Day 25 - Midland to Imlay City, MI

Ride Stats:
Distance: 104.2 Miles
Climbing: 1,437 ft
Ride Time:  6:05
Temp:  64-79

We had our last easy ride today.  Relatively short, with a lite tailwind and moderate temperatures.  Rain was North and South of us.  We only had a few sprinkles.  We have been blessed with no real rain for the entire tour.

The ride was very flat with a few rolling hills.  Part of the ride was spent on a bicycle trail through a heavily wooded area.  At one point the tree canopy was so thick that it formed a dark tunnel to ride through.  I enjoyed seeing this part of Michigan.

Most of the tour riders rode easy, spent more social time at the SAG stops and lunch.  A good recovery day as we get ready to cross Canada and climb through New England.

All of us continue to nurse our aches and pains.  My Achilles Tendentious has remained mostly stable.  With ice, ibuprofen and a good tape job before each ride seems to be holding it in check.

No pictures today since this looks like home.  See the PAC Tour website for their pictures if you have an interest.

Thank you to all who have left comments on my blog.  I see the comments and appreciate them very much.  The encouragement is helpful.  I just don't have time to respond to each.

Day 24 - Ludington to Midland MI

Ride Stats:
Distance: 133.7 Miles
Climbing: 3,294 ft
Ride Time:  8:09
Temp:  54-79


We had relatively good conditions for today's ride.  Started out cool and stayed moderate all day.  We had some lite headwinds, but nothing that we could not easily handle with our group.  Our group as a whole was stronger today following yesterday's break.

Our trip through western Michigan was very scenic - heavily wooded with rolling hills including parts of the Manistee forest.

The road conditions started out great, then turned bad (poor condition) after our lunch stop.  We then hit the Pere Marquette bike trail to Midland, which provide a welcome improvement.

We are nearing the end of our transcontinental tour - only 8 more riding days remain until we reach Rye's Beach New Hampshire.

Pictures from today:

At our first SAG stop 31 miles outside of Ludington

Day 23 - Manitowoc WI to Ludington MI

Today was a well earned rest day.  Typically our morning rides start sometime around 6:30 to 7:00.  We slept in today, having until 11:00a.m. to check out of the hotel and load our gear bags.  We then took a very old coal burning ferry (the Badger) across Lake Michigan to Ludington.  We all found places to relax onboard for the 4 hour trip, then traveled two miles to our hotel after arrival.

Pictures from today:

The Badger

Arriving in Ludington with a Coast Guard escort

Backed into this dock

Catching some ZZZ's on deck

Day 22 - Portage to Manitowoc, WI

Ride Stats:
Distance: 127.9Miles
Climbing: 4,757ft
Ride Time:  8:04
Temp:  56-82

We arrived at Lake Michigan and are primed for our one and only rest day as we cross the lake on Monday.

Today's route took us through relatively flat farm areas including some Amish sections.  At one point there were a number of horse and buggy's on the road, and one family walking, all headed to the local Amish church.   As we headed east, the hills increased substantially in size.  We ended up doing much more climbing than we expected and had a number of climbs in the 10% to 13% range. Temperatures continued to be moderate with lite tail winds - a continuation of ideal riding conditions.

I have not been taking very many pictures over the last few days.  The mount for my bicycle camera (Garmin Virb) has not been holding well, so I took it off until I can find time to fix it.  Also, when the sites look mostly like home I typically don't take pictures.  The PAC Tour website (pactour.com) has great pictures each day, so you can check out their web site if you would like to see more.

Pictures from today:

Looking out to Lake Michigan two blocks from our hotel.  Maritime Museum is on the left

Day 21 - La Crosse to Portage, WI

Ride Stats:
Distance: 142.0 Miles
Climbing: 3,048ft
Ride Time:  8:35
Temp:  59-80

We are on a roll - great riding conditions once again today.  We rode through the wooded hills of western Wisconsin, seeing a number of dairy farms including an Amish area.  As we approach central Wisconsin, the rolling hills gave way to more flatland with farms.

Our route took us on mostly county roads with a fair amount of zig zagging to get to where we needed to go.  We encountered three unexpected construction zones in which the roads had been removed and we had to walk or ride our way through.  The last one was quit extensive.  We tried to ride through but myself and one other crashed after hitting some sand that looked like hard packed soil.  I ended up walking my bike or shuffling along with one foot clipped in and the other free to push along the ground.

All of us are looking forward to Monday - our first and only rest day while we cross Lake Michigan.  This is such an intensive ride, all the riders have some form of physical issues.  The one rest day will be very helpful.

Pictures from today:

The bridge over the Mississippi, from our hotel parking lot was getting ready to start today

Coullee Overlook with morning fog

Day 20 - Albert Lea MN to La Crosse WI

Ride Stats:
Distance: 142.0 Miles
Climbing: 3,048ft
Ride Time:  8:35
Temp:  54-77

Today's ride was long, but easier than most days.  We had another day of tailwinds.  Hope this continues as a trend.

We started with continuing our charge through the flat farm lands, then hit hills and trees as we took close to 52 miles of bike trails through the final eastern stretch in Minnesota.  The bike trail was lot's of fun.  We were in a tree canopy for a large portion and followed a meandering river.  This was a welcome change from the flatlands.  We then crossed the Mississippi river into La Crosse, Wisconsin.

We had a moment of excitement on the bicycle trail when we encountered a live snake in the middle of the trail and the group had to swerve on either side to miss it.  It was a dark snake with light colored bands and a diamond shaped head.  Most likely poisonous.  Some thought it might have been a cotton mouth.  Fortunately, we scared the snake just as much as it scared us.

The group I ride in is known as the slow group because we are the last to arrive at the hotel each day.  Lon & Susan have assured us that we are doing well, but this years group is much stronger than in prior years.  We could pick up the pace a little quicker and spend less time at the SAG stops, but we are having too much fun together with our approach to the ride.  We typically have several riders from other groups join us periodically when they need some rest from their hard charging or just want to have more fun.

All of us are looking forward to Monday, our first and only rest day.  We will be taking a ferry across Lake Michigan.

Pictures from today:

Bridge over the Mississippi

House boats on the Mississippi

More progress

Day 19 - Worthington to Albert Lea MN

Ride Stats:
Distance: 119.9 Miles
Climbing: 2,038ft
Ride Time:  6:39
Temp:  61-77-68

We had a great ride today, rolling through the flatlands with a nice tailwind and cool temperatures.  The only complaint was an extended section of the route with bone jarring expansion joints leading up to just before the lunch stop.  With sore butts and aching joints from all the day after day riding miles, this was a torture test.  But with strong tailwinds and smooth roads after that section, we soon forgot and enjoyed kicking the pace line into high gear.  Given the inherent competitive nature of cyclists, somehow the ride after lunch turned into a hammer fest with each rider trying to outdo the others during the segment leading to our next SAG stop.  Some bantering back and forth seemed to be the spark that lit the fire.

There was a cold front pushing through, with the temperature dropping from a high of 77 down to 68 by the time we were nearing Albert Lea.  There were a number of dark clouds blowing by, but we only received a few drops of rain.

I was very much relieved that my early stages of  Achilles Tendonitis seemed to moderate today.  After Ibuprofen, ice packs, and taping prior to the ride, I was very comfortable while riding.  The key is pedaling in a more toe down position, which the taping helps enforce, and not pedaling while standing in order to relieve stress on the Achilles tendon.  The PA that is traveling with us was extremely helpful in putting me on the right track.  Now, I just need to be very careful not to stress the tendon any more over the next few days and the remainder of the ride.

Only one picture today:

River crossing at Jackson MN