Thumb Update & Invitation

Tom Thumb Ride

This year we ride along another of our great lakes, this being Lake Huron along with some of Saginaw Bay, start & end at a town know for Christmas & Swiss, perhaps ride on a long bike trail bridge, visit some very small towns, meet local folks & in general get to see more of our wonderful country. Who knows maybe I’ll even be able to stay away from motels that could make the top five list of where NOT to stay.
Oh, and thanks to Hank Gentry for renaming the ride, I think it’s kind of catchy.
This year it appears that our group will be somewhat smaller than normal at this time unless of course some of you reading this decide to join us. Currently those signed on for the trip are Barb & Larry Fetzer, Barry & Carole Cohen, Hank & Sandy Gentry & of course the Masters. That small a group might mean that we will have to alter what & how we do things, the most notable being how to move the luggage & how often someone has to drive. One option is if anyone knows of someone that would like a little vacation time over in that area & would be willing to drive every day. I have one other single rider who asked to go, so that would give us drivers for 5 of the six days & then we can always split up the odd day in some way. In spite of that we will still ride the week long ride, those of us who do go will just not have as much luggage to deal with.
The dates remain the same as stated in my second update, Sunday July 18 to Saturday, July 24, 2010, leaving a travel day on each end of the trip. Some may wish to even return home on the 24th. The early bird ride will still be on Saturday, July 17 for those interested.
Here’s the planned route as of now!!
Day #1     Frankenmuth MI to Imlay City MI          51 miles
Day #2     Imlay City MI to Lexington MI               59 or 62
Day #3     Lexington MI to Harbor Beach MI         41
Day #4     Rest day / optional rides of          21 or 44 or 61
Day #5     Harbor Beach MI to Cassville MI          45
Day #6     Cassville MI to Sebewaing MI               47
Day #7     Sebewaing MI to Frankenmuth MI        38
          Total miles as of now          302  or 325 or 345 miles
The early bird ride will be approximately another 35 miles.
Notice I plan to make the motel reservations before May 11, 2010, so if you are interested in going please contact me AT ONCE. For those signed up all ready, please contact me if you want anything special in the way of rooms, like a king size bed versus two double beds, etc. Of course that will depend on what the motel itself has to offer. If you are new to the week long ride & are wondering what it’s about, check out the first article on the CATS web site which has all the details.
We hope that more of you would join us. If you would like to discuss it in more detail, please don’t hesitate to call me at 847-358-7797 or my cell at 312-816-1720. Some people in the past have said they weren’t sure they could ride the miles listed day after day, but rest assured that we have never lost anyone yet on one of our trips. For instance, we can split up the days, one couple riding in the morning & then driving in the afternoon while the other drives in the morning & rides in the afternoon. (That worked out great for Sherry & me last year as we rode the first 28 miles or so & then drove the van for the last 28 which was when it RAINED, Doc & Jeanette still think I planned that).
So give me a call, or email me at tandemtom302@comcast.net, but don’t delay, we need to make our final plans.