The End Is Nigh!

Drinking: Chocolate milk by the gallon

So the last significant post was back in Indianapolis where I'd covered 2500 miles and reached 14 State capitals. I've been slack in keeping up with the blog and taking photos, but I've not been slack on the bike. I've now got 15 State capitals and 3000 miles under me belt, and also crossed a timezone somewhere (I'm entirely confused this morning).

Welcome to Michigan - A Meth Watch Community

Cycling up from Indianapolis towards Lansing, there really isn't much to say. It's all flat and there's nothing but corn fields. Everything looks the same from the west side of Ohio, through Indiana and into Michigan. On me travels I've seen a number of different communities such as the neighborhood watch community, the bike friendly community (usually just as the hard shoulder ends forcing you into the traffic), even a golf cart friendly community. As I entered Michigan I was assured that I was entering a meth watch community which tells you a little of the area.

State Capitol, Lansing MI

Despite Michigan being full of 'chemists' I've met some amazing people and had a great time starting off with lunch in a really small place in Albion, The Red Lunch Box Cafe. Just a shoebox of a building, painted red, but run by a family and with most of the family there. I usually end up in a Subway or something as most towns seem to have only 'bar & grills' and nowhere that looks intriguing or enticing. Meeting a group of people who are friendly, welcoming and interested in who you are and what you're doing just makes for a better experience.

And so began a long weekend of CouchSurfing and drinking, starting off in Eaton Rapids (20 miles outside Lansing) where I stayed with Karen. Myself, Karen, and her son, Tom went into Lansing to visit the Michigan Brewing Company for a flight of beers and some food. Other than that, it was just a relaxed evening watching TV and fussing over the dog.

My first night in Lansing was nice and quiet drinking homebrew with Kuba, his girlfriend Sara, and their housemate Ben. I had the same conversation with each of them about how little stuff I have with me, but it was a much needed evening of just sitting down and doing nothing and throwing a screaming toy monkey with a cape into a ceiling fan. If you've ever done something similar and felt like you've wasted an evening, you're wrong.

Breakdancing at Vacant Lansing

Next day it was off to meet my second host, Pam. We went down to the market for some food, wine tasting (5 free samples, or 10 if you're me), and a basil plant, before going to an old outdoor swimming pool in the shadow of a power plant. Once more of Pam's friends turned up to sort out specifics for a wedding, Pam and I went to Vacant Lansing (expect nothing). The organisers had sent out a couple of clues as to the theme  and a Google reference for the location, but that was it. One of the big attractions of this event is that no-one knows what will be involved until you turn up. They take over a vacant building for one night and explore how the space can be used to draw attention to the area and hopefully begin regeneration while raising funds for a worthy charity at the same time. We had a 90s theme with beat-box and break-dancing, arcade machines (I suck at Pacman) and some painting things going on. After that, more relaxing and drinking the wine bought at the market earlier and making Smores (Smores and wine is not a classic combination).

Drinking day number 4 began with breakfast followed by ruthlessly decimating the wedding playlist that had been worked on the day before. Seriously, no wedding playlist is complete without the half past 10 Chesney Hawkes, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams combination of cheese. Things got a bit complicated then as a number of plans varied and intertwined as I was supposed to be cooking for Kuba and playing kickball, but got an offer of frisbee and volleyball at the lake with Pam. I forsook the cooking and kickball in favour of frisbee, volleyball and a pint before heading back to Kuba's for a friend's birthday and much more drinking.

I can confirm that drinking does very little to prepare you for a 65 mile ride on a really crappy road in ridiculous heat. I was in agony when I reached Grand Rapids, but I had somewhere to stay as one of Pam's friends, Jeff, had agreed to host me. With another of his friends, we went for a tour of the local breweries to complete the 5 day drinkathon.

Meeting and staying with people is amazing and makes for a much more interesting and fun time, however it is pretty tiring and I wouldn't have made it anywhere near as far as I have done. Think I'd still be languishing in New York or Pennsylvania if I'd have been CouchSurfing the whole time.

Warren Dunes State Park, Lake Michigan, MI

Since the Lansing drinkathon, I've made it to Lake Michigan which I'm following round to my final cycling destination - Chicago - the end is nigh!