the end, for now.

monday night, a close friend died in chicago, and i needed to be at home.

after weighing all of our options, john was a great sport and decided that we should both abandon ship and pick up this tour at a later date, beginning where we have left off.

so: we rode from chicago to montague, michigan, a total of 235 miles over three riding days.

diana drove from evanston to pick us up this morning (tuesday), and we drove back, pointing out various "we were there" landmarks along the way.

we'll fill in some more text and add some photos when we can.

thanks -

jay

last night as we were arriving at the campground, i got a phone call.

a good friend in chicago has died suddenly and tragically, and i have to go home.

diana is coming to pick us up.

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tonight

there is a glorious sunset, which i find appropriate, given the day's events.

more tomorrow.

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white lake

6:40 pm, we're at peckadill's waitong for dinner, after which comes ice cream amd about a 1 mile ride to the campground in montague. 76 miles for the day so far. gah.


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monday morning

it's 2:30, and we're in norton shores ("norts in shorts"), on the southern edge of muskegon. this morning's rain cleared up before long, and we breakfasted in holland. back on the road, we wound past more vacation homes and found miles of great bike paths following the road. saw a beaver, deer, turtles, and yokels packed a dozen to the buick. eventually the sun was full-shining. mike, a biker we ran into in grand haven, saved us from getting onto route 31 due to our confusion. we're feeling good, though my feet are sore. john's achilles is much better now that he's lowered his seat. lunch is hot dogs, which makes me represent...



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POURING

RAIN. oh well, we would have hated waking up in a tent in this. thanks goes to our only sleeping option: the shagrai-la motel. breakfast is in holland, ten miles n.


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into saugatuck

8pm now - we left the restaurant in south haven, where i last posted, and came out to find a couple groups of folks our parents' age looking at the bikes. we talked to them for a while, started to leave and noticed john had a flat tire. the folks just about panicked, but we explained it was a 5 minute repair. they were skeptical. john was in fine form.

we headed north along the lake shore, hoping to make it to holland tonight. we stopped at an overlook, and were approached by two couples on harleys, out for a ride. talked for a while. john's achilles is aching a bit, and the 50 year old woman in a leg brace gave him a handful of painkillers. john is proud to have taken drugs from a biker chick.

proceeded further n along the lake shore - lovely houses set back from the road. started to worry about making holland, settled for plan b: KOA campground in saugatuck. our road ran out (dead end) before it was supposed to, but right at that moment a couple in a car pulled up offering help. they were cyclists, and assured us that we could make holland tonight. back out to route A2, we headed n again. at one point we realized there was a boy on a BMX bike on the opposite sidewalk racing us.

our energy was too low to make holland, and we found the KOA had closed, so we're at the shangrai-la motel, and have ordered subs and salads for delivery.

68 miles today. we'll get an earlier start tomorrow, as i'll be asleep within the hour.


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