Post-PALM

Well, my great hoped-for PALM (Pedal Across Lower Michigan) adventure crashed and burned. Not literally—it certainly could have had a more tragic ending. But iit did not come even close to ending the way I had hoped.

After almost no sleep at all Friday night, and then driving to Saugatuck (a little shy of three hours0 on Saturday with the trike perched on the rack on the back of the car, I was quite weary by that night, and ready for some good sleep. It had been a long and difficult day—not only the drive, but setting up camp there (as shown below), and a lengthy group meeting at 7:00 (they say the first one is always long, because of the need to go over all the rules), followed by a bike education class specially oriented for first-timers like myself.

We were on our own for dinner this first night, and Michelle (in Saugatuck with some friends for a "girls weekend") had texted me to ask if she could bring me dinner. Delighted at my good fortune, I explained to her how welcome that would be. Most of the afternoon I sat in my folding chair reading (after wisely moving it beneath the shade of a large adjacent tree), and then about 6 p.m. she showed up, along with her friends Leslie and Colleen. They brought me some delicious pulled pork and cheesy potatoes, which they had gotten from a nearby outdoor festival, along with some fresh fruit and splendid blueberry pie they had gotten from a farmers market earlier in the day. Welcome as this food was, however, far and away the best aspect of the visit was the opportunity to see Michelle.

After the post-meeting class,  I flattened myself out on my sleeping bag most gratefully a bit past 9 p.m., and quickly fell into  a deep sleep. But, like on Friday night (and, in fact, almost every night for me), I slept rock-hard for the first three hours or so, and then woke. When this occurred, right about midnight, I decided I might as well go into Saugatuck High School (which was kept unlocked all night for us) in order to recharge the batteries for my phone and iPad, which were quite depleted. After a while, though, it became quite clear to me that it was going to take some time to fully charge them, so, trusting God to take care of them, I left them  plugged in and retreated to the tent at 1:00 in order to get some more sleep.

However, I could NOT sleep, because of the persistent percussive throbbing of some rock music a few hundred yards north of us. For some time I thought dire thoughts about the inefficacy of PALM's 10 p.m. – 6 a.m. '"quiet hours," but then finally, as they had been a model of efficiency and attention to detail in everything else, I began to think that this must be some local youth instead, rather than PALM participants. At any rate, the music went on until 2 a.m. ... and it no sooner stopped, than it was replaced by groups of youth (again, I suspect locals calling to one another "Hoo!" ... "Hoo!" (As I told Michelle this morning, it left me feeling as if I were in Dr. Seuss's Whoville! 😆) This went on until 2:30,   and then when the Hoo-ing disappeared, the wind picked up in great gales that buffeted my tent like a flag. Were it not so well weighted down with its beefy occupant, I suspect it might have blown far away.

At any rate, between the power situation, the rock music, the Hoo-ing, and the wind, I did not sleep at all from midnight until about 5:30. I decided that, particularly on the heels of my nearly sleepless Friday night, it would not be safe for me to ride in this condition ... particularly a 250-mile, weeklong group ride. So I texted Michelle, who gladly agreed to come pick me up at 9:00 to bring me home. Rarely have I been so happy to see anyone as I was to witness her arrival this morning, and then after packing up and making the lengthy drive back to Ann Arbor, we arrived a bit before 1 p.m.