Tommy Nankervis

My brief return to Michigan!

// September 21st, 2007 // A Day Down Under

G’day everyone…
Well, i hope everyone, but i guess its only a few loyal readers! I have spent the last week up in Michigan, my home for 2006. It was so nice to get back up there, and when i first got there, it gave me a really warm, welcoming feeling, so that was nice. One thing i don’t really remember, was needing to have all my winter gear, of which i left most back in Georgia! No one told me it was going to be 50 degrees each day (near 10 Celsius)!

The weird thing about Michigan is the airport. Well, its probably not the only weird thing, and its not the only airport that is weird, but Detroit airport has this huge corridor, between concourses, and you walk (or use the travelator) along this tunnel, and the walls all change colour, and there is this really weird music going, and its really dark, so it was a bit freaky sort of, not really, but mainly just interesting, so i took a photo!

Last year i lived with my very close friend, Bob Hughes. He is one of the main sponsors behind Priority Health’s team, being the title sponsor of the team prior to PH taking over, and he had me live at his place for 2006. It was just the second time i have seen him this year, and he was the main reason i wanted to make the trip up North. It was great to see him and catch up again – Bob is one of the best guys you will ever meet!

One of the other main reasons i wanted to get back up to Michigan, was so i could get back up the the 45th Parallel, half way between the equator and the North Pole. Last time i was here, i was over the moon, and let me tell you, getting here again in 2007 was even better! The best thing about getting here this time, was that i got to be in the photo with the sign too! Wicked! I should say though, it is a LONG way from home in Oz!

We were lucky enough to stay with Dan and Kaye White, and their son Brad actually raced as a composite rider on our team for the Tour de Leelanau. Back in his day, Dan was a ripped muscle man. Here is a photo of a photo of him in his high school year book – have you ever seen a high-schooler with such big arms? They are HUGE! I am sure Dan will love this photo being on here too! I must say a huge thanks to Dan and Kaye for everything they did for us all week, it was appreciated!

Kaye has just started up a great little coffee shop in Lake Leelanau, called Pedaling Beans. It is a great little cafe, and you can get some great coffee (nearly as good as Jittery Joe’s!) there too! It is a great little spot to stop on a training ride up in North-Western MI, and has all sorts of cyclists needs too, like tubes, pumps, and other things to save cyclists who run into trouble!

Here is a coffee table inside the shop, with the legs made from old wheel rims, and the glass supported by old chain rings and sprockets! I am sure my grandfather would absolutley love this coffee shop. Other things made from old bike parts are: fruit bowls, bottle openers, key rings, and clocks!

Leland’s Fishtown in a quaint, historic little village. It is where the Tour de Leelanau began on Saturday, and is also home to the best sandwich in the world. This is definitely not an overstatement! The cheese shop in Fishtown is home to the $4.95 (tax incl.) sandwiches, which take an effort to finish! They are made on four choices of bread, with the pretzel bread being the best. I have photos of us eating them, but there were already enough photos on this post, and it was hard enough to choose the ones shown!

The Tour de Leelanau race was long and hard, again, like last year! We took just four riders to the race, and found ourselves a bit under-manned in the break. For Jittery Joe’s, Brad and i were in the main break, and Kelly and Priority each had five, so we got worked pretty good. Brad and i rode ourselves into the ground in the first 130km, and had nothing left in the end! It was good fun, and we left nothing behind, but it was a shame to miss the podium this year.

I don’t usually get many photos of myself racing, but luckily Brad, who is from this part of MI, knew just about everyone there, as either family members, or friends, so i was able to get some good shots from them afterwards. The photo below is going up the first KOM. It was a very cool day, as you might see with the vest and shoe covers!

Brad and i on the last KOM, a bit of a ways from the finish. As you can see, we have cracked pretty bad here, and our race for the win was over! The only cool thing is, we got a close up picture of ourselves, but that is definitely the only cool thing. We were suffering pretty hard!!!!

The race itself was in such a nice area, and i really think Michigan is underrated when it comes to the recognised beautiful states in the US. It really is amazing, especially the West Coast of MI, i would encourage anyone visiting the States to try and make a trip there if they can! How’s the serenity? So much serenity…!

Last year you might remember i got a great sunset photo while up in Leland. Well, i got about a thousand more this year! Unfortunately i had to choose just one, and this was it, taken from the dock out the back of Dan and Kaye’s. It is alright huh? Nice colours! i think i am going to print it off and put it in a frame.

The last night of our stay, there was a bit of a storm, and i was outside, talking to Keally, and i saw a big flash, then everything went black. At the end of the driveway, a tree had fallen down, onto a power line, and caused a black-out. It was pretty exciting that it happened so close to where we were staying, and we got to see all of the emergency workers getting all the power back on for all the houses. Pretty handy having a camera in my pocket at all times, as even though the photo is hard to see, it shows that the power line really did come down that night!

So that’s about it for my Michigan trip for 2007. I had a great time, and will be sure to return again in 2008. I am off racing for two weeks, but then will do my last race of the season in Trinidad and Tobago! It is going to be a blast, and great way to wind up the season.

Keep the comments rolling people, it is nice to read things from people, especially back in Australia, or people who i don’t see as much of here in the US. Also, if there is anything anyone wants me to write about, just let me know. I have a couple of weeks now with not much on, so i can do a post on here about anything anyone wants really! Let me know!

Laters y’all!

PS: The surface area of the Earth is 197,000,000 square miles.