DALMAC Ride ReportsDALMAC Ride Reports
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Laura Johnson- Captain and Stoker
John Langlois- Tandem drafting extrodinare, captain Chris Lawless-Recent
graduate of the school of Tandem Drafting, and John's tandem partner
on day 5.
Like the Harmon Hundred, 1995 also commemorates the 25th anniversary
of the DALMAC bicycle tour and this was our third DALMAC. Laura
captained the tandem for three of the 5 days of our adventures.
Day 1: Lansing to Mt. Pleasant
Well actually that should be Grand Ledge to Mt. Pleasant. Laura
and I were fortunate enough to have overnight accommodations with
the Lawless family who live just outside of Lansing. We left at
8 AM and the weather was beautiful with tailwinds out of the south.Within
the first hour of riding our south tailwinds turned into strong
head and crosswinds, and we were looking forward to an effortless
cruise on the first day. Once we joined the official DALMAC route
we were only off by one mile according to our computers and the
cue sheets. Unlike last year, this years DALMAC was different
because there was a 5-day quint century ride that started a day
earlier. Maybe that is why we did not see many riders on the first
day so, for the most part, it was Laura and I riding tandem with
John and Chris enjoying the draft of the tandem. Our lunch stop,which
was an interesting one, was about 65 miles into the ride in the
town of McBride. The food was great however a few drunks at the
bar made for an uneasy time when we finished our meals.As we made
our way east towards Mt. Pleasant we enjoyed a nice tailwind so
we decided to have some fun with our big gears but as we approached
the city limit sign for Mt. Pleasant we were robbed of a winning
a sprint by a klingon who was well rested from drafting off the
tandem.
Day 2: Mt. Pleasant to Cadillac
My past two experiences with DALMAC has been that day 2 is the
toughest day and it will rain somewhere on the route. The weather
forecast for the day called for sunny skies and temps in the 70's
so we did not have to worry about carrying the rain gear. The
morning started out cool and partly sunny so I grabbed my jacket
but soon it would come off as it warmed up. After yesterday, it
was great to share the road with so many other cyclists on the
tour. Off to the Northwest, the skies became quite dark and I
tried to reassure the group that these were "cold weather
cumulus clouds" that form when there is cold air aloft and
they wouldn't rain on us. They didn't believe me that I was taking
a correspondence course in meteorology through the Weather Channel.Well
I flunked that forecast and the winds turned so gusty that Laura
had trouble keeping the tandem going in a straight line.A few
minutes later the rains came so we took shelter at a nearby high
school. We waited half an hour for the rain to blow over but it
really added a chill in the air when we started up again.Laura
wasn't going to take any chances so she managed to find a trash
bag to wear while riding. As the stoker, It drove me nuts hearing
that bag flapping in the wind. If it had continued to rain I could
have done my disappearing stoker act by tucking myself inside
the trash bag. I tried it once and we got some stares from other
riders. Things dried up pretty quickly and soon the skies were
blue again. We had several tandems in a pack of about 30 riders
as we approached a fast downhill into the town of Hersey where
we had lunch. We had broken up the pack and had only 5 riders
on our wheel as we wound the tandem up to 40 MPH but then another
tandem came around to relieve us on the long descent.
Cadillac is the highest point in lower Michigan and it seems like
the last 10 miles are continually uphill as we paralleled US-131.
Day 3: Cadillac to Bellaire
You could call day 3 of DALMAC '95 "Tour Detour" since
over half of the route was rerouted due to road construction.Our
group of 8 riders were looking forward to a great breakfast in
Kingsley MI but the new route put an end to those plans so we
decided to stop in Fife Lake for breakfast instead.
Just outside Cadillac, the group of some 30+ riders we were with
got harassed by a motorist in a pickup truck. He kept blasting
his horn and would not move over one inch to pass us safely. The
section of road we were on at the time had excellent oncoming
traffic visibility for over a mile. I told Laura, who was captaining
at the time, to keep her place on the roadway since we couldn't
move over to the right because of other cyclists. The situation
could have turned ugly if anyone got clipped by the truck, 30+riders
vs 1 reckless motorist. About 20 miles into the ride we bypassed
a food stop area thinking that it was too early in the ride to
stop for food since Fife Lake wasn't that far away. Guess what?
we never passed through Fife Lake and the first rest stop wasn't
till 40 miles or so into the ride. None of us really needed food
but we did leave some room in our stomachs for a nice breakfast.The
new route featured some great "tandem roller" hills
coming into Elk Rapids and we easily maxed out at 40 MPH+ on the
downhills with plenty of steam to allow us to effortless crest
the next hilltop. The rear wheel felt like it had a knot in it
so upon inspection we discovered that the tire was starting to
split apart. I had a feeling that our next stop in Elk Rapids
would be longer than usual. We considered riding the tire with
a boot inserted in the tire but it was decided to wait for the
sag vehicle. There were no bike shops around. Word got around
to some of the other riders about our tire problem and one rider,who
was supported by his wife, had a spare tire for the tandem he
wasn't riding so we bought it from him, phew! 10 miles from our
campground we stopped in the town of Alden for lunch. We were
there for a couple of hours and had the chance to meet Dick Allen,the
founder of DALMAC. We did a little partner swapping on the tandem
for the last 10 miles. John took my place as stoker and rode with
Laura and I rode John's half bike. I enjoyed the fast acceleration
up the hills but I did not try and breakaway from the tandem because
there was a massive downhill into Bellaire.The tandem maxed out
at 51 MPH and I was only inches off their rear wheel being "sucked"
along in the draft. How dangerous we live! It was nice to camp
near a town that has an ice cream shop and I enjoyed a delicious
banana split after dinner.
Day 4: Bellaire to Mackinaw Bridge
By far the most beautiful scenery on the entire trip and we had*awesome*
weather as well. The terrain was very hilly and we maxed out at
50 MPH on one of the mile long descents but the both of us were
eagerly awaiting our assault on "the wall" just outside
of East Jordan. Last year Laura and I had to bail out as a team
because we were having shifting problems while laboring up the
steep grade. For the sake of safety, we decided to get there as
early as possible because it gets crowded on the hill and many
people are walking their bikes. The grade gets very steep at the
top but what makes this hill more difficult than others is that
you are on an incline as you approach the wall at speeds less
than 15 MPH. As we crested the top of the wall we got our picture
taken by a report for a newspaper out of Traverse City.While I
was wearing the Bernard Hinault grimace of pain look on my face,
Laura was seen smiling. Is our teamwork suspect here?The route
around Walloon Lake was filled with high speed descents and fast
cornering on roads surrounded by thick forests. The next 10 miles
were the worst mechanically for us. Just outside Petoskey I noticed
that the rear wheel felt like it was oscillating, and sure enough,
we had seven spokes that were completely loose and so I spent
some time tightening and truing the wheel to get us rolling again.
Just after a fast descent into the town of Petoskey we had a rear
tire blow out. I was able to bring the tandem to a safe stop and
we thanked our lucky stars that the blowout didn't occur on one
of those fast descents. The next rest stop was at,of all places,
a bike shop in Harbor Springs. I was fortunate enough to get a
mechanic to go over the wheel and tighten the spokes. This was
our second lucky break that we had on this trip.The next 20 miles
after Harbor Springs is probably the most scenic of the whole
tour. As our tandem made its way through a winding and wooded
shoreline route we kept picking up riders in our draft.Just before
Cross Village Laura took a picture behind us and I counted at
least 15 single bikes tucked in from the wind. At Cross Village
we had our final stop for the day and I enjoyed some soft serve
ice cream but a half hour later it came back to haunt me in the
form of bonk. Fortunately Chris had some food with her and I devoured
it instantly, I felt much better. Cross Village marks a point
on the route where you leave the wooded shoreline and start heading
inland a bit before reaching Mackinaw City some 15 miles away.
Psychologically this final stretch seems to be the toughest. Maybe
that's due to the change in scenery or just that we all want to
finish up. Because of our plans for Monday we decided to skip
the Mackinaw bridge crossing due to the time involved. As if I
couldn't get enough riding in, I wanted to ride the 25 miles back
to Harbor Springs on some *hilly* roads that are used in the state
road race championships but unfortunately the bikes were not easily
accessible because of our luggage on the car roof. After three
nights of camping outdoors we were all looking forward to a good
nights sleep indoors at John's parents.
Day 5: Harbor Springs to Grand Ledge
Today was the big day for John and Chris since neither one of
them had ridden much over 100 miles in one day and after 4 days
of riding their singles they were on a tandem. Chris' husband,Mike,
drove the route the day before and made us last minute cue sheets
despite the fact that we would be followed by the sag vehicle
for most of the route. We all agreed that the first 50 miles were
the toughest. For the first few miles we rode along the Lake Michigan
shoreline but then we had to climb some mile long grades as we
made our way inland. This was a rude awaking for our tired legs
that were not fully warmed up either. Again, we had beautiful
weather and the winds were fairly calm.
Our first rest stop came in Mancelona were Mike had scouted out
a place to eat however he did not know how long it would take
us to get some sub sandwiches made. About an hour later we started
to roll again however I discovered another broken spoke on the
rear wheel. Fortunately I was able to remove the freewheel and
replace the spoke with a spare. After Mancelona we left US-131
and enjoyed some lightly traveled roads for a change. The boredom
factor on long rides seems to be made worse when you are on the
same road for miles without any turning. We only had to make one
detour, due to a 4 mile section of gravel road, that added 10
miles to the total route .
John and Chris were doing fine, but as the day and miles went
by, they both noticed more soreness in the rear end. Laura and
I seemed pretty accustomed to long hours in the saddle so we just
had to avoid any major bumps in the road. Although we took a different
route last year, the terrain and vegetation for the various sections
of the state was the same as we remembered it. Pine tree forests
followed by wetlands with birch trees followed by some more pine
tree forests. It wasn't till the last 70 miles that the land started
to look more like the flat farmlands that I am used to seeing
in Illinois.
Sunset came some 70 miles away from our destination of Grand Ledge.We
had our last major food stop in the town of Beal City where we
also mounted our lights for the night riding. Unlike the Iowa
24 hour challenge, there were not that many flying insects during
the hour around dusk . I think the cooler weather may have helped.Our
riding speed actually picked up and when we passed under streetlights
at road intersections I didn't see our speed drop below 22 MPH.
I was getting somewhat bored being up front all of the time with
no one to talk to so we would occasionally slow down so John and
Chris could ride along side us. For Chris, this washer first experience
at night riding and she enjoyed it! As the oncoming car headlights
shined on us I could see the glistening sweat on my arms and legs,
ah the experience of riding at night.Although we had adequate
lighting systems, Mike had followed behind us in the sag vehicle
giving us even more lighting.
I felt like I was riding RAAM with that kind of support! We reached
the town of Fowler around 11:30 PM and we were all eager to finish
up the remaining 20 miles in a hurry. I had a chance to air dry
the chamois in my shorts with an air hose at a service station.I
might add that I was still wearing the shorts too. I got quite
a few looks but I was probably the most comfortable when we started
up again. Once we saw the I-96 exit we knew that we were only
miles away from finishing. Just after we crossed I-96 John and
Chris surged ahead of us for what looked like a sprint for the
Grand Ledge city limit sign but they sprinted after the wrong
sign! I was so surprised to see such an effort that I felt compelled
sprint after the real Grand Ledge city limit sign. John and Chris
were both so trashed they didn't even attempt to challenge us.Shortly
after 12:30 AM we finished up back at the Lawless Farm where we
started our adventure 5 days ago. I asked everyone if they wanted
to ride an extra 4 miles to top the ride off at an even 250 miles.
My offer was unanimously turned down. Despite being physically
trashed I think John and Chris enjoyed their debut ride into the
world of ultra marathon cycling. In fact,John admitted that while
he was riding he was wondering how far he could tandem in 24 hours.
Although we took a total of 17 hours to make the entire trip,
our time on the tandems was just over 13 hours at a 18.3 MPH riding
pace. We really got quite spoiled with Mike's sag support and
his efforts were greatly appreciated.
DALMAC is a 4 or 5 day bicycle tour that starts from Lansing MI
and finishes up in St.Ignace where you cross the Mackinaw bridge
by bike. Luggage is shuttled to each campground by truck. Last
year was my first DALMAC ride where I met my tandem partner, Laura,for
this years ride. Our goal was to do the 4 day quad century ride
and on the fifth day ride all the way back to Lansing which we
estimated to be a 215 mile ride. We had made some ambitious riding
plans despite the fact that we had only ridden tandem together
once before, and prior to that, she had never ridden a tandem
before!
Lansing to Mt. Pleasant- Beautiful weather greeted us as we departed from Lansing with Sunny Skies and cool temperatures.We rode into a headwind most of the way up to Mt. Pleasant and we made several friends along the way who enjoyed drafting the tandem. In fact, two of my friends enjoyed the draft for the entire tour! This was the first time I had ever captained a tandem with aero bars and I was amazed at the additional speed and stability it gave the bike. The landscape was similar to that of Illinois,flat with many open areas. The first night some 1500 cyclists camped on the grounds of Central Michigan University.
Mt. Pleasant to Cadillac- The second day brings about the most change in scenery. Flat open country changes to pine tree forests and then to rolling pasture land around the Cadillac area. This day is probably one of the most difficult because of the prevailing north headwinds combined with the hills at the end of a 105 mile day. The miles went by real quickly when we joined another tandem team followed by some 20 other riders and I had a chance to exchange stories with some other riders who also suffered through 100 degree heat during this year's National 24 hr Bicycle Challenge. At one point we stopped in a small town for a rest break and I counted over 10 tandems at this particular stop and for a moment I thought I was at a tandem rally.
Cadillac to Torch Lake- For the first 30 miles we were rewarded for all the climbing we did yesterday by gradual downhills that took us west towards one of the bays of Lake Michigan by Traverse City. One of the downhills lasted for over a mile and we saw speeds in excess of 45 MPH! Unfortunately we did not warm up enough at the start and this took its toll on rider injury and my tandem partner was one of those who got injured. Her Achilles tendon was starting to swell in pain and so we made some adjustments to her saddle and our pedaling style. The adjustments were enough to get us into the campground at Torch Lake. All day long I heard rumors about how cold the showers were at the Campground but to my surprise they were hot which made me a happy camper for the night.
Torch Lake to St. Ignace- I consider the final day to be the most scenic of the four days. The toughest hills are on the final day and we decided to ride at an easy pace knowing that we were still planing on riding back to Lansing on Labor Day. Laura bandaged up her heel to ease the tendon problem and it worked great. Our biggest challenge was a hill called "the Wall" located near East Jordan. When you approach "the wall" you are on a slight upgrade and the last third of the hill turns *severely*steep. Our lowest gear was a 42x30 and we were doing fine till we got half way up the hill when the chain started to skip all over the place. We decided to abandon the hill climb fearing that the mechanical difficulty might cause us or others around to crash.We were really bummed out because we had the strength to do the climb. I was so frustrated that I went back down the hill, put the tandem in the next bigger gear and climbed up the hill by myself. I carried both of our spirits and determination up the hill and conquered it! North of Harbor Springs is "The Tunnel of Trees" which is a ten mile section of winding road that features the Lake Michigan shoreline on one side and is surrounded by wooded forests. Because of our riding plans for the 5th day we decided not to do the Mackinaw Bridge crossing and thereby eliminating some 40 more miles of riding back to Harbor Springs.We both wanted to be well rested for our return trip.
Harbor Springs to Lansing- After our first night sleeping indoors
with all the comforts of home we left Harbor Springs around 8
AM.Laura had rested well but her Achilles tendon was still swollen
although she didn't feel any pain. The first 20 miles were probably
the toughest part of the ride as we climbed and climbed. After
80 miles we decided to switch positions on the tandem and I think
this was the best for both of us. I was getting tired of the constant
wind in my ears and face, we had headwinds all day. My tandem
partner was getting tired of having nothing to do but pedal and
was starting to feel sleepy. So for the next few miles I had to
learn not to steer the bike and she had to learn to steer again!The
second wind for both of us came around the 140 mile mark and each
additional mile we went was one more mile further than Laura had
ever ridden before in one day, she was really psyched! Mt.Pleasant
was the deciding point for whether we were going to ride into
the night and make it all in one day or splitting the return trip
into two days. Our main concerns about the night riding is(1)
finding places for food and (2) having enough battery supply to
light our way through the next several hours. Actually, I had
the most concerns about the night riding whereas my partner was
eager to keep going towards completing her first double century.Both
of us had brought along our Vista light systems and we had some
40 watts of Halogen light power going across the handlebar.Before
darkness fell we had mapped out a route back to Lansing and we
thought it would be straightforward. Our goal was to map the most
direct route back without using interstate highway, but to our
surprise many roads that looked friendly on the map turned into
dirt or gravel. Despite the route problems encountered we were
able to find food stops and we noticed our riding speed at night
was between 20~22 MPH, not bad for having ridden over 150 miles.
After several detours and one battery change we arrived in Lansing
around 1 AM nearly 17 hrs after we started. Despite the hills
and headwind we had for the first 130 miles we still managed to
maintain a 17.5 MPH riding average for 235 miles. I was really
impressed with our performance as a tandem team.
Rob Schaller
