Day 103, St. Ignace to Traverse City, 169 Miles
"Do what you do, do it the best way you know how."
~Mike Rayburn
The rain on the tent roof last night felt like a harbinger of things to come. So Quilter Girl and I geared up while the locals ran around in shorts and tee shirts. These people are nuts. It isn't even a hundred and they play in the pool and run around half naked. At seventy degrees? Well, God bless them. We rode all day and while the sky continually looked daunting, no rain. Yeah, God.
While all bike riding is fun, some just rocks. And to be honest, since Glacier National Park, none has really rocked- until today. Most scenic byways are nice, don't get me wrong, but I miss the twisties, the tight turning roads and heavily landscaped byways that look like a bike commercial. Ah, but 118. Oh, yeah.
Highway 118 wound through a canopy of trees and delivered occasional vista viewpoints of Lake Michigan. The road, spotted with sunshine, wound and coiled and turned and curved. Wonderful! Lots of downshifting, braking, leaning and accelerating and let's do it again and I hope this road never ends until we need gas.
Houses, dating from recent to century old log cabins appeared at random, some even with the road, some with the top of their roof level with the street. Deciduous trees met above the drive and evergreens showed up at random, creating dark forests.
We burst out of that lovely ride into Harbor Springs, a tourist trap if there ever was one, and well done. Yachts to speedboats bumped against the docks from the probably ever present winds and shops sold artwork to fudge. What is with Michigan and fudge? Like Wisconsin and cheese, I guess. More houses, big ones, lined the streets in gorgeous repair.
We stopped in Traverse City for lunner (like brunch, only lunch/dinner) and I had a delicious chicken glazed with honey mustard, while QG enjoyed a Zippy Chicken wrap. Good stuff! Back on the road and off to the (PP!) KOA. We got set up at a reasonable hour (6:00) and I decided to check the air pressure in the bike's tires.
Let me throw the bike shop under the bus. The (PP!) Gold Wing has been giving me a warning code. The shop checked it, reset it, and found nothing. Right! The tires are low on air. Wouldn't that be a part of a $74 service? I'll just have to check them more myself.
What a nice day for a ride. Not too hot, no rain, and not too cold. Baby Bear's ride, for sure.
More than once, people have encouraged us to see the Sleeping Bear Lakeshore, not far from here. Supposed to have awesome sand dunes there. Good Morning America named it one of the most beautiful places in the country. We've seen quite a bit of this country, so we'll see about that!
4 comments:
Hey Kevin & Sherri -- it's Alan from the KOA in Lena Illinois -- I arrived back home after my 9 day 2 Province and 5 States ride to visit family -- missed you as I crossed the UP westbound on Tuesday & Wednesday -- had some of that rain you wrote about but good roads -- keep your eyes open for the deer and wild turkeys around dawn -- I saw more than a few -- keep the rubber down and hope you find lots of twisties and other great riding roads on your adventure -- Alan
There may be a lot of bike shops (and churches) 'under the bus' by the time you get home.
Alan suggested you look out for 'wild turkeys'. Those people are CRAZY! I see hundreds of them every day when driving my transit bus during rush hour in Seattle.
Speaking of buses, please don't throw any bike shops, churches or anything else, for that matter, under MY bus... okay?
As always, keep the shiny side up!
I have a friend who works for a bus company and he says, "Why does it always have to be a bus? Why don't you throw them under a train, or a Mack truck or something? He's sensitive about that.
Being sensitive, maybe I'll throw things under a skateboard. Or a pair of high heels.
Alan,
We'll watch for wildlife, but what is this thing you mentioned...'dawn'? Right. We are on the road by the crack of ten- on a good day! Have fun and remember to lean into the turns.
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