Friday, August 9, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Ride Day 133
After a nice night at the Comfort Suites in Wixom MI I lounged around the hotel until mid day. I pigged out on the free breakfast just like I did on the free dinner the night before. I finally packed my bike up and handed in my key to checkout and just as I went to go out the door the rain started back up. I turned around and sat down in the lobby to read the paper and wait out what looked to me as a shower. About a half hour later it let up and I rode 100 yards over to Mcdonalds to wait a bit longer in a new place. I chatted with a woman in Mcdonalds about bike riding and then the skies seemed to clear so I ambled out the door and down the road. I only had a thirty mile ride to do today but it was almost all on a not very bike friendly busy road. I ended up riding slowly along sidewalks for most of the way because of no or narrow shoulders combined with fast heavy traffic. The sidewalks of course have lots of bumps so I had to ride slow and kind of jump my bike over the larger bumps of which there were plenty. I stopped for coffee and every other thing I saw along the way to kill some time because I had 4 full hours to go only 30 miles. I enjoyed the slow pace for a change. I usually race along at a fast clip or I would not be getting so many century rides in so this was a major change of pace for me. I arrived at Regi's place and made friends with Clyde her pit bull and met her kids and husband. Regi got home about 15 minutes after I did. She made some tacos for dinner while we caught up and then she took me for a short tour of Detroit in a light misting rain and failing light. The weather seemed right for the setting of an almost dead city. There were signs of renewal here and there by hipsters that bought up entire blocks and turned them into enclaves of their own design and control. The standard practice here seems to be to stop paying the mortgage wait for foreclosure and then burn the house down. There were lots of burned out shells lining all the streets. The arson investigation units here must be over worked to say the least. There were some very nice neighborhoods close to ruined ones and then there were the reborn areas with new facades and stuff. I enjoyed the tour and was sorry to miss the Henry Ford estate. Joe Lewis's fist was the centerpiece art work downtown. Tiger stadium was empty but all lit up. I got a good night of sleep with Clyde keeping me company for most of the night. Today I am spending time trying to figure out which route I am taking to get out of here without being a moving target for all the gang bangers roaming around the burned out streets. more later
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Ride Day 132
After a good night staying with old family friends I hit the road early and went about 70 miles from Charlotte to Wixom. The roads were nice and quiet country roads to start but once I got on Grand River Road the traffic increased and the shoulders decreased or disappeared entirely. I did not enjoy the riding later in the day. I had planned on stopping at around 50 miles but I could not find any place to camp or any cheap hotels either so I just kept on riding. In the end it started to rain just as I was passing a rather expensive hotel and I just said screw it and checked in for the night. It included free dinner and breakfast so that makes the rate more reasonable since I eat so much food. I am not the one you want around at an all you can eat affair right now with the way I can pack food in and then be hungry again in a couple hours. I pigged out on the free dinner which was very tasty and after catching up on my internet I plan on going back down and eating again. Tomorrow I will go visit an old friend of my kids in Detroit. I am looking forward to that visit. I took almost no pics today but such is life...
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Ride Day 130 and 131
So I rode from Hersey to Merrill about 90 miles with a lot of it on bike baths that were nicely paved. The campground in Hersey the night before was a good time and I enjoyed my neighbors and the setting called Blodget Landing. There was a gurgling river making nice white noise to sleep to and no loud rutting neighbors or other loud party animals keeping me up all night. I got some good sleep which for me is rare. I also hung out at River Junction bar and restaurant which was a good time. I took a day off I was enjoying it so much. After my rest in Hersey, I jumped on the same bike path the next morning and rode it to the end near Clare Mi then followed various country roads all the way to Merrill about 90 miles total where I checked into a campground that was insane. It was a water park and was full of screaming kids and tight quarters for the campsites. There was very loud noise until about 1am so I did not get a good night of rest. Plus it cost $31 which was too much. I should have camped along the road somewhere. Lesson learned.
The ride from Merrill to Charlotte was very peaceful. In the first fifty miles I only saw 5 other vehicles on the roads. I never hit traffic until just before Lansing. A lot of the roads in Michigan are gravel and I had to ride on a lot of them. They aren't too bad to ride on except that you have to pay close attention to the road instead of being able to look around at the scenery. I spent a large share of today looking for monarch butterfly caterpillars but found none at all. they live on milkweed plants and there was a ton around but zippo for monarchs. When I was a kid there were millions of monarch butterflies around and every single milkweed plant had at least one caterpillar on it. In fact today I only saw 6 butterflies in total, five small white ones and on small yellow one. I rode past 90 miles of fields full of flowers and other perfect butterfly habitat but there were none around. Where have they all gone? I hear people talking about the disappearance of bees but nobody ever mentions butterflies being gone. Do people just not care? I am afraid that most insects are going to be in decline now with all the genetically modified plants and the spraying of pesticides everywhere. Butterflies are not pests they are innocent victims here for the most part. Enough ranting for now. I ended up spending the night with old family friends from Janesville and I enjoyed the stay. In the morning I head to Detroit but am thinking of making it two 50 mile rides instead of one 100 mile ride. I will decide at around 49 miles tomorrow... pics later when I have better wifi
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