Day 44. Evart to Midland,MI. 68 miles.

Got a late start today. A large part of today's ride was on paved bike trails. They were much like the Slver Comet. I split from my Maine friends today. They went north, I south. We will probably meet at Niagara Falls. I made it to Midland, and found a bike shop. They helped me get a room and gave me directions. I realized after I got to the motel that my rear wheel had a wobble-back to the bike shop. My tire had split at the wheel rim, so I had to replace it. Ok for a margarita! You betcha!

The rails to trails bike paths are very good here, even the crushed limestone paths. 

Day 43. Ludington to Evart,MI. 64 miles.

Up early. Our Warm Showers host made coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. Her two cats slept with me on the futon. We ate, packed and left headed for Evart,MI. We made several stops-a second breakfast on Scottville, ice cream in Baldwin. The owner,Terri is putting us on her Facebook page. Great ice cream. I burn about  80 calories per mile, on a 65 mile day, I burn about 5,000 calories-my eating habits will require adjustment when I get home. 

See my tired, swollen legs at days end. Yes that is an ironing board with pillows on it to elevate my feet. Poor Baby!

Day 42. Manitowoc to Ludington MI. 118 miles.

Wow that was the best 118 miles that I have ever done. We crossed Lake Michigan on a car ferry, piece of cake. The ride took about 5 hours. The weather was miserable-rain, cold. It was great biking weather. We got to Ludington and only had to go a few blocks to the home of our warm showers host, of course it was still raining and cold. We did a total of 4.5 cycling miles today. I am tired. We met a group of six older riders on the carferry from Orange County, who were also doing a cross country. 

The house pic is the home of our warm showers host. 

A nice dinner at Luciano's, and off to bed   Our host Claudia Meyers was very nice. 

Day 39. Merrill to Gresham,WI. 64 miles.

Rough day today-two near vehicular misses, rode an extra 20 miles for a room with no success, started raining as I put up my tent. 

Only rode 64, but it was a very hard 64. 

Riding on the Mountain Bay Bike Trail was nice but a little slow-crushed limestone surface. 

BTW, I renamed the bridge "Kathys Bridge, ask her what this means. It is over a quarter mile long. Wow!

Day 41. Zachow to Manitowoc,Wi. 63 miles.

It was a good day. The storms seem to have passed for now. A good breakfast in Pulaski, then on to Green Bay. County road R was another really bad road. The seams on the concrete road get really big due to the weather-freeze, crack, and thaw. We cleared GB and had lunch in Denmark. We got to Manitowoc late in the day. We got a room, had a Chinese buffet dinner and crashed. 

Day 40. Gresham to Zachow,WI. 40 miles

I left Annie's campground and rode to the lodge where Bob and Nan were staying. The rain started as I arrived. We sat around until one then started riding. We outran a storm to Shawano and had lunch. Back on the trail. We were threatened by another storm and had to take refuge in the Krash Inn bar. We ended up camping in front of the bar, which as it turned out was very convenient. 

Day 38. Cornell to Merrill,WI. 82 miles.

Up early at 5 am.  A long day was planned. Was hoping to get east of Wausau to a bike trail leading to Green Bay-I have a strange craving for cheese. 

47 degrees in my paper thin sleeping bag. Breakfast at Tina's Bar, income tax service, legal aid, marriage counsellors, and veterinary clinic. The vet comes in at 3:30. 

The wind was much more favorable today. It was cold. I only made it to Merrill. My good road , hwy 64, turned into a washboard. Deep seams in the asphalt every 50 ft caused a bump-bump, bump-bump. It literally beat me up. I got a room and crashed. 

Day 37. New Richmond to Cornell,WI. 76 miles.

Breakfast at the "Justa Cafe" next door. Am still traveling on SH 64-good shoulder, and road. The wind from the north made for a cool morning. It turned to NE after I began and was in my face again-surprise!

I made it to Cornell and found food, before going to the Brunet Island SP. it was a great place. I made friends with the people at Tina's bar. The food was good. Tina even offered me a job as a bartender. When I got up this morning, it was 47 degrees. Fortunately I kept a light ski jacket, and slept in it. 

Georgia does not have all the NASCAR fans. 

Day 36. Back at it. 68 miles today.

I left for Wisconsin at 7:00 am. I took the Greenway Bike Trail across the city. It goes through downtown, got photos. People use it to go to work, is a very bike friendly city. My goal was to get to hwy 36, little did i know it was a 30 mile mass of construction. It took forever. I was riding in freeway traffic, no shoulder, rumble strips, cars passing too close-like in Troup County. It was quite dangerous.  I finally crossed into Wisconsin, found a town, and got a room   

I needed a drink-BAD! A triple "Rita".

As you can see from the bike photo-lock the wheels too!

Even the rumble strips are crooked! Not much to ride on in this photo!

Much of the trails is crushed limestone, but still a good ride. 

Day 35. Planning for Monday

Well Monday it is back in the saddle. Me and Gene and Roy will be at it again. Will need to cross the entire city of Minneapolis-St Paul on the Greenway Trail. People in the "burbs" ride to work on it. MSP is a very bike friendly place. 

Day 34. Nothing new. Eat, sleep and rest

Day 33, more of the same.

A good breakfast. I was having problems with my air mattress, so a trip to REI was in order. I exchanged the sleep pad, got a new shirt and a few minor things for repairs, to my tent and bike. I love REI!

More rest, more food-no granola. 

Oh no, more rain. 

Also got a seriously short haircut. 

Day 32. Eat, sleep and rest

Plan to get back to pedaling Sunday or Monday. Well wishes to all. Those are tired, biker tan legs. Found a bike shop-new chain, wheel trued, and replaced a lost cadence magnet. Oh yes, and more food. 

I may never eat another granola bar!

Day 31. Kindred,ND to Fergus Falls,MN.

We slept a little late in order to get a good breakfast-it opened at 6:30. I missed getting a good breakfast a few days ago and it really hurt my ride. I got a small Rubber maid cooler a few days ago. It is bungeed to my rack , and is affectionately referred to as "Little Terry",

A cold drink on a hot day is heavenly. 

The temperature got hot as the day progressed, but we made our destination about 3:00. Will take a few days off to recover now. 

Day 30. Gackle to Kindred,ND

Well, end of month one, 1639 miles. Up at 4am, riding at 5. It was a long day. The wind was slightly favorable quartering over my right shoulder, so we went for Kindred, 104 miles. 

Was a great month, my Odyssey began on June 17. Hope to have a few rest days after we get to Fergus Falls,MN on Wednesday. I did two centuries this month. We could have done more, but the wind has been brutal. Normally the wind would have been at our backs across the plains, constantly in our faces at 10-25 mph. 

We stayed with Jason and Jenny, who are members of the Warm Showers Network. They  are beekeepers and live in CA-14,000 colonies. Their basement was rustic, but worked just fine-indoors, cool and dry. Simple things like a warm/cold shower, shelter, and food are all one requires while on the road. 

Day 29. Napoleon to Gackle, 39 miles.

We slept late this morning, had breakfast at Reuben's, and began pedaling. We had to pace line due to the wind. We did a short day, hopefully make better days in a few days. The Broken Bell was a great place to stay-nice, clean and you know me-it was cheap. 

Day 28. Hazleton to Napoleon. 27.5 miles. What a bunch of wimps.

The conditions picked up where they left off yesterday. It was overcast-not a good sign-wind from the north, temperature dropped about 25 degrees overnight.

These are very unpopulated areas where we are travelling, there is no cover or place to hole up in bad weather. Guess, it now begins to rain. Don't think I shared this info, it was snowing at the top of Washington Pass in Washington state. 

I am having a wonderful time. Wish all were here to share. 

Day 27, Ride from Hades. 76 miles from New Salem to Hazleton,ND.

Up very early 4am, on the road at 5 am. It was still dark. We knew it would be a difficult day mileage wise. Breakfast in Bismarck, then back to pedalling. As the day progressed, so did the wind. We were doing ok, till we got to a road named Moffit(hades)Road. Name a bad condition and it was there-it was Aska Road in North Dakota,15-20 mph headwind, 90+ degrees, longest smooth place was about 20 feet, extremely rough,  so rough there was no traffic, had to pedal downhill-have I left anything out?

It was worse than any south GA shake and bake road. 

When we got to Moffit, there were 3 shade trees, we collapsed underneath them. We still had 14 miles to Hazleton. 

It was sheer will alone. The body was trashed!

Day 26. Richardton to New Salem. 51 miles.

Breakfast at Clara's next door. The food has been generally quite good. I suppose even "road kill" would be tasty when that is the only choice. An occasional cold beer is heavenly. The temperatures have been unseasonably hot with high wind. We have to play the hand we are dealt!

Some of the days have been difficult. 

WE KEEP PEDALLING!

Photo of Missouri River-our 2nd crossing.