Cycle Across America – Day 69

Gladstone to Manistique

51miles / 764ft climb

We were in no hurry this morning to set off. John had a few bike shops to call and to be honest we are getting very blasé about how long it takes us to cycle 50 miles. Our hotel didn’t provide breakfast so we dined out in a leisurely fashion and before we knew it, it was midday and we had cycled exactly 1.65 miles!

I hadn’t studied the route yesterday (another example of how blasé I am getting) and was anticipating a bike trail alongside Lake Michigan. The reality was the highway, busy, noisy and in no way the relaxing 50 miles I had anticipated. In fact, I was so busy concentrating on the road that I only saw the lake as we arrived at our destination in Manistique late afternoon.

The only saving grace for today’s route was that there were very few hills. Again, I say that with a full set of gears while John is still cycling on a single gear bike while desperately trying to source the parts to repair his derailleur cable and gear shifter. We are both proudly cycling on new UK produced Ribble bikes and so it’s disappointing that he’s having such a problem. He has contacted them directly today to see if they can help in anyway. In the meantime, he continues to climb every hill in the same single gear.

The only ‘restaurant’ within walking distance of our hotel this evening had a menu where every item was deep fried. Thankfully we found a fresh food market and so we had a somewhat healthier alternative in the form of a picnic by the lake.

And tomorrow we will repeat!