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Day 17
Today we woke up to our normal breakfast of granola, cereal, fruit, and bagels; always delicious and always beneficial.
We got ready for a nice day off from riding and headed over to Sandusky, Ohio’s “Cedar Point” amusement park. The park itself was overwhelmingly large. There were roller coasters, water rides, merry-go-rounds, gift shops, and restaurants galore. All sitting on its own little island off the coast of Lake Erie. “Cedar Point” is acclaimed to be the best park in the nation. And I think everyone else knew it because even on a Wednesday it was PACKED. We waited an hour for one ride (which was a lot of fun) and then decided to go to another straight after- bad idea. It took a little over two hours to get on the coaster, and by that point, it’s pretty hard to enjoy the ride when you’re that sweaty and lethargic. But we did, because it’s Cedar Point and awesome, so once we got buckled in our troubles vanished.
Except for the sweat. That stayed.
We ended up going on only 5 rides total during the six hours we were there, but they were pretty sweet rides. Aaaaaaand I got all of the coasters on Colby’s “Go-Pro” HD video camera. So keep an eye out for some awesome footage of some of the best roller coasters in the nation!
Half of the group made a delicious mexi-style dinner tonight and we topped it off with some fantastic chocolate cake and apple pie (hard to feel guilty about the dessert when there’s 67 miles to ride tomorrow). Hope everyone is doing well and keep cheering on your riders as we reach our halfway mark in Cleveland, Ohio!!
Day 16
Our last day in Michigan! Yet another state down! We rode 70 miles into Sandusky, Ohio, and boy was it hot. The heat index was a high of 110 degrees. We had almost twice as many breaks as we normally do to make sure everyone was staying cool. We rode on the rail trail, so that made the day go somewhat smoother. Flat, smooth surfaces and a very gradual (if any) incline. But even with the extra breaks and the rail trail, some of the smaller riders were overheating, so we shuttled then the last 20 miles or so. Everyone was fine, but definitely worn-out by the end of the trip.
As we continued on, Colby, Jordan, Alec, Justin, Jack, and I came across an abandoned farm house, so we took a little time perusing (okay, more than just a little bit of time) and found some really neat things among the rubble of the forgotten home; pictures, toys from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, memorabilia, and other items that showed the life of the family that spent so many years there. It was really neat to come across.
As we left our felony of breaking and entering behind us, I really got to know and talk to Alec and Justin in the last 20 miles or so. They are really neat kids, and it was pretty cool to get to know them on an informal level (like anything’s formal between the group. Ha.)
We finally made it to dinner, which our host church provided, and we all relaxed from the long day with either a movie, sleeping, or listening to Melissa play the mandolin and singing (quite beautifully, I might add). Melissa and I even had our own jam session later on; Melissa on mandolin, me on the piano. We had a great time.
So far, Ohio has treated us well. Can’t wait to see what this state brings to the table. Tomorrow we head to its biggest attraction; Cedar Point!
Day 15
We left the VanHouten’s this morning and headed to Temperance, Michigan. The ride was long, but filled with some pretty cool things along the way.
As we passed by the outskirts of Detroit, there was little question about what we had to see as we passed by; 8 Mile Road. For those of you who don’t know the significance of 8 Mile, this is the road where Eminem grew up. We weren’t too close to the city or anything, but it was the same road nonetheless. The guys thought that was pretty awesome.
We kept riding in the sun and through the heat, stopping once for a break before lunch. Arlen really outdid himself for this lunch break because when we got to the park to eat, there was a beach just beside it. What more could a cyclist ask for on a hot day? Food AND a place to swim? It was awesssoommeeeee.
But the swim time had to come to an end at some point, and when it did, we indulged in some hearty sandwiches and creamy chocolate milk, filling our stomaches to the top. Just when we thought that we would have to leave this haven and ride back out into the blistering heat, a torrential downpour came overhead us. We sat under the pavilion until the storm passed, and when it did, the air and ground because cool and comfortable.
We showered at the local YMCA and ate unlimited pizza, salad, pasta, and dessert at an Italian buffet in town. The church contained a full-sized basketball court, so some of the guys chilled in there towards the end of the night.
AND it was parcel day! We got packages sent from family members, friends, loved ones, and even bosses-thanks Mrs. McSherry :)
It was a phenomenal day. Couldn’t have been any better.
Day 14
Our day off!! And what a GREAT day it was indeed. Harry Potter in the morning, dinner in the evening, and pool time in between. I wish there was more to write, but that’s seriously all we did. Swim, swim, swim. Definitely not complaining. I did spend some time with Kyle VanHouten (Jack’s brother) some more which was great. He’s such an awesome kid. And Melissa joined the team today! She came out of Wyoming and did the ride last year, so she pretty much knows the drill. Great to have another awesome person on the ride. Welcome, Melissa!
Day 13
Our ride started off with an escort from both Brandt (the young man we met yesterday) and the mayor of St. Johns. Brandt ended up meeting us at the park last night and asked if he could ride out with us in the morning. I talked with him a lot this morning, and he really is a great guy. Very glad I got to meet him.
65 miles later, we found ourselves in the open arms of the VanHouten family in Howell, Michigan! It was actually a pretty easy day and the miles just flew right on by. The VanHoutens had a handful of people over to welcome us into town. There was one woman who I talked to, Karen, who has a grandson with Duchenne. She, among many other families, can not, will not, and SHOULD not go down without a fight. Karen set up what are the beginnings of a foundation for Noah, and I encourage you all to go check it out and please, PLEASE make some sort of donation to her cause. It’s just her, and she’s doing all she can to help her grandson out, so let’s try and help her out. Noah’s website is: http://www.noahsfeat.org/ Keep working hard, Karen! You are doing an amazing thing for Noah. How lucky he is to have a grandmother like you.
After some delicious food and a well-deserved dip in the VanHouten’s pool, we all gathered into the front room to watch Harry Potter 7-Part 1, because tomorrow is our day off and we’ll see HP 7-Part 2. Stoked!
(Source: noahsfeat.org)
Day 12
We headed into St. Johns, Michigan this morning and rode 60 miles on mostly dirt roads. We finally met at our rendezvous point and were escorted by the local sheriff to the nearby park where families affected with Duchenne made us a delicious dinner. Just before we took off, a young man came by, telling us that he too was a cyclist and inquired about our trip. Brandt told us that he got involved with “Bike-and-Build” and it turned out that he knew one of our previous JettRiders, Gillian! Small world. When we got to the park, some of the boys and other siblings of the families played hide-and-seek and tag at the park with the JettRiders. I remember the days where I used to be good at those games…
We mixed it up and stayed at what I believe will be our only time at a high school. A woman named Bonnie came by to make sure that we were comfortable and offered to do our nasty, nasty laundry for us (we were all very, very thankful because the smell was getting pretty bad). As we unpacked the trailer, we said goodbye to someone that I will miss very much, Sara Perszyk. She has to head back to Florida, but she will be missed and thought about often. I am really glad that I got a chance to meet and ride with her.
Day 11
Welp, goodbye Wisconsin!!
It’s our last morning here in Wisconsin! We woke up at 4:15 am and rode our bike a couple miles out to Lake Michigan to the high speed ferry that will transport us over the lake to the cherry state.
The high speed ferry was pretty awesome. I couldn’t believe how fast the ferry was and how large Lake Michigan really is. The sunrise mixed with the strong wind and water thrown at your face as we traveled over the lake was absolutely breathtaking.
As for the riding, it was a fairly short day. Only 50 miles. We got into Grand Rapids, MI at about 4 and got a chance to shower at the fitness club before dinner. The church has a separate building for the youth group that was amazing. It was humongous and had couches, a super nice kitchen, a ping-pong table, a mini basketball hoop, and a lot of rooms so everyone could spread out. It was a pretty cool building. It was especially awesome to play a game I made up called “Zombie Monster” with the kids of the families who joined us for dinner. Object? Have an infected zombie (me) try to chase and attempt to break into the rooms where there are innocent and healthy children that are trying to stay away. Oh, and you have to throw anything and everything at the zombie to keep him away. Whatever part of him you hit, he loses that area of his body.
I was headless for a good portion of the game.
After dinner, Colby, Justin, Arlen and I dyed our hair different colors because….well, why not? Arlen and Justin went blue, Colby dyed his Bieber hair purple, and I did blue and red on both sides of my head and then made the mohawk part purple; AKA- the JettRiders are lookin’ perty goooood.
Day 10
It’s our longest day yet; 110 miles. We wont be going all 110 miles on bike (mainly because there just isn’t enough hours in the day to do both that and the activity that we had planned. But still, 110 miles traveled today in all, and that would wear anyone out.
At about 80 miles we were shuttled to the Trek plant to see the history of Trek bikes and the manufacturing process. The facility was very nice and really interesting to walk through. They had a whole exhibit on the history of their bikes, and then another on Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France bikes that he rode in the tours (that part of the day was really, really interesting for me). We toured the entire plant, including: the photography and video stations, development, engineering, assembly, painting, decal; you name it. The coolest part of the Trek facility for me were its advances and leaps towards sustainability and renewable energy. Trek replaced its use of coal, and switched entirely to wind and solar power. They also replaced all of their urinals with “waterless urinals”, which saves them over 40,000 gallons of water a year. I was so impressed with the facility that I asked our tour leader if Trek gave internships (for those of you that don’t know, I’m majoring in Mechanical Engineering) and he said that they do! He gave me his card and told me to keep in touch with him, so, we’ll see!!
We continued out east on the Hank Aaron Trail until we arrived in Rockford, WI just in time for dinner provided by the church we stayed with. The dinner was delicious and the people were very nice. There was actually a man who sat at my table with me (who looked no more than 70) that told me he just celebrated his 100th birthday the other day! Sid was pretty awesome and told me all about his days working for GE and kids and retirement. When I asked him what his secret for longevity was, he replied with a smile; “Air and positive thinking!!”
Done and done, Sid.
