Month: July 2018

As many of our friends, followers and family members know, we are all about cycleways (aka rail trails, bike paths, etc.) and shortcuts. Today we had both!

The Midland mishap where we were late getting in and were off course actually put us ahead a couple miles for today’s ride to Otter Lake.

The Bay City Loop was scenic and a nice change of pace from the route and then right outside Frankenmuth a man stopped us on the road asking a few questions about the ride and offered us an option to cut some miles while taking an even better route. Thanks Bill!

When we rolled into Frankenmuth we were a bit hangry, not with each other but the situation. We needed food, fast. We nearly settled for a cheese curd food truck but instead landed in a real restaurant where we had the BEST BIG salads. And then there was the German Chocolate Shop in the level below.

When we got to the campground, Sue asked us a few questions about where we were from and the bike trip and she said, “Today camping for cyclists is free. There is a shower, water, electric and I have a space for you near a tree so you will have plenty of shade.” Today I am calling her “Saint Sue.”

Tomorrow night will likely be our last night in Michigan and then we head to Canada for a few days.

Thanks so much for all the comments on FB, Twitter, the blog and the emails. We read every single one. 😊

Looks like we have headwinds and rain tomorrow and Saturday. It’s been a great few days of weather while it lasted.

#acaNoTier LeRoy to Midland, 83 Miles | Midland Mishaps

Our day began early, about 2:30am tending to three uninvited guests to the campsite. The well fed raccoons paid us a visit and as Tom was shooing them away I was safely tucked in the tent Googling the best way to keep them from coming back. I so appreciate my iPhone and cell service.

It was a lovely night to sleep outdoors with owls singing lullabies most of the night. We are getting so spoiled. And the raccoons decided to visit another site so we were well rested.

Up and at ’em early we rolled out of the campsite about 8am and were on our way to (of all places) Temple, MI where we planned on a possible second breakfast. Right in the middle of prayers I picked up a metal staple that flattened my rear tire and yes, Vic it’s most always the rear tire. With Tom well ahead I got started fixing it.

Tom returned, got the tire and tube on the rim and back on the bike. Soon three “helpers” showed up, Harvey, Frankie and Steve – their pic is in the vid.

From then on the rest of the day went smoothly, well until the end of the day.

At Lake George we got to talking to a retired US Marshall who worked as a part time patrolman in this small and remote Michigan town to “get away” from it all.

His first day as a patrolman was on Christmas Day years ago. (You can tell he loves to tell this story) He pulled a car over with two elderly men in front and two ladies in back.

The driver had run six stop signs. When the patrolman asked the driver if he knew what he was being pulled over for, the elderly man in the back seat took his teeth out, turned to his wife and said “hold these. I’m going to kick his a$$.” His wife turned to the would be assaulter, hits him with her purse and told him to stay put. The driver was let off with a warning and no arrests were made.

As far as where to stay in Midland we’d reached out to a Warm Shower host but without hearing back from them and no camping options we were stuck getting a hotel. #notcomplaining

We cued up Google Maps to find one and it led us on a wild goose chase. What’s more is that when we finally located it, there were signs in many of the windows saying the rooms were condemned. We’d even called ahead and were told to come on by because they had two rooms left.

Ummm just no. Not doing rooms next door to condemned rooms because well… bugs fly. By this time it was after 8pm (we’d stopped for dinner) and all we wanted to do was get out of bike shorts and get settled in.

After touring the better parts of Midland and some not so good we found a room at the Best Western that also offered a breakfast (with unlimited Nutella). #sold

Most of today’s route was on a paved rail trail with villages every few miles. We were able to pick up a new tube, gas for the stove and enjoy a picnic lunch. My fave!

All is well on the tour and in Midland.

#acaNoTier Ludington to LeRoy, 76 miles | When You’re Pushing 60

That’s 60 years…. not miles. Here’s some more of what we’ve learned.

Support your local businesses (bike shops, restaurants, brewers, grocers, etc.). We knew our bikes were due for some maintenance so we called Trailhead Bike Shop a few days ahead to get on their schedule and give them the skinny on what might need to be done to the bikes. We took the bikes in Monday morning and by Monday at 4pm they were ready to ride.

Both the Co-Op and the Cannondale are riding like new. Jeff, Andy and Kendra were over-the-top helpful in explaining what was done and why.

Northern Tier riders, if you need a mid trip tune up, supplies or just air in your tires, this is the place. Call ahead to schedule the tune up though. Their mechanic, Andy, is willing and able but busy (’cause he’s good and thorough).

Protect the bods. Every day we’ve been slathering on the sunscreen and SPFing our lips with ChopSaver. Since we’re outside everyday for most of the day, sometimes in areas with very little shade, our skin and lips get torched. And the protection has paid off. No sunburn, no scorched lips.

The ChopSaver lip balm is one of the items that makes the cut to include in the bag I keep in my back pocket (ChopSaver, drivers license, insurance card and Rosary). It’s just that much of a necessity.

Take time to visit. Our camping destination on Tuesday was 6 miles east of LeRoy. The plan was to stop at a small local restaurant to get dinner before heading to the campground since we were unsure of the skeeter situation at the campground. Not fun to eat and cook in Skeeterville.

We found the restaurant tucked back off the road with a view of Sunrise Lake. Walking into the restaurant we were flagged down by Katie who had a coupon for us to use. She herself was stopping in to cash in her birthday dinner coupon.

As we most always do when we enter a restaurant we scan the walls to check for available outlets to charge our devices. Meanwhile Katy invited us to join them for all-you-can-eat fish and chips.

Pretty sure the restaurant didn’t make any money off all-you-can-eat deals when feeding two hungry cyclists. The fried fish was so, so tasty and the convo with Katie, her husband, Butch and friend, Beth even better. Butch and Katie have a farm in LeRoy and shared a few amusing stories about when they were raising their children in Alaska. Beth, thanks for sharing Katy and Butch at dinner. Katie and Butch, thanks for treating us to the best fish fry I think we will ever experience.

Besides the tuneup on our day off, we were able to stock up on food, get to Mass, get laundry done and putz around Ludington meeting a few locals and Mark from Scotland who is from a town very close to our future son-in-law. Small world.

Oh yea we added a route tracker if you want to track our progress toward the finish line in Bar Harbor, ME. Check it out here.

We also cycled down to the Lake Michigan waterfront to watch the sun set which was a pretty righteous way to end our recovery day.

The ride report on Tuesday? A lot less humid, very little wind and a near perfect day of riding.

Looking ahead the weather appears to offer more of the same providing us with a few days of stellar riding conditions as we make our way across Michigan’s mitten, averaging a little over 70 miles daily.

#acaNoTier Sherwood to Ludington, 44 Miles | So Long Badgers, Helloooo Wolverines

The highlight today was the ferry ride and it was like a vacation within a vacation.

But first we had to get to the ferry and meet a drop dead arrival time of 1:30pm. No problem. Tom checked Google Maps for a “short cut” to get back to the route.

He cued it up in his phone and put one earbud in. Google Maps was going to “talk” us out the back exit of the state park.

And it worked! I snapped a couple pics for the vid. There was a little off roading that made my cheeks and other areas of my body shake like jello but it wasn’t bad and it WAS a short cut. And a scenic one at that.

Breaking camp at 5am and leaving at 6am ensured we were on time, actually four hours early. 😂

Our only hardship of the day was not having coffee in the morning. #firstworldpain

Manitowoc was hosting a sub festival over the weekend (the Navy vessel not the sammie). We toured the town and found some bevvies and popcorn while we waited.

After boarding the SS Badger we enjoyed a four hour cruise to Ludington, Michigan. It was a gorgeous day, the lake was smooth as glass and the breeze, calm. Although we cycled a little over 40 miles in the morning it seemed like a recovery day.

So it’s onto a new state, Eastern Time and hopefully newly tuned up bikes with only a little over 1,400 miles to go.

Mass, laundry, groceries, bike tune ups and buying more bug juice and white gas are on the to-do list – and the wind won’t be blowing these tasks away as the song suggests.

#acaNoTier Shawano to Sherwood, 73 Miles | It Feels Like Today

It’s our last night in Wisconsin and we could not think of a better way to spend it than camping at High Cliffs State Park on Lake Winnebago and making good on a planned rendezvous with Bruce and Gail Miller. It just feels like a good day.

Our ride today started on a paved trail and was really pretty uneventful. During our 70+ mile ride we saw lots of deer and baby deer, sand hill cranes and even a fox. Frogs appear not to fare well in Wisconsin. #deadontheroad

The dairy farms are as numerous in Wisconsin as there are lakes in Minnesota. And just like the lakes, the farms and barns are all unique. Ya just don’t get tired of riding by them.

We camped in High Cliffs State Park, a place we will return to in the future because of the opportunities for camping and hiking. We arrived early, set up the tent, showered and soon Bruce and Gail came to pick us up for dinner.

Tom has known them for years but after an evening chatting it up I felt like I’d known them forever as well. They are good, good people.

We returned to camp, tidied up, took a quick evening hike and prepared to get up at 5am to ensure an early start riding to Manitowoc to board the ferry at 2pm.

As an aside, Tom fantasized all day about seeing Brett Farve walking to his mailbox to check the mail. However he was disappointed to learn Farve didn’t live in Wisconsin after all. #fantasyshattered

Tomorrow we will cross our seventh state line, Michigan. And the ferry ride will be like a vacation within a vacation. Yay! We are taking a recovery day in Ludington on Monday and to get our bikes tuned up. With a little over 1,300 miles to go, a tune up seems like the right thing to do.

We live a charmed life and are so grateful.

#acaNoTier Crandon to Shawano, 73 Miles | Up North

We have just one more night in Wisconsin and believe we have cycled on some of the most beautiful county roads up north. The lakes, the woods, the rollers all make for memorable riding.

But the storms. Whoa. In Crandon on Thursday we were all set to go when radar revealed more strong storms in the area.

Again. Should we stay or should we go? We were all packed up, helmets and lights on. What to do?

We stayed. We went back into our little motel room at Main Street Inn when at once lightning struck and sizzled something in the building next door. Ouch!

So glad we stayed.

Problem though. Since the Jeepers were in town, Main Street Inn didn’t have a vacancy that night. Storms were predicted for most of the day so we planned an impromptu rest day for Thursday.

After making calls we found a room at the Best Western and stopped and grabbed second breakfast on the rainy ride there.

The BW was luxurious compared to the motels and camping we’d been frequenting. We have come to love the mom and pop motels but the BW was a welcome change. We did nothing but eat, sleep, read, do laundry and look at maps all day. Very restful.

Friday we took off about 6:45am and had a 92 mile ride scheduled. It was still raining but at least there wasn’t any hair-raising lightning.

Again the woods up north are dense and lush. The roads are remote and the lakes, pristine. All make for a stellar ride… even if it is raining.

At Lily we encountered a hefty detour… a bridge was out. Concerned, we looked at our maps for a work-around.

How often does a detour shorten the distance? Well that’s what it did. By 20 miles. Happy dance for me!

We got to Shawano about 2:30pm and that even included a brat stop for lunch.

We are hoping the storms have moved out so we can camp our last night up north. Next stop… the ferry across Lake Michigan.

Also on Friday we found out Lindsey Hein’s I’ll Have Another Podcast was published. Lindsey interviewed us the day before we left about our coast to coast ride, our 50 state marathon chase, family life and more.

If you get a chance give it a listen here. She makes it easy and fun during an interview and if you’ve already read enough about our ride on this blog, check out I’ll Have Another. Her podcast is inspiring for runners, moms, athletes – just about anyone!

And finally happiest of birthdays to my Irish twin brother, John. Love you, bro!

#acaNoTier Boulder Junction to Crandon, 74 Miles | Summer Nights in Small Town ‘Merica

From Tom:

Up early at the lodge, I headed out to the garage where our bikes were stored overnight since they don’t allow bikes in the lodge. For those who don’t know, we always take our bikes into our room with us. Tonight as we were storing the bikes in the garage next to the lodge, I asked if I could get access to the bikes early. They said no problem as they don’t close the garage door and actually don’t ever lock any doors during the day or at night. We aren’t in Indianapolis are we???? 😁

I got bikes cleaned and the chains lubed up and we were ready for a few more days of riding. After a nice breakfast, we got the bags on, did our pushups/planks, had our morning prayer and were standing in the lodge parking lot when we saw a couple fully loaded bikes riding down the street and pull into the grocery store across the street.

You always have to say “hi” to fellow cyclists. We rode across the street and introduced ourselves to Roger and Laura from New Zealand. They are riding from East to West and spent a few weeks riding around Michigan to see family and friends since Laura grew up in Michigan. They are now continuing on to ride the Northern Tier route west.

We also met Marty, a local who came up to say “hi” and has a great talent of whistling. After a 45 minute chat we were on our way.

It was another beautiful day riding through the National Forest of Wisconsin. So far I have to admit Wisconsin has been my favorite state of “pure” bicycle riding of our trip.

We stopped for a coffee and took care of some needed phone calls. We planned on taking the SS Badger Ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington on Saturday. So Deb called the Ferry to get all the details. We wanted to take Sunday off and take the bikes to a bike shop to get our overdue tuneups. They don’t have mechanics in on Sunday, so we scheduled for Monday. So that gives us an extra day to get to the Ferry or an extra day off in Ludington. We will see how the next few days unfold with a forecast of rain.

On the bikes for another 20 miles or so before stopping for a great picnic lunch at a roadside picnic table in Conover. We continued our ride after lunch for few more miles before rolling into a gas station at our next turn. Up walk Dan and Tom who were very curious about what we were doing since they are both cyclists. They were heading home after a successful fishing trip. After a great conversation about cycling and fishing we were on our way for the last 30 miles of our ride.

We rolled into Crandon at about 6pm and decided to grab a motel since no camping was available and forecast of rain early in the morning. We called the Mainstreet Inn and I spoke with the owner. She mentioned she has availability of two queen beds for $52 a night. She mentioned she is out of town, but just grab room #13 key that is in an envelope in the black mailbox.

We weren’t quite sure what kind of place we were getting, but this is my favorite motel so far of the trip. We walked across the street to the drive-in and ordered a double cheeseburger with onion rings and strawberry shake 😁.

I have to say stepping back in time of motels, drive-ins, trusting people and not locking doors is pretty, pretty cool!!!

#acaNoTier Clam Lake to Boulder Junction, 83 miles | Gnats, Mosquitos and Deer Flies, Oh No!

We are getting closer to Lake Michigan and taking the SS Badger across it to cross our next state line but not before missing every opportunity to live the present moment well.

The day started out laying in our tent devising a plan of action to get out of the campground as fast as possible. The gnats and mosquitos were awful and we didn’t have any fresh water for cooking or washing.

Tom went out first and discovered a front flat tire on his bike. Wouldn’t you know it… a flat, no water for breakfast, swarms of irritating bugs and a flat tire. No problem though! Tom fixed the flat and I got the tent down and bags stuffed quickly and we were on our way by 7am.

Highway 77 was a stellar ride and the first 15 miles went by before we knew it. After second breakfast it was a day of riding much the same as the day before, lots of rollers (we love these), lots of taverns and properties for sale and more timber and lakes – all in a rural setting.

The deer flies though… I had no idea. These rather large buzzing flies like to dive bomb your helmet smashing their bodies against it. And they will wait to swarm until you’re climbing a hill at 4 mph with a raspberry poptart hanging out of your mouth. When you open your mouth to shoo them off, the poptart falls to ground. Here’s how it works:

Apparently there is research that concluded they prefer the color blue and objects that move linearly. Who knew?

We picnicked in Mercer and cycled on to Boulder Junction with the last 15 miles or so on a paved bike trail which we both agreed might have been the best bike trail ever.

We are hotelling it tonight to scrub off three days worth of sunscreen, dirt and bug juice. And we even found walleye fish sammie’s for dinner. #worthridingfor

Our evening ended with ice cream, a walk and planning the next day’s route.

#acaNoTier Haugen to Clam Lake, 85 Miles | Just an Ordinary Day on The Old Road