Tom, flower maintenance volunteer, Ludington
My wife and I had breakfast at the House of Flavors (an ice cream
factory) in downtown Ludington. The food was among the best of the trip.
I had my usual--french toast, but it was better than usual, and, my wife
had pancakes. They served real Michigan Maple Syrup (not that corn syrup
stuff typically served). It was a great breakfast.
My wife headed home in her car around 7:15. I went back to the room and
worked on the website until the 11:00 AM checkout time. The desk clerk was
quite difficult about extending the checkout time, so I hurried and got
out around 11:15. I then went to a bank for a cash machine and a convenience
store for Gatorade. I stopped for lunch at a cafe on the southeast side
of Ludington. I didn't eat enough. Only one order of french toast for breakfast
and a BLT sandwich for lunch, just wasn't enough to power me along.
As I passed the small boat harbor, I saw a volunteer, Tom, working in the
flower beds along the street. I stopped to compliment him on the flowers
and to say how much my wife enjoyed them.
He bemoaned a late spring and some sloppy planting for the current
state of the flowers, but I sure liked them. Tom gave me directions on departing
from Ludington; how to cross the Pere Marquette River on Old US-31 and then
head south-east toward Big Rapids.
Old 31 was quite busy and there were no shoulders in many places, but the
drivers seemed understanding and I got no honks. Once I made it a couple
of miles south of the river, I reached peaceful paved farm roads. The Michigan
Department of Transportation sells county low volume traffic maps for use
by bicyclists. On these maps, most paved roads are color coded as to traffic
volume. Green lines represent low volume roads particularly suitable for
bicycling. My wife brought my map collection to Ludington, from which I
selected all the counties between Ludington and Williamston, and then (in
the motel room) highlighted a route through each of them best for my needs.
There must be more paved low-volume secondary roads in Michigan than anywhere.
The riding is fabulous.
On Scottsville Road, I passed a homemade sign advertising steambent hickory
furniture. Seeing the Bontrager family working in the field, I realized
they were Amish. The men wore suspenders and the women wore long cotton
dresses. The furniture looked to be well made. Since the family was in the
field and didn't see me on my bicycle, I never found out how much they were
asking for the chair.
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At some points I rode an hour or more through peaceful woods without any traffic passing me.
Despite the uncrowded highways, I had two cars pass me who were
less than pleasant. The first, a carload of high school age kids, yelled
something unintelligible. The second, a mom and a couple of teenage kids,
yelled: "get off the road." So, it is confirmed, there are the
same sort of idiots in Michigan as in other states. Here, I know I have
an absolute right to be on the road. In the other states I was less certain.
So, here I yelled back--for whatever its worth. I suppose by yelling back,
I run the risk of being shot. I should refrain from asserting myself when
I'm on a bicycle and they're in a 2 ton steel box. Actually, I laughed out
loud at the absurdity of the yelling.
I took a picture of a Bell 47G helicopter doing some agricultural spraying.
As with the AgCat in Minnesota, though, with only the LCD viewfinder, I
missed the moving aircraft with my photo. Then somehow, I left the tape
recorder on for about 30 minutes recording my bicycle noise til the end
of the tape.
There are numerous beautiful Michigan farms.
As I was coming into Big Rapids, I came upon a solo cyclist on an unladen
racer. We talked about my lodging options until he begged off--unable to
keep up with me on my 85 lb. bike. He told me there were only 2 motels:
the Ferris Inn and Holiday Inn. I went directly to the Ferris Inn, only
to discover to my amazement that the place was full. They called a third
option, University Alcoves, for me and I proceeded there for the night.
This is a huge motel aimed primarily at long-term (2 months) business use.
The room was nice, but it felt like there had been some serious college
parties there. There were stains on the carpet.
The motel had a laundry room, so I washed my 3 bike outfits (all I have
now, but for one pair of shorts, in the way of clothing).
I went across the street to Pizza Hut for dinner.
I worked on the web page but fell asleep at the computer, so
gave up quickly.
Another comment re Tires
I just want to emphasize how really pleased I was with the Continental
Top Touring tires I used on this trip. I've said that before. And, no Continental
is NOT a sponsor (I'd love to have them as one). They were great tires,
performing exactly as I had hoped. Beyond that though, I want to say big
tires are essential for long tours. The 1-3/8 - 1-5/8 (37 mm) tires are
what you need for cross-state or cross-country tours, not just for the Alaska
Highway. At low pressures (70 lbs) these tires are not as subject to "snake
bite" punctures or flats. You never know when you'll come on a construction
zone or have to ride on a gravel road or snowmobile trail. Every few days,
even in "civilized" areas, I hit construction zones. I wouldn't
consider riding in those conditions with the 23 mm Specialized tires I have
on my Trek light touring carbon fiber bike. Even crossing railroad tracks,
the Conti's performed better than skinny racing tires. I fell on the tracks
near home twice when I was using 700x20 tires.
72 miles.
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© Ed Noonan 1996, 1997