My cousin John Marchant, who is a traithlete training for an Iron Man is also here at Ken's this weekend for boys' weekend. Ken and John are brothers. I've not seen Ken for a couple of years. He's been down to Cliff's house several times and we met him up in Detroit at Pizza Papalis one time when he was in Detroit on business. John, however, I haven't seen in decades. It may have been 1976 when we were 10 and 9 years old when I last saw him. In any case, we both have endurance sports and a love of punishing our bodies in common. So, today, when the other boys went golfing, John and I went for a ride on a route that we had driven and scoped out yesterday. The plan was to ride from Ken's house to a little gas station just before the intersection of Round Lake Rd and I17. The gas station has a little BBQ diner connected to the side. When we drove past yesterday, there was a line out front for the BBQ. A perfect place for lunch and a little rest before returning to Ken's house.

We set out at just before noon. About 7 minutes into the ride, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet. This was a problem because I was supposed to be buying lunch for us - since John had burned the gas yesterday scoping out the route. Oh, John also supplied me with M&Ms, Gatorade and a protien bar because I forgot all of those things. I could have purchased some Gatorade at the little store next to Ken's, but John was kind enough to supply me. So, since we planned on riding nearly 60 miles, it seemed like a good idea to go back and get some money. Since John doesn't spend as much time in the saddle as I do, he kept going and I turned back to get my wallet. When I got back on the bike after grabbing my wallet, I heard my 15-minute alarm sound. That means that John had like a 20 minute head start on me. Maybe more, depending on how hard he worked after I turned back to get my wallet. That seemed insurmountable. But, I pushed on any way. I worked really, really hard, and as I approached the last hill, I saw him. I thought I could work hard and catch him before he got to the turn around point.

I came close. I was within a tenth of a mile when I saw him turn into the gas station. By the time he dismounted, I was rolling into the lot.

The BBQ diner was closed. Apparetnly, it's only open M-F to serevice the timber/lumber workers. So, we got some coffee, some chips and some snacks to munch before heading back. As we sat there talking about the stunning beauty of the scenery, clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped a bit. With that, so too came the wind. I told John that I would take it easy on the way back and keep it between 18 and 20 mph. In reality, with that head wind, 20 was out of the question. Much of the ride, I was below 17 mph. Still, I was dropping John. I would ride ahead on the up hills and take it really easy on the down hills to let him catch up. When I got a bit of a gap on him, I would slow and take some pictures. Here are those pictures.