Day 37--Ludington MI to Mt. Pleasant MI--July 27th
Miles Ridden 113.5
Avg. Speed 17.4
Climbing 2785 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden 2685
Miles To Go 944
We crossed most of Michigan today in our last really long ride of the trip. Riding conditions were good, the roads were decent and much better than I expected based on the Michigan roads near home and the weather cooperated by staying cloudy and cool until near the end of the ride.
We went through miles of farmland near Lake Michigan. For the first time the farms were growing things that people eat rather than the animal food of the last five hundred miles. We saw squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, apples, pears and a number of unidentified crops. The farms looked much smaller and less prosperous than in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The rest of the trip was through hilly national forests, then small lake vacation areas, the town of Big Rapids and finally flatter farmland as we approached Mt. Pleasant. I didn't get many opportunities for pictures.
My only problem today was with my water bottles. We use our water bottles constantly and fill them with all sorts of energy and hydration drinks. While I think I cleaned them after every ride, a very unappealing, green mildew-like growth appeared on the bottom of them the other day. I tried cleaning them out but they still looked like an active Petri dish so I used a laundry chemical to sanitize them. The plastic of the bottles must have absorbed the chemical and my water today ended tasting poisonous and was undrinkable. It was hot enough so I needed to drink regularly while riding but couldn't. I stopped at stores to buy drinks but had a difficult time staying hydrated. I threw out the bottles and bought new ones when I got to Mt. Pleasant.
Today was the first time I've been through the city of Mount Pleasant. It's the home of Central Michigan University and appears quite pleasant although I certainly didn't see any Mount. We again are stuck on the outskirts of the town near the highway exits so I won't be seeing much more of the city.
Tomorrow we have a relatively short 75 mile ride to the outlet mall mecca of Birch Run. Nothing remarkable about that but it gets us about 60 miles from Ann Arbor so I might finally get to see at least a few family members.
Avg. Speed 17.4
Climbing 2785 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden 2685
Miles To Go 944
We crossed most of Michigan today in our last really long ride of the trip. Riding conditions were good, the roads were decent and much better than I expected based on the Michigan roads near home and the weather cooperated by staying cloudy and cool until near the end of the ride.
We went through miles of farmland near Lake Michigan. For the first time the farms were growing things that people eat rather than the animal food of the last five hundred miles. We saw squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, apples, pears and a number of unidentified crops. The farms looked much smaller and less prosperous than in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The rest of the trip was through hilly national forests, then small lake vacation areas, the town of Big Rapids and finally flatter farmland as we approached Mt. Pleasant. I didn't get many opportunities for pictures.
My only problem today was with my water bottles. We use our water bottles constantly and fill them with all sorts of energy and hydration drinks. While I think I cleaned them after every ride, a very unappealing, green mildew-like growth appeared on the bottom of them the other day. I tried cleaning them out but they still looked like an active Petri dish so I used a laundry chemical to sanitize them. The plastic of the bottles must have absorbed the chemical and my water today ended tasting poisonous and was undrinkable. It was hot enough so I needed to drink regularly while riding but couldn't. I stopped at stores to buy drinks but had a difficult time staying hydrated. I threw out the bottles and bought new ones when I got to Mt. Pleasant.
Today was the first time I've been through the city of Mount Pleasant. It's the home of Central Michigan University and appears quite pleasant although I certainly didn't see any Mount. We again are stuck on the outskirts of the town near the highway exits so I won't be seeing much more of the city.
Tomorrow we have a relatively short 75 mile ride to the outlet mall mecca of Birch Run. Nothing remarkable about that but it gets us about 60 miles from Ann Arbor so I might finally get to see at least a few family members.
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| Sunrise over wetlands outside Ludington |
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| Outside Big Rapids |
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| Scene near Mt. Pleasant |
I'm glad you broke down and got new water bottles. I hope you didn't get poisoned by the other ones!
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