Previous Loop

Riders

Vance Hodges

• Bicycle: Miyata Six Ten
• Frame: Steel
• Bike & Pack Weight: 61 lbs
• 3 flat tires

Brandon Helm

• Bicycle: Cannondale
• Frame: Aluminum
• Bike & Pack Weight: 55.8 lbs
• 4 flat tires
• 8 busted spokes

Casey Hodges

• Bicycle: Giant OCR3
• Frame: Aluminum
• Bike & Pack Weight: 52.2 lbs
• 1 lost rear derailleur bearing wheel

Approximate Route

Trip Duration

23JUL2022 – 29JUL2022

Total Distance

~625.40 miles

Day 1 (23JUL2022)

• Lafayette, IN to New Buffalo, MI
• Heavy rain in the morning
• My (Casey’s) rear derailleur bearing wheel fell off and was lost
  • My dad (Vance) used a zip tie to put the derailleur in place for one gear
  • No bike shops were close enough (or open) to help
  • Bought a brand new bike ($136.96) from Walmart
  • Took bearing wheel and donated bike back to store management
• Stopped in New Buffalo
• Police allowed us to camp in a pavilion near New Buffalo Senior High School

Day 2 (24JUL2022)

• New Buffalo, MI to Holland, MI
• More rain
• Ate lunch at Burger King in Stevensville, MI
• Ate Taco Bell in South Haven, MI
• My dad (Vance) gets the first flat
• Brandon breaks multiple spokes on his rear wheel

Day 3 (25JUL2022)

• Holland, MI to Ludington, MI
• Late start due to bike repairs in the morning
• Stopped in Velo City Cycles
  • They reluctantly restrung Brandon’s rear wheel
  • They knew the rest of the spokes would go too
  • New wheel stock would not be in until the afternoon which would have taken too much time
• Ate lunch at Taco Bell in Grand Haven, MI
• Brandon got his first flat and busted another spoke
• Brandon hit a wall (figuratively) but got his second wind after pizza and finished strong

Day 4 (26JUL2022)

• Ludington, MI to Manitowoc, WI (via ferry) to Plymouth, WI
• Rode the S.S. Badger
• Stopped at Broken Spoke Bike Shop to fix spokes for Brandon
  • One would think with that name they would appreciate this sort of job
  • However, the two men on staff seemed very upset that we were there messing up their schedule of manning the empty store
  • My dad (Vance) seemed fine with their service though (I suspect he’s been abused by bike shops for too long to notice anymore)

Day 5 (27JUL2022)

• Plymouth, WI to Milwaukee, WI to Kenosha, WI
• My dad (Vance) had another flat tire
• Brandon continued to break spokes but had plenty of spares

Day 6 (28JUL2022)

• Kenosha, WI to Chicago, IL to Schererville, IN

Day 7 (29JUL2022)

• Final Day
• Schererville, IN to Lafayette, IN

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