Greg our tour leader calls today the longest shortest day in
Cycle America. It certainly is the
longest day even though it is the shortest ride of the tour. You are up at 5:00 am and luck to be in bed
by 10:00 Pm. I thought it would be a great day to ride Fran’s cycling kit as
this day kind of marks a turning point in our journey. We are only a few miles
short of 3000 miles, and have only 3 weeks left. It is also a psychological point as now the
end is clearly in sight.
After breakfast I rolled out of camp with Auzzie Bob. It was a really nice morning with bright blue
skies and a great riding temperature of 65F.
The first nine miles were down a paved bike trail which was very nice. From the bike trail we took a bunch of side
roads which had almost no traffic.
I have been having trouble with my bike computer turning off
or resetting itself. When I saw a Piggly
Wiggly I ducked in to get new batteries. Get the batteries then find out I need a tiny
screwdriver to open the computer. So
ride on without a computer. I was quite
surprised when first water appeared.
It was only half a mile up to Whistling Straits golf course
which is supposed to be one of the top 10 courses in America so we went in for
a coffee in the club house. It was a fabulous spot. They brought in mountains
of sand to build all of the dunes which course is built on. This was our first view of Lake
Michigan.
After coffee we only had 19 miles up to picnic and the end
of our ride which was at Kathy Wojta’s house where she was hosting our
picnic. What a magnificent spread of
food had been prepared by Kathy. There
was everything from homemade pickles to homemade cinnamon rolls. I made sure
that I filled up on all of the treats which were laid out.
Then it was hurray up and wait for the sailing of the SS
Badger which is a coal fired car ferry which runs from Manitiwoc across Lake
Michigan to Ludington. The ferry was launched in 1954 and is a national
historic monument. This is a 4.5 hour
journey. Ken had purchased a couple
decks of cards and Bob and I sat down to play a few games of cribbage. It was quite enjoyable way to pass the time
and I enjoyed giving Bob a few lessons. The
voyage could not have had a nicer day with brilliant blue sky, warm
temperatures and perfectly calm lake.
Once in Ludington, I jumped on my bike and made a bee line
for the motel. I wanted to get down to
the motel and get in front of the check in line. Ken was right behind me and we were the first
to check in. The Viking Arms is an older
family run motel on the edge of Ludington but a very comfortable place with a
friendly staff. It is just a perfect
place for a rest day.
After checking in Bob, Ken and I walked across the street to
a local dinner for dinner. I don’t think
the waiter got very much of the order right but the food was just what we
needed.
Set the clocks forward one hour as we are now in a new time
zone and it was bed time by 10:00 PM.
Terry hot biker
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