farm didn't have any designated bicycle parking, but the white fence at the front of the parking area seemed appropriate. Some of us needed to get out of our cycling gear and into "normal" clothes so people wouldn't think we were weird.

We told Abbey there was very little chance we'd run into anyone we knew, but we were wrong. There was another family picking out pumpkins, and in that family was a boy who is in Abbey's third grade class. Rather than choose our pumpkins from the trailers out front, we joined the other family for a hayrack ride out to the pumpkin patch. Abbey even spoke to the boy, just a little.
After much deliberation we chose a couple of big pumpkins and loaded them into the hay trailer for the ride back to the parking area.

Before we got away, we also selected a couple of little pumpkins and some funky gourds. After shelling out about $7 for all this fruit, we stuffed it into our pumpkin trailer and padded it with a blanket for the ride home.
Maybe this year we'll get our Christmas tree from Tannenbaum Farm. They said they hadn't had anyone pick up a Christmas tree using a bicycle. Hmmm.

Apple Cider Century

Months of planning and training, anxious anticipation of apple cider and apple pie, ended with a sweet and sticky, sweaty and sticky, adventure this weekend. The Apple Cider Century took place on September 29th and 30th in Three Oaks, Michigan. The organizers of the ACC have labeled it as "the most popular century bicycle tour in the Midwest." Without question, it was well-attended. Approximately 5,000 riders participate. It was an experience. A bicycle circus, perhaps, but we had fun. Here's the story.

We gathered up most of the cycling gear Friday night, and we spent some much-needed time cleaning, lubing, and adjusting the tandems. Saturday morning we finished packing and, after using the van to run some recycling to the drop-off, we loaded the van. We weren't trying for an early start because our only goals for Saturday were to drive the 154 miles to Three Oaks in time to take part in the ice cream social and secure a patch of ground large enough to accommodate our tent. The latter was the only thing we expected might be time-sensitive.

We arrived in Three Oaks around 2 p.m. Saturday. Three Oaks is a small, artsy sort of town with lots of little shops and few restaurants. It was even smaller than we'd expected. Most of the event was taking place in the middle of town where the little art shops, fire station, elementary school, and city park were adjacently located and straddling a well-used rail line. Check-in at the elementary school was easy and well-organized (they used the gym and several classrooms). We picked up our t-shirts and set off to find the park where we could camp.

The ride organizers arranged for free camping in a city park near the edge of town, maybe a mile from the start-line and registration area. We expected the campground to be more crowded, but I guess most people opted for other accommodations. "Free" seemed too good for us to pass up. The city park had a playground and some baseball diamonds, and there tents scattered everywhere. It was a little difficult to tell where in the park we were supposed to camp, but apparently we could pitch a tent anywhere we could find space. We erected the tent in a flat grassy field, hoping it wouldn't become a lake if it rained (although no rain was forecast), and pedaled back to town for ice cream.

It must be a big event when they have such a huge banner at the start line.

We found the ice cream social, which for some was probably the most important event on the schedule. There was a folk band, "Dangerous Folk," singing protest songs in the gazebo. They were pulling no punches, either. They'll probably wind up in some off-shore prison. We sat and listened for a while, but the local editor of the paper harassed us with her camera, trying to sneak pictures of Quinn to post in her tabloid. Abbey was jealous. A little later, Cindy was taking pictures of the kids playing on the Dewey Canon, and someone offered to take a picture of all of us. It looks to me like I might have been helping the kids shoot the thing.


After sitting and listening for a while we set off on a warm-up ride south of Three Oaks. The local cycling club has established many routes, and there are permanent signs, color-coded with mileage ranging from 5 to 100, to guide cyclists through the region. It's very nice. We put in about eight miles, attending to some derailleur maladjustments from my last minute tinkering.

After the ride, we planned find some dinner before heading back to camp for the night. But, as I mentioned above, Three Oaks is a small town. We were looking for a nice restaurant serving high-quality, high-calorie, inexpensive, vegetarian foods. We found nothing like that. Taco Del Mar would have been perfect: a Super Veggie with black beans, please. Even the standard small town traditional Mexican restaurant might have worked. We passed Nelson's Saloon, which, at first glance appeared out of place in Three Oaks. Nothing eccentric about Nelson's. A working class bar. Maybe even a non-working class bar. The sort of place you wouldn't bring your kids. In Washington it wouldn't be legal. The sort of place a guy in skin-tight lycra shorts wouldn't want to venture. After we walked up and down the main drag a few times, each time passing the windowless front of Nelson's Saloon, we were losing hope, so checked the menu posted in front of Nelson's, and noted that it had a few kids meals. Must be legal to bring your kids. There was an "ACC riders welcome" sign, too. So we went in. And for the second weekend in a row, Cindy and I ate burgers made with real beef. From the kids menu, Quinn had a PBJ sandwich and Abbey a grilled cheese. Not sure what it means that Cindy and chose the burgers rather than eat meatless from the kids menu, but we didn't want to start a big ride on empty stomachs. To be sure we were full to the top, we finished the meal with some tasty desserts - extra calories for the coming ride.

We pedaled back to the camping area and our tent. The park had a small, reasonably clean bathroom, that was quite insufficient for the number of campers in the park. The toilet paper supply gave out before the sun had set. Given that the park was filled with about a hundred tents, the atmosphere was pretty subdued. I had expected a bit more ruckus, but everyone seemed pre-occupied. We got the bikes ready to go, leaned them together and threw a lock around the frames, then we settled in and tried to get to sleep in the somewhat noisy and well-lit park.


Abbey read while I tried to get Quinn to hold still. He was wiggling and flopping all over the tent. Too much excitement. When the park lights went out at 10 p.m., Cindy said she was the only one still awake.


The pancake breakfast, cooked and served by the local fire department in the fire station, started at 5 a.m. I was glad that we were still sleeping in the tent at that time. A few of the other riders in the campground were getting ready to go. We waited until 6 a.m. before waking Quinn and getting dressed. Quinn usually sleeps between 9 and 10 hours each night, and we didn't want to cut him short before such a long ride. It was not yet 7 a.m. when we left our tent and pedaled over to breakfast. We had pancakes, eggs, and cereal. Not a bad breakfast, really, although the coffee was really quite bad. We couldn't even drink it.

Notice the variety of bicycles parked by the breakfast tables. A really old Schwinn three-speed, a not-so-expensive mountain bike, and a few more typical road bikes in the background. There was a wide variety in use.


Finally, after a few trips to the portable latrines, we set off on the ride. Since riders were starting over a span of several hours, the start of the ride was not particularly crowded. As we pedaled out of town, however, there were quite a few speedier cyclists going around us. Quinn found this unacceptable. He was really pedaling hard for the first half mile to try to keep up. He kept saying, "Daddy, pedal harder, all these bicycles are going around us!!" "It's OK, Quinn, it doesn't matter. It's not a race." He likes to be the fastest. Someday, Quinn, someday.



The route took us north and east of Three Oaks, where we pedaled through rolling, forested hills and some flatter farmlands. We didn't see as many apple orchards as I'd expected. I think there were more vineyards than orchards.

Abbey often sits upright with her hands off the bars. I don't know how she can pedal that way. Ask Cindy about that. Here Abbey's grabbing a sack out of her kitty bag.


The rolling hills were great. In the picture below we'd just finished flying down a long, winding road. I hoped to catch the girls leaning around the corner, but the picture doesn't really give much feel for speed.


The first SAG rest stop was at 26 miles, which is a little longer than we usually go in one stretch. But we only stopped to shed clothes. We didn't need to stop to rest. The wind was light, but had been behind us. Quinn is even getting pretty good at drinking and snacking while we're moving, but I have to ride pretty carefully. With both hands on the water bottle, he'd slam into my back and might fall off if I hit the brakes.

You might notice in these pictures that much of the time we were not riding with a large crowd. There were several routes, 25, 50, 62, 75, and 100 miles. All routes left Three Oaks to the north and east, making a counter-clockwise circle - or a polygon. The longer routes had excursions out further from the center of the circle. There were only two rest areas, and all but the 25-mile route stopped at both. I'd say most riders rode the 50-mile route, because the only time the roads seemed crowded were when we were on the route shared with the 50. It was nice when were were mostly alone, but it was fun, too, when we were in the crowds because we had the chance to chat with other riders - especially those on tandems and those who've been through the kids-on-tandems age and are now back on singles.


The first SAG stop was located at a park where the kids slid down some really tall spiraling slides. We had apple cider, cookies, apples, bananas, and a fruit-nut mix. Once we left the stop, the route turned south and started into an increasingly powerful headwind. It was pretty tough at times.

Shortly before the second SAG stop, we rode through this very nice, old, neighborhood (with terrible roads) that sat along the shore of Lake Michigan. We could often see the lake through the gaps between the multi-million dollar homes. If you're really into seeing the fruits of others' success, I have some pictures of some of the homes. It seemed impolite to post them here.


We hit the second SAG stop, in New Bay, MI, at around 45 miles. By this time the air had warmed from comfortably cool to not-so-comfortably warm and windy. Both Cindy and Abbey wished they had worn a cooler top. Cindy's face was getting red from the heat. Abbey pulled off her under layer, leaving her with just the low-cut long sleeve UPS top that Heather gave her.

This is pretty typical of a SAG stop at a big ride like this. Cyclists of all shapes and sizes and ages sprawled about. A line of port-a-potties off to my right. The food set up in the covered picnic shelter. On my left were bottles of water and sports drinks. Most of the bikes behind me or leaned against sawhorses off to my right. Yellow-jackets everywhere. They love Gatorade.


The SAG stop was at a park right along the bay, with lots of big boats.


With the second stop out of the way and nearly 20 miles to go, we were feeling a little tired, especially as the route headed right back into the headwind. Quinn was starting to ask, with increasing frequency, "How many more miles until we're finished?"

Somewhere around mile 50, we turned back to the east. The head wind was now a cross wind with a little boost from the west. Straight and flat for miles, it was easier but more open. The camera stayed in the bag as we pedaled through.

As our mileage reached into the upper 50s, the scenery changed again. We returned to the rolling hills, with forests to shade us and block the wind. The hills were some of the steepest we'd encountered. We pedaled through a beautiful, thick forest that was part of a nature preserve. It was very nice. Classic, upper Midwest glacial hills, I think.

Here we have Abbey and Cindy, focused on their task, climbing yet another hill, cranking out the miles. Over the course of the summer, they've really learned to work together. Both have become much stronger.


Abbey sitting up proudly in here favorite riding position as she and Mom near completion of their first metric century.


We did it. We finished the ride. We were all completely exhausted, but we'd accomplished our goal. Both kids were quite proud. Even Abbey admitted that she enjoyed it.

So we dropped the bikes in grass at the elementary school and headed for the spaghetti dinner and apple pie.





And then there was the tent. After we ate, we climbed back into the saddle and rode to the campground. Few tents remained. We packed camping gear, loaded the bikes, and got into the van. Tick, tick, tick, tick, oh, no. What's that mysterious ticking noise? We think maybe the phone charger had killed the battery. No lights had been left on. After a jump start from a Jeep, accompanied by another conversation about tandem bicycles, we were on our way home. We're already talking about going for the 75 next year.

My Daily Ride - The Soma DoubleCross

I've been thinking it would be fun to put up some pictures of some of our bikes - something other than the tandems, that is. In this post I've featured what I ride to work just about every day. We got it back in Seattle when I decided it would make more sense to have a good bicycle than the old Honda Civic Wagon. I'm really happy with my Soma. Rarely do I miss the Honda.

Soma is a small San Francisco company that makes steel bicycles frames. Check them out here. Really, they design the frames and have them built in Taiwan. They discuss this arrangement on their web site. If they didn't do it that way, I wouldn't have been able to afford one. From Soma, generally you just buy a frame and fork and build the bike yourself, or have someone put it together for you. I had Larry at Perfect Wheels build this one.

It was built as a touring, commuting, trailer-hauling machine. The DoubleCross frame is designed as a cyclocross frame, and it's great for a commuter, too. It has clearance for reasonably fat tires and fenders and it has plenty of lugs for attaching racks and fenders. Mine is set up with a triple crankset - it has three chain rings up front - and the gearing falls somewhere between a the low gearing of mountain bike and the high gearing of road bike. This one is 48-38-26. It works quite well.

I took this picture earlier this fall. You can sort of see my funky front fender and my dual headlights.

The fender I originally installed was a Planet Bike Freddy Fender. It worked quite well but I cut off the front of it just past the front brake so it would work better when I put in on the Seattle city bus racks. Later, in Michigan, when I installed headlight on the fork crown, the lack of fender at the top of the wheel meant I got crud all over my light. So I had this old plastic mountain fender that I attached to the upper front to extend it. The unexpected benefit was that it not only protects the light from road grime, but it stiffened the front fender and eliminated vibration that used occur on bumps. I've also added a white plastic flap to the rear of the front fender. This keeps snow from building up on the bottom bracket, and keeps my feet dry. It may look funky, but it's very functional.



The picture above was taken last winter after I got home from work one evening. The fork crown headlight is run by my a tire-driven generator. It's the least expensive dynamo unit from Busch&Müller. It uses a 6 volt 2.4 watt halogen bulb, and it puts out plenty of light for riding on dark roads at 15 to 20 miles per hour, even when there's oncoming gasoline-powered traffic using headlights. Check out Peter White Cycles to learn about these and lots of other cool, practical bicycling stuff. I'd like to get a hub generator, but for now this was all I could afford, and even then only because I happened across a highly discounted generator and light. The light on the handlebar is small LED battery light. I use it in the blinking mode most of the time just to help cars see me. I often use it when it's not really dark out, and I just want something to help call attention to me in dim light.

Pedals - Last year in the snow I road in my hiking boots, so I used Power Grips instead of clipless pedals. This year I'll try neoprene booties over my biking shoes and keep the clipless pedals installed.



The picture above shows my winter tires. Gotta love those carbide tipped studs. They work extremely well on slushy roads and solid ice. On the front I have Nokian Hakkapeliitta and the rear is a Kenda Klondike. I'd planned to get two Nokians, but there was only one available so I installed the Kenda on the rear.

The tail light on the rack is also powered by the generator. It's an LED light only. Both the headlight and taillight have stand lights, meaning they have a capacitor that stores some charge so that they stay on for a few minutes when the bike stops moving. The rack on the back is a super-hefty steel Burley rack that came with the Piccolo trailer. It weighs a ton, but I'm sure it will never, ever break.

The picture below is like a baby picture. It was taken in the back yard of the old rental house in Seattle when the Soma was brand new.

On my way home from work last night the Soma's odomoter had just reached 4600 miles. I'm very happy with it. I just hope the salty winter Michigan roads don't shorten the life of the frame.