Andrew Schrauben

Ryan has to tell us his new jokes before we get started.

A few months ago my dad and I discussed going on a bike ride sometime this summer. We used to go for 12-20 mile rides on occasion back when I lived in Ann Arbor during college, but haven't ridden together since then. We decided to go for a ride again this year on 4th of July.

While my dad focused on getting back into shape, I scouted out a route that would take us from my house to my grandma's (dad's mom) about 21 miles away. Similar to the rides of my college days, I planned to stick to dirt roads to avoid traffic and spend more time in the countryside. Then Dad called a few days later to boast about his first training ride that totally wore him out... he had gone just 12 miles!

I decided to schedule our ride such that we would stop after the first 13 hilly miles in a small town called Smyrna. There we could recharge at the ice cream shop and give Dad a rest. Soon my brothers, Eric and Ryan, heard of our little expedition and decided to join in. When Eric reclaimed his mountain bike from my parents' house, Dad suddenly found himself without a ride! It turned out to be a perfect excuse to buy a bike, getting a great deal on a quality hybrid from the classifieds.

Soon July 4th was upon us and by now my cousins Gabe and Adrienne, plus Adrienne's friend Rean, were planning to ride out to meet us near Smyrna (they live near Grandma). My family arrived at my house right on schedule and we proceded to prep the bikes - we pumped up the tires, adjusted seats, and I cleaned about 15 years worth of dirt from Ryan's drivetrain! Ryan was using my trusty (and a bit rusty) old bike that I used in college.

After posing for a photo, we were off! Well, as soon as Ryan finished telling us his two new jokes. My favorite: What does a snail riding on the back of a turtle say? "Wheeee!" This would later remind us of dad riding his bike... ;)

Right away we climbed an 80-foot hill (pretty big for Michigan) and my three wingmen were already grousing about the ascent! There would be a tougher climb later on. Eric has been keeping in decent shape by playing hockey while Ryan maintains his fitness with tennis and basketball. My dad plays basketball, too, but he doesn't have youth on his side. We joked that Dad will win the 0-to-60 drag race... to 60 years old, that is.

One of the cool aspects of the route is that it took us across two historic covered bridges: Fallasburg Covered Bridge and White's Covered Bridge. If we'd started 15 miles southwest of Lowell, we could've added the Ada Covered Bridge, too. Maybe next time. We also passed by an old grain silo that had been converted into a sort of lighthouse along the Flat River just north of White's Bridge.

After about an hour we met up with our cousins, and twenty minutes later we reached Smyrna. The ice cream shop offers sizes of "baby", "small", "medium" and "large". We all ordered "small" and found ourselves trying to down a pint of ice cream each! I wonder how big "large" is, a gallon? Holy cow. It was good stuff, too.

Moving on, most of the last 8 miles were fairly flat and straight and entirely on dirt roads. Gabe used to road race and brought his road bike for this ride, which was a lot to handle on the lumpy gravel roads but he easily kept up. Everyone was doing pretty well, actually. Adrienne and Rean in particular were well trained - they had just completed a two-week long bike ride along Lake Michigan and Lake Huron totaling about 800 miles!

The home stretch was probably the most difficult - a mile riding through Grandma's old pasture, an energy-sapping section of two-track full of weeds and rough terrain. Finally we made it to our destination: my aunt and uncle's house, which borders on my grandma's pasture. After cooling off with a garden hose we were treated to a 4th of July BBQ on their screened-in porch. We even celebrated Grandma's 85th birthday, which is July 6.

After dinner we started looking for something to do. My uncle brought out a three-person slingshot designed to launch water balloons! Two people hold each end while a third "shooter" loads the balloon, pulls back, and lets fly. These grenades were sailing 50-100 yards across the lawn and reaching over 150 feet high! Every once in a while a balloon would explode upon release, showering the launch crew with water.

Ryan and Amanda took up safe positions behind trees to capture some cool photos while Gabe and Rean went downrange with a shovel handle, trying to swat the balloons before they hit the ground. After launching for a while I joined them, and we all managed to hit a couple "homers" before the balloon supply was exhausted. What a fun day!


Kevin and Todd hold firm as Dad prepares the "grenade" for launch.


Todd launches one downrange (using Dad and I as the "cannon") towards Gabe and Rean, who are waiting with a big stick...


Focused on swatting the incoming water balloon!