Old and new

 September took off well., Jim Townsend organized a four day ride through trails in West Michigan. Five of us showed up for this credit card trip of CV enthusiasts. They tolerate me and my faux vintage Rivendell.

The five of us met at Jim's house near Sand Lake for a wonderful breakfast served up by his wife. Weather was cool at the start but it was a damn nice day on The White Pine trail to Cadillac Michigan.

 

So, we had a bunch of crazyoldguysonbikes taking their time on a trail. I was the only one who had ridden 50 miles of more in a day this year, so there were plenty of scheduled and unscheduled stops along the way.  

The trail is in great condition except for a 10 mile stretch between Big Rapids and Reed City where the roots were rebelling and trying to break the asphalt. It was a teeth chattering experience on 35 mm tires the guys riding skinny tires must-have been

 suffering. Jim said it was like riding 10 miles of rumble strips.

We did meet a couple visiting the trails around Cadillac. They'd been traveling the country, living the camper life and camped in Cadillac for over a week while their truck got repaired.

We did make to Cadillac in time for dinner. At 73, I had ridden my age so I assume the  rest did also. The subject of cramps came up (surprise!),I mentioned I relied on V8 juice as a preventative, Dan mentioned that a mustard packet would cure cramps in action. I'd never heard of that, but I trust them.

We had expected rain for day two, and we got it, lots of it. The temps were warm enough that we weren't uncomfortable, and what is a rainy day without a flat tire? We got to Reed City in time for a great lunch buffet at the local Pizza joint. Dan's wife drove up to get us there so our trip was over. The others continued on for two more days of fun.

There's synchronicity in this world! The following day I went out to get my hair cut

And found this reminder on the bike rack.

And,there's more promise for the future. When I went to work for the for first time of the school year, I found the bike racks full. I'd never seen that before but it makes some sense.

These are kids who learned cycling in middle school PE class. Thanks to Specialized providing bikes and funding, they learn to use modern bikes that actually fit. Maybe there's a new generation of crazyoldguysonbikes in training.