Day 9 – Saturday, September 7, 2013

 Holland – Union Pier

Saturday morning Terry and Fred got up early and made a huge pancake breakfast with fresh Michigan blueberries. I ate so much I thought I was going to pop.  I justified my gluttony by saying it was “fuel” for the day.  Although, it didn’t really matter because I was going to burn off those calories in a matter of hours.  We ended up talking a late into the morning and I ended up getting a later start than I was hoping.  I was anxious to get to Union Pier because I was meeting Heather that night and a friend who had his boat docked at New Buffalo Harbor.

Fred, Terry and I on the start of day 9

We said our goodbyes and I took off.  The minute I swept around the lake and made the turn south the wind slammed me right in the face.  I couldn’t believe how strong it was.  Even in the wooded areas there was no shelter from it.  There was a little climbing at the beginning of the day but I knew it would flatten out later.  The road snaked its way through the woods and over some rolling hills.  It was a very pretty morning ride.  My ankle began to bother me again and I tried not to push it to hard and tear something.  My biggest fear was an injury that would prevent me from finishing the trip, especially in the last few days.

Some clouds moving in to start the morning

The morning was sunny and it was starting to heat up.  The wind was absolutely relentless, it seemed to come from all sides and no matter where the road turned it was coming straight at me.  I was churning the pedals furiously but just seemed to be crawling along.  I knew that getting through South Haven would take about an hour and then another hour to Benton Harbor which was a little over half way on the day.  The time seemed to creep along at a snail’s pace and the wind seemed to be pushing me backwards.

View of the harbor in South Haven

In South Haven I detoured down to the pier, which I’d never seen before and ended up stopping to eat a gel and talked to a lady and her husband for a few minutes.  The few minutes turned into almost 15 minutes as she talked my ear off about god knows what.  I stopped listening after about 5 minutes and kept thinking about how the heck I was going to get out of there.  Eventually, I tuned in to hear something about a foreign exchange student staying with them who was related to the king of some African country.  I still have no idea what she was talking about.  But, finally she wrapped up the story and I was able to squeeze in a sentence about WBR and my trip.  Hoping to get a donation I was disappointed to learn she didn’t have a computer.  Part of the fun of the trip was all the interesting people I met along the way and this was no different.

South Haven Pier

I finally managed to get out of there and continue on to Benton Harbor.  The wind didn’t let up one bit and only seemed to get stronger as the morning wore on.  There were also a few good climbs coming into town just to increase the difficulty.  I knew Benton Harbor was half way and I willed myself not to stop until I got there.  I said I’d stop at the bridge for a break just as I got into town.  The miles ticked away slowly until I finally could see the bridge up ahead.

  

I stopped on the bridge for a gel and saw dad drive by.  I went ahead a mile and met them at a gas station.  They’d been following me using the GPS link and knew exactly where I was.  They had stopped and got me a chocolate milk and a snack and it was really nice to just relax for a second before continuing on. 

When I took off the wind immediately was in my face again.  I made my way south and eventually made contact with the Red Arrow Highway which went straight into Union Pier.  This section is extremely dangerous because there is no shoulder and the cars fly by at 60 miles an hour.  Last year I was thankful to make it out alive and this year I was taking no chances.  I detoured around the Red Arrow but that required an additional 15 miles of riding on a lot of hilly back roads.  The roads were extremely rough and bumpy, and with the high wind and scorching sun I was really suffering.

 

Coming into the hotel at Union Pier

At the end of a very long day on the bike

The afternoon dragged on and I was pretty miserable.  I was sore from head to toe, hot, tired, and going 15 mph into a horrendous headwind.  The miles ticked away and finally I turned east onto a road cutting straight into Union Pier.  The headwind disappeared as I went into the woods and I was struck with an enormous sense of relief.  When I finally pulled into the hotel at Union Pier I was destroyed.  I could only get off the bike and collapse into a chair on the front porch of the hotel.  Dad and Karna were leaving that night to go back to Iowa so I grabbed the computer, downloaded my last pictures, and we all went down to the beach to take a walk and say our goodbyes.

Heading down to the beach to say our goodbyes

Me at the end of day 9 in Union Pier

Dark clouds were rolling in and it started to drizzle.  It was sad to say goodbye after spending the past 5 days together.  We hugged, and just like that they were gone.  It was kind of lonely.  Heather and I called up my friend Mike to ask if we were still on to get together.  He said yes and that even though it was starting to rain we could go on the boat and eat dinner and have a drink.

 

Sunset over Lake Michigan on the last night of the trip

We drove down to New Buffalo and found the harbor where his boat was docked just as the sky’s opened up.  When I saw the boat it was certainly not what I expected.  A Yacht would be a better description.  Immediately my worries about the rain went away and we got on board and went down below into the spacious cabin for a glass of wine.  We chatted the evening away catching up and having a wonderful time.  After an hour or so we went upstairs and saw that the skies had cleared and it looked like it was going to be a nice night.  We took off the cover to the boat and headed out onto Lake Michigan.  As the sun set we ate dinner on the back of the boat and talked and enjoyed each other’s company.  It was an amazing sunset and a fabulous time.  We cruised around the lake and viewed the mansions on the shoreline until after dark until we finally returned to the harbor. 

Heather and I after dinner cruising Lake Michigan

We said our goodbyes and I was so happy to have spent the last night of the trip that way.  Celebrating the occasion with my friends and seeing the best sunset of the whole trip.  It was perfect.