Days of Michigan Part 1: Marine City to Mackinaw City (Back in America!)

So we made it back into the states, and we've been spending the last week+ winding our way up and across Michigan (currently we are in the UP - that is, the Upper Peninsula - but we'll cover that in our next blog post. Because so much has happened in Michigan, it's hard to even know where to start).

No Rest For the Weary

Our first destination was the tiny town of Otter Lake - but it was 10 additional miles since we stopped short the day before due to rain and feeling severely frigid and cold. But we figured we'd decide whether to go the now 80+ miles or stop early at a later time of the day. We hopped on route and started off in the late morning, dodging heavy traffic and making a necessary pitstop to pick up lunch supplies. Part of our route was a railway converted to a bike path, which was really cool - we got to ride over the trestle of the old tracks!

(High up!)

It was fated to be another late day - Otter Lake is almost 1000 feet in elevation, and we started at sea level (lake level?). We cranked out the last 30 miles as the sun was setting and rolled into the campsite at just before 9:00, making camp right in front of two drunken RV ladies who gave us fresh veggies and bug repellent candles! Quite a day - we did notice more than one grain elevator still operated by the local communities, though (it was a heavy farmland day).

Everything Is Famous

Then came another late day, even though it was supposed to be short. In the morning, everyone who came by our campsite wanted to chat, which was cool, but set us behind in terms of departure time. But we did get a helpful hint from a local that gave us a detour and made up for some of the lost time. And so we found ourselves in Frankenmuth, a strangely cute Bavarian town that has TWO restaurants apparently "famous" for their chicken dinners.

(We stopped for a beer and terrible live polka music)

We also ran into two other cyclists who were doing the same route as us. We chatted for a bit and went on our way, assuming we'd never see them again. But then, as we were making our way into Bay City for the end of our day, we saw them again! They were probably staying the night there as well.

We spent the night with a friendly warmshowers couple named Gary and June, who were supremely kind to us. They cooked us dinner, gave us some snacks for the road, a warm bed, and a tour of the town (Bay City had some awesome old houses from when the lumber barons lived down there). They also gave us some shortcut pointers to avoid a very busy and dangerous road out of town.

Bike Paths All Over

One thing that's really nice about Michigan is the crazy amount of bike paths they've got (the Rails to Trails initiative started here). Once we left Bay City, we pedaled about 20 miles to Middleton, where a bike trail picked up for the rest of the day.

(This is real)

(Sooooo bad, gettin that potable water)

We ended in Evart (another long day - sensing a trend? That's cuz the weather has been reallllly hot and we slow down majorly between the hours of 12-4. Then we pick back up as the sun starts going away). It was a generally pleasant day, especially since we got to see many animals (Two owls!). We also had a lot of difficult fly encounters - those monsters!

Yogurt, Sand, and Luther

Our next stop along the bike project was Reed City (they had a great rest stop). Turns out there's a Yoplait factory there. Weird, right? Check it out:

Well, shortly out of Reed City the trail turned to some deep gravel, but we planned on turning onto an actual road shortly, so it wasn't too long. BUT THEN the main road turned into deep, hilly sand! And THAT was crazy rough. We saw cars slippin and sliding everywhere in it too, which was scary.

(Impossible!)

Well, that's what we get for following yhr advice of locals.

Then it was up to Luther, a tiny town up in the hills. We also watched a snake get hit by a car on our way there, which was really tragic.

(It was so hot)

We took a break in Luther to dodge the heat a bit, and we switched Adventure Cycling maps here from the Lake Erie Connector (which ended) to the North Lakes Route, which will take us into the Upper Peninsula and over through western Wisconsin.

Then it was off to Messick (ME-sick, not meh-sick, apparently). We got another flat at like 2 miles out of town, and had some strange talks with passersby as we repaired it ("you carry a concealed weapon in there?" "We're going north...way up north...INDIAN COUNTRY!") but eventually we made it and set up camp, ready for the next day.

(Everyone has lakes)

"Rest Day"

A short ride to Traverse City, and we had made it all the way to the west coast of lower Michigan (hello again, Lake Michigan, it's been a while). They were cleaning up after a big cherry festival, and we stopped at a bike shop to get a tune up on the drum brake. They gave us a free tube and snacks - thanks Brick Wheel Cycles! We had a nice picnic on the lakeshore, then went further to a sweet campground. Wasn't much of a rest day (50 miles) but at the same time it was incredibly nice to be around people after so long on the road.

Dangerous Day

Then came a tough day, starting with a big beetle right in the eye on the way down the first hill. It was a rainy day, with hilly roads and windy farmland. But then the weather cleared, and it got very hot and humid...Michigan weather is crazy.

(We had some...observers)

We ended up on some really terrible roads, no shoulder and intense truck traffic. It was there we got two flats in a row (our rear tire was totally shot), and things seemed really hopeless. And that's when a friendly man stopped by and helped us get back on track AND get us to a bike shop for a new tire and tube.

(All smiles at the end of the day!)

Finally to the Bridge

Luckily we were able to take a bike path back to our route, riding along the lakeshore as we went through Petosky and Harbor Springs. We got some very nice views during this part of the day.

(More lake selfies)

It was a haul to get to Mackinaw City, where we would end our time on the lower part of Michigan state. We went through some incredibly beautiful landscape on our way, though. Something about the light in Michigan, this place always looks so brautiful. We also saw a pair of sandhill cranes hanging out together in a field - so cute!

(Hard for an iPhone shot to do justice to the beauty of the scene, but here's a shot)

We finally made it to Mackinaw City, and decided to take a rest day here to relax our tired legs. We spent a two nights in a very nice campground and basically hung out, looked at the maps, and even performed some bike maintenance (finally undid some of the problems that bike shop in Vermont left us with...).

Something that surprised us is that terr really hasn't been very much roadkill here. Far less than we'd seen previously. It's a nice change of pace!