The 1997 DALMAC
5-Day East Route
by EdNoonan
Since there was no route change between the route we followedin 1996,and the 1997 5-Day East Route, I won't go into much detail; youcan get that from my '96DALMAC Ride Report.
If you click on any of the thumbnailpictures with highlighted borders on this page, a larger versionof the same picture will be displayed. The larger photos are BIG:as much as 1 Mb, so don't even try to look if you have a slowmodem (<28,800 baud) or inadequate memory (<24 Mb of RAM)on your computer, or if you're accessing this through AOL).
Day One: Lansing to Mt.Pleasant
This is the first rest stopat D&L Bike Shop's place. It was hot (in the 80°s). Ididn't eat enough breakfast or drink enough Gatorade, so endedup "bonking" at Alma. Most years, I've ridden at least1,000 miles before DALMAC. Last year, I'd ridden more than 5,000miles. This year, I'd only ridden about 200 miles and no seriousrides (Centuries) at all, so I paid a price. I wasn't in shapeand my body refused to meet my demands. I became dizzy, disorientedand nauseated. A doctor riding with me opined that I was sufferingfrom hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and suggested that I ridethe last 20 miles into Mt. Pleasant in a sag vehicle. So I did.What a wimp!
Here we are campedout at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. I like toput my tent at the top of the hill I call Mt. Pleasant (all ofabout 20 ft. above the adjoining grounds). It is quite a sightseeing hundreds of brightly colored tents. I love it.
I experienced considerable trouble setting up my North FaceTadpole tent this year. Last fall, I mailed my tent home wet (itwas raining) from Tennessee and forgot until last week that I'ddone so. The fabric was a bit mildewed and the aluminum tent polesshowed evidence of corrosion. As I was setting up the tent, agust of wind snapped one of the tent poles in two. Without itssupport, another one snapped too. Despite getting a ride to variousstores in Mt. Pleasant, I was unable to find any replacement polesor a repair kit. I did manage to buy some duct tape. By insertinga metal tent stake along the shockcord inside the hollow aluminumtubes, at the site of the fractures, I was able to jury-rig thetent for the night.
Day Two: Mt. Pleasant toHiggins Lake
I just realized that I forgot to take any pictures at all on thesecond day. Ooops. I guess nothing peaked my interest. It wasmostly boring flat ground until we got near Meredith.
At Meredith, I made the mistake once again of seeking lunch.Despite ample warning this year from the DALMAC folks, the restaurantwas woefully unprepared for the onslaught of hungry bicyclists.I sat with TCBA Events Director Barry Culham, whose lunch orderwas canceled and his food tossed in the trash because the cookassumed his order was a duplication, since somebody else at thesame table ordered the same food. After two years of waiting toolong for my food, I must advise future riders not to stop at Meredithfor lunch!
Speaking of food, the food catered to us at Higgins Lake StatePark was good albeit a bit boring. Nancy Johnson, a food serviceexpert, sneered at the color of the dinner offering. On reflection,I agreed with her. The food was brown (meat, potatoes, etc). Theyneeded some green & red vegetables to liven up the plate.
Day Three: Higgins Laketo Gaylord
It was gray in the morning. I stopped at Cartwright & Danewell(an outdoor outfitter) in Grayling to purchase some splints formy broken tent. They sold a repair kit with a couple of aluminumsleeves that fit almost perfectly over the breaks.
After Grayling, we stopped at Hartwick Pines State Park tosee what a "virgin" Michigan pine forest looked like.This was an old growth forest that had never been logged likethe rest of Michigan. I'd heard that Hartwick Pines was worthseeing and it certainly was.
Hartwick Pines | 
Large bike trailer? |
At the entrance to the park, they had this early version ofa "Bob" trailer that was just a little big for my bike.It sure would have held a lot. Can you imagine hauling that thingup a hill? Oh well. Actually, it was for hauling logs.
Hartwick Pines | 
Tall pine | 
Rao Kareti | 
McD @ Waters |
The park had an excellent logging museum exhibit. The treeswere amazingly tall with almost no branches in the fist 100 feet.DALMACers Rao Kareti and Steve Schuesler craned their necks upward,but the tops of the trees weren't visible. We were all dwarfedby the tall pines. By the time we finished walking the trailsthrough the woods, we were getting pretty darned hungry, so hungrythat we settled for McDonalds in Waters (right at the bottom ofa good downhill run across I-75). As the line of bikes along thebarbed wire fence shows, we were not alone.
The faster riders, like tandem riders Del & Nancy Johnson(photo--would you believe they wear matching street clothes too?)and RAAM (Ride Across America) qualified Roger Nelson made itall the way to Gaylord for lunch. They ate at the Big Buck, abrew-pub restaurant just south of Gaylord. By sightseeing andtaking our time, we didn't get to Gaylord until late afternoon.For dinner, we got to eat pizza (awful). In the future, I'd skipthe Gaylord High School dinner offering (see photo to left--verynice high school) and try to get to the Sugar Bowl (an excellentrestaurant downtown) instead.
Gaylord High School | 
Nancy & Del Johnson |
After dinner, several of us moseyed into town (on foot), boughtsome chain lube at the bike store and a couple of beers at a bar.
Day Four: Gaylord to Petoskey
Country house | 
Lake Louise |
Boyne City | 
Walloon Lake |
By now the scenery was getting nice. Early on we passed a prettylittle stone house in the country. Some riders (including fellowWilliamstonian Jane Reagan) opted to "bathe" at LakeLouise. It was inviting but too early in the morning for me. Severalof the 5-Day East riders headed off to East Jordan and a climbup "The Wall" as a side trip. I pulled a calf muscleprior to Gaylord and opted to pass on the Wall excursion thisyear. I've made it up the Wall several times, so didn't need torisk further injury to prove anything. Instead, I made it a leisurelyday, stopping for a second (better--really excellent) breakfastin Boyne Falls and then at the annual classic car show in BoyneCity. Dwayne Scheidler found this hot rod particularly interesting(note the smile on his face). From Boyne City, I got to climbsome pretty good hills, but didn't have much trouble with my leg.Babying it must have helped. Next stop was Walloon Lake, a beautifulsetting where I always stop. Though some of us went swimming (Sheilain photo), I wasn't in the mood. I took a couple of pictures,bought some Gatorade and went on my way.
Despite my leisurely pace, I got into Petoskey about 2:00.I should have dawdled more. I hauled some friends' gear to a goodcamping spot. In setting up my tent, I managed to break the thirdand last tent pole. I looked around on the ground near the tentfor something to use as a splint and ended up using a pencil anda popsicle stick wrapped in duct tape--not a pretty sight, butit worked. I then waited, and waited, and waited for my friends.Around 4:30, it started raining and rained heavily all night.Due to the rain (and my sore leg) I elected not to try walkingto town because I'd have a steep walk back to the high school.So, for the first time ever, I attended the raffle (as did almosteverybody). I won a pair of cycling gloves for my wife. When theclub raffle was over, we all went back to being incredibly bored.
My tent splint | 
A rainy night | 
The big raffle | 
Boredom |
Most of our tents took on water in the night; not just fromthe top (mine was dry there), but flowing along the ground intothe tent floor. My sleeping bag was quite wet by morning.
Day 5: Petoskey to St. Ignace
As usual, volunteer baggage truck driver John Foltzsmiled as he supervised the loading of baggage into the truck.You could see the water "flowing" from the bags as theywere loaded. Everything was soaked.
The last day is always my favorite. For some reason, I geta second wind. I just love riding through Harbor Springs and beyond.
 John Foltz | Victorian House
| Harbor Springs
|
Bike store food | 
Cappuccino | 
Bike store crowd |
The Victorian summer homes on the way into Harbor Springs aregorgeous. We took our time in Harbor Springs this year. We stoppedat the public restroom at the harbor, then at the annual bikestore open house & snack stop and then went for cappuccino.
Then we headed on our climb to the Tunnel of Trees. The pavementwas wet, so I braked and didn't get to the kind of downhill speedsI've reached in prior years (around 40 mph). The tunnel of treesis among the most beautiful rides in North America.
The "Tunnel of Trees" | 
Into Goodheart | 
Lunchtime @ Goodheart |
I've stopped for lunch at Goodheart every year, and thoughit was a bit early, I made no exception this year. The food isgreat, so everybody stops--even the Quad Century folks, some ofwhom were eating Ibuprofen like candy.
There were lots of tandems and recumbents this year, includinga triple.
Every year as I head out of Goodheart to Cross Village andon to the Bridge, I seem to develop power beyond my wildest expectations.This year, my leg pain vanished just at that point. About 10 milesout of Mackinac City, I decided I could fly. I refused to letanybody catch up with me or pass me for miles. By the time I gotto the high school bridge crossing staging area at the High Schoolin Mackinac City, I was going 23 mph on the flats.
Triple & tandem @ Goodheart | 
Staging at Mackinac City High School |
There were more people there for the first crossing this year,than I've ever seen before. Since my van was parked in MackinacCity, I didn't get to ride across this year. For once the weatherwas gorgeous and I really wanted to ride across the bridge, butI had to drive my van across. Oh well, I took some photos of thegroup as I drove across. It took incredible dexterity to pop photosof the bicyclists out the passenger window while driving the vanin the next lane.
It was a great DALMAC and I'll certainly be back for more.
Ed Noonan
Backto the DALMAC Page
This is the first rest stopat D&L Bike Shop's place. It was hot (in the 80°s). Ididn't eat enough breakfast or drink enough Gatorade, so endedup "bonking" at Alma. Most years, I've ridden at least1,000 miles before DALMAC. Last year, I'd ridden more than 5,000miles. This year, I'd only ridden about 200 miles and no seriousrides (Centuries) at all, so I paid a price. I wasn't in shapeand my body refused to meet my demands. I became dizzy, disorientedand nauseated. A doctor riding with me opined that I was sufferingfrom hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and suggested that I ridethe last 20 miles into Mt. Pleasant in a sag vehicle. So I did.What a wimp!
