Say Ya To Da U.P.

This Memorial Weekend I decided to head up the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to spend the weekend with Kevin and his Mom and Dad. Kevin’s parents, Irv and Gerry, have a place on Little Shag Lake, near Gwinn, MI . To Minnesotans, their place would be called a “cabin” but to people in Upper Michigan, it’s called “camp.” The Perala camp is definitely one of my favorite places – it’s a log cabin built by Kevin’s grandpa in the mid 1930’s. It’s very rustic but beautiful. I’m always happy when we get out of the car and feel the familiar breezes and smells of Upper Michigan.

Irv and Gerry -- they've been married over 50 years!

The Perala Camp. The new roof was added last year.

The Boat House.

The outhouse. The camp has electricity and running water but no shower or a bathroom. I can tolerate this but it's usually the first thing I'm happy about leaving.

We left Thursday afternoon and arrived at camp around 11:00. We unpacked, which for those of you who know Kevin, it’s like unpacking for a safari expedition. We then visited with Irv and Gerry for a bit and then hit the sack.

Some of my sleeping companions.

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally a work weekend getting the camp ready for summer and there’s a lot of work to do on the family’s three properties around the lake. I, however, needed to get in some long rides so my end the bargain was that I would prep and cook all the meals.

I headed out Friday morning for a three hour ride. After the crazy hours of the legislative session and being around people all the time, it felt great to be out on my own in the peace and quiet with the sound of bike tires on paved roads. I headed north into a headwind to the abandoned KI Sawyer Air Force Base. I then headed east from there for a 10 mile stretch on rolling paved roads. The best part was when I turned south and had 10 miles of tailwind. I crisscrossed back to camp on a beautiful country road.

The last little climb to camp. It looks deceptive but I dread it every time.

Saturday, I had a planned 4 hour ride with a series of hill intervals. I decided to head to Marquette Mountain and do the road climb there which was over a mile long. I rode from camp which took me over an hour into a headwind. I did the climb 5 times but took an involuntary break in between -- I got two flats, used all my tubes and ran out of patches to repair the next flat. Kevin came to the rescue, driving the 25 minutes from camp with some extra tubes. I originally planned on going home with him in the van but knew I would regret that decision. So, I finished the hill repeats and headed home. The bike ride home was awesome as I had a tail wind most of the way!

I had planned on mountain biking on Sunday but Irv said they were predicting huge thunderstorms, hail, and damaging winds so I decided to not take a chance. Turns out, I could have ridden as the rain did not arrive until dinnertime. Instead, I had a nice day helping out at camp and even got dirty helping plant the vegetable garden. I'm looking forward to eating radishes, onions, and lettuce on our next visit and carrots, cucumbers, zucchini and beets on our visit later summer!

We got home last night and now I have my sights set on a good, hard week of training. My coach gave me some tough short rides and one long ride to do before my first race on Sunday.

Have a great week!