Moving on and getting back in shape

Wednesday, Sept 2 to Saturday, Sept 5
139 miles
Ann Arbor - Brooklyn - Wauseon - Toledo

After a full two weeks off the bike, we decided to take 3 days getting down to Toledo to get into riding shape again. And the beautiful Irish Hills of Michigan was just right for our first day. It was beautiful everywhere and we found out we had lost our climbing muscles already. We stayed in the cute little town of Brooklyn - home of the Michigan International Speedway - stopped in at a cafe and were entertained by 2 young boys on bikes who now aspire to bicycle to Idaho some day. We also spoke with Pat from Jackson, a fairly new tandem rider who was quite interested in what we were doing - perhaps another trans-con rider?

Just south of Brooklyn we toured the St. Joseph Shrine, an historic stone church built by Irish immigrants in 1854. In the early 1900's they added an incredible stations of the cross walk that zigzags down the hill behind the church and along a lake. They were built some time ago and were in various states of repair and disrepair but none-the-less beautiful. That night we stayed in Wauseon OH right near to the Fulton County Fair which was just getting going and offered us a place to get dinner.

Friday we enjoyed the nice bike riding on the county roads in Ohio, finding our way to Toledo and meeting up with John Misiak for dinner. Saturday morning we attended the Memorial Mass for Chris Misiak at Pious X Church. It was a wonderful service and tribute we are so glad we were able to be there. We met and visited with many of Chris and John's relatives, then headed out mid-afternoon through Toledo and once again on our way to the East Coast.