A Perfect 10/10/10

October 10^th, 2010, or 10/10/10, or 101010 binary, or 42, the answer to everything. U of M lost, but WordCamp 2010 in Novi was fantastic and I left with my head buzzing with information on the WordPress blogging platform. When my session was out, we took advantage of this unseasonably warm October day with a ride into the country, taking US-23 south to the Cone Rd. Exit 22 and heading west.

We passed the Clean Water Beach, on the south side of Cone Rd., formerly known as Heath Beach.  It then occurred to me how common those Heath Beach bumper stickers were at one time and how long it’s been since I’d seen one. Cone Rd. is a nicely paved jaunt into rural awesomeness, as I call it, farms, fields, barns and silos. As we neared the intersection where Cone Rd. dead ends at County Line Rd., we saw a draft horse in the pasture of one of the homes.  I smiled to myself as I recalled the first time I ever saw a draft horse, at the Monroe County Fair.  They are enormous, almost like a freak of nature.

From Cone Rd., we turned south on County Line Rd, carefully dodging the potholes.  Many were fixed from the last time we were here, but there were still a few pretty good size holes in the pavement, nothing you want to hit with a car, let alone a bike.  It only goes for a short distance, through, and from County Line we turned west again onto Milwaukee Rd., a very nice stretch.  I could not believe how warm the day had become, and I soon peeled off layers when we pulled over to take some pictures.  The high that day topped out at 83 degrees, just one degree below the record set in 1949.

We continued south onto Ridge Hwy, to Holloway Rd. west, then south on Raisin Center Rd. to Beecher Rd., or M-34, and followed that into Adrian.   At M-34 and M-52, we gassed up and headed south on M-52 through the city of Adrian, and back into the country.  The afternoon sunlight sparkled off the fields of harvested corn, the short stalks poking out of the ground amidst the shreds of dry husks.  Most of the fields we passed had been harvested, and the ones that were still full usually had a combine sitting along the side of the field, waiting to chomp into it.  M-52 took us into Ohio, and then becomes 109.  At that point, we turned west onto 120, which ultimately took us back over the Michigan state line where we picked up 127 and headed north.  We stopped for dinner at Margarita’s, at 127 and M-34, a Mexican/American restaurant.

Margarita’s appeared to be a popular stop along 127, and seating on the patio was a must on a day like today.  There were several other bikes in the parking lot, and we overhead talk while we perused the menu that Artesian Wells, just up the road at 127 and US-12, had a pretty full parking lot.  Artesian Wells is another very well known bar/restaurant located next to Town and Country Harley Davidson, US-12.  My gringo ordered a cheeseburger and I had a rather tasty chicken fajita salad with which their fat free ranch dressing went rather well.   During dinner, Bill mentioned that all day he’d had a feeling of déjà vu, almost a feeling of being taken back to his youth.  A little while later, the same feeling washed over me, as daylight faded through the distant trees and a soft breeze blew napkins off the table, for a moment I was back in the woodsy backyard of my childhood home.

Earlier, we’d passed the Calvary Cemetery on the way to the restaurant, and we turned back south on 127 after dinner to stop and take some pictures.  The sun had set and I missed my opportunity for some fall color shots here, but still got some angles of the old stones, and the remnants of the original cemetery entrance road, in the spirit of Halloween.  Bill mentioned how creepy it would be to see, off in the distance, a man dressed in a black suit slowly staggering towards us.

Thought it wasn’t that cold of a night, I had my new heated gear with me and I took a minute to get suited up before we got back on the road. I had just received it and I don’t know why I waited so long!  The rest of the ride back was nice and toasty; I wasn’t used to being warm on a cold ride home. I mean, really warm!  I’ve been just warm enough so that my teeth didn’t chatter, but the damp cold still chills you to the bone and tenses every muscle.  This was like being on my bike and standing by a bonfire at the same time.

Thankful to have gotten in a decent ride on this incredible day, I still, like most, hoped this wasn’t the last of our Indian summer.  For October in Michigan, today was a perfect 10/10/10.