Revolutions for Relief
  • Home
  • Mission
  • Team
  • Journal
  • Photos
    • Media
  • Donate
  • Sponsor
  • Stats
    • Individual Country Stats
  • Contact

Meandering through the Mitten

6/28/2014

1 Comment

 
Cory Smetana
The home cooked meals, showers, and downtime at home was outstanding.  There’s no place like home, but since Novi was not our final destination we hopped back on our saddles and headed due north.  Our dad joined us for the first few miles of the Google maps route we planned on tracing back to our ACA maps, which would begin again the next day.  We said our final goodbyes on this overcast morning and were on our way.  Fresh legs and minds powered us through the cities of Grand Blanc and Flint to our link: the Bavarian village of Frankenmuth.  It was a Friday and the outdoor entertainment was in full force.  Kellen, Carrie, and I joined in a free match of outdoor blackjack run by the local tourism board.  After I took the leaderboard with $500 (the initial chip count), and Kellen finished with a meager $5, Carrie stepped up and knocked me down a position.
Picture
Blackjack champions (notice Kellen at the bottom...)
Adjacent the blackjack tables stood a visitors center with a pavilion covering an overly enthusiastic cover band with banjos, xylophones and a bubbly man with a wireless mic.  After enjoying the music and pretending to gamble we ate at a local restaurant and set up our tents a mile down the road at a nearby campground.
Picture
This lady was ROCKING
When we formed our route through Michigan in the initial planning of this trip, I learned we were travelling through my college roommate’s hometown of Midland.  I informed Mike, who immediately offered the hospitality, though precise planning does not always work out on a bike: we would need an additional 30 miles on the day to abide by the schedule.  Thinking we would try to grab lunch together after a long 50 miles from Frankenmuth, it came to our attention that Mike’s younger brother Keaton was having his graduation party that afternoon.  This fantastic coincidence led us to Mike’s residence for the high school celebration.  I enjoyed catching up with Mike and his family and appreciate the fact they were amicable to our bike short attire and sweaty hugs.
Picture
Enjoying some lunch at the grad party
While eating, we met some of Mike’s family friends who were intrigued by our trip.  We shared stories about biking, running, and our route.  Making our destination of Clare known, our new friends, Brooke and her husband, went out of their way to connect us to members of their athletic club in the area so we would have a roof over our heads.  A couple Facebook messages and phone calls later and we had an address plugged in.  With the “friend of a friend” ambiguity for both parties, it was exciting riding up to our destination.  Up the long driveway past an old distinguished barn stood a gorgeous house on a hill.  We talked for a while with our evening host, Tom, and played street hockey with his son Cristian in their arena (garage).  Between the mini sticks in the hallway, hockey coaching equipment in the garage, and generosity of our hosts, I felt almost like I was home again.
Picture
Even the driveway had an amazing view
Carrie has never been to northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula, so we decided to manipulate our itinerary to cater to some of the beautiful attractions this pure state offers.  From Clare we started biking over the rolling hills and past beautiful lakes formed by glaciers en route to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore.  We camped in a small town Sunday night to put us within striking distance of the dunes.  After a brief encounter Monday morning with one of Kellen’s friends from business school, Luke, on the road (when you’re in Michigan, you find friends everywhere!), we arrived at the park.  The “dune hike” led us and our heavy legs over a few sandy hills to Lake Michigan.
Picture
Michigan, where everybody knows your name
Picture
Sleeping Bear Dunes and Glen Lake
We enjoyed the hike, but Kellen and I were confused by the smooth approach to the lake.  It wasn’t the steep and treacherous climb that ensued over a decade ago in our family trips up north.  Unsatisfied, we biked south along a freshly paved bike path to the visitors center and then uphill a couple miles to find the outlook we remembered so vividly.  The $5 to enter these special dunes and two extra miles of climbing was well worth it.
Picture
450 feet straight down to Lake Michigan. Yes, of course we ran down
From the dunes we continued east over more rolling hills with roads lined with towering pines until we reached the cherry capitol of the country, Traverse City.  Since there were no restaurants or stores at the dunes and we were anxious to make it to Traverse City, all we had eaten during the day was a few Clif bars, some fruit, and vending machine ice cream.  Upon arriving late in the evening, stomachs growling, we deemed this the perfect opportunity to tackle the Taco Bell Challenge (consuming $20 each worth of this delectable fast food in one sitting).  Kellen and I finished the challenge, and the three of us, noses plugged, slept like champions the next two nights.
Picture
Cherry trees everywhere
Picture
This is what $20 at Taco Bell looks like
The rest day in Traverse City held sunny skies and comfortable temperatures.  We sat poolside to start the day, and then headed into town early in the afternoon.  We walked by the water and played beach volleyball with some locals.  Realizing we shouldn’t exert too much energy on our day of rest, we walked downtown to Cherry Republic where we indulged in a slew of free samples of cherry flavored drinks and treats.  After a nice tour through old town, we finished the evening with dinner and a drink.  Two more days to the UP!
Picture
75% of US cherries come from this region
The day out of Traverse City held cool temperatures and cloudy skies.  We biked east, and then north along Torch Lake, voted one of the clearest in the world.  After eating a lake side lunch we continued northeast to our home for the night, Boyne City.  Yet again, we were kindly invited to stay with a couple we met at a local diner, making our home for the evening that much cozier.  We have met many generous, welcoming people while riding through northern Michigan.  After sharing stories around a bonfire with our hosts Chris and Fawn, we were sent off in the morning with a delicious bowl of oatmeal, dried cherries, almonds, and strawberries.
Picture
Lunch next to Torch Lake
Picture
Evening bonfire with Fawn and Chris
We left Boyne City uphill while getting encouragement from a dude biking downhill “Peace and love brothers, you’re doing great!”  This positive energy led us through the attractive towns of Petoskey and Harbor Springs, and the thought of a rest day powered us to the Mackinac Bridge.  We showed up to a payphone at the approach of the bridge where we could contact the visitor’s center and organize a truck ride across, since biking across is not an option for cyclists.
Picture
Sailboats off Harbor Springs
Picture
The Mighty Mac - longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere
We made it to St. Ignace on the same weekend of their annual car show.  I would be willing to wager my (fake) $500 blackjack winnings that we were the only group staying in the hotel with 27 gears on our mode of transportation, as opposed to 6 or less.

On our rest day we took a ferry to Mackinac Island where we hiked, ate fudge, and visited the Grand Hotel.  We were also able to get away from the crowds and relax on the back porch of the public library, which contained some amazing views of Lake Huron.  Sunday morning we will head west along the northern shore of Lake Michigan.  Next stop: Minneapolis.
Picture
Ferry ride over to Mackinac Island
Picture
Only bikes (and horses) allowed on the island
1 Comment

Crossing Canada

6/19/2014

0 Comments

 
Carrie Perdue
In Niagara Falls we enjoyed a glorious and much needed rest day full of putt-putt golf, poutine, and a lot of laying around a doing nothing. Before long, though, we were back on the road. After a short 20 miles we bid a fond farewell to Brandon and watched him pedal away, back to the US, across the Friendship Bridge in Buffalo, NY.
Picture
Brandon couldn’t look back lest we see the tears in his eyes as he makes a run for the border
And then we were three. We pointed our bikes westward and started pedaling towards Michigan. We decided to divert from the Adventure Cycling Association Northern Tier route to ride through Michigan on the ACA Northern Lakes route. In order to connect to that route we would first need to cross Canada via the Lake Erie Connector route. It should not surprise you that we spend a lot of time staring helplessly at maps and wondering where we are. For once, though, this seemed fairly simple – we would just bike along Lake Erie for a few days before heading north and taking a ferry into Michigan. Easy peasy. No hills, nice lake views… we would cruise on through with no problems. And then we saw these guys:
Picture
Get out of my sight you devilish beast
Wind. It can be a cyclist’s best friend or worst enemy depending on how it’s blowing. And in the US, when you’re travelling east to west, it’s usually NOT blowing your way. The first two days out of Niagara, we put in about 150 grueling miles into a tough headwind. This bad luck may have had something to do with the fact we were riding on Friday the 13th. Our troubles were even more compounded by the fact that for some reason we were also sharing the road with literally thousands of motorcyclists. As we set up camp the first night in Selkirk, we found out why. Apparently Port Dover, a nearby town, is something of a Friday the 13th motorcycle mecca. For years now, every Friday the 13th, thousands of bikers gather to ride around the region. A few years ago their 50th Friday the 13th ride attracted 500,000 bikers. Our ride corresponded with this year’s only Friday the 13th and there were an estimated 150,000 bikers sharing the road with us.
Picture
Even though we had two wheels and funny outfits in common, we still didn’t really fit in...
Spirits were fairly low, ears were somewhat deafened by motorcycle noise, and thighs were pretty tired (and in my case extremely sunburnt) on our second day out of Niagara when we pulled into the Sandcastle Restaurant in Port Bruce, Ontario, looking for dinner and a place to camp. We got a warm welcome from Barb, one of the workers there, who invited us to pitch our tents in the yard of her sister at a nearby, and nearly beachfront, trailer park. There was one important caveat, however: we would have to pretend to be Christine (the out-of-town trailer owner) and Barb’s niece and nephews so that Marty, the trailer park general manager, didn’t kick us out. There was one big problem with this plan… Barb could not remember Kellen’s name. At all. She asked him 10 times what his name was, and then introduced him to Marty as Carrie. And then introduced him to her friends as Kyle. Then after learning it was Kellen’s birthday that day, she gave him and Cory her last two beers…. and then told Cory, “Happy Birthday!!”
Picture
Double-wide tent accommodations
Picture
Beautiful sunset over Lake Erie
Picture
Birthday boy enjoying a smores (granola bar) over our Lake Erie campfire
Barb’s forgetfulness aside, a beautiful beach sunset and good night’s sleep rejuvenated our weary souls and a shift in the wind kick-started our next day’s ride. It was Father’s Day, and we really wanted to get close enough to the US border to get cell service and call our families. This would mean putting in at least 85 miles, which would have been our longest ride to date. The wind finally cooperated, and while we didn’t get an actual tailwind until over 60 miles into the day, we avoided direct headwinds all day. At 8pm, around the 95 mile mark, we stopped for dinner and learned we were only 15 miles from Sombra, the launching point for the ferry to Marine City, MI. Even better news was that the last ferry didn’t leave until 10pm, so with the favorable winds we could probably make it back to American soil that night. What followed was the most enjoyable ride of our trip. Nice, crisp early evening air, another beautiful sunset, favorable winds, and, best of all, my first ever century ride (100+ miles). We made it to the ferry just in time, returned to the US in style, and set up our tents just after 11pm, after putting in 111 miles for the day.
Picture
Hitting 100 miles at sunset
Picture
Sunset with America in our sights
Picture
We made it! On the ferry to Marine City
At Marine City we had decided to depart from the trail for a few days to swing by the Smetana family residence in Novi, Michigan. The next day of riding proved to be the most challenging of our trip because we faced a horrible combination of bad roads with no shoulders, tons of traffic, headwinds, high temperatures, and eventually unpaved bike trails. It was a long, hot, stressful day, but before we knew it we had met up with Mr. Smetana to ride the last few miles to their home and all of our troubles had melted away. It’s been really fun getting to relax and to get to know the extremely kind and generous Smetana family and their hometown over the past few days. But the road is already calling us back. Tomorrow we set out again and continue our trek to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Picture
Biking skills run in the family
Picture
One of the many AMAZING meals we’ve enjoyed over the past 2 days
Picture
Trying to conquer a new sport on our day off
0 Comments

Adirondack Adventures

6/12/2014

1 Comment

 
Brandon Scanlon
First things first, everyone go and block off July 12th on your calendars right now.  That’s when the World Famous Osceola Hotel’s 42nd annual Turtle race will take place.  Judging by this year’s 246 turtle entrants (which far exceeds the number of Osceola inhabitants), this spectacle is gaining international acclaim.  Oh, Osceola, NY how truly memorable you were.  Here are just a few of the highlights:
  • Turtle racing strategy was described to us with great enthusiasm.  Each race competitor has their own method for getting their turtles to run fast; however, two of the most popular  methods are tickling their bellies and leaving them upside down for a while before the race
  • The “World Famous Osceola Hotel” is actually a bar/restaurant that numerous colorful locals frequent.  Apparently, the gentlemen who lives above the bar has a pet wolf and he insisted on describing its lineage to us in detail
  • Steve-O, an extremely inebriated local, spent much of the night howling loudly, playing “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and being warned that if he didn’t quiet down he would be thrown out… until he was thrown out
  • Finally, the toll for camping behind this historic building was having to listen to a blaring church sermon on the radio all night long
Picture
Start training your turtles today
Picture
World famous
We came across this amazing town in New York after a beautiful descent out of the Adirondack Mountains where we spent two stress-free nights in North Hudson and Raquette Lake.  These two picturesque and remote towns rejuvenated everyone’s spirits after the numerous days of climbing that we’d endured.
Picture
Rejuvenating yurt
Picture
Picturesque riding
In Fulton, near the eastern edge of Lake Ontario, Kellen almost hit a deer.  Instead, an oncoming car hit and killed the dear before it jumped in front of Kellen.  Miraculously, the car was undamaged.  Mustering all of his mid-western charm, Kellen promptly got the young girls in the car to pose for a picture.  They asked if the deer was alright… Kellen let them know it was NOT alright.
Picture
The car was ok; the deer was NOT ok
Continuing our trek across New York we remain humbled by the generosity of everyone we meet.  Barbara, Cindy, Len and the other members of the Fulton Methodist Church were kind enough to invite us in for a BBQ diner and provide us with a place to sleep.  We did our best to contribute by helping to clean up their historic church after the diner.  After reaching the Erie Canal and camping along its banks in Palmyra, NY (where Mormonism started) we were lucky enough to encounter a fellow biker, Beth while biking along the canal.  She helped guide us to a local bike shop so that Cory could get an extra tube and she ensured that we found a good place for lunch.  Lastly, Ed in Medina helped guarantee that we had a safe place to camp during the approaching storm and even had his son deliver us a bottle of local wine for the night.
Picture
Evening lodging
Picture
Earning our stay
Picture
Cycling the historic Erie Canal
Other notable events from our travels through New York:
  • Bro-Tank: We completely forgot to take a picture with the semi-jacked Fulton high school kid wearing a tight, neon-colored tank top that read “Bro, do you even lift?”
  • Hot Wings Eating Challenge: Kellen was relegated to the Wall of Shame at Sodus Point’s Captain Jack’s restaurant after only eating 4 of the required 10 hot wings
  • Carrie is a machine: No matter how sore her back or knees are she just keeps plugging away.  No whining, just powering through
  • Kellen’s Wardrobe Malfunctions: He gets overly concerned spilling on himself at meals; conversely, he voluntarily wears biking shorts with a hole in the butt… I don’t get it
Picture
Kellen said it was "the hottest thing he's ever eaten"
Picture
Wardrobe malfunction
Finally, after 620 miles and 10 straight days of riding we’ve reached our first big checkpoint: Niagara Falls, Ontario where we’re taking a rest day and enjoying the scenery.  Sadly, for me this is the end of the road.  I’ll be heading back to Boston to move out and flying to San Diego to find an apartment.  While I’m disappointed to be missing the Michigan leg of the trip (my home state) I’m extremely grateful for the adventure I have had.  Having never biked before I’ve learned that this is a great way to experience the world in an extremely intimate manner.  I will definitely continue riding as I move out west.
Picture
Bikes over Niagara
Thanks to Kellen, Cory, and Carrie for such an incredible experience.  But, most importantly, thank you to the countless people who’ve shown such generosity along our trip.  Good luck, team as you continue your journey.  I’ll religiously be reading your future posts.
Picture
Signing off
1 Comment

On the Road Again

6/8/2014

2 Comments

 
Kellen Smetana
It took two and a half days, but I finally had that thoroughly happy feeling of being back cycling again.  We had finally left the Boston sprawl, truck routes, and commercial byways and were cruising along some rolling rural hills: barns and pastures on the left, small lake on the right, fresh air tickling the nostrils.  I remembered why we keep doing it.  This is fun.

Picture
This is fun.
Long before that moment, we had hefty to-do lists.  Both Carrie and I had serious tune-ups to take the tour-beaten Long Haul Truckers from metal heaps and return them to homeostasis.  Gromit (my bike) needed a new fork, cassette, chain, and bike computer, among other things.  For those who followed during the Eurasian adventure, you may remember Cory’s bike was destroyed by the Kazakh desert “roads”; he ended up getting a sweet Safari from REI that looks like it will stand the test of time.  Brandon, by contrast, agreed to join the trip the day before we left and consequently completely prepared – borrowing a bike, rebuilding it, buying up gear – in 8 hours on Sunday.  Amazing work, and exactly the spirit we love.  Plus, he’s been using this last minute kit to smoke us all on the climbs.
Picture
Calibrating the bike computer in the hallway
On Monday, June 2, 2014, we officially started our tour from Boston.  We rode down to Boston harbor to touch our feet into the water so we could bring a few molecules of that all the way to the Pacific three months hence.  This time we actually had a party of friends join to send us off with champagne!  And, to top that, most of them rented Hubway bikes to ride the first five miles back to HBS campus with us.  It was an awesome way to start!  After the obligatory photos, it was time for the four amigos to set off on our own.
Picture
Touching our feet into the Atlantic
Picture
The Send-Off Party!
Picture
Biking back to campus
So far in the first five days we’ve had the cops called on us 2.5 times.  The first encounter with the law was for trying to camp behind a Jehovah’s Witness Center on the first night.  The second was from a teacher and his science class the next morning when they stumbled upon our tents in the high school baseball field (since we already had police approval, I’m only counting half a call…).  The third was later that same day when I laid my bike in a woman’s front yard to chase down Cory because we both had flat tires and I had the only pump.  The policeman arrived and promptly thanked me for keeping the bike off the road.  We certainly had run-ins with the police on our last adventure, but at this pace the boys in blue will know our favorite ice cream flavor and high school crush in two weeks.  I suppose one way to look at it is the negative side of a positive American tenet: private property rights.  In Asia people couldn’t care less where we camped; here, ownership reigns supreme.  And on the whole that is a good thing.  We’ll just have to be cautious campers.
Picture
Reenactment of our police encounters
Our nightly accommodations have proven some of our most interesting encounters thus far.  The second night Chuck, a local Vermont businessman offered shelter from the storm in his veterinary clinic.  We gladly shared the roof with the overnight pups.  Churches have also been very accommodating; our first night in New York we stayed in the First Baptist Church of Fair Haven.  The trick is to send Carrie in looking tired; people so far have been very accommodating and helpful to our traveling cycling team.
Picture
Overnight at Chuck's veterinary clinic
Picture
Chatting with our evening suitemates
The riding itself shifted from busy and cluttered to hilly, pleasant, and remote.  The ultimate goal was to leave Boston on bike paths and state highways until we met up with the Adventure Cycling Association Northern Tier Route in New York (we accomplished this on the fourth day).  The Green and Adirondack Mountain have proved formidable foes to our fresh, untested legs – hills are hard!  And we’ve had lots of them in Vermont and New York.
Picture
Attacking the hills
En route we get to play tourist from time to time as well.  Just across Lake Champlain we spent some time at Fort Ticonderoga, brushing up on early American history from the French and Indian Wars to Benedict Arnold.  We even met up with the parents of one of our fellow classmates from Chile on a similar bike tour – guess the cycling world isn’t all that large!
Picture
Brushing up on our history at Ft. Ticonderoga
Picture
Coming across our classmate's parents at the fort
We are currently cruising across Adirondack country in northern New York, taking in beautiful lakes and crossing paths with hilarious locals.  This afternoon I was asking an older gentleman about the route to our evening destination and got this response: “You know, there didn’t used to be roads there...”  I responded, “Oh really?” And just as serious as the original statement, he said: “Yeah… before 1929.”  As I held back the urge to burst, I made sure to let him know that I was glad they finally got around to paving one.  Needless to say, the 85 year old road got us there fine.

It certainly is good to be back in the saddle again, and, fortunately, we have three more months of it!  Stay tuned for updates from the other riders, plenty more photos, and stats from the ride.
Picture
It's great to be back on these
2 Comments

Completing the Circle

6/1/2014

2 Comments

 
Kellen Smetana
It’s been almost three years since dunking into the Atlantic waves on the Portuguese coast with Bill, finishing the seven-month bicycle tour of Asia and Europe.  At the time I thought that was possibly the first and last major cycling trip I would ever undertake; of course, I should have known much better…

Tomorrow, Monday June 2, 2014, we are embarking on a bicycle journey across the US!

You’re at it again… are you crazy?  Maybe.  But not because of all this biking.  Most people I’ve shared this story with ask what it was like cycling nearly every day for months on end.  It was awesome.  And that’s why we’re back at it.  On the surface, cycling offers a great pace to take in a country and interact with the people, hear the chatter of its small towns, smell the freshness of its forests, and marvel at the ambition of its mountains.  And let’s not forget, it’s also one heck of a workout.  On a deeper level, such a journey slows life down.  As I mentioned in the last entry below, it gave me perspective on what I really needed to survive.  It proves that all those little rotations of the pedal can add up to something big.  It helped me make some of the strongest connections with the people with whom we interacted along the way.  And finally, it was fun!  A lot of fun.

And so, we’re at it again.

Once again, the trip will be a cast of characters all adding in for different segments.  First, Cory just graduated from Michigan State and wants to take some time for adventure before he starts off into the real world.  He will be joining me from Boston to Seattle – the whole shebang; his tube repair expertise from the Kazakh desert last trip should prove helpful in the crossing.

Second, Carrie just graduated with me from Harvard Business School and is also returning to Deloitte Consulting.  She has previously cycled across the US and will be our resident ACA map reader.  She will be joining from Boston to Minneapolis.

Third, Brandon is another fellow classmate from HBS who decided today that he would like to join us for the first three weeks until Buffalo or so.  (I spent incredibly less time prepping for this tour versus the last, but one day is an amazing feat!)  He has promised plenty of comedic relief to start our journey.

Fourth, Theo has returned to writing in the UK but misses our days together on the bike in Central Asia.  He is planning on joining for the last month of the trip from Jackson Hole to Seattle.

And finally, I am also back on the bike again.  I just graduated from business school and have some time before returning to work.  Ever since starting the last journey across Asia and Europe it’s been a dream of mine to complete the circle of the globe.  North American is the final leg of this, until I decide to tackle it vertically…

For those of you new to the site or who haven’t visited in a while, Revolutions for Relief was the original name of our cycling adventure across Eurasia in 2011.  We have decided to use the site to build in blogs, photos, maps, and stats from our most recent cycling journey across the US.  Visit the Mission page for our planned route.  Check out the Team page for more information about the cast of characters above.  The Journal page will house a blog of our journal entries throughout the trip.  We will most likely rotate entries among the team; the goal is to stick away from simple updates and instead post musings from the road, funny stories, or lessons picked up along the way.  We will group photos by region and add albums to the Photo page periodically.  The Donate page links to World Bicycle Relief, an organization I am passionate about that does a marvelous job using bicycles to help communities in need.  Check it out to learn more.  Finally, on the Stats page you will find a map of our GPS tracks and some fun overall statistics from the trip.

I am excited to set out again tomorrow on this North American cycling adventure and expect many great stories from the days ahead.  Hope to see you out on the road somewhere!

PS - We have pretty good access to communication and we’d love to hear from you, so keep us updated as well while we’re riding.



2 Comments


    Countries

    All
    00. USA ~ Trip Preparation
    01. China
    02. Kazakhstan
    03. Kyrgyzstan
    04. Uzbekistan
    05. Kazakhstan
    06. Azerbaijan
    07. Georgia
    08. Turkey
    09. Greece
    10. Macedonia
    11. Albania
    12. Montenegro
    13. Croatia
    14. Slovenia
    15. Italy
    16. France
    17. Monaco
    18. Andorra
    19. Spain
    20. Portugal
    21. USA

    Archives

    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011


    RSS Feed


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.