Torch Lake Weekend: Part Deux

Around the campfire at the Kalkaska Campground, both Hot Dog and I were busy on our smartphones searching for a weather website that would tell us that tomorrow's forecast would be sunny and 85. We obviously never found that site and started planning our drive of shame back down state just in case. With the threat of possible severe weather on the horizon, we were both losing hope for the Ride Around Torch.

A few hours after the fire went out and my Sierra Nevada pain killers wore off, I stumbled out of my tent to take a wizz on Hot Dog's tent. I happened to look up and saw a full night's sky of stars, not a cloud in the sky. I thought that maybe the biking gods felt bad for punishing me the previous day and wanted to make up for it...Maybe, just maybe, we would actually be able to get the ride in tomorrow!

We packed up camp and headed out in search of breakfast around 6:30am. When we pulled into McDonalds for a healthy pre-ride breakfast, an ominous Rainbow loomed in the distant horizon alongside some real pissed off looking clouds. At that point, neither of us wanted to be the one to back down, so we decided that we were going to Elk Rapids to at least sign in and check out what other people were doing. When we pulled into the parking lot at the High School (RAT Central), there were a few older people on comfort bikes heading out for their ride....That was enough motivation for HD and I to dig deep, spandex up and ride on.

The first 20 miles slowly meandered around the west side of Torch Lake. The miles ticked by as we were treated to some nice shots of the lake and some amazing looking "vacation" homes. Along the way, I lost count of all the FOR SALE signs I saw, numbering in the thousands I`m sure. The road was wet and I was riding like a scared little boy after yesterday's incident. We stopped at the first feed station for a photo op on the pier and then headed back out around the northern tip of the Torch. The weather started to clear up and the roads dried up nicely just in time for a little bit of climbing.

We breezed in and out of the second feed station as the rain picked up again for a few miles. The road then took us away from Torch Lake towards Lake Bellaire and around Clam Lake (pam lake?) and then joined back up with Torch before heading into the town of Alden for some snacks on snacks. I downed a banana and a fig newton and HD choked down a brownie and some blue mystery juice. Had I not cattle-prodded the Dog, I think he could have been perfectly happy staying there forever...but we pressed on.

The push to the finish line was fueled by stories of the cook out filled with hot dogs at the end of the road. We hammered up some rolling hills, alongside miles and miles of cherry trees and made it to our final destination on the shore of the Grand Traverse Bay. When we hopped in line for the awesome spread of food, the number of roadie douchebags that were cutting in line in front of us caused us to get pissed and leave in search of real food, Ronald McDonald style...

All in all, just a hair over 100 miles for the weekend, 63 from the RAT combined with a free bike wash courtesy of Mother Nature on the way home...

- Steve