I need to keep this short because everyone already went to bed and I should be in bed too!
Today was great. So was last night. Last we checked in I was taking a break from the heat at Josh's house in Grand Rapids. Shortly after this Amy came back to their house, we chatted, and then rejoined the beerfest thingy in the cool of the night. Good beers were drank, good bands were listened too, and some band called "Love Fossil" played. Enough said.
Today Josh rode with me to Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo where we met with Mark (my good buddy and neighbor in Eugene) and Liz and Andrew, my buddies and hosts in Portage. Andrew works at the Bell's brewery, so we got some good inside scoop.
The ride to Bell's was 53 miles with 3:23 on bike and arrived at 2:41 pm. With Josh riding unloaded with me I was encouraged to ride faster than normal which increased my average speed by about a mile an hour. This kicked my butt a bit. After Bell's Josh headed back home (doing over 100 miles today) and I rode 8 more miles to their place in Portage.
The ride was fun and through a beautiful part of Michiigan. This state is maybe one of the best states I've ever toured in. The beer selection is definately on par with Oregon beers, and the ice cream is better. However, there is no place like home and I do miss home.
Today I did laundry for the first time since my rest day after RAGBRAI, about 1,000 miles ago. If I had done my original route I'd be 200 miles out of my end town in Vemont and done in about 3 days. With this loop route I have 400-500 miles left and will be done in about a week. It's crazy to think that. Also, Michigan is huge!
Today is day 53, day 4 of week 8. I've done 3,440ish miles. Tomorrow I'm taking a day off in Portage, and then I haul ass south and then west to loop back to iowa. Fun!
ILYI
Hey Seager, thanks for taking the time to write and post the photos for your journal. I look forward to hearing about each day of your adventure. That´s awesome that you were able to meet up with Josh, Amy, and Mark. I should be able to make it to at least a day of RAGBRAI next year and I´ve been recruiting some buddies at work who went on a weekend bike & camping trip with last month. Believe it or not I´m writing this post from a guesthouse in the middle of nowhere in Iceland! Turns out the weather here is quite nice in August. We´re doing a 10 day road trip around the island. Just saw you are planning to head back to Iowa... you and Iris always have a place to stay in Omaha if you´re ever coming through. We get back on August 21.
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