Rail Trail, Highway then city traffic…hard one today
So just as we hoped we woke up to a dry tent. The park was dark and quiet so we both slept really well. It was a treat to be on dry ground and all of our stuff was dry. Still took just as long to depart camp but more comfortable getting ready.
Walking back from the bathroom about 6:45 am. Jim’s in the tent packing. Still dark outsidePicture this morning of where I melted into the river yesterday afternoon
We had 15 miles of the same good trail as yesterday…. from Lyons to Saranac. Fast and flat for sure. Those 15 miles had only a couple of roads crossing it so we rarely had to slow down to look for cars.
Courthouse in Ionia. New trail after Ionia. They were seamlessly connected.
Obstacle we could easily ride under.
The last few miles of this trail after Saranac surprised us. It was the last section to be completed and by far the worst surface we have ever encountered. It was described as recycled asphalt. It was as rough as you could ever want. Made my hands go numb. We abandoned this trail after 5 miles.
Fancy bridge over the highway in SaranacShortly after this bridge the horrible asphalt started. A photo of the worst trail surface idea ever! Much rather have crushed limestone!
So we left the trail and had a really nice backroad for about 5 miles. Good shoulder, light traffic and several road riders using it. Always a good sign! This got us past our halfway point today.
Next we had to weave on city streets with traffic lights, two lanes of traffic each direction. If there was a shoulder we rode it… if not sidewalks or the local paths. We were actually in the suburbs of Grand Rapids (city of 200,000). We had to negotiate 18 miles of city traffic to get to our campground.
When we got into residential there was a path we took for a short while. It was very meandering and not very efficient for our purposes this afternoon. Another “trail” abandoned.
We stopped in Cascade… first seeking breakfast food for tomorrow we past a healthfood grocery store. Good enough. Then we saw a Starbucks… iced latte worked yesterday. Really needed it today! Also we needed to refill water bottles. Temps were in the mid 80’s this afternoon. It didn’t feel too bad when riding but every traffic light we had to stop at you could feel the heat.
We rode a really long stretch going south past the Gerald Ford Int’l Airport. We took the sidewalk for miles. To our surprise the sidewalk was really good. We turned after the airport and rode some more sidewalk up and down hills now. Eventually we did connect with a “real trail” that followed close to a divided high speed highway for several miles. It was located in the relentless sun, noise from the highway traffic and up and down hills. We were trying to stay hydrated and keep counting down the miles. The last mile of the trail finally went to the other side of the freeway and was in the shade for a little while. Ahhh!!
We had about 1.5 miles to go when we left the noisy trail. But before we made it to the campground we slid into a convenience/gas station for a Gatorade (electrolytes) and I picked up a sandwich to share. I needed something cold to drink and a bite before I got to camp and had to get everything set up. It’s usually not hard to setup but today’s ride was taxing (not a fun back half) and I was drained. Jim was too! If I was hungry and thirsty when I arrived I probably would have been “hangry”.
I took a short refuge into the walkin beer cooler before buying our Gatorade.
We arrived about 4 pm after the convenience store stop. Spent a little time chilling in the grass in the shade flat on my back before taking a shower and making a dinner decision. The closest restaurant was 2.5 miles. Neither of us wanted to ride 5 more miles. We looked at Uber but the price was $20. I had been carrying 3 freeze dried meals for just such an occasion… so we broke them out. We were both famished and we gobbled them down. Super satisfied.
This campground is a kid friendly one with all the playthings and a swim pool still open. There are kids all over. It’s Thursday… are they all homeschooled or maybe they have 4 day school weeks. It’s not a holiday and this campground isn’t celebrating Halloween. Although a few RV’s have decorations.
I’m comfortable lying in my tent creating blog content. It’s 7:49 and the sun has set. It will be dark soon enough and maybe quiet. Not last night quiet though. It’s city there’s cars and sirens etc . I don’t know where the overhead lights are located. The bathroom is not super close so I think it will be dark. Depends upon the campers personal exterior lights. Some like to have strings of light all night long!
We are super happy tomorrow is a short day (25 miles) into Holland. It’s back to Lake Michigan tomorrow. We have a motel for one night and then we start traveling north again. We will retrace a bit of the route we took south. The days are counting down for this great bicycle ride in Michigan!
cinnicrew 