The LONG way around the lake

Saturday Dad, Jim, Sean, Joel, and I rode for the first time together this summer in a nice long loop around Crystal Lake. Plenty of big northern Michigan hills and smooth flats to hammer down on. Headed out M-22 around 9am and quickly reached our first hill, Sutter Road. It has a long lead up of steady incline that takes you to the base of this small giant. Then as you get closer to the top, the hill takes a punishing vertical turn and really tests your legs. Once over the hill there was a nice long downhill that put us back onto M-22. We continued all the way to Fowler Rd. and on from there to Indian Hills Rd. Once we crossed US 31 we hit the monster hill of the day, Marshall Hill. A two stage hill that makes you work for every inch of ground. Sean proved again and again that he was the King of the Hills on this ride. He flew up that hill with an evil grin on his face. From the top we headed down into Beulah towards our final obstacle, Benzie St. Hill, aka Benzie Boulevard. Possibly the steepest hill in all of Benzie County. I was just happy to make it to the top without falling off my bike. It was smooth sailing back to the house from there. All in all we did just about 40 miles with a solid 17mph pace. That put the week total for me at about 100 miles. But really, I'm only goin to the top of the hill.

Speed Demons

Jim, Sean, and I had a quick ride around Crystal yesterday knocking out 26 miles in barely an hour and a half. Did the loop counter-clockwise which was a nice change up and allowed us to use Homestead hill as a good warm-up. Also did the south side of Warren. Came to the rapid conclusion that Sean's hill climbing skills are beyond anything Jim and I could keep up with. The kid is an animal on the hills. But the ride was built for speed, not climbing. We raced our way along the north shore and kept a solid 20+mph pace on the flats. When we hit M-22 we decided to kick it up a notch and got our pace line hammering. We rode to South Shore Dr. without dipping below 22mph. Finished the ride with a hard, steep climb up Bellows hill. Felt good to get the younger half of Team Buzzy out and in formation. Trying to ride every day now til the Tour de Benzie. We'll see how it all works out, cause I'm only goin to the top of the hill.

A hilly Sunday afternoon

Sean and I did a mean loop around herring lake today through a wicked headwind. when the wind wasn't blowing it was a wonderful day for a ride though. encountered two enormous hills, Forrester and Stratton hill and devoured them with menacing grins. just over 17 miles was the final count and we pulled it off in slightly over an hour. a solid pace even in the face of wind and hill. glad to have sean back in the saddle again without catching a flat every 5 miles. jim comes up tomorrow with his bike so the riding should get more and more frequent. but even so, i'm only goin to the top of the hill.

Frankfort Hills

Figured now would be as good a time as any to start writing about all the rides i've been on this summer so i'll kick it off with the most recent one. wednesday i took a ride around the lake making sure to swing out and hit the north side of warren hill and benzie st. hill. 27 miles with a 16.8mph pace. not bad for some of the meanest hills around the lake. worked hard the rest of the week and haven't had a chance to get out since. now that things have started up at the CDCC i should have a much more normal ride schedule. plus jim is coming up and sean got new wheels that don't pop his tires. the peleton is growing. i'll try and keep this up to date as i never have anything to do at night but read and watch t.v. hopefully i'll get some internet at the trailer this summer and stay on top of all things electronic. but if not i'll post whenever i can. afterall, i'm only goin to the top of the hill.