Day 3: Hallo from Holland

Bike Distance	Avg Speed	Total Ascent	Saddle Time	Calories
51.02 miles	11.15 mph	475 ft	04:38:25	2606 cal

Alternate Plan:

OMG. Falling asleep last night was nearly impossible due to the ridiculous level of humidity. The sweat poured from pores as I tried to contort my body into positions that would minimize skin to anything contact. It was miserable... I must have eventually dozed off cause the next time I opened my eyes it was day light. I reached for my phone to see what time it was and to my horror it was already 9am!  We should have left by now! Fortunately Swatz was just waking up as well. My voice had a sense of urgency as I told her the time. Swati was clearly suffering from her allergies as her eyes were bright red and from the look of it she didn't get much sleep either. We pulled ourselves out of the tent and over to the picnic table to plan today's strategy.

We were scheduled to cycle about 58 miles through the town of Holland and ultimately to Lake Macatawa campground in Holland State Park. The town of Holland was one of the highlights of this trip given our past history with a past employer Philips.  Furthermore, it had the only working Dutch Windmill in the United States which would be cool to visit. Given Swati's allergy problem, the number of miles and lack of available time to spend in Holland I suggested we stay at a hotel smack dab in the heart of Holland. This would reduce the total miles by 7, allow us to get a nice dinner in town, and most importantly get a good night's sleep in a climate controlled room (allergens be damned) !  I called and secured a room at "Cityflats" hotel in downtown Holland thanks to Google maps!

As a bonus, we would also be shaving off some miles from tomorrow's route as well since the campground was kind of out of the way.  I estimate that reduces tomorrow by about 5 or so miles. This should afford us more "Smellin the roses" time. Even with this new plan we needed to get out of dodge and fast.

Morning "Mad"ness:

New plan put in place Swati headed to the bathroom to get ready and clear out her sinuses with her neti pot while I began packing up the camp site. I packed up as much as I could and headed to the bathroom to get ready. I returned and swati still wasn't back so I waited. And waited. Eventually she returned but was still wearing her sleeping clothes. Huh!? Apparently she forgot her cycle clothes. I was a bit shocked at how long she was gone and was expecting her to grab her clothes and head straight back to the bathroom. Especially considering how behind schedule we were. Without any sense of urgency she slowly went through her things and seemed to lolly gag.  Mind you, all my stuff is packed and my bike is fully loaded ready to go. I am just waiting for her. Without thinking of the fallout I mentioned this to her. Whoa! She did not like that at all. I tried to explain that the more time spent here reduces the amount of time spent checking out the site along the way. Sorry, but the KOA isn't really all that exciting! She grabbed her clothes and stomped off to the bathroom.

Minutes later she returned eyes welled up with tears. I immediately reached out and gave her a ginormous hug and apologized for how I handled the situation. She too apologized and stated that she was likely just dreading all the physical work ahead her. I told her she was doing great and that we could take our time since we already had the hotel booked.  Another hug and kiss later and we were off.

Cancelled at Clementines:

The 22 mile ride to South Haven, where we intend to stop for lunch, encapsulated virtually every terrain/situation a touring cyclist could encounter. We had paved roads, gravel roads, dirt roads, muddy paths, sandy paths, 2 miles of grass path and to top it off were chased by three dogs from the same house! A giant St Bernard, a yapping beagle and a pint sized ferocious chihuahua!  It was pretty awesome and I think Swati enjoyed it as well.  We ultimately reached our destination and asked a few locals for lunch venue recommendations. Clementines was the unanimous winner so we headed there.

The restaurant was in the center of town which, to my amazement, was full of hustle and bustle. We walked in and were immediately seated. Swati was excited to see they had a special vegetarian menu. The only problem was the menu wasn't vegan friendly. In fact they had a hell of time coming up with something for her to eat. Ultimately it got sorted and they conjured up sauté vegetables with cajun seasoning. She thoroughly enjoyed it. I had the "famous" perch sandwich. It wasn't all that great but I still managed to clean my plate. :)

We wrapped up and I handed my amazon credit card to the waitress. She came back and told me it was declined. What? I apologized and swati took care of the bill while I immediately phoned Chase. Turns out they canceled my card due to potential fraudulence. Apparently they thought I lost my card because of my recent charges in Indiana and Michigan. They are issuing me a new card which could be delivered directly to me tomorrow.  That really doesn't help me as I am traveling by bike! The kind Indian gentleman from the call center was sympathetic to my situation and authorized the use of my existing card through Sunday only if it is hand swiped through a card reader. In other words, no online transactions. Crisis averted!

We are not alone:

We were once again back on the road and heading towards Holland. The roads were pretty good but the temps were hot. Fortunately there were occasional patches of clouds that would provide relief from the beating sun. Throughout the afternoon I could see Swati improving with every pedal stroke. She was chugging up bridges with up to 7% grades with a mildly loaded bike! No complaining and an occasional "woo hoo" at the top! That's my girl!

At some point in the afternoon we pulled aside for a water break in a nice shady spot along the road when off in the distance we could see another touring cyclist approaching from the opposite direction. He was solo and decided to stop and have a chat with us. Terry is a retired gentleman from Minnesota who started from his home, cane across the ferry to Muskegon and we'll work his way around the lake before heading back to Minnesota. Amazingly, He mentioned that we were the first touring cyclists he had seen since he began his trip. He had some artery troubles (stints) a few years back and decided he needed to so something about it. He borrowed a bike and started riding. He immediately loved it and now has a swanky soma with all the bells and whistles. He had amassed over 4000 miles this year alone!  Unfortunately his wife doesn't share his passion and decided to leave the cycling to him.

The perfect cure for the heat:

After our nice chat we continued towards our destination. The heat was still an issue and the air was heavy. We could fit one more break in before the final 8 mile push to Holland. Up ahead we saw a Dairy Queen imposter called Dairy Days. We pulled off and got some much deserved icy treats. Swatz got a mango and pineapple slushy and I ordered a cherry and vanilla ice cream Glacier. This place didn't have an indoor area so we sat at one of the many picnic tables outside and enjoyed. I never had a Glacier before and Damn was it delicious!

Smellin the roses:

We knocked out the remaining miles and entered Dutch country! You could immediately tell by all the Dutch street names that we were indeed getting close.   Holland MI is a modern yet quaint college town teeming with a mix of people on her streets. We checked in, showered, ditched the bikes and hit the streets. It was about 9pm so most shops were closed as we meandered up and down the Ave. Ultimately we found our way to New Holland Brewing Company for dinner and more importantly Beer!

Swatz had a yummy portobello burger while I had a delicious steak salad.  I enjoyed two of of the three craft beers before retiring for the evening. Despite the rocky start this turned out to be the best day yet!