Morning dawned clear and sunny in Germantown (the pre-ride stop) and a short drive away were to be close to 1,000 other riders, volunteers, family, and supporters. It's exciting to get things together on the start of a ride - making sure everything is in place - and the frenetic few minutes of finding a place to park and getting the bike unloaded and all set to go.
Jaunts like this are rides, not races. That doesn't mean no one goes fast; I was passed by several individuals and groups (pace lines of riders) along the two days of the trip. But the ride versus race helps set the tone for the day.
I only knew a few of the other folks on bikes, those I had ridden with on the Lymphomaniacs team in the weeks prior, so there were lots of new people to get to know.
Lake Michigan served as our personal air conditioner for the day as light breezes provided invigorating cool breezes and a tail wind that pushed us along the asphalt.
You might recall from earlier blogs that we rides, and by extension most of us, tend to think of our personal tail wind (and its effect), as something for which we can take credit. Thankfully, most riders I talked to were very aware of the gentle breezes that made life so much easier on us.
Good advice from a veteran rider a long time ago was that if you don't need one of these little relief stations every hour; then you are not drinking enough water!
We skimmed past the outskirts of Cedar Grove and cruised up to Sheboygan for lunch.
At the lunch stop, we were greeted with a cheering section. They were clapping, shouting encouragement, and ringing cow bells. These cheering sections were scattered numerous places along the ride - some of the sections were folks who live along the route and wanted to watch the passing cyclists.
For lunch, I enjoyed my meal and some Diet Dew while sitting on a bench looking out at the big lake. It was only 10:30, but we were nearly 50 miles into the ride and we all needed fuel.
It was early enough that a low layer of fog hovered over the water and partially hid a beacon on a breaker off shore.There I get to know a rider from Monroe who rides every year. It's a personal thing for him, as his daughter fought a long and successful battle with the blood cancer. It was one of the things I like most about riding; getting to know other people and hear a bit of their life's journey.
At mile 55 we had our fifth rest stop, and I caught up with three other Lymphomaniacs who were about to take the 25 Century loop just ahead. The goal, as masochistic as it might sound, was to log 100 miles for our day instead of the normal 75.
There are times 75 is just not enough.Of course, we thought that before we headed west along Garton Road in Sheboygan County.
That tail wind we so enjoyed now was hitting us head on, and with seemingly a lot more force than when it was at our backs.
The loop took us into farm country with hills that we hadn't had to bother with up to this point.
At mile 11 we had our next pit stop, and it lightened our mood as a young girl helping her family serve the riders handed out medals and stickers we could affix to our bib number enshrining us as members of the Century Club for this ride.
Refreshed and renewed, we headed back east, rejoining the main route around 1:30 knowing we had just a little more than 20 miles left for the day.
Brakes were applied to get a picture of the town sign and skyline for Cleveland. The route took us past the large church that has apparently been closed for some time.
That left 10 miles to go. As nice as the ride was, it was time to get to the finish line waiting at the University of Wisconsin - Manitowoc campus.
I was more than ready for a shower to clean up and a long soak to cool off my legs before carbo loading for day 2 of the Scenic Shore ride.
The tale of the tape: 16.9 miles an hour average; 6 hours and 22 minutes on the bike; 108 miles.
Time to eat - get some sleep - and ride again!
to be continued tomorrow
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