It was 5:15 AM and I could hear the "zipper alarm" go off in the distance. The "zipper alarm" is the distinct sound of 300 people in camp waking up and packing up their stuff for the day. I was a little surprised it was about 30 minutes earlier today, but given it was the last day, I chalked it up to people wanting to get to the bridge as early as possible.
As I was fishing myself out of the sleeping bag I could sense that my lower leg muscle was still hurting pretty bad so I made the final decision to not proceed with the group to do "The Wall" but to stick to the route and finish in time to get to the 3:00 pm bridge crossing. I was okay with not riding "The Wall" because I knew that what I had accomplished thus far was pretty damn cool and one more hill would not make or break the feeling I had as a first time DALMAC rider doing the Quad Century route.
It turned out that another single rider in our group named Dave was opting out of the wall route because he had done it earlier in the summer to train for the Ride the Rockies and he also knew that he did not have the proper gearing for it. It was good to hear that I'd have some company on the last day and it gave the two of us a chance to get to know each other a little more. Socializing was something that we didn't have to much time to do during the pace of the other group that required concentrating on the wheel in front of us.
The real benefit with riding with Dave was his huge amount of knowledge about the smaller towns we were riding through. It seems he owned a sailing boat at some point and had it docked in the Charlevoix area. He mentioned that this area was a second home to him during the summers and he proved it though his knowledge of the houses and surrounding area. It was a real treat to hear about all the sites and areas of Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, and the other cities along the shores of Lake Michigan from Dave and I'd also like to thank him for helping me avoid some of the hilly sections of the route. My leg never recovered during the day and the pain really killed when going up grinders.
We rolled into Harbor Springs were we stopped at the traditional bike shop stop. The shop is kind enough to put out lots of free food and drink every year for DALMAC riders as well as offer tool time if anyone's bike is in need of repair. It was here that Dave and I met up with a few other riders from some of the other DALMAC routes and began to head north toward Good Hart and Cross Village. Shortly after that I was really starting to feel the effects of being on the saddle for over 20 hours… needless to say I was sore and my leg was still bothering me. I dropped back and decided to push on at an even slower pace.
It was about this time that the other DALMAC routes all joined up on the same roads. It was nice to see so many bikers on the road and enjoy an added benefit: slowing a little and talking to other riders.
By mile 80 I was feeling pretty tired since, to save time, I had not done the traditional stop to eat for lunch. I always keep a few packets of a sport food called GU that has the consistency of maple syrup but has this great taste while you're working out. I grabbed one out of the back pocket of my jersey and consumed it pretty quickly. Then I considered the second one and thought, "Why not!". I downed the second one in much the same manner and I have to say that it felt like I had strapped a rocket pack on my back… I went from going 9 mph and having little 8-year-old kids pass me to going 23-27mph and passing everyone on the road. It was one of those times when you look at your body from an outside perspective and just marvel at what it's doing. After about ten miles of this no-holds-back cycling I crested a small incline and saw a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road. People were in lawn chairs and clapping as I passed… then I saw the finish and all the other cyclists stopped along the side of the road and knew I had made it. What a feeling!
Shortly after I found Robyn and Bailey (our golden retriever) sitting at a picnic table, I was in line for the 3:00 PM bridge crossing. People mentioned that the crossing is a pretty tense situation, and after doing it I'd have to agree. They put 400 people who have varying degrees of cycling talent in a double line and sent them across a five-mile-long bridge that stands hundreds of feet off the water. You can imagine the constant slow down, speed up effect you can get with this many folks and I think for the entire 30 minutes I spent crossing the bridge I had my hands and arms locked and hovering over the brakes. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to be there, and equally glad to have a chance to cross the bridge on my bike, I'm just not sure I'd do it again.
I met up with Robyn on the other side and got a warm shower in before we jumped in the car and headed south for the four-hour drive home. It seemed odd at the time that it only took four hours to travel home when I just spent four days riding to get here…
Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - The Day After