A stunning chocolate-colored mare sneezed (the big, snotty kind of sneeze) right on top of my short brunette bangs and long braids. At around 10 years old, that didn’t get me out of wearing my helmet for the rest of the 25-mile bike route. The dads were our lead and sweep on our fall ride through Michigan’s sandy wine country, but the moms were driving SAG and would have lost it if they spotted me without a helmet.
The ride is as old as I am. The Apple Cider Century (ACC) began in 1974, so we’re talking about 50+ years of routes marked by color-coded apples spray painted on the pavement, with the stem bent in the direction that a cyclist was meant to turn.
At the ACC there are apples, apples, and more apples. Massive boxes of red delicious were lined up at the start of the ride, providing a sweet snack for cyclists about to head out for the day and for the many bees drifting in and out of the space, not planning on going anywhere. It’s a well-supported ride, to say the least, for everyone.
The dads and kids did a slow roll of the 25-mile route, with frequent stops at pumpkin patches, bright red barns with snotty horses and pregnant barn cats, and random shade trees whenever the mood struck or a snack was needed.
The moms spent the day bouncing between wineries, sampling chocolates and enjoying a leisurely lunch. I mean…, they were our SAG wagon. Right? I don’t have a clear memory of ever using them in that capacity, so I guess I’ll never know for certain.
The acronym “SAG” likely originated from the verb “sag,” referring to a rider who lags behind the rest of their group, tired, injured, or suffering from some mechanical issue. But it morphed into an acronym, sometimes called a backronym because the word came first and the acronym came second. I’m told it stands for “Support and Gear” or “Support and Grub”. (The Habit website)
In any case, we didn’t see the moms for much of the day. There was always plenty for these close family friends to do while the rest of our clan took most of a day to complete our ride. I don’t believe my mother was ever an ACC rider. Now that I think about it, I don’t have memories of my mom on a bicycle. Did she have a bike? I don’t recall and will have to check in with my sister. Wow, our memories are tricky things.
I often tell folks that I wasn’t active as a child, but that isn’t exactly true. Between gymnastics, baton, tap, and wearing roller skates in the back yard I was a firecracker of energy as a young child. As I grew older, I settled into art, writing, reading, debating (anyone who’d engage with me), and other academic pursuits.
Although I was only intermittently active in organized sports – PLEASE don’t ask to see the 7th grade basketball team photo or the gem of me posing on one knee with a shiny black & white soccer ball – our family participated in this one big bike ride every fall.
That made ACC a “weekend warrior” affair. We’d meet up with another Chicagoland family in Three Oaks. Our dads were buddies who worked together at Quaker Oats for many years. From my hometown of Brookfield it’s about a 2.5 – 3-hour drive to the pancakes at the start of the ride.
We’d follow the southern curve of Lake Michigan to the other side Indiana and Michigan side. We’d make our way north past Indiana Dunes State Park (now butting up against a National Park with the same name). We’d occasionally stop for a visit, climbing the sand dunes, thinking about rolling all the way down then chickening out, and chasing seagulls.
We’d continue to the outlet mall at Michigan City, in a time when outlet malls were outlets, stuffed with overstock, scratch & dent, and last year’s fashions. If we made a stop it was for school clothes, but we often zipped by because our destination was calling. It was the start of an incredibly full weekend, a combination of doing what pleased the parents and keeping the kids entertained.
The rides dwindled as we grew to middle school and high school age, but I had many great memories with my family, on and off the bike. I thought all families spent their time in the saddle, before I knew enough about bikes to refer to my seat as a saddle. Looking back, I’m glad that the rides were merely paused.
When my sister and I brought back the yearly tradition of riding ACC, in our twenties, the whole family would visit the many wineries on the Saturday before the ride. Was this the best idea? Well, we weren’t planning to ride the 100-mile route. We’d tell everyone we were riding the Apple Cider Century because that was the name of the ride, but we never rode more than 25 miles.
As soon as we hit the Indiana / Michigan border, enormous and abundant billboards advertising Michigan wineries began, colorful and convincing. If you rolled down your car windows you could smell the grapes in the fall, just before harvest. (I can smell it now. Can you?) There was an incredible amount of competition, with so many vineyards taking advantage of the sand-rich soil, but “wine trails” encouraged visitors to stop at 5 or 10 or more wineries during their tour of the area.
Back in the day, you could sample a dozen wines for free at most wineries. It was a ‘for profit deal’, as Steve Martin explained in ‘The Jerk’, because by the time you’re on the 10th or 11th sample everything starts to taste good and folks are reaching for their wallet to purchase a dozen bottles (buy 11, get 1 free). The wineries were not losing money by giving away small, aromatic sips at no cost.
On the deck of Tabor Hill, at sunset, is where I learned to pronounce “Gewurztraminer”, though I never quite took to the sweet taste. The Michigan lakefront and surrounding area are perfect for growing the grapes that produce this wine, due to cold winters, with winds off the lake.
“Imagine peeling a fresh Lychee; that sweet, floral, slightly tropical scent is the absolute hallmark of the wine. It’s so pronounced that many people can identify the wind by its fresh aromas alone. These tasting notes create a truly memorable wind profile.” (Silt Wine Co. website)
By the time I was of age my dad was wheelchair-bound, but that did not stop my parents from coming out for the weekend. We’d meet up in New Buffalo for lunch along the lakefront, visiting nautical-themed gift shops and art galleries. It was easy to enjoy the beautiful (but often still quite warm) early fall days, with the ride hosted last weekend in September.
These weekend trips allowed me to get to know more towns in Southwestern Michigan than one might expect. During and after graduate school I was living in Ohio, so I’d meet my family for the weekend. It was a 5-ish hour drive to Three Oaks, almost the same amount of time that it would have taken me to get all the way to Chicagoland. We took the highway across Indiana and Michigan to get to Three Oaks and nearby New Buffalo and St. Joseph.
With the ride on Sunday, it was either an especially long day, driving back to Columbus post-ride, or I’d add an extra day and stretch the trip out to a 3-day weekend. I’d come home loaded with more apples than I could eat, an excess of pumpkins to carve for Halloween, and an occasional corn stalk or multi-colored ears of flint corn.
Throughout my childhood we made an annual stop at Drier’s Meat Market. I wasn’t a vegetarian then, nor was any of my family, so I looked forward to picking up smoked ring sausage and spreadable port wine cheese. I’d return as an adult, for the cheese. We’d slather it onto dense, dark rye Worcestershire bagel chips or sometimes crispy Valley Lahvosh heart-shaped crackers. Didn’t matter. The bagel chips and crackers were nothing more than a cheese transportation vehicle.
Now that I think about it, was it just my family that saw ACC weekend as a food paradise?
We rarely went to the Saturday night ice cream social, put on at the high school by ride organizers, but that’s because there was a Holiday Inn Holidome waiting for us just a bit north, when we stayed in Benton Harbor. It was the perfect place for the kids to splash around, eating pizza and chips to our heart’s content, and for the adults to drink beer or wine spritzers, catch up, and maybe play cards.
On ride day, an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast was served by the local fire department. We’d fill our plates and sometimes go back for more. We were carb loading for the day ahead, right? Sticky sweet maple syrup routinely ended up on someone’s handlebars. You’d think that as grown adults we would know better.
Then we rode our bikes.
Several hours later we indulged in an endless spaghetti dinner with loads of that spreadable port wine cheese from Driers. We ate crusty bread, salads, homemade desserts, and as much chocolate milk as we wanted. On a more recent visit the chocolate milk remained, but the cheese was sadly missing.
When my sister and I decided to start riding ACC once again, we invited a variety of friends and partners to join us. Many had never traveled or ridden together before. They had never met, for that matter, which introduces the potential for misunderstandings and crossed wires. But we worked through the logistics and social scenarios, as one does, and learned valuable lessons along the way.
Once a local ride, the ACC now attracts up to 3,500 participants annually. This long-standing tradition survived COVID, marriages and divorces, aging parents, and extreme changes in everyone’s cycling fitness. Today, the apples remain crisp, the spaghetti never runs out, and chocolate milk is the best post-ride recovery drink. The Apple Cider Century is self-described as “one of the largest and longest-running cycling events in the Midwest.” (ACC website)
I recall driving my bright red 1990 Honda Civic from Columbus to Three Oaks, not realizing that the straps on my bargain bike rack were slowly giving way, easing the bike a little bit lower as the miles passed by. That placed my bike tire directly in front of the car’s exhaust. It did not survive! Bike shops and vendors always have limited supplies on hand at these rides. I ended up with mismatched tires, just so I didn’t have to sit out the ride. Being a poor graduate student at the time I rode on those tires for years.
We were always thrilled when our parents, who seemed to get along with the whole crew, joined us for the weekend. Eventually my sister would bring my niece, as a toddler. She’s an accomplished runner, but I hope she will give this ride a shot one day. I’m realizing now that this whirlwind of a weekend helped define my personality, my interests, and my friendships.
Most recently, I increased my mileage to 37. We got an early morning start, the morning chill and autumn mist lifting as we put a few miles behind us. Riding this slightly longer distance was a first, in my ACC experience. The makeshift lemonade stands along the route and official SAG stops provide great support. Yet, I “bonked”!
The last 7 miles or so were a struggle and I lagged. That happens sometimes. I wasn’t about to be swept off the route. My fellow riders, including my husband and folks I’ve traveled and ridden with extensively (even internationally), are familiar enough with my riding style to keep riding. I was never too far behind or completely out of sight. I was still on the well-marked route. I just needed to take the last few miles at my own pace.
I had to ride my ride.
Experiencing the 25-mile route as a child, returning in my 20s, and then coming back to Three Oaks in my 50s gives me a multi-faceted perspective. It was special, sharing the ride in such good company – it was my husband’s first ACC. Objectively, this is a ride that spans many generations, bringing riders of all ages, experience levels, and physical abilities to town. Personally, experiencing the ride across 4 decades has been educational and entertaining.
I hope to keep riding into my 60s, 70s, and beyond. I suspect, with Craig at my side, that won’t be hard to do. When I’m ready for a recumbent or an e-bike I’ll go that route. For now, we’re newly learning the conveniences of folding bikes that we can toss onto a plane as a piece of checked luggage. This opens even more possibilities.
We didn’t make it to the Apple Cider Century this year, but friends did. They enjoyed themselves so much that they are seeking out their next ride in a couple weeks. We’ll hopefully run into them on the Crane Cruise, which you can read about here.
“Following the ride at dusk, the star attraction: the return of thousands of noisy sandhill cranes that are returning from their feeding activities to their nightly resting grounds at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Be sure to bring your binoculars for this truly awe inspiring spectacle.” (Crain Cruise Bicycle Ride website)
Choose Your Ride: “Riders can choose from routes ranging from 15 to 100 miles, making the event accessible to everyone from families and casual riders to serious cyclists. Current route options include 15, 25, 37, 50, 62, 75, and 100 miles…The event is organized by the Three Oaks Spokes Bicycle Club, and proceeds help support cycling advocacy, local trails, a bicycle museum, and community youth programs.” (ACC website)
Join me on my next adventure,
~ Kat
Related Links:
Apple Cider Century (ACC): https://www.applecidercentury.com/
Three Oaks, Michigan: https://www.threeoaksvillage.org/
Driers Meat Market: https://driers.com/
Tabor Hill Winery and Restaurant: https://taborhill.com/home
Silt Wine Co.: www.siltwineco.com/gewurztraminer
The Habit – Retronyms, Backronyms, Recursive Acronyms: https://thehabit.co/retronyms-backronyms-recursive-acronyms/
The Jerk (Steve Martin) – a ‘For Profit’ Deal: https://youtu.be/78Ubd_NkWvM?si=Zk9l5zqlKvrMaPmK
Crane Cruise Bicycle Ride – Sponsored by Medaryville / White Post Twp Fire Department: https://cranecruise.com/
