Here we go — traveling to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the 50th Mid West Tandem Rally (MTR) hosted by the Chicago Area Tandem Society. The big question is why we are traveling 1100 miles for a tandem rally.
In 1987 we attended our first tandem rally in Grand Rapids Michigan. We were newbies to tandem riding and knew no one at the rally. We quickly made friends and signed up with three other teams from Cleveland, Ohio area to host the rally in Cleveland in 1989. Planning a rally back then took two years, as social media didn’t exist, and you had to promote the old fashioned way…mailings, Tandem Club of America newsletter and attend the upcoming rallies being planned. In 1988 we traveled to Springfield, Illinois for the 12th MTR to promote the event in Ohio.
The 13th rally in 1989 was on the far east side of northern Ohio in Willoughby. At the time we had amazing cycling routes in this area and today many of the roads we cycled on are part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We cycled to Madison, Chagrin Falls and thru the Cleveland Metro Parks area near Willoughby. We had over 200 teams attend and one of our goals was to make sure anyone attending the rally was welcomed, and hosted social activities so newbies made new friends.
It’s been 37 years since we have attended MTR. Moving to California for 15 years and then Florida for the past 20 years, and still working, made it difficult to do MTR which is held Labor Day weekend every year. It was time to go to the 50th.
It’s a 3 day journey driving through, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan to arrive in Kalamazoo.
The rally officially started on Friday with an afternoon ice cream ride. The weather was typical of the Midwest…chance of rain. It poured and was a thunderstorm. Those that know us well, know we do not do rain. We did not ride but many did after the storm passed.
Saturday was a dry day and 200 plus teams rode. You picked the distance you wanted and were treated to the wonderful countryside in the Kalamazoo area. Our 48 mile ride took us through Concord grape vineyards. The town of Lawton is known as the heart of Southwest Michigan’s grape and wine industry. It is home to historic Welch Grape Juice Factory that started operation in the town in 1919.
Sunday dawned a sunny day. We opted to do another 48 mile ride. Corn and soy fields were the day’s scenery. We saw corn fields that were detasseled. The removal of the tassels primarily is done for hybrid corn production and to protect the crop from wind damage.
Monday the last day of MTR was perfect for the Donut Ride. We rode with our friends Vicky, Tim, Roger and Eve from Georgia. The donuts were delicious and the company the best.
We opted to do the post MTR tour in Shipshewana, Indiana. This town has a population of 1000 residents and is the commercial hub of Indiana Amish Country. Fall decorations were all over town and were amazing. All of the main streets and businesses were decorated to the max.
The post tour was three more days of riding with rolling hills and picturesque Amish farms. There were 30 teams, a nice size group to explore the Amish countryside in Indiana. We had only one day where rain was a threat, but we were able to get an early start and beat the rain. Yeah for us! We ate delicious Amish food, pretzels and ice cream with new and old cycling friends.
Next up is our last adventure for the year in Central Europe. Stay tuned!
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