I must offer many thanks to K9DEW, Dewey Thrash, for operating a Ham Radio Digipeater station that works, and works WELL. We've stayed in several "radio dead zones" recently, and thanks to Dewey, this is NOT a dead zone.
We drove to Sturgis, MI, this Sunday morning for LDS church services. I'd never heard of Sturgis except for the famous one in SD where the world famous motorcycle rally is held yearly. Sturgis, Michigan version, has various factories providing employment for quite a few. The current boom in RV demand and sales keeps most people employed and busy all over this area.
Anyway, the congregation in Sturgis was about the most friendly bunch of folks we've ever encountered, except maybe in Grants NM where I attended school from 3rd grade through High School and where so many old timers have known me since I was a pup. All kinds of nice folks in the Sturgis Ward shook our hands, asked our stories, visited with us, and generally made us feel very welcome. Food for thought when we grow up and finally decide to settle somewhere....We had sorta planned to do an afternoon cycle ride after church, but Jacque caught my chest cold several days ago, and today her congestion was really bad. We should have stayed home and tucked her into bed for the day. We left after Sacrament meeting and came back "home" to the RV and she immediately went down for an afternoon recovery nap, but encouraged me to go ahead and ride around. We spotted a funny notation on an area map yesterday that turned out to be the "Pumpkinvine Nature Trail", where no motors are allowed, no horses allowed, but cyclists and pedestrians are welcomed. The trailhead originates in Shipshewana and goes west through Middlebury, around to Goshen, and thence on to Elkhart, usually following the route of the defunct "Pumpkinvine Railway". Where we're parked is about 3 miles from Shipshewana so I rode all the way from the RV to the trailhead and then the almost 6 miles along the trail into Middlebury.
I was getting pooped by the time I arrived in Middlebury so I turned around and headed back 'home'.
Now I see from looking at the trail map, I was a quarter mile or so shy of crossing through both a tunnel and a wooden trestle bridge. Rats. No problem though; it was a fun enough ride without those additional thrills.
It was plenty hot today but noticeably cooler than the last few days. A bit of a breeze encouraged me to think I could survive a few miles of riding. For the most part this turned out to be true. This is the kind of weather where I'm grateful for winds and breezes, even though they may slow me down a bit. The additional cooling effect is much more appreciated than a few more MPH in speed.
One thing so far that is nice about these midwest bike trails is the shady trees along much of the route. They contribute quite a mess down below on the trail pavement but running over branches, seeds, and clumps of leaves is a small price to pay for blessed SHADE; what I call "God's Air Conditioning".
In Amish Plain People Country such as this, few stores are open on Sundays. Few horse-drawn carts and carriages are downtown going between any businesses, but today there were all sorts of groups, bicycle and horse-drawn, passing me along the roads and bike trails. The adults and families appeared to be heading home from worship services. I passed the back yard of a Plain Family just west of Shipshewana where there was a large group of Amish youth playing volleyball. Evidently such recreation on Sunday wasn't frowned upon by that particular group. Another largish group of Plain Kids, male and female, riding bikes, passed me coming and going as I neared Middlebury:
I have noted previously that the "plain" (solid colors, no patterns) dresses worn by the women fail to conceal the good looks of most of them. No burquas or veils amongst these people.
I must confess I was fairly bushed by the time I got to Middlebury. Right at the entrance of the trail into town is quite a temptation for a Christian who hates to buy anything on Sunday:
As I got to the village limits of Shipshewana, I noticed a sign indicating "Memorial to Chief Shipshewana - 800 Feet" on a street crossing, so I took a short detour to take a look at it.
Whether the greedy Anglos' consciences finally woke them up or not, the Chief was allowed to return to his native soil, where he died in short order.
Don't get me started on the genocide and grief the so called "White Man" has visited upon the native peoples already living here in the Americas. I read one history some years ago that opined that the U.S. Army NEVER won a fair fight against "Indian warriors". Many of the acclaimed victories the Army claimed were attacks on peaceful villages that were under peace treaties, such as the infamous attack on the sleeping villages of Chief Black Kettle (Cheyenne) more than once, by Chivington and later Custer.
Like I said, don't get me started. It wasn't pretty.
Ride Started: 1:45 PM Ride Ended: 4:45 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9 Ending Voltage: 12.9 Lowest: 12.7
Beginning Blood Glucose: 116 Ending BG: 60
Lowest Temp 82 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 20.39
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
6.8 MPH 8.5 MPH 30.8 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 59 mins 2 hours 24 mins 35 minutes
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