I was up about 5:30 am because it gets light so early this far north. It was a very pleasant 61 degrees - something unheard of in Houston this time of year. Dave made coffee for the coffee drinkers and made breakfast tacos to send us one our way. Elie rode today while Dave shuttled the van.
We rolled out of camp about 8:30am and had a nice bike path to take us through the tourist towns on the coast. I got to walk my first hill today when we were detoured up into town from the coast because the bike path was washed out. Jon said it was a 15% grade and I only got about halfway before I had to walk. I don't think we had 10 miles under our wheels yet!
Dave played tourist and went swimming in Lake Michigan and then went up over the Mackinaw Straits Bridge (where Lake Huron dumps into Lake Michigan - or vice versa). He had lunch and dipped his feet in Lake Huron before heading south again to find our camp for tonight.
We had wonderful bike paths for the first 20+ miles this morning. There are lots of bike paths and they are very well maintained in Michigan. At one point, i had a huge thump to the front of my helmet. As I looked around I saw a small, yellow bird falling crumpled to the ground behind me. I guess he didn't judge how tall I was very well! Hopefully he was just stunned.
After several short stops for pics, we rolled into Charlevoix for lunch. We stopped at the local bike shop to browse and then headed to the local pub for lunch on recommendation from the bike shop manager. Charleviox had a nice marina and it was a cute town with many old, beautifully kept houses along the main road. I made my first mistake at lunch and did not eat enough. I wasn't feeling hungry so I split a sandwich with Elie. At about 40 miles I was regretting that choice!
After leaving Charlevoix, the route headed a little inland. That's when the hills started. To be fair, they were mostly rolling hills but some of them were steep! Since Elie and I are from the flatlands, it was a little bit of a challenge. We did well, but were definitely slower than Rhonda and Jon since they have over 1,500 miles under their wheels.
We took a rest stop at 41 miles and that's when I realized my mistake of not eating enough. I mainlined some Coke and a double decker Little Debbie fudge round. Then a protein bar for good measure! That sure helped but the last 20 miles were slower as I recovered.
Dave set up camp and met us at Elk Rapids for dinner at a nice place on the lake. We ate and drank a few. It was 6 miles to camp and there was a gravel road into camp. Since we'd all imbibed a little, we loaded everything in the van and drove to camp.
Camp was on Elk Lake. As soon as I made my bed, Dave and I went down to the lake for a swim. The water was great - so clear. Then it was time for a shower and to bed. I am very tired - it was a long, hard day!
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