Charlevoix to Petoskey to Harbor Spring, only thirty plus miles of ridding, but there was still lots to see and do. Charlevoix had its famous mushroom houses, like the pictured above. They look like little hobbit holes. One of them is for sale, for about three quarters of a million dollars. Charlevoix also has a lighthouse and the ferry to Beaver Island. We had curbside coffee and pastries and watched the draw bridge in Charlevoix go up and down.
Part of the yin and the yang of the League of Michigan Bicyclist Shoreline West tour is caused because they give us such great navigational aids. Without them, we would be both clueless and blissfully unaware. There are the usual painted markings on the pavement to tell you when to turn, most bike rides have these. The LMB also gives us this great little booklet of maps. Each day’s set of maps show the route, points out interesting sights and gives mileages for them. It also gives a topographical profile of the route, so you know where all the hills are. Our problem with this great support comes when you take one of the neat side trips, which throws our bike computer’s odometer reading off from the mileage printed on the maps. It makes the end of the ride a little frustrating, when you’re counting down the last few miles.
Wednesday morning, at approximately 2:57 AM, but who’s counting (Anne), it started to rain and thunder and lighting. At first it started off rather mildly, but then it started to get worse and then worser still. Eventually, I checked the weather radar and found that we were smack in the middle of a severe thunderstorm box. The weather got even rougher and then the tent began to leak. Anne’s side took the worst of it, but even she remained mostly dry. We had two nights on Traverse City, so we left the tent standing, with hopes that it would dry out during the day, which it did and set off. Wednesday was our day off, so we went for a bike ride anyway. We rode the Mission Peninsula. Anne wanted to do a quilt barn ride, but I talked her into riding with me. We saw plenty of quilt barns and stopped to take pictures of every single one.
So Anne and I have been hammering hard for the last three days. Today is sort of a rest day, we have two nights in Traverse City. It is at least a rest day in that we don’t have to strike the tent in the morning and then set it up again at night. Our bike miles are reduced today and we are going our separate ways. I’m going to ride Old Mission peninsula, the prescribed route. Anne is going to do another route, a barn quilt ride. My only regret is that I won’t be able to level up today in our favorite new non-video game, Angry Wives. You have to come up with some game to play, while you wind you’re way up Philosopher’s Hill. 😉