finished my first tour

[Barb]

I had an awesome time! I rode the PALM (pedal across lower michigan). I made some new freinds and learned sooo much. I several personal bests. First time I rode 60 miles at once, first time I hit 28 mph downhill, and I rode faster with greater ease overall, even when I was not with a pack. The landscape was mostly farms and beautiful century old farm houses. We also rode for about half a day around gull lake. Several times during the tour, I laughed so hard with my friend that I almost had to pull over. That might have been the best part of the ride!

We stopped at a really cool car museum and visited the Jiffy Mix factory. My friend picked up Bobbi the bear from a teddy bear factory in Chelsea and we found some lovely places to by a Cosmo! We also got to visit Cabelas in Dundee.

This is what I learned:

1. Better spinning technique

2. More effficient shifting....especially on hills

3. Buying the tour meals is not always the best way to go (yuk)

4. My handlebars are a bit too low. I have a tingly pinch in my shoulder and my hands are still sore 3 days later!


I may do this tour again next year, but I also want to do one in July South to North in Michigan. That one benefits rails to trails.

I have to tend to my bike now. She is squeeking like a dime store 3 speed! A full wash and relube is just the ticket.

[Lise]

Hi, Barb! That sounds like a great first tour! I love Michigan. It's something of an ancestral homeland for me. My great-grandparents are buried in Kalamazoo, my Mom was born in Adrian, etc. Happy memories of time spent in Lelenau county for summer vacations. Do you have any pix to post? Lise

[Barb]

My digi camera died on the trip so I had to resort to disposables. I get pics and discs back on Friday. I will post then.

Now I am busy looking for my next long ride....thinking a century is in order but I am afraid of extreme heat and humidity. Welcome to Michigan!

[KnottedYet]

Are you going to do DALMAC?

The food on that was pretty good. There's one town on the route that uses the DALMAC as a huge fundraiser, with a giganitic lunch (the only meal not included) and portapotties and music and the whole works. One year (or so some other riders told us) the DALMAC course was changed to skip that town, but no-one told them...

PALM sounds like a lot of fun. Do you have pictures?

[hibiscus09]

Glad you had such a fun time! Looking forward to the pics!

[Barb]

knotted...I am not doing DALMAC...I will already be back at work. Can't miss days at the beginning of a school year! The PALM was a little hard on me, I wonder if I would even make it on DALMAC. My ride partner did it about 10 years ago on a dare. She did 4 days of centuries in a row. I know I can't hang like that...yet

[KnottedYet]

There's the 5 day option... much kinder and low key! The most we did was 85 in one day. It's the only multi-day I've done so far, and I really had a blast (even though my DPITA hurt her knee and we didn't finish, though we did drive the rest of the route and say things like "I wouldn't have made it up this hill!")

What a bummer that you'll be back at school! Come here and do the STP (Seattle to Portland) or the RSVP (ride Seattle to Vancouver and Party).

[bikerchick68]

Barb sounds like you had a great time! Good for you for setting all those new personal bests... way to go

[SandyLS]

Hi Barb,
Sounds like PALM was lots of fun. Seems that I am always working during the dates of that ride. I am signed up to do the 4 day east DALMAC and I am no where near ready for it. I need to get in some serious long training rides in before then. I try to do the route with the most hills on it during my regular 20 mile week-night rides. But I know that my hills don't even start to compare with those monsters up north. My daughter, son-in-law and two thirteen year old Grandsons are also doing this ride. Hubby will be driving our own personal sag vehicle if I need to call him to rescue me, but I sure would like the bragging rights to say I rode the whole route without calling him.
(p.s. Hubby will take alternitive routes and meet up with us for lunch, ect. I know that extra cars on a ride route is not a good thing!)
Sandy