Wondering where all the bicyclists came from Wednesday afternoon?

About 570 of them set up camp outside the Student Activity Center after riding 82 miles on day one of their five-day trip from Michigan State University to the Mackinaw Bridge.

The Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinaw tour, which started in 1971, will travel 256 miles after leaving Central Michigan University to reach the final stop of Mackinaw City.

The tour continues to bring a lot of returning faces and a few new ones.

Ride Leader Chris Harrison first rode the DALMAC in 1978 and rode for the last time in 1992. Harrison convinced her boyfriend and co-leader Dave Pierce to ride in 1994, and he rode the approximately 350-mile route nine times.

“Right now, I’m giving back for all those years of rides. That’s how I see it,” Harrison said of her decision to lead.

While there are five routes of varying distances to choose from, the original five-day trip is still the most popular.

“This is definitely the one that fills up the fastest,” Harrison said.

‘No whining’

Like Harrison, many of this year’s cyclists are DALMAC veterans. Vern Thelen, a Fowler resident, has taken the trip 12 times, starting in 1984.

“(1984) had horrible weather. It was 100 degrees and it had been so dry all summer that you couldn’t get your tent stakes into the ground,” Thelen said. “The stadium wasn’t there yet and we were all over in the field there, but the police came and moved us into the SAC on the tennis courts.”

That night, a huge thunderstorm swept through Mount Pleasant.

“There were tents in the trees and tents against the front of the stores along Mission (in the morning). It was horrible,” Thelen said. “But, hey, it had to get better after that, right?”

It did get better. In fact, Thelen said the tour has had perfect weather since 2002.

Katie Donnelly, DALMAC media relations coordinator, said the weather and atmosphere has been great for the tour this year.

“Everybody’s been doing great,” she said. “No whining.”

Don and Laurie Gilbert, members of a bicycle club from Fowler, are riding the DALMAC for the third time, and brought their niece, Danielle George, along for her first big ride.

“She talked me into it,” said George, pointing to her aunt. “It’ll be a big accomplishment to be able to say I rode my bike that far.”

George, who will be a freshman in high school this fall, said her participation in sports (volleyball, basketball and softball) have helped her prepare for the ride.

“It helped tremendously,” she said. “You need really good endurance.”

Senator Dick Allen started the tour in 1971.

“He said bicycles were a mode of transportation and people (in the Michigan legislature) laughed and said ‘no it’s not,’” Harrison said. “So he decided to ride with Mackinaw and took 12 friends with him,” Harrison said.

E-mail the author: Emily Pfund