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A successful KVC tour!
Entry 9 of 9 | show all | print this entry |
Started at Novi High School.
I was on my merry way, heading towards South Lyon. It was around 25°F when I started. It felt a little chilly, but the skies were completely clear, so it made it bearable. I even started to become hot. But my toes were another story. With the wind constantly hitting my feet, my toes were getting a bit cold.. After a couple of miles I decided I didn't want to end up with frostbitten toes. Thankfully, I had packed a couple extra pairs of socks. Wearing three pairs of socks really helped. It took a little bit of time for my toes to warm up, but after awhile, I was really glad I packed those extra socks!!!
Riding along, I eventually came upon a "Welcome to South Lyon" sign. When I first read this, I was like, "awww thanks!" haha.
After 10 miles, I arrived at South Lyon High School.
I chilled out for a bit, and then started for Brighton. I missed a turn and realized this when I saw a sign for Kensington. Kensington is a metropark that I used to go to a lot when I was younger. As much as I would have loved to enter Kensington, that was not a part of the itinerary, so I turned around and found the turn that I missed.
Shortly thereafter, I came across a shooting range. When I first saw this, I was like eek! Then I started hearing multiple gunshots. Then I was like EEK! I did not want to get accidentally shot haha.
The roads along this route were horrible. I was quickly reminded as to why Michigan is one of the states with the worst road conditions in the nation. Along one stretch, I was constantly avoiding potholes.
Anyway, so I was riding through downtown Brighton and thought I once again missed my turn. I always feel like I'm not completely paying attention (maybe because I'm not? haha), which always makes me believe I've missed my turn. But this time I hadn't. I found the street I was supposed to turn onto, then went down the road and came across the bright yellow neon sign indicating I was approaching a school. Umm... I did not see any school, instead I saw many churches in a row, and I'm like where is this school? I kept riding, and after I climbed up this massive (or at this time what seemed like a massive) hill I decided I had probably passed it. Of course I had. I backtracked and discovered I missed a measly sign that pointed in the direction of the school that was located a little ways up a road.
After 15 miles, I arrived at Brighton High school.
So it wasn't long after I started merrily making my way towards Pinckney that I encountered my first dead animals. I was actually surprised I hadn't seen more dead animals along the side of the road previously. But this encounter was disgusting!!! First, it seemed to come out of nowhere. (Okay, so clearly that was not the case, as it was just lying there.) Anyway, so yes, I was merrily riding along, when I see two dead animals. Okay, so I stared at them, because I was in shock by what I saw and was trying to figure out what they were. They were furless, but looked slightly wet/sticky, and I didn't think they were wild animals. I actually think they were newborn pups. When I figured out what they were, I was like EW EW EW, and right as I was trying to get over seeing the dead pups, BAM, there's a dead deer on the side of the road!!! EW EW EW EW EW EW!!!!!! Ugh, just seeing them in succession made the situation worse. Oh, but during the short (and I mean short) time between the pups and the deer was a dog sitting there staring at me. Might I add, I don't like dogs, because I'm always afraid they're going to come chasing after me. This is always a fear when I'm running, because they always bark at me when I run past them when they're chilling out on the front lawn. And I'm always thinking in my head, "Please don't come after me." Same thing when I'm riding a bike. Except with my bike, I can get away from them faster, haha.
Anyway, this route seemed to have the most dead animals, as I saw many more. Ew.
After 13 miles, I arrived at Pinckney High School.
Going from Pinckney to Howell was quite lame. I was going down the same road for 10 miles. In addition, Howell did not welcome me to their city. No "Welcome to Howell" sign. How rude. So maybe I just missed it, but I didn't see it, so it's the same thing. haha.
However, Howell did win the award (my award) of cheapest gas. I was riding along, and BAM-there's gas for 3.21!! I'm not sure if this sounds cheap to you, but after consistently seeing 3.35-3.39, 3.21 sounded quite cheap!
After 14 miles, I arrived at Howell High School.
Soon thereafter, I started making my way towards Hartland. And can I just say, I am such a good Samaritan. There was an object in the middle of the road that cars that were going 60-70 mph were swerving to avoid. Now, I could have kept riding along on my bike, but I noticed a dangerous situation, and stopped. Once it was deemed safe, I walked out into the road to remove this object. Wow, these people were sure lucky that I was there. I may have just prevented an accident, maybe a life! ahahaha.
It was on this stretch that wind was starting to become a factor, sigh.
After 14 miles, I arrived at Hartland High School.
Leaving Hartland and heading toward Highland, it seems like the wind is getting worse. It felt like M-59 was getting worse. Not only was there the wind, but the terrain along side M-59 made it even more difficult. Not to mention, I was fighting a slight but continuous uphill battle for what seemed like a loooong stretch. Needless to say, I was going extremely slow.
After 11 miles, I arrived at Milford High School.
It wasn't soon after I started towards White Lake that I almost ran over a squirrel. A dead squirrel. This also seemed to come out of nowhere. (Clearly I do not pay too much attention haha.) I literally swerved out of the way when I saw it. Again, ew. I actually thought it was still alive, because at first glance, I saw the tail move. Later I concluded that it was the wind. The squirrel appeared to be hard, so it had to be dead. I know, too much information, haha.
Oh, and I decided I officially dislike M-59. The terrain alongside the road is absolutely horrendous. I was anxious to make it to White Lake, because there awaits the last stop of the tour!!
After 10 miles, I arrived at Lakeland High School.
All in all, a successful KVC tour! I was able to make it to all the high schools that are a part of the Kensington Valley Conference, simply THE best high school athletic conference there is, haha.
Total bike: 87 miles
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