DAY 1: Whitney, hang up these wet clothes!!

I'm such a horrible guest (not really) but I hate that I had to bring all my wet clothes and shoes in with me.  I had some spaghetti and a Clif Bar waiting for me, along with some glasses of water and I'm ready for my neatly made bed.

The day started great riding the Saginaw Rail Trail to St. Charles with Kiel Darling, Dave Dawson and my dad.  Of course the best part was the cool temp in the morning, which stayed with us until Owosso.  Kiel made it the first 30 miles with me and we stopped at McDonalds before he headed back.  This is when he first big rain came,  so we were still dry after waiting 45 minutes in the freezing McDonalds air conditioning.

I followed M-52 to Lansing and had some sprinkles,  even to soak your clothes but nothing to ruin the riding conditions.  The wind was really blowing and that makes riding the open country roads such a pain. My bandmate Jon Whiting joined me at Crunchys for some Crunch Burgers (with rub) and again,  i was forced to freeze in the air conditioning again.  So much for the July heatwave.  Jon made another cameo out in Olivet as he stopped along the road on his way out to Vermontville.

Riding to each of the small towns was great, since getting to each one feels like an accomplishment, slowly checking off each destination.   Once I got to Battle Creek I knew I was on the last stretch to Kzoo.  I made it just too late to get to ride a portion with my cousin Eric Nietling.  Once in town, I had decided to follow a river bike path to dodge the road traffic, this backfired since the trail was littered with sticks and stones, making for some very slow riding.  I'm watching the setting sun thinking I need to pick up my pace.  Riding the last 15 miles on M-96 was a great ride, no traffic, smooth flat roads and a perfect shoulder.

Great way to end the ride for Day 1, and ready to ride into the city of Chicago on Tuesday.  Whitney Morgan's been a great host and I'm going to let myself sleep in a bit to make up for a late night planning on Sunday.   Pics to follow!

Alan