bike extravaganza: the end

Kalamazoo - South Haven - St. Joe

The end of our bike tour.  What a bittersweet moment.  I knew that I wanted to get back home and see my family and friends, but I also did not want to leave this simple lifestyle.

Getting our bikes boxed up was the hardest adventure we had to go through during our tour.  We came to realize that America does not value public transportation.  The only place that would break down our bikes and place them in a box was on Mackinac Island.  Mackinac Wheels helped us pack up our bikes and were so very nice!

 Taking a bus through Michigan was quite an experience.  We met all sorts of people and It definitely was something out of my comfort zone.  Arriving to Kalamazoo was also a very interesting experience.  A cop almost arrested us for leaving our boxes unattended [which is a very long story].  Needless to say...the only thing I really enjoyed in Kalamazoo was Bell's Brewery!

 We dropped our bikes [that were still boxed up] off at a very expensive road bike shop to have them put our bikes back together.  They didn't really understand how our bikes were originally set-up and put our bikes back together the wrong way.  It made for a very uncomfortable ride.

But!  We did it anyways.  We rode 40+ very long miles on the Kal-Haven trail.  It was a hard pack trail and it was raining.  Rain + dirt = some very nasty bikes/legs/feet/everything.

After that very long trail we finally got back to South Haven.  South Haven is such a cute little town in Michigan.  We decided to just rest up and prepare for our last ride to St. Joe.  A whole 25 miles and we were done.  Even though we had a headwind on the way to St. Joe, we definitely rode pretty fast.  I just couldn't wait to see my good friend, Claire!

Claire [our good friend who we stayed with in South Bend, IN] agreed to drive up to St. Joe and join us for a beach day.  It was a great way to end our trip and I am so glad Claire was able to help us out!

This trip was a great way to spend a vacation away from the real world.  Living off of your bike is such a liberating experience.  I hope to do trips like these in the future.  

My partner, Trent, on this trip was such an encouragement to me.  Some days were more stressful than others and he was always there cheering me on.  

Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of somebody else.

bike extravaganza: part three

Oh darling, let's be adventurers

 Elk Rapids - Petoskey - Mackinaw City

Leaving from Traverse City was not quite the best day to travel.  We had a headwind that varied from 20-30 mph.  It was raining the entire day.  It was 40 degrees and felt like 30.  Yeah, not the most ideal weather for a 60 mile bike ride to Charlevoix.  

That was our original goal.  As you can see we only made it to Elk Rapids which was perfectly fine.  We definitely did not plan for this kind of weather so we needed to find warmth because our feet felt like they were going to fall off!

Our stop in Elk Rapids was so awesome.  We were expecting a tiny town, but the main strip was so cute.  We met some great people in this town and even saw a LOT of USBR 35 signs which made us super happy.  

After resting up from a long day we headed out the next morning to Petoskey.  Again, a HUGE headwind and it was very cold.  The ride was not the best.  We also had to ride next to US 31 which made it not very scenic. 

Once we arrived in Charlevoix we were so cold that we practically bought a whole new wardrobe.  [sweatshirt for trent and pants for both of us]

 Petoskey/Harbor Springs area is just so gorgeous.  I loved visiting that part of Michigan.  A friend of ours told us to try a brewery called "Beards Brewery" and their serving trays for taste tasting were so cute.

Traveling from Petoskey to Mackinaw City was so much fun!  We got to ride in the tunnel of trees and we saw so many cyclists that day.  We even biked with some of them for miles.  Stopping by The Legs Inn was a must too.

 The ride that day was just gorgeous.  Very, very long, but so worth it.  Could not have asked for a more perfect day.

 Once we made it to Mackinaw City we just settled into our tent and got to know our neighbors.  The weekend we arrived happened to be Memorial Day weekend.  We were so used to showing up at campsites and NO ONE being there.  It was so nice to have some company next to our tents.  

 This dog, Rex, was so sweet and stayed right next to us by our tent in Mackinaw City.  

Stay tuned for my last post about packing our bikes up and taking a bus all the way to Kalamazoo, MI.  Boy, was that an experience!

bike extravaganza: part one

You will never influence the world by trying to be like it.

South Bend - Bridgman - South Haven - Holland - Montague   

Our first night was spent with Claire (one of my GREAT friends) and her family in South Bend, IN.  We decided to drive up there and cut out about 130 miles of biking through the monotony of corn fields.  Her family was just darling and we loved our time spent there.  

Biking to Bridgman was a great day full of sunshine.  Our first night of camping was very important because it was our opportunity to see if we forgot anything for the trip.  Luckily we did not! 

In Bridgman, the thing to do in the summer is to go drive to this park and watch the sunset.  The park was right by our campsite so we had to go and see why so many cars were passing by.  We now know why people did it.  The sunset was lovely.

The second day we biked to South Haven!  This town was so quaint and cute.  It had so much character that I just loved.  The campsite we stayed at that night was run by a very nice couple who drove north for the summer.  They kindly took us in and told us all about the downtown strip of South Haven.  This town had a great marina and boardwalk overlooking the lake.

During our trip we had to master rolling everything up.  If we did not do it right, then it simply did not fit into the bag.

After packing up from our night in South Haven we quickly biked to Holland which was a place I had been to before.  It was just as I had remembered it and more.  They definitely had built onto the main strip and it just was a perfect town for anyone.

On our way from Holland to Montague, we finally saw our first USBR 35 sign!!!  Trent had originally thought we would see these signs a lot more along the way...but about 150 miles in we finally saw one.

The biggest lesson I learned from this bike tour was that you need to be flexible.  Things do not always go as planned, especially when you go by bike.  Stay tuned for part two of the bike tour.

my first photo contest

Remember when I went on the Hilly Hundred and I took a bunch of photos?  The Hilly Hundred has a photo contest every year where amateur photographers can enter up to three of their photos into the contest.  I decided to enter in three of my best photos and ONE of them won SECOND PLACE!

I am flabbergasted that I won!  Take a look at the other photos that won here.

the SUVs in bike culture

Cargo Bike:  a human powered vehicle designed and constructed specifically for transporting a large load.

Let me just say...a cargo bike is pretty awesome! It can do so many amazing things, and people here in the Midwest do not realize it. Let's face it, the Midwest is not very friendly toward bikers. I get yelled at, honked at, and stared at on a daily basis. People here are just not used to seeing people use bikes as a means of transportation.

Anyways, Trent and I took the cargo bike out a few days ago to just take it for a ride. [normally we use it for going to the store to get groceries]

Usually cargo biking consists of me riding on the back and Trent pedaling me! I have been getting better at using this bike [the Trek Transport], but one day I hope to get my own and use it as a way of getting everywhere!

One day I hope to get this bike...

...and do this with it.

a winter wonderland

Christmas Day was just lovely this past year.  Even though we had to spend the day with one less family member than usual, it still was enjoyable.  

I definitely miss the excitement I would feel the Eve of Christmas when I was a kid.  For now, this will have to do!  Waking up to my crazy brother wanting to see the gifts he got.   Watching my puppy wonder what in the world we are doing.  Seeing my sisters face when she gets something that she wanted.  Giving gifts to my mom who deserves so much.  Wishing my dad had gotten the day off, but being thankful for him being blessed to have a great job.  Just spending time with family.

 The day after Christmas we got an incredible snow storm that gave us the opportunity to have another day of "Christmas."  I love the peacefulness after a fresh snow fall.

a weekend getaway | nashville

Becca and I headed down towards nashville on Friday and it was definitely a fun road trip!  We were headed to see one of our good friends, Rachel.  It was definitely nice to getaway from Purdue for a weekend and just visit with some good friends.  Rachel was a great host and took us around to see downtown Franklin and Nashville.  We even got a tour of the hotel she works at and we were able to see her new apartment!  

The Franklin Mercantile Deli was oh so delicious and cute.  I really enjoyed my time in downtown Franklin.  It was very artsy and every shop had a uniqueness to it that caught your eye.  

We saw Rachel's hotel she worked at and everyone there was very nice!  Eventually we headed downtown to Nashville where we did a lot.  We got to see every little nook and cranny that Nashville had to offer.

And of course it would not have been a true reunion if we did not have some crazy shenanigans happen!  Rach had to use a port-a-potty because she could not wait to go to the bathroom, but they didn't have toilet paper so we had to improvise...

...with a lint roller :]