Some ND riders spent Sunday September 11th volunteering at the Spicer lake sag stop of the annual Bike Michiana for Hospice Ride. Up bright and early, by 8am we arrived at the start line and were greeted warmly by hundreds of cyclists taking part in the day’s festivities. The twenty miles out to Spicer Lake were largely uneventful and although the news had promised rain, blue skies and sun washed over the rolling fields and scattered woods of Northern Indiana all morning. Staff at Spicer lake encouraged us to do some more riding before our shift started at 11, so we took off on a 25 mile route of largely unknown territory. Our adventure turned was a great success not only for the awesome forested roads we discovered, but also for the garage sale we stopped at towards the end of the loop! After spending some time lamenting the state of ND’s football program with the lady running the sale, Nate picked up some awesome riding goggles. After returning to Spicer Lake we had a delicious lunch prepared by Yesterday’s of Granger and got to work. Andrew showed his culinary expertise in the slicing of avocados while Nate, Joe, Pat, and Phil flexed their muscles refilling water jugs. A steady stream of riders came through all afternoon including Dean Crawford of the College of Science and his wife. We enjoyed talking to the local community and everyone wanted to know more about our race team. During some lulls in the action we took the opportunity to listen to the local band that was performing while falling asleep on lawn chairs under a tree. Everyone agreed it was an excellent vacation from school. Some guys also had a chance to do some hiking in Spicer Lake County Park and enjoy some of the best scenery in the Michiana area. At around 4, with work at the sag station mostly finished, we sped back to the start/finish line encourage on by cheers of “Go Irish” from every group we passed. To cap the day off, Bike Michiana put on a great pork bbq in St. Patrick’s park complete with big screen TV and band. Returning to campus, our total ride distance was 80 miles and a great day out in the local community has us looking forward to the next Bike Michiana event!
-Joe