Longest Day

Day 109, July 19, 2011, Longest Day

Route from Belding to Enchanted Acres Campground, Irons, MI

131 miles, averaging 13.7 mph

Worst Moment – I don’t know what the actual temperature or humidity reading was today, but it was a sweltering day.  At one point the thermometer on the bike indicated it was 99 when I finished the ride at 5:30, it read 90 degrees.

Best Moment – This may sound silly, but after the hot sweaty day I’ve been through, the thing that I appreciated most was the wonderful shower at the bathhouse.   Normally when I get in I will shower in the campground’s bathhouse if they provide free hot showers.  Not all campgrounds have showers or hot showers, and not all of them are free. (I’ve taken a few cold ones because I hadn’t checked the water and had already taken everything off.)  While Ruby has a great shower, it is small for me and the water goes into our holding tank, which then has to be emptied, so I really enjoy a good shower at the campground.

When I left Ruby in the fog this morning, I already knew it would be a long day.  I just couldn’t tell how long it would be since the route map I’m using didn’t have Irons, MI on it.  Google Maps had indicated that the trip from Belding to Irons was something in the neighborhood of 120 miles I wasn’t expecting that it would be 130.95 miles.  THAT’S MORE THAN A DOUBLE (METRIC) CENTURY (which would be about 127 miles.)

With this kind of ride to look forward to, I tried to get an early start and left around 6:30. The route was well marked today which is good since it was so long.  I don’t think that I went through any town for nearly 50 miles.  I have been riding through very rural Michigan farmland.  There is still corn, but also what look like potatoes and soybeans.

Some of the way was through wooded areas.  It looks like the homes in the woods are mainly seasonal cabins.  They aren’t on the water or anything, so I’m not sure what the attraction is.  In the winter they may be used for snowmobiling, but it is too hot and humid to enjoy this kind of location now.  And there are the hills – lots of rolling hills to climb and climb again.

Now the roadside flowers are mainly Queen Anne’s Lace, with some kind of purple flower – that I don’t recognize. 

Here are a couple of photos from Luther – which was one of the towns that I actually went through.  

Heat index forecast for tomorrow is 105 – Wow that’s hot.  Isn’t northern Michigan supposed to have cool summers? Guess the temperatures are about 8 to 10 degrees hotter than normal and close to record highs.  

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.