Cycle Across America – Day 65

Boulder Junction to Iron River

62 miles / 1952ft climb

This morning was more challenging than we had anticipated. The hills were steeper than we have been used to recently, with many of them peaking at 10%. The hills felt much harder than they have done of late and my tired legs were very reluctant to comply with the demands I was making of them. There is, however, no way that we can not continue at this stage, so slowly and steadily or maybe more accurately, slowly and wobbly, I climbed the hills. Accompanying the slowly and wobbly, was a fair amount of huffing and puffing and the odd expletive which all seemed to help.

I was ready to stop for lunch but the options were few and far between. We made it to the small town of Phelps and were made welcome at the only bar that was open. The plaque on the wall very aptly stated, ‘welcome to Phelps, turn your clock back 20 years’.

Yet again, the only food available was deep fried. I fear my arteries are becoming to resemble a deep fat fryer and I worry that I may not recognise a fruit or vegetable when I see one again. We ate, we rested and we set off again to complete a further 25 miles.

It was a pleasant surprise to find the afternoon’s cycle much less demanding and actually quite enjoyable. We crossed the border into Michigan, the ninth state we have visited.

We arrived at our accommodation and as has become our routine, we checked in, showered and changed and ate at the only cafe open in Iron River. Tomorrow we will repeat!