Day 4

Holy Crap.

Whenever you meet someone who has riden the Dalmac before and they find out it is your first time, they tell lies.  They always say you have done the hard part for today you've got the rest of the day made.  Come to find out there is nothing but hill, after hill, after hill, after hill ahead you.  But, the good news is we made it all the way thru to Petoskey.

We had a rain delay of at least one hour this morning.  Where we met Derrick and Gordon a couple of guys from Ann Arbor.  They rode with us for about 20 miles but they lost us on one of the biggest downhills we have seen.  Shirley went down the hill at 41.9 miles per hour.

Then there were some more hills, hills and more hills.  Shirley had a shoe issue and could not unclip from her bike, took a little tumble trying to get out.  No injuries.  Good thing for the mobile bike mechanic who travels with the Dalmac...He was on the job way quicker than the boys from Speedy, but he saved the day.

We then made it to East Jordan and the "Wall".  The wall is a 2 mile up hill ride that turns into 2/10 of a mile up hill that is an 18% grade.  Not many people ride up this hill.  However, Kelly rocked the wall!  She rode all the way to the top.  We only saw two other people make it while we were there...NICE JOB KELLY!!! 

As we continued thru Boyne City we hit a mile and a half up hill climb that was brutal.  Then we went on to Walloon Lake (did not see Ernest Hemmingway) and more hills.  We thought we were close to the end when we discovered road construction and our route was extended by another 3 miles of hills.

Today's ride and blog entry was all about hills.  Just so you know we all "rocked" the hills.

We are looking forward to tomorrow's ride and completing our journey.