Harsens Island

Yesterday I had a 40 mile bike ride planned out on Harsens Island.  I got a little nervous when I woke up and saw frost all over the grass and cars.  I dressed for the forecast, which was sunny and somewhere around 50° during the ride.  Harsens Island is about an hour east of my hometown so we left pretty early and it was still pretty cold!

When we got to the ride registration it had warmed up to 41° but the sun was shining.  You have to take a car ferry across to the island and lucky for us, bikes and pedestrians are free :)  We took the short ferry trip across the St. Clair River and we were off on our ride!

It quickly warmed up enough to take off my gloves but I'm glad I wore two long sleeved shirts and a headband to cover my ears.  We passed quite a few camouflaged boats coming back into the boat launches with guys dressed head to toe in their camouflage gear.  Duck hunting season had opened the day before in southern Michigan and we heard a good number of gun shots on our ride.  As I passed one stretch of wooded area I heard some rustling around and as I turned to look I saw a deer running away from me.  I like to count the wildlife I see when I'm out on my walks, runs and rides and today I saw quite a bit!  Today I saw an egret, a couple of swans, a duck, a turtle, a deer and a pheasant.

great egret

When we got to the turnaround spot I stopped to take a short break and wait for my friends.  I was surprised how clearly I could see the Detroit skyline from the island! It was a pretty clear day and you could distinctly see the Renaissance Center off in the far distance.

Detroit skyline, from Harsens Island

approximately mile 26

After a short break it was time to hit the road again, this time into the wind!  That made miles 19-25 pretty rough.  Around mile 25 we changed directions a little and road right along side the St. Clair River and in front of some beautiful homes! Definitely the kind dreams are made of.  I passed a couple getting out of a truck dressed head to toe in scuba gear.  I watched them walk into the river but I didn't stick around long enough to see them go under.  I wonder what they were looking for, unless they were just out for a practice dive.  It seemed a little cold to be diving for fun!

I made my way back through the neighborhoods and back to the ferry where I waited for my friends.  I've ridden long distances a few times and ride between 12-14 miles per hour without wind resistance.  This was the farthest distance one of my friends had ever gone so I was pretty impressed when they rolled up not too far behind me!  I'm not sure how I got into the habit of taking my bikes picture after each ride but it's just something I do when I ride.  While I waited for my friends I took advantage of the Harsens Island welcome sign.

33 miles, done!

We took the ferry back to the mainland and were greeted by a homemade lunch of mostacholi.  My final mileage came in just under 33 miles so their original route of 40 miles must have been a little off but it was still a great ride on what turned out to be a pretty great day.

I forgot to turn off my heart rate monitor until I was nearly halfway home but I'm guessing I burned around 1400 calories.  Not bad for a Sunday morning ;)