East Lansing, Michigan

Woke up this morning at 5:30 and I was excited to get back on the bike after being the Project Manager yesterday. The dorm beds were surprisingly comfortable so getting up was a challenge. We had our normal crew chief breakfast and then went outside to start our morning. The weather called for cold and rainy today so no one was extremely excited especially since a lot of guys were feeling sick. I knew the day was going to be a little bit rough when one of our crew members ran over a cyclists tire. It completely bent the wheel and he was unable to ride today.

I rode today with Alex Eplan from Georgia Tech and David Iles from the University of Iowa. We started out as the first pace line and were rolling at a very fast pace for the first 15 miles and then the rain came. The worst part of it was that just 10 minutes before we took our jackets off because we were getting hot so we left them in the vans. The three of us were absolutely miserable and freezing which brought on some crazy ideas and thoughts. We were screaming things, figuring our ways to get out of the rain and nearly crashing because our brakes weren't working due to the rain. About 25 miles into the ride we arrived at a crew stop with Kyle and waited for van 4 to reach us so we could get our jackets. After about 10 minutes the second pace line caught up to us and then Sam arrived, we got our jackets and got back on the road. About 2 miles after leaving the crew stop we were stopped because Kyle told us to go the wrong way. Normally this wouldn't have been that big of a deal but because it was rainy and people were not in the best moods it didn't help. We got back to the van and by that time all of the pace lines had arrived. At one point there were about 7 of us huddled up inside of a porta potty trying to stay warm. About 15 minutes later the crew figured out where we were supposed to be and they told us we could get back on the road. By this point we were down to 18 cyclist because people were not feeling well. Because of this we split up our pace line and Alex went to ride with Beau and David and I kept going. The rain was off and on for the next few hours.

East Lansing was about 84 miles from lodging in Kalamazoo so when we arrived at Jesus' crew stop we knew we were almost there. He told us to make a right at the road he was marking, but unfortunately he forgot to tell us to make a left soon after that. Close to 5 miles later I looked and we were leaving East Lansing. Because he forgot to tell us to turn we went the wrong way again. After an hour and over 14 miles of extra riding we arrived at the Courtyard Marriot in East Lansing, Michigan. The ride was pretty frustrating at times due to rain and the crew not being on their game but I am glad I was one of the guys to finish the day. We circled up outside of the hotel and met our lunch sponsor as well as the sponsor who set up our lodging. The team went inside and had an awesome lunch and we were then able to go get showered up. We had a few hours of free time before our dinner later that night so I had to run to the bike shop to get the two spokes repaired that broke during the days ride. 

After getting back to the hotel and taking a nice 45 minute nap the team loaded up in the vehicles and we went to eat dinner with some of the Beta Xi Chapter guys from Central Michigan. They made us an awesome dinner including burgers, hotdogs, and much more. It was a nice relaxing dinner after a long day on the road, and it was cool to talk to guys from other chapters. We took our group photo with the sponsors and then made our way back to lodging for the night. 

Spencer presenting the Beta Xi guys with a team shirt

Once back at the hotel guys did all kinds of different things. There was a group of us that washed our bikes. Because of the rain the chain and other components get very dirty which is bad for them so we had to spray them off, and then lube the chain so everything continues to work correctly. I took the rest of the night to relax, pack up my bag and rest up for the next day. We have our last full day in Michigan tomorrow as we head into Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan!