A number of years ago, my dad did this ride called ODRAM (http://www.odram.com/) (which stands for One Day Ride Across Michigan). Like the name indicates, it's a bicycle ride across the state of Michigan. Also like the name indicates, you do that ride in one day. From Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. How far is that, you ask? Well, it’s about 150 miles. And yes, one does it in one day.
I decided I wanted to do this ride.
And finally, a couple years ago I got serious about doing it. Sadly, I was in a fairly serious bike accident while on a training ride and due to injuries sustained in the accident (namely, a broken elbow) I wasn’t able to do the ride. The following year I was hampered by a bum knee. But this year… nothing was going to stop me this year.
And yesterday, August 9th, after hundreds of miles across months of training that started with a 16 mile ride in Florida in mid-March and culminated in a hilly Harlem Valley Ride century in New York in late July, I was able to successfully complete the 150 mile trek across my home state of Michigan with my dad. We did the ride in 11 hours 57 minutes, three minutes inside of our 12 hour goal. And this in spite of a pretty significant headwind the entire way! I say that because we set the goal assuming Michigan’s westerly prevailing winds would, well, prevail and give us a tail wind. Alas, they did not prevail, resulting in an (*shakes fist at the air*) easterly wind. So to meet our goal despite that? Well, we were thrilled!
The ride was an amazing experience of camaraderie, long roads (some smooth, some not so much), farmlands, orange arrows guiding our way, Gatorade, perseverance, and fun. Many thanks to those that organized it (they did an amazing job!) and to those that passed us with a friendly word of encouragement along the way. And many thanks to my mom who drove SAG for us!
Now, here is the 150 mile, 12 hour journey in pictures.
I decided I wanted to do this ride.
And finally, a couple years ago I got serious about doing it. Sadly, I was in a fairly serious bike accident while on a training ride and due to injuries sustained in the accident (namely, a broken elbow) I wasn’t able to do the ride. The following year I was hampered by a bum knee. But this year… nothing was going to stop me this year.
And yesterday, August 9th, after hundreds of miles across months of training that started with a 16 mile ride in Florida in mid-March and culminated in a hilly Harlem Valley Ride century in New York in late July, I was able to successfully complete the 150 mile trek across my home state of Michigan with my dad. We did the ride in 11 hours 57 minutes, three minutes inside of our 12 hour goal. And this in spite of a pretty significant headwind the entire way! I say that because we set the goal assuming Michigan’s westerly prevailing winds would, well, prevail and give us a tail wind. Alas, they did not prevail, resulting in an (*shakes fist at the air*) easterly wind. So to meet our goal despite that? Well, we were thrilled!
The ride was an amazing experience of camaraderie, long roads (some smooth, some not so much), farmlands, orange arrows guiding our way, Gatorade, perseverance, and fun. Many thanks to those that organized it (they did an amazing job!) and to those that passed us with a friendly word of encouragement along the way. And many thanks to my mom who drove SAG for us!
Now, here is the 150 mile, 12 hour journey in pictures.
