ERRANDONNEE 2019

Here are the specifics of our 2019 edition of the Errandonnee Challenge. The Errandonnee Challenge is designed to get you out on your bike no matter the season, or weather. The challenge requires we complete 12 errands by bicycle within 12 days, and ride a total of at least 30 miles between April 12-23, 2019. There are a few other small rules that must be followed. Those being that there are nine categories of errands that can be accomplished, but only 2 errands maximum per category. These categories are:

• Arts and Entertainment
• Non-Store Errand
• Personal Care
  
• Personal Business
• Social Call (includes restaurants, coffee, and other social activities)
• Store (includes bike shop, running store, grocery store, etc. You know, a store.)
• You carried WHAT on your bike?!
  
• Work or Volunteering, School (includes dropping off kids)
  
• Wild Card

This year we covered a total of 36 miles, on our Bike Friday tandem or Hokitika 2-BE-ONE tandem. Here are our results.

DATE: April 12, 2019
CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment
OBSERVATION: Our typical Friday night entertainment of going to Silk City Coffee to enjoy games and live music with family and friends, and off course enjoy some coffee too. Always fun to ride down Main St. in Manchester to let the drivers know there are bikes on the road.

DATE: April 12, 2019
CATEGORY: You carried WHAT on your bike?!
OBSERVATION: Another Friday night tradition, pizza from Filomena's. OK, maybe not such a big deal to carry pizza, but an extra large pizza takes up quite a bit of real estate on the tandem, and effectively puts the stoker out of commission.

DATE: April 13, 2019
CATEGORY: Store
OBSERVATION: New CVS just opened down the street for our house. Decided to check it out and pick-up some vitamins during their Grand Opening. Turns out we got a little Arts & Entertainment while there listening to a local band, and some Social Call talking to the owners of our favorite coffeeshop while they gave out free samples.

DATE: April 13, 2019

CATEGORY: Store
OBSERVATION: Run to Brown's Flowers to pick up flowers for the wedding. It catches the attention of people when you bike around with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

DATE: April 13, 2019
CATEGORY: Non-store Errand

OBSERVATION: We have had over 30 empty soda bottles hanging around the house for a couple of years now. The soda was enjoyed long ago when we still had our sailboat and would sail to various locations around the Connecticut and Rhode Island coast. It is time to return them to their rightful owners at Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack. Turns out we had enough bottles for an $8.00 refund.

DATE: April 13, 2019
CATEGORY: You carried WHAT on your bike?!
OBSERVATION: It is amazing the amount of electronics one can accumulate over the years, and it is important to properly dispose of those unwanted or broken electronic gadgets once their lives are over. With the help of our trailer we were able to proprly dispose of a microwave oven, stereo, CD player and printer at the Manchester Landfill and Recycling Center. Disposal made easy.

DATE: April 14, 2019
CATEGORY: Social Call
OBSERVATION: Getting married! Got a lot of attention and well wishes going down the street in our wedding attire and flowers all around. I know what you are thinking, where are our helmets?  We wore them on the way home just as it was starting to sprinkle.

DATE: April 15, 2019
CATEGORY: Personnel Business

OBSERVATION: Heading off to Seattle, WA (not by bike, but plane) and in need of cash. Fortunately we had some time and pleasant weather the pedal down the street to our bank and it's ATM to withdrawl some money.

DATE: April 22, 2019
CATEGORY: Social Call

OBSERVATION: One can certainly make the argument that a social call involves face-to-face conversation and interaction, or at minimum the ability to talk over the phone so you can get immediate responses. We might be stretching this category a bit by including the mailing of thank you cards as a social call But, while not immediate interaction, we like to think we impart feelings of joy and appreciate in the minds of those receiving our cards. We think that is quite social.

DATE: April 22, 2019
CATEGORY: Volunteering
OBSERVATION: We might be stretching this one a bit, as we did not actually volunteer, but we did deliver much needed non-parishable food to the MACC Food Pantry. Unfortunately we did lose a small bag of goods along the way, and when we went back to look, it was gone. We are hopeful someone found said lost items and could make good use of them.

DATE: April 22, 2019
CATEGORY: Personnel Business

OBSERVATION: Getting married requires some paperwork. While we already had the marriage license signed and delivered, we did need to visit the Town Hall again to pick up a birth certificate for transferring of a dependent to medical benefits. The joys of bureaucracy, but riding the bike there makes up for the minor inconvenience.

DATE: April 22, 2019
CATEGORY: Volunteering
OBSERVATION: Another slight stretch of a category, but we did deliver some gently used clothing and home goods to our local Goodwill in hopes that they will find good homes and carry on their usefulness.

DATE: April 22, 2019
CATEGORY: Store (Bonus)

OBSERVATION: We added this as a bonus run, just because. The grocery store we typically ride to was on strike, with its employees looking for better pay and benefit among other important issues for corporation. In support of their strike, we biked slightly further to another grocery store. Fortunately we live in a town with several stores, but while shopping we were shocked at the price difference between stores. Luckily the strike is now over, the employees received a better contract, and we can return to our usual place of shopping.

COFFEENEURING 2018

Another season of the Coffeeneuring Challenge has been completed. If you have read some of our previous posts, you will know what the Coffeeneuring Challenge is. If not, here is a brief explanation. It is a fun challenge put forth by Mary G. of chasingmailboxes.com in which, over the course of seven weeks, you ride your bike to seven different places, at least 2 miles round-trip each time, drink seven cups of coffee (or similar), and take seven pictures as proof of your coffeeneuring. Simple as that. We like to go to locally owned, non-chain, coffee spots as much as possible. This year we carried on in that vein adding the twist that the coffee spot must be on a Main St. Not that the coffee spot was on a busy main road in town, but on a road with the name Main St. This required us to head off to other towns outside of Manchester, but we do that anyway so no big deal. Many of the places we have been to in the past, but the Main St theme allowed us to add a couple of new coffeeneuring places. They are all awesome establishments, and we hope you give them a try if you are in the area.

Below are the results of our seven coffeeneuring rides:

COFFEENEUR #1

WHERE: Silk City Coffee

                 763 Main St, Manchester, CT              

                 http://www.silkcitycoffee.com/

DATE: October 12, 2018
DRANK: Two lattes

DETAILS: Our favorite coffee shop down the street from the house. Go there regularly on Fridays for games and live music. Great ride down Main St. in Manchester.

DISTANCE: 2.5 miles
RIDING: Bike Friday Tandem

COFFEENEUR #2

WHERE: Daybreak Coffee Roasters
                  2377 Main St, Glastonbury, CT              
                  http://www.daybreakcoffee.com/ 
DATE: October 14, 2018
DRANK: A mocha latte and pumpkin latte.
DETAILS: A nice ride through the back roads of Manchester and Glastonbury to the busy Main St. of Glastonbury.
DISTANCE: 14.7 miles
RIDING: Felicity the Hokitika Tandem

COFFEENEUR #3

WHERE: The Angry Egg
                  1097 Main St, Manchester, CT              
                  http://www.angryeggcafe.com/
DATE: October 20, 2018
DRANK: Two coffees.
DETAILS: Another Main St. establishment just down the street from our house. Offers a great breakfast along with tasty coffee.
DISTANCE: 2 miles
RIDING: Felicity the Hokitika Tandem

COFFEENEUR #4

WHERE: Center Perk
                  639 Main St, Manchester, CT              
                  http://www.centerperk.net/
DATE: October 21, 2018
DRANK: Two coffees
DETAILS: A favorite breakfast place of ours in an eclectically decorated restaurant. Always enjoy a ride down Manchester's Main St.
DISTANCE: 3 miles
RIDING: Felicity the Hokitika Tandem

COFFEENEUR #5

WHERE: Heirloom Market
                  263 Main St.,Wethersfield, CT              
                  http://www.heirloommkt.com/
DATE: October 28, 2018
DRANK: Two coffees
DETAILS: A new coffee shop for us this year. Takes us across the Connecticut River to the "other side" of the state. Wethersfield is a quintessential historic old New England town.
DISTANCE: 23.2 miles
RIDING: Felicity the Hokitika Tandem

COFFEENEUR #6

WHERE: Grounded Coffee Co.
                 869 Main St., Willimantic, CT              
                 http://groundedcoffeecompany.org/
DATE: November 4, 2018
DRANK: One maple coffee and one pumpkin coffee.
DETAILS: Longest ride of the coffeeneuring challenge, but almost completely on bike paths and rail trails. Recent heavy rains put a small part of the trail under water. Needless to say we got a little wet below the knees.
DISTANCE: 38.0 miles
RIDING: Felicity the Hokitika Tandem

COFFEENEUR #7

WHERE: So G Coffee Roasters
                 882 Main St, South Glastonbury, CT              
                 https://www.facebook.com/sogcoffee/
DATE: November 17, 2018
DRANK: Two lattes
DETAILS: An enjoyable ride through the hilly back roads of Glastonbury.
DISTANCE: 19 miles
RIDING: Felicity the Hokitika Tandem

NORTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN LOOP, Part 5

Sleeping Bear Dunes to Traverse City, MI

August 7, 2018

By late afternoon we arrived in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore following route 109, having turned off M22 shortly after passing through Empire, MI. Off to the left of the road I noticed a paved bicycle path meandering through the trees, going up and down short inclines. I pointed it out to Laura, but since it was going up and down compared to our relatively flat road we decided to stay on the road. As we continued along, the path seemed to level out, and at one point it came close to the road so I quickly veered to the left and got on it. I am very glad I did. The path turned slightly back into the woods, and after a few hundred feet came out next to one of the largest dunes I had ever seen. We had stumbled upon the Dune Climb at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I was immediately impressed with the size of the dune, rising up a good 300 feet, and pure sand. No rocks, no sticks, no shrubs, no trees, just sand. I was also a bit taken aback by the number of people climbing up the dune. In New England, the coastal dunes are generally off limits, so it was unusually to see people climbing about.

First view of the dunes.

We were planning on spending the next day in Sleeping Bear Dunes, so did not stop to explore. We continued riding along the path to the campground. It meandered through the coastal forests and meadows with hints of the dune showing through in some areas. Along the way we stopped to take in some of the views. The path eventually led us to the back entrance to the DH Day Campground. We rode up to the office to get ourselves a campsite. We were informed they were booked, but fortunately, as bicycle tourist, they could put us up in their maintenance building area. We agreed. Gotta love the "no turn away" policy of these campgrounds. We were also informed that we could stop by in the morning to see if they had any open campsites for the next night. Looking out the window there was already a line of cars forming for sites the next day. Apparently it is a normal occurrence for people to sleep overnight in their cars at the campground entrance to get a campsite the next day. We thought maybe we would move on the next day. Having the one night was good enough.

The dunes showing through the forests.

Former landing at Glen Haven.

Camp site in maintenance area. Picnic table, fire pit, electricity and water. Can't complain.

August 8, 2018

Following a restful night next in the maintenance area, we slowly got ourselves feed and packed, under no hurry as we had contacted a Warmshowers host the previous night to see if we could stay the next night. Although we had not heard back yet, we were hopeful we would get the green light. As we were leaving the campground, we decided to swing by the park office to see if they had any sites available, not expecting there to be any given the line of cars forming the previous night. Well, it turns out they did have a few sites available, and, since we had not heard back from our Warmshower host, we decided to take a site and stay an extra night, as originally planned. Wouldn't you know at the time we were headed to our site to unpack, we received a message from the Warmshower host that we could stay with them that night. Oops. Contacting them, we easily arranged for a stay the following night, so all was good.

We spent the day visiting the Dune Climb and Lifesaving Station. The Dune Climb was an interesting experience since, as I mentioned before, we are typically not allowed to climb on the dunes in New England. Arriving at the climb you are presented with a wall of sand that goes up about 200 feet. We climbed, and were already breathing heavy within the first few steps. People were trudging up, others were running down, and kids were going in all directions. Reaching the top we were presented with the view that we were not actually at the top, but had to climb up another 100 feet or so to a few thickets of trees from which we could turn and get a nice view of Glen Lake to the east, and Lake Michigan to the west and north. We took a break and had some lunch under some trees. Following lunch we hiked through the dunes for a bit, climbing through some sandy passes and admiring the views and vegetation. We did not reach Lake Michigan, not that we intended to, but understand there is a long drop to the beach below.

Here are some pictures from our time in the dunes:

After wandering around in the dunes for a while we headed over to the Lifesaving Station which has now been converted to a museum, the most complete Lifesaving Station museum of all Lifesaving Stations in the country, we were told. We listened to the park ranger describe all the equipment and methods used by the rescuers to save sailors from the Lake, and the rigorous training they went through to always be prepared. There were typically seven men working at each station. The lowest man, number seven, had the unenviable task of walking the shoreline keeping an eye out for stranded vessels. This man had to keep walking until he met the seventh man from the adjacent Lifesaving Station, usually about five to seven miles. When meeting they would exchange coins, unique to each station, to prove they met. They would then turn and walk back.

We also witnessed a reenactment of the use of the breeches buoy. This was simply a ring buoy with shorts attached, in which a sailor could sit in while being rescued. A line is shot to the stranded vessel, and another line pulled out and secured to the vessel. A loop is then formed which allows the rescuers to pull the breeches buoy out to the ship, then grabbing the other side, pull the breeches buoy back with the sailor inserted. A lot of hard work getting it set up properly, but fairly effective. This reenactment was carried out by the assistance of many children in the audience. It was fun to watch.

Listening the the park ranger talk about the history of the Lifesaving Station.

Watching the breeches buoy demonstration.

Enjoying a dip in the lake at the end of the day.

August 9, 2018

It was a short day today to get to Suttons Bay where we would be staying with our first Warmshowers host. Good thing it was going to be a short day because we got side tracked in Glen Arbor, a quaint little town with several eclectic shops to wander through. We had a nice conversation with a couple about bicycle touring, as they too tour on a tandem bicycle, and had toured through parts of New England a few years ago. It is always fun to get other people's perspective on bicycle touring, particularly if they ride a tandem.

We finally got on the road and made our way to Suttons Bay, about an hour before we had scheduled to show up at our host's house. We spent some of the time in the harbor side park watching all the comings and goings of people and boats. At the allotted time, we rode over to the house, a little apprehensive about our first Warmshower host stay. We were quickly put at ease as we met Pete and Jan. They welcomed us into their home and showed us our room for the night, a nice windowed sun porch with a comfortable bed and space to unpack and spread out our gear. They had to go out for the evening and left us to our own accord. We took showers and went back out into town to get a bite to eat at the local pizza joint. It was a delicious meal, following which we headed back to the house. Pete and Jan had returned and we spent the next couple of hours sharing travel stories and watching their cat do tricks. Overall and enjoyable evening.

Drying out the gear during a lunch stop.

Coffeeshop stop.

At the waterfront in Suttons Bay.

Glass yard sculptures.

Warmshower hosts Pete and Jan.

August 10, 2018

In the morning we were fed a delicious breakfast of buckwheat waffles and provided a dice game, Cosmic Wimpout, to take with us on the road. Thanks Pete and Jan! After saying goodbyes we headed towards Traverse City. The previous night we received a text from our friends John and Barbara who were vacationing for a week and were in the area. They wanted to know if we wanted to meet for lunch out on Old Mission Peninsula North of Traverse City. Since we would be riding through the area at about noon, we decided, why not. The ride from Suttons Bay to Traverse City was uneventful as we were able to ride along the Leelanau Rail Trail which connected the two locations. Once we got through Traverse City we headed out onto the peninsula. We arrived at the same time as John and Barbara and we had a nice "civilized" meal as we are generally used to sitting on the side of the road or park eatting peanut butter and crackers. They were even so kind as to pay for our meals. Thanks John and Barbara!

Lunch with Barbara and John at the Jolly Pumpkin.