Two words for last night – air compressor. Greg had left the air compressor in the garage on during the night, so we awoke maybe three times before I finally had had enough and unplugged the machine. Thus, awakening at 7:30 proved to be a real challenge – sluggishly, we gathered up our stuff and prepared to leave. Lenny was spunky enough to lock the garage and side door. Too bad I wasn’t spunky enough to remember to put on my helmet – it remained locked in the garage after we left. It had been the second time I had left my helmet somewhere – the first time had occurred the night before when I left the laundry mat. For some reason, this helmet wasn’t going to stay with me.
I traveled back and left a note at the house, wearing the most tired and self-loathing face, when a cyclist passed me. I returned to the group later to find that Joe had been talking to the group and was willing to show us around town and lead me to a place where I could replace my helmet. She even offered to find my helmet and send it home for me. Another marvelous benefactor to add to the list.
She rode us up Michigan Avenue, the road that we were following across Michigan, and it was, at first, hard to keep up with our fully laden bicycles and her strong calf muscles. Eventually though, we ended up at a middle school where Joe’s husband Mark worked. We mentioned we hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and he let us in the cafeteria. He then proceeded to bring out a whole bunch of food that was being stored there for us to eat – bagels, peanut butter jelly sandwiches, oranges, celery, and, most importantly, chocolate milk galore.
Like many of our hosts and benefactors, they asked us many questions and treated us to their own biking stories and experiences. Joe and Mark told us the way to get to Team Active, where a friend of theirs named Mike worked, for a helmet. Mark’s friend Dino, who also worked at the school, gave us a couple of maps for our journey. Before leaving, we all got a picture together – apparently one of the last in front of that school since they were moving into a new building soon.
We stopped at Team Active and I got my helmet. Stef needed to true his wheels, so I went with Lenny to pick up some groceries up the street. When we got back, Stef was getting help with the other thing that had been ailing him on the trip – numb hands. After trying a few physicians and having his insurance denied, he settled on seeing a chiropractor to see what he would find.
We arrived in an empty waiting room and after filling out some paperwork, it seemed like Stef would get in. As each minute passed, the place got weirder and weirder. It started when we decided to have a picnic in the middle of the waiting area. I was just waiting for the staff to scold us, but they didn’t. Eventually, a couple of people came in and started selling produce right in the waiting room as we were having our picnic. One of the receptionist told us we might want to pick up at some point because things were about to get crazier. Suddenly, the room was full of people going from room to room getting massages and doing all sorts of stretches, using these hanging neck massagers and walking around with laminated tags indicated their numbers. It was some kind of strange circus which we were relieved to leave behind.
The massages hadn’t helped Stef too much; however, the doctor had given him an explanation for his pain and said it would get better since he wasn’t wearing the backpack anymore. The doctor also happened to be a cyclist and had given us directions on our way out. We would, if all went well, be in Kalamazoo by the end of the night.
As we rode, we found a watermelon on the side of the road. It was one of the tastiest watermelons I’ve ever had.
We had a little problem with directions at one point and had to stop when a nice gentlemen with a bike on his roof stopped by to ask us how we were doing. We told him we were on our way to Kalamazoo and he offered us his backyard. We accepted graciously.
Steve wasn’t home when we arrived, but Ann was. She was in the middle of a birthday party it looked like with a piñata when we arrived, but she was very kind and was able to show us to where we’d be sleeping, offering us space in the shed for our bikes as well as a bathroom for showering. She’s also going to feed us in the morning.
I managed the cooking this evening with a little help from Stefano. We ate a dinner of lentils, radish leaves, and onions.
Today, I noticed a few things. One thing is that even when things don’t seem to be going well and you need to stop and reflect, those end up being the moments that allow for new energy to arise and something good often happens. Our two examples include the lost helmet and our lost direction.
Now, for a shower and some sleep. Good night Michigan.
Michael
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