This morning’s planned ride was a 70-mile round trip from Manistique, MI to Singleton. When I awoke the temperature was 49 F and it was foggy. I had to be back by 10:30 so waiting for the fog to lift and the temp. to rise was not going to get it done. Plan B was a 30-mile trip I had mapped out for yesterday but couldn’t do for a lot of reasons. So I waited for a an hour, the temperature rose, and the fog lifted so off I went.
The first half hour was uncomfortable because my shoulder nerve was bothering me and I couldn’t get loose. Things got better and I reached my first turn at about 15 miles. Contrary to what the map said, the road was dirt/gravel, which is not a good surface for thin tires. Garmin said that Rt. 2, the main route across the Lake Michigan coast of the Upper Peninsula, was just a couple of miles ahead, so I rode in that direction, planning to take that road back to Manistique.
I passed through the “heart” of Cooks, MI, the downtown area consisting of a a few homes, a post office, and a church. Not too exciting, but I’m quite sure none of the people I know can claim to have ever visited Cooks. Yay for me.
Rt. 2 turned out to be a terrific road for cycling. Traffic in the early morning is minimal and the shoulder is almost a lane wide with a rumble strip between the car lane and me. Since the road was recently re-surfaced, it was smooth, safe riding all of the way to Manistique.
As I rode along, I spotted a sign for an historical marker down a side road. I’d spotted that sign when we were driving to Manistique, so decided to find out what it was all about. The marker was part of a nice area at the Lake Michigan shoreline that told about the Christmas Tree ship, a ship once owned by a family that delivered Christmas trees from the Upper Peninsula to Chicago each year.
I educated myself, then moved on to Manistique. I got back in time to eat, shower, and attend the local 4th of July parade.
