Sunday, August 2, 2009.
Start: Cross Village, MI
ATW: Good Hart, Harbor Springs
End: Petoskey, MI
Miles: 38.1 4hrs 50min Total miles: 3510
From Cross Village to Good Hart we rode down the "Green Tunnel," a winding twisting narrow roadway through trees growing over the road. We'd been warned about taking the route because it was too much for bicycles. All day long we saw more bicycles on that route than anything else. And except for a few encounters with an RV passing on a blind curve we did alright.
From Good Hart to Harbor Springs we stayed on the Green Tunnel. Five miles from town Dave started noticing a peculiar oscillation in the front wheel. We inspected the wheel and found nothing in the tread so we rode a bit further. The bumping persisted and we stopped for another look. This time it was rather obvious that our sidewall was about to explode.
We switched out for our spare and kept going into town. It was early afternoon and we'd subsisted on a couple amazing homemade donut holes for the last 15 miles, (the healthy eating is getting better I promise). Harbor Springs was having a regatta race so we lunched in the marina watching the sailboats speed through the water.
It was the perfect afternoon for a nap and we found our way to a secluded park just down the road. We rolled out our drop cloth and sleeping bag. When we woke it was after five and time to hunt down dinner. "The grocery store is back up on the bluff." Ah... yes, that hill we came racing down. Back up the hill, higher and higher we climbed. A few cyclists racing the other way cheered us on.
Once again prepared to feast we tried to find our way back to the lake but ended up riding 119 on the top of the bluff east out of town. Soon we were at a bike path that was reported to take us from Harbor Springs through Petoskey to Charlevoix. We made it as far as the Petoskey State Park where we ate dinner in the wind break of the concession stand at the beach.
Soon we were answering questions about our bike and trip from someone who worked in a bike shop (Patrick) but had never seen our bike anywhere but in a catalog (we get that a lot). We offered him a test ride around the parking lot and then were soon shuttling around several more family members. "Where are you sleeping tonight?" We ended up following the family five miles farther down the road into Petoskey and slept out of the rain in the living room of Patrick's parent's house.
