Friday June 30, 2006 both Pete and I took the day off from work as a vacation day as we planned.  We had so much fun hanging out at the Hamlin pub watching World Cup soccer we didn’t want to miss the big Germany Argentina match this day.  The soccer game was starting at 11:00 am which gave us plenty of time for a nice long bike ride in the morning.  

Pete told me to meet him at his house at 7:30 am.  I thought he was kidding about meeting so early, I figured Pete would want to sleep in on a day off.  Apparently Pete wanted to do a long ride before lunch, which was the reason for starting out so early.  I am a morning person , so the earlier the better for me.  I got myself ready and headed over to Pete’s right on time.  Pete was ready and we headed out bright and early. 

We took the Paint Creek Trail (PCT) down to the Clinton River Trail (CRT) and then over to the Macomb Orchard Trail (MOT).  We were covering all the trails this day.  Once we got near 25 Mile Road Pete called Jason using his cell phone.  Apparently Jason had taken the day off work as well and was planning to join us for the second half of our ride and have lunch with us at the Pub.  Jason was ready to go and we met him just a few minutes later as we continued our way north east up the MOT.  We went to the end of the trail near 29 Mile Road before we turned around and headed back.  It was starting to rain very lightly on us.  It was overcast and we weren’t sure if we might get drenched or not.  The weather forecast that I saw the night before said rain in the late afternoon, but nothing about rain in the morning.  It never did rain hard, we just got a very slow fine drizzle for about a half an hour and then it went away. 

We swung by Jason’s house on the way back and Jason went inside and got each of us a banana.  It was a good time for a snack considering we had been riding for about 20 miles at this point.  Apparently Pete discovered bananas on his recent trip to Germany.  What I am about to tell you may not sound true, but let me assure you it is the truth.  Pete had never tried a banana before his recent trip to Germany.  He said he just didn’t like the look of bananas so he just never tried one assuming he wouldn’t like them.  I’m not sure what made him try a banana in Germany, but he discovered he liked them.  So now Pete is no longer afraid of the look of bananas and he has eaten quite a few since he has been home.  Even to those of us that know Pete fairly well, the banana story is surprising.  And, there isn’t much Pete does anymore that actually surprises me. 

We left Jason’s house with the intent of riding the loop at Stoney Creek.  There weren’t many people out on the roads on our way to Stoney Creek.  Jason is scheduled to do a 160 mile bike ride across Indiana is a few weeks.  It is some sort of yearly event and Jason is going to do it with a friend for the first time this year.  As Pete rode ahead I got a chance to talk to Jason about this 160 mile ride, I can’t remember what it is called, but it sounds like fun.  I remember how hard the 100 mile ride was that Pete and I did last year, so a ride of 160 miles in one day almost sounds like too much.  Jason has a really nice road bike which will make this ride a bit easier than if he was to attempt it on a hybrid type bike that Pete and I use.  The land is relatively flat which is also a good thing for a ride of this length.  Jason then told me he is going to try and average 20 mph and finish in the top 15% which sounds really aggressive to me.  Good luck Jason I hope you make it. 

On our way to Stoney Creek we took the back entrance through a path that goes behind and through a few relatively new subdivisions.  As you get closer to Stoney going this way you have to go over a series of wooden bridges which is kind of fun.  Once we entered the park we did the 6.2 mile loop.  There were a few people out enjoying the park, but it wasn’t crowded by any means.  After we completed the loop we headed out of the park on our way to Hamlin Pub.  I can’t remember for sure, but I think we cut across 25 Mile Road to Rochester Road and we then went south on Rochester Road all the way to Hamlin.   

As we got closer and came up to the larger shopping centers on the west side of the road we had to be careful and watch out for the cars pulling out without looking to their left to see if anyone might be coming on a bicycle, like us.  Pete was up front and Jason was behind him and I was behind Jason.  At one point this moron was pulling out of a parking lot and Pete just blasted him with his air horn, otherwise the guy probably would have hit Pete.  Well the loud blast from Pete’s air horn got this guy’s attention and he quickly slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting Pete and Jason.  By the time I was passing this guy realized what happened and he decided he was mad that Pete honked at him, so to take it out on us he decided to try and hit me as I was passing in front of him.  He started driving again just as I was going past and I had to speed up and swerve to avoid this nut from hitting my rear tire.  I turned back and called him a moron.  These are the kind of losers that give drivers a bad name, I don’t think this guy still realizes that we had the right away.  There was no question that Pete startled this guy.  I think as much as this guy didn’t enjoy the air horn honk, Pete took more pleasure in providing the honk.  

Shortly after the air horn episode we arrived at the Pub for lunch.  We got there right at 10:30 am which was the plan.  The game started at 11:00 am which gave us time to get a seat and relax a few minutes before game time.  The Pub wasn’t as crowded as the last time.  We figured since it was a Friday some of the usual soccer watchers had to work.  As it got closer to noon more people showed up, but still not as many as over the weekend at this same time. 

Our lunch was good and the game turned out to be one of the best of the Tournament thus far.  Argentina gave Germany a good battle and both teams had a couple good scoring chances during the game, but no one scored and it was still scoreless after the two 15 minute overtime periods so it went to a shootout.  Germany ended up winning the shootout and they advanced.  Jason left at the end of regulation, he had a bit further to ride home than us and he wanted to get in a few more miles this day as training in preparation for his upcoming 160 mile ride.  Pete and I stayed until the end of the game. 

Once the game was over Pete and I headed out.  When we walked back outside it was warm and sunny.  I was wondering if we might get rain for the ride home, but that wasn’t the case with the clear skies.  The ride home was pleasant.  Pete turned on some music on his bike radio and we took one of our regular routes pretty much straight home.  The more we ride lately, and we have done quite a few rides over the past couple weeks, our average speed is going up.  This was another fairly fast paced ride, especially considering the distance of over 40 miles.   

Following are the statistics from this ride, 42.3 miles total, 25.5 max mph, 3 hour and 24 minutes time on bikes and 12.4 average mph.
David Lindquist