HavengaBikeRide

  As predicted, we didn't get any rain last night and because of a little bit longer day, we got started a little sooner.                    Packing Up at Fort Custer  We had beautiful roads lined with hickory, maple, oak and walnut trees especially during the first part of our ride, which sometimes led to a challenge dodging all the nuts and acorns on the side of the road.  We had a bit more traffic today than many other days even though we tried to choose quieter roads.  We also had a moderate head wind so that slowed us down a bit.   Wouldn't you know it--we had a flat tire less than 10 miles from home!  We still arrived well before sunset. 

   We are blessed by Dereck who stayed at our house and took care of it, and by Sue & Mike, our neighbors who read about our lost balloon and got us some more!  We are grateful to God for the health He gave us that made this trip possible, and for both our local community and for all the people we met along the way that contributed to our success.   

   Just a few miles into our ride, we went through the gate in the prison wall of the first state of Michigan prison, which was built in 1839 and the wall in 1841.  So it has been over 180 years that prisoners have been locked up at Jackson.    From Jackson to Concord we traveled on another rail trail, the Falling Waters Trail. Both yesterday's and today's trail and some shorter ones in the city of Jackson are going to be part of the Great Lake-to-Lake Trails Route #1 from South Haven to Port Huron when the gaps between trails are completed.  It went through what we thought was an impoundment, but someone along the trail told us it was where marl used to be quarried and now is known as Lime Lake.                                  Lime Lake                        Tunnel of Trees                                          Tree-Star               As we were coming into Marshall, we heard thunder so quick checked a map and found a park a

  To get back home, we had originally planned to take a rental van. However, Kay's sister and husband from southeastern Michigan ended up driving instead of flying.  So we were able to ride back to Michigan with them yesterday and stay at their house overnight.     We put our gear back on the bikes and this morning set out on a 3-day adventure back to Holland.  We had a thunderstorm and rain last night but by the time we left we had sunshine.    The first 15 to 20 miles were busy,  then we joined the Mike Levine Lakeland Trail.  This is a rail trail that is one of the linear Michigan State Parks.  This took us almost to Jackson which is where we are staying tonight.           The  first changing leaves we noticed   It was a good day for wildlife.  We saw a 12" snapping turtle, a 3-foot beautifully patterned snake, and a few frogs, one of which we were able to identify as a leopard frog.  We saw one bald eagle while still in the southeastern Michigan suburbs, and wh

  We had a great time at Belle Isle State Park on the Rappahannock River with Kay's two stateside sisters and their spouses.  The house we were staying in included 4 bicycles, 2 canoes, and 2 crab traps.  It also had puzzles, games and an extensive library, which we didn't need as the weather couldn't have been better-- sunny and pleasantly warm in the daytime and pleasantly cool at night.  Since we had enough bicycles for the 6 of us counting ours, we went on several bicycle rides together on the park roads and trails, visiting little beaches and overlooks by the water, saw an eagle's nest and checked out the exhibit at the visitor center.  We put out the crab traps baited with chicken necks purchased at the camp store and eagerly checked the traps a couple times a day.  We had great meals, visited a beach on the Chesapeake side of the peninsula, and had great seafood for lunch at a local restaurant/pool hall. The poor person who waited on us was very busy

https://ridewithgps.com/ routes/40936417      Originally we had hoped to have arrived at Tappahannock yesterday and continue on to Belle Isle State Park today. But as we were delayed by the runs, we were blessed with loving relatives who picked us up there to take us to Kay's sisters' get-together.      Our bicycling routing software took us from the hotel along what were mainly country roads for about 15 miles.  We played leapfrog with a school bus that would almost catch up to us, then stop to pick up more kids.  Finally it passed us.  It must have gone down a side road as we noticed it behind us again. We had fun saying, "Have a good day at school!" to the waiting children. After this morning traffic, the roads quieted down. We did have a logging  truck come up behind us and with no room for them to pass us, as the road was only about 1 1/2 lanes wide there, we got off at a driveway to let them pass.   We then crossed Highway 17 to continue

               Yorktown Victory Monument   Yippee! Kay slept well and no more frequent trips to the bathroom. Her energy was not quite back to normal but good enough that we could ride 33 miles comfortably today.  Yesterday we rode on the Colonial National Historical Parkway from where the Capital Trail ends near Jamestown to Williamsburg. Today, we got back on to take it to Yorktown.  Because of its deliberate design to give some of the effect of traveling long ago, it is more isolated, quieter, tree-lined to block sight lines of commercial development and has limited access and lower speed limits to discourage routine traffic. So it was very pleasant to ride.  Yesterday we traveled for quite a while along the James River, today once we were beyond the Williamsburg area, we traveled along the York River. It's amazing how big the estuary is as it approaches Chesapeake Bay.  We saw a large naval ship, a small working craft (setting crab tracks?) and a tall sh

  Early this morning, over the course of a couple hours, Kay had to get up over and over to head to the toilet. Since things were going in the wrong direction instead of improving and it had been 48 hours since she first had diarrhea, we decided to  talk to the doctor's office back home and they recommended that she be seen. So off to urgent care.  It is a bit of a challenge to figure out where to go as could we do it on a bike or not? Since the nearest place was about 2.5 miles away, we decided we should get a ride.  We tried a taxi first, and the phone number did not work so next choice was to install the Uber app and get a ride that way. On the ride there, we got to experience Moroccan music.  On the checkup, all vitals were normal,  and the conclusion was that it was most likely E coli traveler's diarrhea. So prescribed were a course of antibiotics, bland diet, and probiotics, and can ride again once energy returns. Then we had to wait a while for the prescription and paper

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102766265   Today we had planned to go to Williamsburg but with Kay not feeling the best waited to decide until after we got up and ate. Her diarrhea seemed improved,  and as today was fairly flat and mainly on a paved trail, the Virginia Capital trail, we decided to try it.  The possibility of rain was also predicted later in the day (but it never threatened to rain while we were riding).  The trail usually went through trees and often had a forest on one side, so was usually shaded, which was helpful as it was humid and hot.                       It was amazing to see some huge soybean fields and some corn fields which had already been picked. We also saw a number of logging trucks with  utility-pole-length logs on them. We traveled by a number of historic plantations and lots and lots of historical plaques, about early settlers in the 1600's, the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War--we finally gave up on reading most of them or we wouldn't have

Today we had planned to take a rest day, and we are near grocery store, restaurants & a couple churches.    We went to bed doing ok but then early this morning, Kay was running between the toilet & then back to bed to rest.  No vomiting just diarrhea.  Jim so far has felt ok. He did a slow two-mile jog and then went to the nearest church.  The message was on Satan trying to defeat us and how often the closer you are to God the more that Satan wants to put you down.  The congregation had a lot of "amens" and "hallelujahs" and the volume was turned up high.  So it was very much praising our Lord but in a different manner than what Jim is used to.  What was encouraging is that a couple of people became members of the church and also there were some kids, even though it was a smaller church.  

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102473781   Today dawned slightly foggy but no rain in the forecast. We had a lovely sunny day with pleasant temperatures and lower humidity.  A lot of our time was spent on roads where trees grow very close to the road and often the edge of the road wasn't mowed.           We got some fried chicken livers for lunch at Miller Grocery Store in Mineral, VA.   It was interesting to see the different people coming into the store.  It  seemed like most were lower income but friendly,  and it seems like more men around here have long white beards.     This afternoon we stopped at Mt Olivet Baptist Church to have a snack. As a car was parked outside we asked if we could use the  restrooms, which we smiled about as they contained a shower.  While we were eating our snack, a car went driving by slowly with a flapping noise and pulled into the parking lot.  It had a very flat front tire.  We asked the lady and her grandson if they needed some help. S

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102596876    On this trip even when we have not set an alarm we usually wake up by 6:15 to 6:30, but  this morning, we didn't wake up until about 7:40 even though got to bed on time.  The more strenuous days in the mountains have finally caught up with us.      Leaving Ashland, there were a lot of people out riding bicycles this morning. It was a pleasant morning to ride, but not to take pictures as two participants in this journey got into a squabble about taking more than one picture of a site, which took some smile out of our day.      The TransAmerican route has been designated as US Bicycle Highway 76, and is well-signed in Virginia.  Yesterday before we got to Ashland, we were joined by the Atlantic Coast Route, which is designated US Bicycle Highway 1.   We had 2 choices just south of Ashland, to go around Richmond to the north and east or take the alternative route which goes into Richmond, then joins the Capital Trail a

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102360745   This morning as we got ready to leave, we couldn't help but get distracted by looking at some of the memorabilia around us from over 45 years of being a host for long-distance bicyclists; it's  pretty amazing all the people this humble place has seen.  We also saw a very cute black 6" snake with yellow ring around its neck that was trapped in a spider web on the floor of the kitchen.      We started with a long downhill down Afton Mountain,  but then it was up and down, no huge hills but lot of smaller ones as we traveled through the foothills.         The foggy mountains now seen from below. The countryside was beautiful and roads were smooth but no shoulders and lot of curves. As the roads got busier, it made it hard for vehicles to get around us, so today we set a new record for amount of times we pulled off the road to let cars pass.  We stopped at an orchard early on and got some peaches which made wonderful snacks

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102270159   We were concerned last night as we made plans for today.  We faced a long ride with numerous climbs that was 20 miles longer than yesterday with no housing or campsites in the latter part until we left the park. Plus there was a high possibility of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon and rain during the night. So this left us wondering what to do and what we could do. It did seem to be less rigorous as when we checked elevation charts it had about 80% of climb as the day before, and where we stayed last night was at the highest point on Skyline Drive. After trying to decipher weather with a poor data connection, we decided to go for it.      Similar to yesterday, at first we were in the clouds and could not see the valleys at the overlooks.  It was good enough visibility for vehicles to see us well but not much beyond that. In the afternoon, there was haze/humidity but we could see the valleys quite well. We didn'

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102186667   We were concerned about rain today from the forecast. It was wet outside this morning, but not actively raining when we started.   About a mile away from where we stayed, we entered Shenandoah National Park and started up Skyline Drive.  As we climbed up onto the Blue Ridge and afterwards, we rode in and out of the clouds hugging the mountains, so it was a moist ride at first. Gradually the clouds lifted and we dried off.  We were pleased that we did not get rained on and instead had some blue sky this afternoon.  In the morning we were excited when at some of the viewing spots we were able to see the valley below because the underside of the clouds were just high enough to give us a peek.  As the clouds lifted we got better and better views, even though the day  has been a little bit hazy due to the humidity.  We had wonderful views both looking over the Shenandoah Valley and also east over the Piedmont area of Virginia.

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/102078542 Today we knew it was supposed to rain, and was supposed to be lighter this morning.  When we set out it was just drizzling slightly and later quit during our ride on backroads through the countryside, which included in the Rockland Rural Historic District which has a lot of of preserved farmlands, roads in their original locations and historic farmsteads in the Shenandoah River area.  We even ended up on a gravel road for a short time.  We crossed the river on a bridge located at Morgan's Ford, which has been an important place to cross the Shenandoah River for millenia.  Beyond the crossing was a parking lot so we pulled in there to look at the river. People were fishing from shore and we saw some swimming upstream of the bridge.  When we were about to leave, a black pickup truck pulls in and stops about 50 feet from us and the dirver opens the door and sticks his head out and does some spitting and/or retching and/or

Today was a rest day and also served the purpose of delaying us getting to Skyline Drive until after the holiday. It also afforded us the opportunity to spend some time talking with loved ones. We passed a sign for a church right before we got to our hotel yesterday, so we walked there this morning.  The message was from Exodus and about how the Israelites didn't trust God when they were in the wilderness and didn't have water, in spite of the miracles they had seen God do during the previous 6 weeks.  The pastor used an example of the necessity of water from when they went car camping and didn't have available water at a primitive campground and had to drive somewhere to get some.  That led us to think about how we have carried extra water in case a pump was not working at a campground, as   a 10 mile drive in car is pretty simple  but it is much more involved if get somewhere on foot or on a bike and do not have water.   There were about 35 or so at worship, but what was

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/101882538    Last night, not too long after we were in our sleeping bags and it was dark, we heard a voice say that he recognized that our tent was in that spot but he had come get the wood that he had collected when he had been at that site before.  We were startled by this as we were half asleep and it was already quite dark. We had seen some wood at our site, sure enough, it was gone in the morning. We  had seen another tent late last evening, but hadn't seen anyone around it.  Jim did see someone packing up that tent first thing this morning, and chatted with him. He was a bicyclist trying to travel from DC to Cumberland in 3 days, and it wasn't the right voice.  The mystery was solved when one of the other people said there was another tent half hidden in the woods at the downstream end.  As we left, we could see it from the path and  saw evidence of a fire by the tent.     It was a beautiful morning and amazingly woke up to a tent with no dew

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9535683730?sharve_unique_id=21     Today was spent on the C & O canal except for about a 4 mile detour where repairs were being made. It was a pleasant change to have a few hills to go up and down and see a few farms. We also crossed over the river to Shepherdstown where we tried Bear Paw and Sweet Corn flavors of ice cream. (Did we mention that we tried dill pickle pizza yesterday?)    As we traveled on the towpath, to our left was the canal bed and then next to that 20% of the time were rock cliffs/formations anywhere from 20 to 60 feet high.   On our right side was the Potomac River, some of it behind a couple of dams and some places with significant rapids. At one spot, we saw about 5 deer down at the water on the other side of the river. Sitting on a blocked-off inlet lock from the Potomac to the canal.  View of the same spot from the other side.     Today we met Crazy Ted (that's what he told us when we as

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9524045766?share_unique_id=15 We went a few blocks away from the bicycle bunkhouse and got a surprisingly good breakfast from a convenience store, Sheetz.  Today we had low humidity again but it was warmer and got up into the high 80's today.  We stopped at Fort Frederick which was built due to Indian raids. Later it was used as housing for British prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War.  Then it was used at the time of the Civil War to protect the C&O Canal and B&O Railroad. As we approached the fort, some guys in period costumes were hauling some wood into the fort in a cart so Jim helped them out.  In the fort, Dennis did a good job of explaining how soldiers lived in times past.   We then continued on to Williamsport where we had very good pizza (a dill pickle pizza! A new one for us) & salad.  Krissy, the waitress, was very pleasant and even told us where outlets were in the restaurant to get