Van Buren/ South Haven

After coffee and packing up we got back on the Kal-Haven trail. There was a discount bent and dent grocery store about 2 miles away. That was our first stop. Bargain grocery stores are kind of a mixed blessing. It’s great to get such good prices on food but it’s not fun carrying all the extra weight. We went in to shop with the intention of only buying a few days worth. But by the end of the first aisle my hands were full and I went to find a cart. There were too many deals to pass up! The best deal was a 6 pound roll of Capicola for $7.08! I love Capicola. I also love summer sausage. It was 99 cents! We had to get a few of them. And there were all kinds of cheeses too! You may not know it but I love cheese almost as much as coffee. It was a tough decision but we settled on a block of smoked butter cheese. Neither one of us had had it before. We got the usual food supplies too… noodles, rice and coffee. The prices were great. Pushing the shopping cart over to our bicycles I wondered how it would all fit.

Between the two of us we did manage to get it all on our bike and we headed down the trail once more. We had contacted two Warmshower host the night before and were waiting to hear back from them. The one I was hoping for the most was in South Haven only 28 miles away. We would be getting to Lake Michigan and I was looking forward to swimming. I have been to Michigan in a car before but had never seen the lake.

About 10 miles in Rose spied a big chicken of the woods mushrooms. We parked our bikes and I went down over a big bank to get a few pieces of it. We were already overloaded with food but we couldn’t pass it up.

We got to South Haven around 2:30. We had only rode around 24 miles. I’m not sure where the time went. Both the Warmshower people had got back to us but neither one was available to host us. There was a state park 7 miles away. It was South along the lake shore, so the wrong direction for us but we headed there any way. South Haven was a tourist town. Golf carts, bicycles and cars filled the main street and the sidewalks were packed with people. It was a bit of a shock! I immediately missed the acres and acres of soybeans and corn. The scent of fresh baked bread competed with the smell of sunscreen and tanning oils and we followed our noses to an awesome little bakery. Rose ran in while I held her bike and people watched. I enjoy people watching and though it feels like eavesdropping I always like to hear their conversation for a few brief seconds as they walk by. Many times I heard someone say to there companion ” wow there loaded down, wonder where there headed”. I always wonder why they don’t just ask me like so many other people do.

A fellow touring cyclist who was on vacation did come over and start talking to me. About that time Rose came out with a loaf of just made French bread. It made me realized how hungry I was. One piece of lasagna at 1:00 is all I had eaten. It was a big piece though, it nearly filled a quart ziplock bag. I could hardly wait to get to camp and have a few slices.

We were hoping Van Buren State Park had a laundromat. We really needed to wash clothes. It had been 6 or 7 days and I had worn the same shirt everyday. Three days ago Rose casually mentioned I was ripe. As the days passed the comments became less and less casual. In Bloomingdale, we went to get water. Holding hands, walking to the pump while the sun was setting I thought she was being romantic when she said you take my breath away. Before I could think of a sweet reply she added, we really need to do laundry, you’re upwind and I can’t breathe.

South Haven was a quiet little laid back town once away from the tourist area. Our ride to the campground was enjoyable. There was an excellent bike trail from the State Park to the town

Pulling away from a stop sign I heard the awful sound of metal breaking. I knew it was something on my bike. I was hoping it was a spoke but it didn’t ping like a spoke. The back end felt wobbly. I was on the road and didn’t want to stop until I could get completely off the roadway so I kept riding a little. I was worried it was my frame where I had to get it welded way back in Vermont. Either that or another hub. Replaceing a hub would be preferable to finding a welder though. Other than being a bit wobbly it rode fine. I was tempted to ignore it and pretend nothing happened. But eventually I did stop and investigate. It was the rear hub again. The flange broke off from two spoke holes. This is the third time it has happened to me! The first two times I blamed it on the hub. Those hubs had a lightweight aluminum flange. This third hub was a Shimano Deore. Kind of like the work horse of touring hubs. I don’t think the hub is at fault though but I don’t know why this keeps happening. Three times in about 7000 miles. I’m sure my weight doesn’t help. I called a few bike shops to see if any one had a hub or a whole wheel for a touring bike. I then went to Amazon to see how soon I could get one mailed. I didn’t have much luck with either. I figured in the morning we would stop at the LBS (local bike shop) in South Haven. Below is a picture from one of the other times it happened. I did not think to take a picture this time. But it was the exact same thing just a different hub brand.

We continued the last few miles to camp. After circling the campground we found a decent site that had hammock trees and set up for the night. It was dreary and looked like rain so we even put a tarp up over the picnic table. I was hungry and didn’t want my dinner interrupted.

We still had not seen lake Michigan even though we were right next to it. There is some massive dunes that kept it from sight. We did see a harbor though.

Our plan was to eat a snack and walk over to the beach. Our snack was the fresh bread, hard boiled eggs, cheese and summer sausage.

By the time we were done snacking the loaf of bread and sausage were gone. We decided that was probably our dinner since we were both stuffed. It was really cloudy, 64 degrees and windy. With our bellies full we decided to wait to walk to the beach. It was too chilly to swim anyway. Even though it was only 6:00 we got into our hammocks. I read for a little bit then went to sleep.

The LBS opened at 10 am and we planned on being there as soon as they opened. True to form though we lollygagged around camp until 10:30. It was chilly and the morning sun felt good.

When I got to Rock ‘n’ Road bike shop I met Scott. He was great! I’m not sure if he saw the worry in my face or not but after seeing my problem the first thing he said was I’ll get you back on the road one way or another! That was a relief. Now to me the best case scenerio was a new Shimano Deore hub exactly like my broken one. The hub has 36 spoke holes and is designed for rim brakes. It is splined to accept a 9 speed cassette. I thought finding the exact hub was a long shot though. Most of todays newer bikes have disc brakes 32 or 34 spokes and 11 or 12 speed cassetes. The reason I wanted the same hub is so I could reuse my old spokes and rim. The rim is a DT Swiss TK540 double wall eyeletted touring rim and the spokes are DT Swiss Alpine lll. Spokes have to be within 2mm of the correct length or they will not work. All sorts of things affect the length. Flange diameter center to flange and lacing pattern to name a few. Even though Scott and his son were busy and had several other customers he didnt forget about me. I hadn’t explained to him fully that I just wanted a hub and that I could take care of the rest. The right hub was too much to ask for and I was going to be thankfull with whatever we could come up with. After I told him if he had a hub I could build the wheel at camp, he started going through some boxes of parts. My hopes started skyrocketing. He pulled out a couple options that would of worked and then stopped and made a phone call, disappeared in the back room and returned holding out a brand new shiny Shimano Deore hub! I couldn’t believe it. But wait that’s not all! As I was happily preparing to purchase it, he began gathering up tools. He took me to another room and set up a trueing stand on a ping pong table and laid out every tool I would need for the rebuild! I have a fair amount of tools with me but nothing beats having the right tool for the right job.

Building a wheel is a tedious process and to have a nice work area and correct tools was a blessing. Thank you so so much Rock’n’Road! Best bike shop ever.

While I was working on the rim, Rose had went to do laundry. That was a blessing too. Haha. A clean shirt and a new hub! What more could a cyclist ask for? Coffee I guess. So we rode over to the Bean Box and had some delicious lattes. If you are ever within 50 miles of South Haven and need coffee go to the Bean Box. It will be worth it.

While drinking our lattes we discussed where to go for the night. Originally our plan was to ride 46 miles to Holland,MI. But it was already 2:30 and I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I suggested we head back to Van-Buren State Park for a second night. We could grab a quick snack, set up camp then head to the lake. It was a beautiful sunny day. So that’s what we did. We selected a different site this time though.

After snacks of capicola,cheese and bread we walked to the lake.

It was absolutely beautiful. It was pretty crowded but we walked a little ways and found a secluded spot. The water was refreshing. Back at camp we made dinner. We had wild mushroom soup with rice. Of course we added the wild mushrooms to the package of soup mix. Also added sausage onions and the rest of our potatoes

After a day that was filled with awesomeness, I climbed in my hammock and was soon asleep.