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June 29- Day 56 – Miles 80/3249
Ludington, MI to Grand Haven, MI
Deb at the Michigan BorderLast night we had our first dinner with another couple beside ourselves since we left Santa Cruz. We had adults to talk to other than waiters and waitresses that we have met. It was very nice. In fact they are going to be neighbors of ours. They are from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Their names are Ben and Carol in case we forget. They decided to ride across the country too. They need to be home by August 15th, so they are almost on the same time schedule we are. They have ridden the Northern Route through Montana and North Dakota.
We’re now in Grand Haven, Michigan. We went 80 miles - 80 cranky miles. We started out down a road which was way too busy. No shoulder. The bike path was nice, but then we got to Muskegon. Some guy who was trying to be very helpful said "You’ve got to go exactly this way". He told us exactly where to go to get over the bridges and so on, but this guy had obviously never been on a bicycle. After he told us exactly what route to take he said, "Don’t stop in any of the neighborhoods. They are not good neighborhoods." We started off. First the shoulder went away, and we found ourselves on a busy, busy 2-lane roadway with no sidewalks. Then the neighborhood started to disintegrate along with the road surface. It was not a happy place to be. And there we were. It was not fun. The road was littered with broken glass. There were a lot of bars and liquor stores. Groups of obviously unemployed guys hanging out on the corners, etc. Luckily, we escaped with our lives intact. Michigan – What a state!
At Grand Haven we got a motel and had dinner. The motel was not cheap. It was $60 for an ordinary vanilla room. We had visited Grand Haven last year, so we were somewhat familiar with the countryside.
When we left Santa Cruz, we did not plan on going through Michigan. I did not look up any routes through Michigan in advance. Traveling blind is not the way to ride. We rode south on Old Route 31 out of Ludington this morning. The road had no shoulder. At one point we attempted to ride a parallel farm road through the cherry orchards. It was fine until the pavement ended. We found ourselves slogging through 2-3" of sand pushing the bikes. Back to the busy road. We cut off onto another parallel road. This one had big holes in the cement slabs. There was 22 miles of not fun riding. In fact there was one mean bulldog that came real close. We didn’t even see him until he growled and by then he was already half way across the road coming at us. I can ride really fast now when I am being chased. Even uphill. I worry about leaving Bob when I get these adrenaline rushes.
But she doesn’t worry much. She still does it.
In Hart we picked up the paved bicycle path. It is a Rail-to-Trail route, fast and pretty flat. At the end of the path in Montague we wandered around to find the Chamber of Commerce. They often have local maps. South of Whitehall we wove our way through country roads for another 8 miles to Muskegon, which is where we got the really poor advice from a well-meaning and very friendly Christian. He also wanted to give us his phone number in case we had any problems. He said he would come and help us if we called. He was very well intentioned, but as Bob said, he had never ridden a bicycle and did not know what roads to direct people onto.
I was more stressed out by the 10-15 miles of the road that he put us on than I was the whole rest of the 65 miles today. Bob in a stress situation rides fast and furious; I ride slower cause I’m watching my mirrors and the ground more closely. The road was narrow. Sidewalks stopped without warning. Glass fragments glittered in the afternoon light. He gets mad at me for going so slow and I get mad at him for bolting down the road. We both have such opposite reactions to this type of stress. Once we got through the major worst part and onto just a busy road with a shoulder, I relaxed.
Grand Haven is a busy, expensive tourist town. I’m also surprised at how cool it is. I almost want to put on a jacket this evening. I thought we would be frying in the Midwest. We have been so lucky with the weather.
Bob’s and my conversations don’t consist of many words anymore. Grunts and groans.
Being married and together constantly does that to you. You can communicate volumes with a simple grunt. And they say men are from Mars and don’t know how to communicate. I have only one thing to say to that… "Duh!"
I have done no bike adjustments since Klamath Falls, Oregon. This morning I had to adjust my brakes. We noticed that the set screw was loose, so I was going to tighten up the cable, and then we noticed the cable was all frayed. We replaced my brake pads and adjusted the cable. Down the path we found a little bike shop and the owner replaced my cable. There was about 3000 miles on that brake cable. We can’t figure out how it got so frayed because Bob’s looks still new. Things are good now…new brake pads and a new cable. The owner of the shop said to ask the people at Cook’s Restaurant on Bailey Island in Maine if they remember Noreen Crow.
June 30 – Day 57 – Miles 78/3327
Grand Haven, MI to Plainwell, MI
We wanted to get to Sue and Jim’s in Plainwell today because it is Friday…the start of the Fourth of July holiday 4-day weekend. We did not want to be on the road as traffic increased. We wanted to get an early start so we could be off the roads early, but didn’t realize it was still 78 miles to their house. Not only that, but we didn’t realize this part of Michigan was so hilly. I thought we would cruise here. As we rode south with a southwest wind, we had a partial head wind combined with today’s increased temperature and humidity.
Bob was forging on ahead and today I was the dragger. We had a difficult time finding a route. Left Grand Haven on the bike path, then we took Hiawatha Road. It was a nice road that didn’t last long enough. We missed the first recommended turn so we wound our way through farm roads into the town of Zeeland. Bike paths run through there so it wasn’t too bad.
I stopped at a feed store to ask for verification of the road conditions ahead. The two old farmers were curious about our trip. I was concerned that Bob was outside and didn’t want him upset that I was chatting so long, but when I went outside another farmer had him pinned talking his ear off.
It was a long day. I have also noticed that Michigan doesn’t have a theme. Wisconsin and Minnesota were farming. Wyoming was ranching. Michigan consists of some trees, some farming, busy towns, and faster drivers. We did not find roads with shoulders like we had in other states. We found some lightly traveled roads, but the people here seemed to resent more that there were cyclists also on the road.
Then we finally got to Jim and Sue’s. They had cold beer waiting for us; Bob even had a cold beer. Jim made mint juleps. Then we had appetizers. Then we had BBQ ribs. It is very comfortable. We are going to stay here for a couple of days. They don’t know how long!
Well, we came charging into Plainwell after a hilly ride with a little bit of a headwind. It wasn’t too bad. Mostly from the side. It was nothing that we couldn’t handle. We went riding, riding, riding. It was 78 miles. We had to go into Plainwell and back out. Back out was about 4-5 miles out of town. So we got into Plainwell at 73 miles and here at 78.
Jim and Sue have 2 doggies, a new one and an old one. They also have four cats. Every time you go into a room you feel eyes on you and you have some kind of animal looking at you. And 2 horses. We haven’t seen the 2 horses yet. We have a kitty in our room, so if we are lucky we can sleep with a kitty.
I finally made friends with the dog. They come around for pets now. It took a lot of Pupperoni, but we gave them treats and now they are our best friends. They all like Deb best; they don’t like me. I want to give them pets, and they run to Deb. I know this is going to happen when we get our house and dogs. Deb doesn’t want dogs so naturally they will like her best. I hate that!
One thing we noticed in Michigan is that they have really nice bike paths and bike trails, but they don’t have any bike routes. There is no way to get to and from the trails. There is no good bike map that tells you where the best roads are. There’s really no way to know how to get anywhere. So we charge out country roads and hope they don’t turn to dirt. They are busy with no shoulders. We are having a hard time getting from place to place.
Once again part of this problem is that I didn’t know we were coming here. Therefore, I did not plan this section like I did the other states. Most of the others I researched. Most of the other states I had already roughed out or definitely planned out our route, but not Michigan. Planning helps.
June 30 to July 4 – Day 58 to 61 – Miles 0/3327
Plainwell, MI
On July 1st we spent the day at Jim and Sue’s. We got up, had breakfast sat around and tried to decide what to do. Decided that we would do nothing. We went to the store for food and ice cream. We sat around the pool playing Dictionary. Then we went to the movies to see a very highly over-rated chicken Run. When we returned we saw fireflies for the first time on this trip. Kick back day. Glad we didn’t do anything strenuous.
July 2nd was another kick back day. About noon we headed toward South Haven to an art festival. Did some bar hopping, then walked out the jetty into Lake Michigan. Dinner at home followed by a rented movie. Independence Day for the Fourth of July.
We got off to another late start on July 3rd. Jim was a slug-a-bed cause he stayed up to watch the other movie we had rented. Jim drove us to Galesburg. The bikeshop carried the Continental touring tires we had been looking for five states. We each bought a new front tire for our bicycles. They also helped us figure out a route to the south for our departure. Then for lack of inspiration we decided to go to another movie, The Perfect Storm. It was way better than I thought it would be.
Tonight we had "Dinner By Committee". Each of us buys 2 items at the grocery store. No consults allowed. Of course, we bought way too much food and we had a lot more meat than vegetables. It turned out to be a good dinner. Steak, chicken, artichokes, beans, potato salad, Sat around and talked, then Jim and Bob did the male firework thing. Some rockets and some "cookoos?". We watched those and the fireflies.
Happy Fourth of July. Today we cleaned some of the grunge from our bicycles and chains. After a late breakfast we all headed to Battle Creek, Michigan, for the air show this afternoon. My idea of fun…sitting in the hot sun on a paved tarmack. I was very hot. Bob, Sue and Jim seemed to be OK, but I was glad a had brought my windbreaker which I used as an umbrella over my head. Like I told them later one air show every 20 years is enough for me. This one at least wasn’t too long and had good demonstrations. Some of these new planes are incredible and the formations were amazing to watch.
Any normal, red-blooded American kid knows Battle Creek, Michigan. That’s the place we mailed off for our decoder rings and scuba divers operated with baking soda and how many other breakfast cereal box offers. It’s America at its finest!
After a swim we went out to dinner. Another day gone.
I have known Jim and Sue for about 35 years. We met in college. Every time we see each other I forget what we did. The last thing I always remember is saying, "Sure, I’ll have another." Then things begin to unravel. We see each other every couple of years and kind of pick up where we left off the last time. This usually involves a trip to the liquor store.
July 5 – Day 62 – Miles 57/3384
Plainwell, MI to Sturgis, MI
Back on the road again. We left Sue and Jim’s house about 8:15. We rode a bit on Highway 89. It was busy, but had a shoulder. Then we hit the country roads---south, east, south, east, south, east , south, east…get it? Very pleasant with little rollers and no traffic to speak of.
Along side the roads are little ponds and clumps of orange day lilies. And corn, yup! Corn and soybeans. I’m not sure which has more acreage planted in the United States—corn, wheat or soy beans. We stopped in one street town of Fulton. We wouldn’t leave the air-conditioned grocery store. The customers were blocking the door talking to us until the proprietor shooed us off to the side. It was very hot and humid today. After 4 days of rest we could really feel the drag.
We finally made it to Sturgis where we were lucky enough to find a motel with a pool. Bought Bob a bathing suit at Wal-Mart and then we cooled down.
While we were heading down the road today we noticed a bunch of hot air balloons. Apparently they were all bound for home after yesterday’s extravaganza at Battle Creek. (We didn’t stay for it yesterday, since they weren’t scheduled to fly until 6 PM.) Some of them were very close to the ground. It was fun to watch them cruising over the tree tops.
Riding through Amish and Mennonite buggy country. Lots of Yoder mailboxes. The yards and gardens are immaculate. Lots of pretty flowers. The roads are wide here because they drive the buggies along the edge. The horses hooves make visible marks in the asphalt. Drivers seem to be more careful since they are used to road obstacles. Bicyclists aren’t as big as the buggies, so they don’t mind us.
July 6 – Day 63 – Miles 71/3455
Sturgis, MI to Bryan, OH
It rained during the night. It was pretty wet and glum looking, so had breakfast in the motel, then took off riding. The wind was in our face all day. It seemed like the whole day was uphill. We were sluggish. Nothing much happened.
Bob at Indiana BorderWe went from Michigan south to Indiana, but there was no Welcome to Indiana Sign on this road. We rode east through Indiana, then would you believe it we went back to Michigan again. There is a little corner of it before you get to Ohio. There was no Welcome to Michigan sign there, but there was an Indiana state line sign, so we turned around and took Deb’s picture by the Indiana sign. We rode another 2-3 miles until we got to Ohio. There was a Welcome to Ohio sign, so we took my picture there.
We went through 3 time zones-Eastern to Central to Eastern.
I started getting poopy. We had a 71 mile day, so I was pretty tired. We walked 8 or 10 blocks from our motel room into town. Had our evening brewskie. Had a nice little dinner. That was about all.
Went through another Eden, except this one is spelled Edon. Two cute LOL asked us where we were going. We said Napoleon. They said, "Oh my gosh, that’s 50 miles". "50 miles?", so we looked at the map and shortened our day’s journey to Bryan, another 16 miles.
It was my picture at Ohio and Bob’s at Indiana not that we care.
The scenery leaving Sturgis this morning along Fawn River Road was pleasant. We rode Road 600 through Indiana and then in a little town Orland we had breakfast. I asked the nice men at the gas station which roads we should ride. All the old men at the gas stations in America are so cute. They just want to talk. I like to talk. Bob is getting a little antsy with me, but I still like to talk. We are trying to get down to the Adventure Cycling (AC) route. We will have a map then. It has been hit and miss on the roads we have chosen because we don’t know which are the best bicycling roads. We had a mix of very rural roads today and a couple of busy ones with semis.
Every Thursday night here in Bryan in the summer they have a car festival, a "cruise-in". They bring in their old cars and have a contest to see who has the coolest car each week. We looked at lots of 57s and 58s and 65 Mustangs. They have the neatest city hall and court house in the center of town. It has round turrets in all different shapes. It is a fanciful building.