9/13/2025. Saturday
Sanford to Bay City MI
Stats: Miles: 34. AIS: 3:09. Speed:,10.9mph. Elev. 255 ft
O Assholes
0 dogs chasing bikes.
0 honks
0 waves.
Well our stealth camp turned out to be a non-event. We slept great… no people or critters disturbed us. We were not in a big hurry today as we only had 34 miles to Bay City. We were packed up and out by 8am seeking a coffee and bite to eat. There was a coffee drive thru which was going to have to work. Coffee and a bagel and an outdoor picnic table at a supermarket next door.
Warm and comfortable this morning. We haven’t had this warm a start since Week 1. It was 9 miles to Midland which was going to finish the Pere Marquette trail. The trail was smooth and fast and we were in the middle of Midland at the “Tridge”… 3 point bridge in no time. I haven’t ever heard of such a bridge.. or seen one. It’s pretty cool. It’s three bridges that meet in the middle crossing two rivers. There are parks on all three sides with bike paths everywhere. It’s quite a junction. It’s also just a pedestrian bridge… only a dozen of these in the world.
There are so many bridges in Midland
all 3 arches
The green bridge was a pedestrian bridge
After we left the Tridge we went by a really nice minor league baseball stadium (built by Dow). There was a farmers market so we stopped just to see what a Michigan Farmers Market is like. Lots of produce and flowers.. Huge variety of produce. Fun to see.. especially the mushroom vendor. They looked so good!
That’s the end of rail trails for a few days. We were on back roads for the next 21 miles to Bay City. Bay City is on the Saginaw River at the mouth of Saginaw Bay to Lake Huron.
Our back road was kind of busy on Saturday about noon. After a week of almost all rail trails we had to get back into “driving” a bicycle. The shoulder was gravel so we had to pay close attention to cars passing us and those coming. We didn’t want to get caught in a squeeze play… three across. Cars were great. Bay City does not have good bicycle infrastructure… (are they even in Michigan?) but we managed to get across a big drawbridge on the sidewalk. All the bridges in Bay City are drawbridges.
Our motel is located in the middle of downtown Bay City. A quick ride in and I noticed lots of old historical type buildings and really big churches. Looks interesting for checking it out tomorrow.. it’s layover day. End of Week 3!
That wraps up our day. Actually got the laundry done this afternoon as we checked in by 3pm. Neither of us had much left to wear while washing just about everything.
Tomorrow we have the usual tasks of grocery store and lubing bicycles but the rest of the day is ours to explore Bay City Michigan.
cinnicrew 
Ahhh, Midland Michigan site of our family reunion in July, or was it August this summer 150 of the Grebe family attended, mom’s side, we stayed at a Holiday Inn and had a great meal downtown at a restaurant in one of the nicer hotels, too late for you to go, sorry; but it was quite good, excellent even, went there 2 nights.
Dow chemical is where great uncle John worked. He invented Styrofoam, one of the first pieces made was at my grandma’s cottage on Lake Michigan…now that cottage is gone, Uncle Rudy has it in the woods on property adjacent to the old cottage site, which is now being developed into multiple lots or something. Rudy is a little loose with details! Uncle John was tapped to work on the Manhattan project, he was no dummy, but when I met him, after he moved to Arizona, and he was close to 90, all he could talk about was Creationism….go figure, from the cover of Scientific American to Creationism in one lifetime, people are (indeed) strange (thankyou to Jim Morrison and Robby Kreiger)
Dow chemical employed a lot of Grebes over the years, many of the descendants at the reunion had parents who worked there, some still do Wow, you are touring the Schneider family residences, (Anna Grebe, my grandmother, married Johann Schneider) If you are going through Royal Oak, where my mom grew up, a suburb of Detroit, that would be equivalent of a Royal Flush!!
keep having fun and keep up the wonderful travelogues, I will read them someday!! I might have to get your map and take the family tour with Ning someday…….soon, as mom’s brothers are getting on in years
gs
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