This year’s race was my third time in the event, and usually marks the end of my racing season. This time, it was my first race since coming back from a broken collar bone.

During the drive up to Michigan the day before the race, I made a pit stop at the brewery in Frankenmuth, one of the towns we stayed in during my coast-to-coast bicycle tour, to relive a few not-so-old memories.

In Traverse City, I met my friends Stacy and Brad from Portland, Maine. Brad’s parents were kind enough to let me stay at their house in Traverse City, where we also visited with Brad’s brother Ross, his wife Lynn, and their sons Cameron and Joey.

I finished the race with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 30 seconds, about 15 minutes faster than last year’s race. I placed 64th out of 163 entrants in my class (Sport Men Age 35-39). Click here to see the complete results.

After the race, we took a drive out on the beautiful peninsula that extends out into Grand Traverse Bay, and watched the sunset. That evening, we enjoyed dinner at the North Peak Brewing Company.