This was a Sunday, so we could ride together the whole way. We chose to ride inland, rather than hug the coast as we had originally planned. This cut about 10 miles from the ride, but did not eliminate any hills.
Happy Birthday Sus!
Sue dragged the cart through Bliss, up and over some dreadful hills, all the way to Pleasant View. There was a point where she could not push down on the pedals to because the hill was so steep. I learned that resting on the way up is better than trying to make it all the way in one go. I took some pictures of the hills, but they are blurry, probably because I was trembling in fear.
Or cold. That's snow next to those ski lifts.
Now we can say, "we went around the lake, uphill both ways, in the snow".
It was hell getting to Bliss. At least these residents don't have to ride up out of this valley. Or at least not for some time.
The winds were very strong. I tried to show Mark and Annie dandelions and how it was almost like blowing bubbles, but the wind had already ripped most of them apart. Still, they had fun running around in the grass. Mark would get distracted with something and forget he was on grass, but as soon as he remembered, he'd crawl or toddle over to the cement as fast as he could.
There was laundry at the hotel and I wanted to prove that the yellow jacket got cleaned now and then.
I was amazed at Sue's strength over the hills to Petoskey. Up until this day, I had tried not to use my granny unless I had the cart, but these hills ended that game. Even with strong, rested legs, the wind and the hills were physically exhausting.
Petoskey is a beautiful town filled with ugly people. It should be stricken from any cyclists itinerary. There were maybe 2 or 3 people we encountered who were friendly, but most of the residents treated us rudely. To date, this was the most unwelcome, most dangerous town we have encountered.
We entered town on a four lane highway, 31. The speed limit was 30, and traffic wasn't too bad. It was Sunday, remember? A large pickup in the left lane chose to honk -- using a Semi horn -- right next to the Burley. That was very unpleasant, and got our dander up, but he was gone, and we were stopping at a bike shop. As we pulled into the parking lot speculating about why someone might honk at us another man in a pickup said, "what do you expect, you're on a highway". What we expect is courtesy, but that isn't something you would expect from Petoskey residents. That bike shop was closed, so we reentered the highway and headed towards our hotel.
After a few more honks and shouts we found an open bike shop and replaced Sue's speedometer. The wires had broken on her original. The bike shop was at the base of a nasty hill. I had actually told Sue that the hills she pulled the cart over were much worse than the ones I had, and up until then, that was true. After we arrived at the hotel, Sue thought it had evened out.
I went to a grocery store and grabbed some supplies. My bike felt light and nimble without panniers. The climb up to the store was a breeze; coasting back holding a full grocery bag was actually harder.
We took the kids to a family restaurant across the street from the hotel. There were some motorcyclists eating next to us, shooting us dirty looks if Mark and Annie made more noise than they thought they should. I don't know what they expected. It would be like Sue and I going to a biker bar and shooting dirty looks to people smoking and drinking beer. But then, what else would you expect from a rude town like this?
47 miles, including a trip to the grocery store. 688 total.
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