Keep on Pedaling
On May 24, 2008 Matt Bagley, Jake Egbert and myself plan to go on a little bike ride. Matt plans the route which is 57 miles. Jake and were at the park on Friday evening discussing the route that Matt put together and we both agree that we haven't put enough time on our bike to feel comfortable with such a long ride. We were thinking that 35-40 miles would be more realistic.We plan to meet at the church Saturday morning at 8:00 AM. Sense I only live a mile from the church I pedal my bike over to the church and I arrive right about 8:00 AM. Jake arrives about 8:20 and when he arrives he calls Matt to tell him that we are both waiting at the church. Jake was delayed because of a flat tire that he had to repair before leaving his house. Matt never received confirmation that we wanted to go and was still at his house. Jake unloaded his bike he decided that he would be too cold with a short sleeve shirt and he takes off to grab a long sleeve shirt.
When Matt arrived I told him that Jake ran home to get his keys to the church so he can use the restrooms. Matt thought that was very FUNNY!
Jake returns a few minutes after Matt and we are set to take on the asphalt, concrete, gravel and of course the TRAFFIC.
Matt is the strongest rider so he led for about 95% of the 45 mile ride.
The first twenty miles we road in a pretty tight group, Matt only left us once on one of the many long, grueling climbs of the day. OK fine we are still in Michigan and there aren't any long, grueling climbs at least not for the first half of the ride. About the 20 mile mark we made our first stop, ate our snacks took some pictures and talked a little.
For the first five or so miles after our first stop I was struggling to keep up with Matt and Jake. My second wind kicked in and I did better after that.
Right around mile 26 we had a Ferrari pull out in front of us and just tear off. Jake was right behind me at the time and Jake thought that he could chase down the Ferrari. He reached a top
speed of 35 mph+ but was never able to overtake the Ferrari. Jake later admitted that this little burst of speed drained him for the rest of the ride.
As we made our way into Ann Arbor we encountered a several steep and grueling climbs. Jake was exhausted, so Matt and I stopped at a gas station to wait for him and he thought filling up his tank would help. 
We are now thirty plus miles into our ride and we are making our way from Ann Arbor into Ypsilanti.
Each climb Matt tears up and Jake struggles. I would like to stay with Jake, but I'm feeling good. I take off after Matt. On one of the climbs I actually tear around Matt which would be my downfall
in the last couple of miles of the ride. When Matt caught up to me at a stop light he asked me "Where that came from?" I said "I don't know but I don't think that it was a good idea." My legs started to cramp when I fully extent them, it was very painful. I was able to alleviate the cramping a little by drinking water, but the damage was already done. Matt and I were now cruising down Prospect into Depot Town area of Ypsilanti.
We had lost Jake on one of the hills and were racing for the finish line, so we didn't stop again until we got back to the church. We road by Sidetracks a bar that serves GREAT burgers, I momentarily thought about stopping for one. When I talked to Jake after the ride he was
just about Sidetracked too.
After riding past Sidetracks there is about two miles to the church with one short climb. I'm able to stay with Matt until the climb started and that is when my tank runs out. I'm able to inch
my way up to the summit and then ever so slowly regain some cruising speed and make it back to the church.
Jake shows up within 10 minutes and when we were comparing routes we found that he went straight when we turned at one intersection. It didn't add much if any distance onto his ride but he added a much steeper climb.
Matt and Jake mount their bikes on their cars and take off. I still have to pedal my bike another mile. When I'm just around the corner from church I see a bike helmet in the middle of the road and see a couple of cars swerve around it. Matt had left his helmet on his bike (see the bottom picture) when he was speeding down the road. I pick it up and give it to him at church on Sunday. I took me about 4 days to recover from the ride.
The hardest hit areas of my body were my upper back and shoulders. My legs were wobbly on Saturday, but recovered quickly.