Day 48. Bowling Green to Huron,OH. 78 miles.

Up early. Got on the road about 8. Talked with a group of motorcyclists from Ashville,NC, and with a cyclist from NY. Had a short ride on a rail to trail path. 

In Pemberville, I noticed a garage with a collection of vintage cars. I had to stop:

Corvettes, chevelle convertible, old trucks. It was quite an impressive collection. The owner gave me a tour. 

The group photo is the local cycling club-ha-ha!

I rode with a guy from Chicago in the afternoon. 

Lake Erie looks like an ocean. 

Day 47. Tecumseh,MI to Bowling Green,OH. 66 miles.

I slept in a little this am. On the road about 9. My plan worked well today. I made it to Bowling Green late in the day. It rained off and on all day so I had to hole up several times. I did not want to get soaked again. The second half of the day was mostly back road, little traffic

conditions. 

The chairs were from the Mex place where I had dinner. Traffic was terrible in this little town. A fair was in town and everyone within a thousand miles was here. 

Day 46. St Charles to Tecumseh,MI. 100.2 miles.

I planned a 70 mile day, so much for planning. I started early and got b'fast in

Owosso. I had planned to spend the night in Chelsea. The hotels were booked full. I went to Manchester with the same result. Had to go 12 more miles to Tecumseh to finally get a room-100.1 miles. It was not a planned Century. 

I rescued a baby turtle along the way. Lots of long, straight and flat roads here. 

Day 45. Midland to St Charles,MI. 34 miles.

Up early. Packed to leave. Started out the door-was raining. I waited around until, clearing looked possible, then departed about one. Was I ever wrong?

Twelve miles into the day, the rain returned. It would not stop. I got under a church porch for a while, then resumed-so did the rain! I searched the net and found a motel about 20 miles away in St Charles. The rain continued, very heavy traffic, low visibility, miserable riding conditions. Did I leave anything out? Oh yes- a very small road shoulder. I was soaked. 

Nothing to take photos of today, except

My riding TAN!

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.