I C WAT THEY DID THAR!
Note: This is the 8th entry from the journal that I kept during my ride around lake Michigan. More entries will follow.
Day 8 (8/11/08) - St. Ignace, WI. 85 miles. 474.6 miles total.
Long day. 85 miles. We were really lucky (or: not really unlucky) because the winds were low, and may even have been at our backs at times. We averaged 15.4 mi/hr, which is great, especially considering our earlier averages.
The ride down Route 2 was through nothing. Lots of run-down (abandoned) businesses and not much else. Levi passed us early on and honked. We hit construction where the road became 1 way and when I asked the road worker what the safest thing to do was, besides not knowing the answer he told us we were about the 5th cycling couple he had seen that day. Wow.
We also had to detour on part of the road, but besides those two things it was boring.
We['re] not quite in St. Ignace – about 3 miles from it – but our campsite is on the water with a nice view of the bridge.
I am exhausted for the first time all trip. I’ve been tired before but not this tired. I slept really well in the motel and wanted to keep sleeping. Hopefully it won’t be cold tonight and I can sleep.
Stopped in a neat curio shop and went up a big tower with plywood walls covered in graffiti (fART + PATTI). I got a MACK INAC ISLAND shirt (even though we won’t be going) and post cards.
Debating the scenic route or a shortcut tomorrow. I think it will depend on how I feel.
St. Ignace had a Big Knob
Kodak Moment
The self-proclaimed “curio shop” and tower (only $0.50 to go up! what a bargain!)
In kentucky there’s a Big Bone Lick state park.
what front racks are on your and allison’s bikes?
Mine is a Jandd Extreme Front Rack. (not where i bought it from; just a link)
Allison’s is a Surly Nice Rack. She thought it was much much too heavy duty for our needs.
Day 9 (8/12/08) - Petosky, MI. 56.6 miles. 531.2 miles total.
Today started out okay - the German girl at the campsite next to mine said good morning, we got out on time (at 9am as usual), the road back up to Rt. 2 wasn’t too big of a hill – but I did have a crazy amount of condensation inside my tent.
We went to the library to check mail (nothing important) and stopped at the grocery store. We had a hell of a time finding the Bridge Authority though. We had to ask for direction, and even then we had to use some guess work.
We were taken over the bridge (after paying $4 and waiting a bit) by a man with a walrus moustache and a really long mullet. He talked very slow, drove a black pickup, but was really nice. Told us about the bridge and what he did there (mostly drive cyclists, escort wide loads, or drive for people too scared to drive over themselves), as well as suggested we take Roude 119 along the coast (as our book suggested).
We decided to do that, despite it being longer, since it was recommended by him, by the guy running the campsite last night, and by the book.
It started out desolate and farm-ish, but soon came to look like a back road in South Carolina. Pine trees, sand, and water. It was really hot and we (stupidly) chose not to consult our books, assuming we would find 119 just by hugging the coast.
That led us to a state park where we had to back track – the first irritant and bad sign of the day.
It took us a long time to get to 119, and when we did it sucked. The road was bumpy, felt gummy or sticky, and there was sand everywhere. Plus it was windy and hilly.
The road was awful. And it made me really pissed. I can see how it would be nice in a car (though we didn’t get as far as the supposedly huge, fancy houses on the lake) but on a bike it was miserable. When we stopped at a Post Office to mail our postcards, a local woman asked if we needed directions. After telling us that 119 sucked, especially if we were tired, she gave us what sounded like a really easy route to Petosky.
So we took it. And took it. And took it. And kept taking it. Over hill after hill after hill. Allison was really slow as usual, but she is terrible on hills which made it worse. She was obviously suffering so I took her trunk bag and carried it for her. Even after that, though, she was still much slower than me.
At one point she began sobbing at the top of a super steep, super long hill. It was rough, but I had her bag and she has really easy gearing.
The route the woman gave us was very long and very hilly and between the heat, the hills, and the exhaustion from the day before, today was miserable.
When we finally did make it to the state park it was [u]$27[/u] for the night for our tents. Un-fucking-believable.
[The rest of this entry has been omitted as it is personal and not relevant]
Waiting for the truck
Our bikes in the back
THE MULLET
My artsy shot of the day
It was nice riding something not powered by us…
Just thought this was pretty
Okay, I guess I had two artsy shots that day
[flash=448,361]http://i144.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/beninjapan/MVI_8943.flv[/flash]
edit: got it
not like that, that’s for sure.
He looks scary.
way to make her sit next to him.
“thank you very much for the ride”
is there any sound when you watch it?
edit: guess so. though i can’t hear it. weird.
[quote=“bward1028”]way to make her sit next to him.
“thank you very much for the ride”[/quote]
it’s best to be polite to potential murderers
would he strangle you with the hair? business in the front, murder in the back?
Day 10 (8/13/08) - Elk Rapids, MI. 63.6 miles. 594.8 miles total.
I fell today.
Woke up real early thinking we might catch a Greyhound to Traverse City. Allison (and her mom’s friend) said the number they had was only a recording so they didn’t know if we could bring our bicycles. Before we packed and left (I had slept really well and didn’t want to leave/wake up) I called and got through to a person rather easily. They said our bikes needed to be boxed.
So much for that.
Slept another hour and a half until I decided I might as well get up (Allison never went back to sleep). Heard a woman (aunt?) call the kid [who was] with her “White Nelson” (we think). Also had a woodpecker right near our site.
Took a bike path to Charlevoix after stopping at a bike shop to get a new tire for Allison (she had found a slit in her sidewall). It was a pretty big shop but the guy who helped us said ‘dude’ a lot, talked about smoking week, and was generally just kind of lame.
I fell in downtown Charlevoix. We had stopped to ask for direction to a park but I was taking by 12:00 pictures and didn’t hear them. So I followed Allison.
But she was going rather slow on a busy road with no shoulder, and riding too close to cars after we turned the corner and began down a hill. I attempted to move to the right into a parking lane but must have gotten my wheel caught on the lip of the water drainage thing and fell on my right side. Slid on my arm (though it’s relatively unscathed) and scratched/bruised my hip. Nothing real bad though, Bent my shifter in, but I was able to just turn it back out.
The rest of the day was rather long and boring. The sun was really intense and I think I got a bit burnt.
We didn’t find the Minicipal Park in Elk Rapids mentioned in the guidebook, and were instead directed by a “cyclist” at a real estate company to Whitewater Township Park on Elk Lake. It was another 6 miles, the last 3/4 or so down a sandy, hilly road. Allison fell once. Getting back up will suck.
The woman working the booth – Peggy [a school teacher working there during the summer] – got very excited when she learned we rode from Chicago. She and the other guy working here are very nice and liked to talk. She said that if she had to choose the most memorable people she met all year, we would be in it.
Our next door neighbors at the site are an older couple. The man is missing half his right index fingerand is very “this is how it is. I know how to do thing.” He and his wife gave us cold soda and water, which is nice, but they’re (he is) really obnoxious so I’ve left Allison to deal with them herself.
Tomorrow is hopefully a rails-to-trails at least as far as Traverse City. After that it’s the road I guess. I need to put a lot of sunscreen on my face. I’m getting an awkward tan on it.
[i]update: Talked to the next door neighbors last night. He’s not as bad as I had thought – or, at least, he’s not as bad as I had thought when his wife is around.
Also turns out he’s a card carrying Indian (1/4). We talked about that a lot.
Woody
Storm clouds
EAT THIS!
(no, don’t. it’s not actually real anymore. i’m serious. you’ll get sick. no! don’t eat it! really, come on, i’m not joking arou – I SAID NO!)
I’m goin places
Elk Lake
Day 11 (8/14/08) - Empire (Mπr), MI. ~48 miles. ~642.8 miles total.
Woke up late today (~8:30), which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse.
Anticipating a short/easy day of riding, we took our time eating and talked to Bill (we think that was his name) a bit. He was still awkward.
The horrible hill we feared really wasn’t that bad, and we made it up without issue.
Attempting to follow the TART was not so simple. We found it okay, but after about 1/2 a mile it ended. Calling the bike shop we were looking for in Traverse City got us direction [back] to the trail (we had to turn left [on a road], ride to the end of the road, turn right, and ride maybe 2 more miles through hills to pick it up again). Taking it in was uneventful.
The bike shop (Specialized) stocked a lot of good stuff at good prices. The girls working there was pretty chubby (particularly for a cyclist) but really knew her stuff. Allison got a long sleeve shirt for the sun and I got some hammer gel.
My bike computer was freaking out when we got outside though, so I went next door (literally the other side of the block [with just a big parking lot in between]) to the Trek dealer to get a new batter (hence the questionable miles).
The store was fucking HUGE! Warehouse sized. Unbelievable. They had a whole BMX room, and their service area was about the size of the Bicycle Link [where I used to work]. Crazy.
Everyone in Traverse City told us not to take Route 72 to Empire. Said it was too fast and dangerous. So we mapped out a back route.
This area was fucking hilly. I didn’t find it as bad as on the way to Petosky. But still really hilly. The backroads would be nice if we lived here, but I’m sick of all roads.
Asked a cyclist on the way to confirm out direction and only rode 72 for about 5 miles. It really wasn’t too bad, though it was bad.
Got to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park Visitor’s Center to find that the only camping in the whole park was 5 spots in the backcountry area, which would have meant going about 4 miles north (we ultimately have to go south), probably through hills, until we hiked a mile with all our shit to get to the site. We couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.
There were no motels in or near town. Allison was exhausted, and the only hotels and inns were expensive.
We tried to ask at the grocery store, but to no avail. They said the beach would be nice but illegal. A non-local woman offered us a ride, but we had nowhere to go.
Stopped and asked a bunch of druggie-looking teens/20s (they [ultimately] were druggies) where to set up tents and they suggested the beach. Said they had done it in the dunes.
We weren’t so comfortable with the idea, but the alternative was $100+ for a room in town.
We hemmed and hawed about decided to see what the absolute lowest rate was. I don’t know what happened, but Allison came out from the back [of the inn] saying we could put our tents up in the backyard for $25.
We’re staying with Hoover, and older, bald, big-bearded spiritual man who says Namaste and has a [wandering] guru [named Gary]. He’s nice – a bit weird – and has only owned this place for a year. Apparently bought it from a friend’s mother.
He watched the sunset ([it’s] incredibly) over the ocean every night, even during the winter, and does not seem like an inn keeper. Really nice of him [to let us stay] though.
This is so much better than a campground. Meeting interesting people, hearing stories, staying in backywards. It’s all turning this into a real experience.
The long, sandy hill mentioned in the previous entry
We passed a few fields of sunflowers, and they were always facing the sun (surprise surprise)
Somewhere around the area we confirmed our directions with another cyclist
SBDNP Visitor’s Center
Our backyard campsite
Hoover’s apartment (he let us use his personal bathroom)
Hoover, Allison, and I
The grocery where we asked for directions
Hoover’s inn
The true colors of the sunset were impossible to capture with my camera
You should see Sault Ste. Marie or go out to Mackinac. They all have that mullet and mustache combination. It is really weird.
My aunt lives in Traverse City but I have never been there. I am glad to hear that nice folks live there. I have pleasant childhood memories of northern Michigan.
[quote=“bearcountry”]awesome. i just got back from a mini tour in the opposite direction- chicago through indiana to bloomington (about 250 each way, i think). it was super fun, and would have been even more fun with a legit set up. the set up i ended up using should definitely land me in the jackass thread- steep ass cannondale cad3 frame ghetto ss’d because the cable guides under the bb shell mysteriously disapeared in shipping, seatpost rack that swung around everytime i turned, with my chrome bag (about 30 pounds over the rack’s stated limit) and a full sized pump strapped to it.
some pix
[/quote]
nick! If anything happens with this hurricane, I’m coming to Chicago for good.
And ben, that trip sounds awesome, despite the low points. I’m glad you guys got back safe.
The hard, exhausting, miserable parts of any trip only serve to make the good parts of the trip that much better and steel you to adversity. Once you’ve shivvered through an exposed bivouac on an icy, windy ledge with just your parka and a space-blanket, spending a rainy night in a leaky tent with a sleeping bag and a therma-rest seems like the lap of luxury.
[quote=“SeanBonham”]hey ben,
is that a Tarptent? If so do you like it?
http://www.tarptent.com/[/quote]
Yes, it is. I had never gone camping or touring before this trip, and everyone said to pack light. So I bought a used tent advertised as ‘ultralite’ from a guy on craigslist. It is ultralite, though it had a ‘bathtub’ bottom.
Pros:
[list]Lite
Easy to set up (though maybe not in comparison to other tents?)
Folded down quite small[/list:u]
Cons:
[list]Very small
Not the best at keeping rain out
Pretty much no room for sitting up in
The rain flap doesn’t come down as far as I would like[/list:u]
Observations:
[list]There is mesh on the bottom of all four sides. While this is nice for ventilation in good weather, it does make it harder to keep water/rain out. It also means that if the ground is muddy, you may get mud inside the tent.
Mine was big enough to bring my bags in with me, but only by putting them next to my head and feet. On wet nights I was a bit worried that they would get pushed (from my moving in my sleep) onto the mesh, thereby getting wet.
The material is not really waterproof. I don’t know how this compares to other tents, but if it was raining and I held my hand against the top, I could kind of pull moisture through.[/list:u]
All in all it was fine for my needs. I think, though, that I would have preferred a tent with more space, a solid bottom wall, and a more rigid structure (which would have been provided by a tent with poles). It worked and I never got soaked, but it’s certainly a no-frills item.
edit: also, IIRC, the guy I bought it from said it was made before tarptent was as successful as it is. The one I have is not listed on their site, and I would imagine the new designs are better in many ways.