Next up was the Michigan Mt Mayhem, which was a century ride (actually, it was about 115-ish miles, but who's counting!) up in the hilly northern Michigan area (Boyne City, if you want to get technical). I was able to talk my friend, Jeff, into joining me..so we all packed into my car..along with 'Team Blunck' (Matt & Mason), of coarse, & set off on the 7-8-ish hr drive up north. The drive up was nice..nice sunset & such as we got into our resort, which was a nice little place that I didn't get to see much of..but it had a water park that Matt & Mason got to enjoy while we rode our bikes. We had a late dinner, then off to bed to wake up & head off to the start of the ride. We woke up to a pretty steady downpour. Well...I'm never one to count us out until it's actually 'go' time, so we got checked in & got our bikes ready. We did have a bit of a delay & got started about an hr later than planned, but it did let up enough to get us out there & get the ride on, so all is well! It never stormed..did drizzle a little during the ride...but it was COLD! After a few wks of not feeling anything close to cold, that was a bit of a shock. I, however, had checked the forecast & had packed accordingly... Jeff was not so lucky. The ride was really nice... had good hills, as promised (though we couldn't find the 'super hill' they had talked about..despite riding around & around looking for it), so it was a solid, challenging training ride & I enjoyed it. At around noon, which we thought would be a lunch stop (just realizing this..but maybe the later start messed this up?), I was out of 'juice' & seriously needing some nourishment..but the stop was out of bread! BUT, by this time I had already designated this ride as a 'peanut butter tasting tour' because of the delicious locally made nut butters that they had at the SAG's (vanilla almond butter, toffee peanut butter....mmmmm), so all I had to do was find some 'vehicles' to get me my peanut butter.. Had a banana..that's always good.. But what's this?? a pop tart? Perhaps a peanut butter pop tart sandwich?? Sure will!! It was actually just what I needed & I fully endorse the use of this tasty treat during a long bike ride.. But it was cold, so no time to sit around to enjoy our 'lunch'.. The rest of the ride was good & I made sure to eat well the rest of the day so no more 'bonking'. Not much else notable about the ride.. We had a good time & both rode further than we had ever gone before..so, success! I can't remember what our actual time was, but I think 'ride time' was about 7 1/2 hrs.. Not fast, but it WAS pretty hilly & we weren't out there to set any records.. So we packed it up pretty quick.. I got a freezing cold shower at the local school, which was the designated start/stop/clean-up/camping spot, while Jeff complained about how steamy & hot the men's showers were... Nice.. So, anyway.. that was the end of the Mayhem! I do recommend it as a nice century ride.. worth the drive, if you ask me..though, hopefully it'll be a touch warmer, or at least less rainy, next time.. But the ride was well run, well staffed, great volunteers at the SAG's & very well marked.. Good stuff!
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