Canada Geese at Boyne Falls
In the morning Steve's ring finger was swollen badly from jamming
it when he crashed his bicycle over Rao on Day 1. He couldn't
get the ring off soaking it with soap. Rao, a surgeon, was concerned
about the swelling and suggested that Steve have the ring cut
off at a hospital emergency room. The three of us started our
day by riding to the Gaylord Hospital emergency room, where Steve's
ring was indeed cut off by a doctor and nurse. What some people
will do to look single.
I sound like a broken record, but, the weather was absolutely
beautiful again. Again too, we had nice rolling hills to rideon.
We couldn't have asked for a better ride. Around 9:30 AM, some
riders stopped for a swim at a roadside park.
After a long downhill ride into Boyne Falls, some of us stopped
for refreshments (Gatorade for me) and took a break to watch some
Canada Geese land on a nearby pond.
Several of us stopped for lunch around 11:30 in Boyne City
at a Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai restaurant--a welcome change fromMcDonalds.
And, at Walloon Lake most of us took a swim. The water was veryrefreshing.
At Walloon Lake, Steve, Rao, Kay and I decided (on my suggestion)
to take the Quad Century route along the north shore of the lake.As
we left town, we saw a steam powered boat. On this route there
is a series of steep hills called "the seven sisters".These
hills are short enough to allow the use of what I call a whipsaw
technique. You can get going fast enough to stay in the same gear
and make the summit of the next hill repeatedly. Climbing the
steep hills is hard work, but there's quite a thrill when you
keep the momentum going.
Del and Nancy (like me) misjudged the steepness of the first hill
(just a couple of blocks from town and deceptively steep) and
Del managed to break the chain on their tandem when he stood up.
Nancy rolled into the poison ivy on the side of the road. On another
big hill Kay popped the chain off her Klein bike, couldn't get
out of her cleats and rolled into the ditch also. At a point we
started to feel lost and Steve and Kay threatened to sue me for
my route choice, but the arrival of other power riders, including
TCBA President Dick Gilmore, and the joy of riding the seven sisters
vindicated me.
We arrived at Petoskey High School at around 3:00. As in Mt. Pleasant,
there were about 700 of us because the east and west routes were
both camped there for the night.
Riders from the west route, who had ridden up "the wall"
(a steep hill near East Jordan) belittled our east route with
its short stages. We responded about how much we enjoyed the seven
sisters and the hill where we reached the 40's.
For dinner, the club offered lasagna in the cafeteria. Rao, Steve and I decided to walk to town and dine on the luxurious Perry Hotel's veranda. At about $50 each, the meal wasn't cheap,but it sure was good food.
