Osseo to Mackinaw City - Summer 09'

Day 1: Osseo to Mendon - 54 miles

Day 2: Mendon to Yorkville - 40 miles

Day 3: Yorkville to Belding - 62 miles

Day 4: Belding to Big Rapids - 57 miles

Day 5: Big Rapids to Wolf Lake (Luther area) - 54 miles

Day 6: Wolf Lake to Interlochen - 50 miles

Day 7: Interlochen to Traverse City - 13 miles

Day 8: Traverse City - resting!

Day 9: Traverse City to East Jordan - 54 miles

Day 10: East Jordan to Petoskey - 37 miles

Day 11: Petoskey to Mackinaw City - 51 miles

Day 12: Entire family visits Mackinaw Island!

Day 13: DRIVE home!

That's 472 miles. By car, and on the interstate, it's only 303 from our home to the bridge.

More Pokagon trip pics...

Under Siege!

Before turning in for the night, we cleaned up camp. All of the food was put in the Burley trailer, and it was securely fastened. Unfortunately, there was not a place in the campground area of the park to take trash. We put it in a bag, and left it out. At 1:00 am we heard the rustling of the bag followed by the sound of a Pringles can hitting the ground. I got the flashlight and opened the tent. There were two raccoons rummaging through the bag for anything they could find. I figured they would get what they wanted, and that would be the end of it. So we went back to sleep thinking we would have a mess to clean in the morning.

At 4:00 am we heard the two barking/growling at each other. This time much closer to the tent and by my bike with the trailer. This time I opened the tent more carefully with the flashlight's gaze catching one of them reaching into the smallest of openings at a corner-seem to pull out a marshmallow and shove it in its mouth. I threw on my shoes and chased it off by throwing pieces of wood and small rocks at them. They were not deterred at all... brazen bastards! Knowing that there was no way I would eat the food they touched, I finally threw the rest of the marshmallows into the woods far from the tent. I checked the Burley to make sure there was no damage and to ensure they could not reach any food still in it.

Half an hour later they were back. I thought I was prepared for them this time because I had brought some empty plastic pop bottles into the tent so I could throw them at the bandit-faced vermin. I carefully opened the tent again, took aim, and threw it as hard as a could. I hit the trailer very close to the creature, and the bottle bounced back toward the tent. He came forward to check it out, and was about 4 foot from the opening of the tent! I took my shoe and stomped the ground which caused him to retreat a little. I was able to chase him off by shooting water from my water-bottle at him.

In the morning it was evident that he did indeed return. He could not open the trailer or reach any more food, but he tried to pull my shirt out of that little space. The bright yellow riding shirt had a few smudges of dirt and several loosened threads from the claws.

Alex suggested that we get a second small tent for the Burley, but I think raccoons would just bite and scratch their way into a tent too. I had some pepper spray that I did not think about until later. I had a pretty good angle and a short enough distance that it most likely would have been effective. I have already had a few suggestions, but one of the most feasible was to toss a rope over a branch and hoist the trash and food up and out of reach. Because the loss of sleep, pepper spray still sounds the most satisfying!

Pokagon Test Run

First I want to say that I am extremely proud of my son Alex! Did he ever do a great job on this overnight trip from Osseo to Pokagon State Part in Indiana! We rode 83.5 mile (roundtrip) with a strong head-wind the first day, and a nice tail-wind the for most of the second day. The last 10 miles on the way home were laborious with a very strong cross-wind. Alex's health was an issue on the way home, but he plugged along without complaint. He will be back to full strength after the antibiotics kick in!

I learned that we will need to tackle the trip to the bridge differently than we did the trip to Pokagon. The trailer and cargo weighed in at 43 pounds, and it was tough heading up the hills towards the end of the ride. Less weight and a long break about 2/3 of the way through each day's ride will be necessary. I will also be riding with that thing in tow nearly every time I go out over the next 2 weeks to get ready.

After checking in at the campground gate, we rode to our reserved site. It was smaller than most of the yards in a mobile home park. With little energy left, we rode back to the gate to request a larger site with a picnic table. We were grateful for their assistance. Our new site was quite nice.

After showers and a bite to eat, we went down a trail that led us to the beach. Waiting for us was a bean-bag tossing game which is quite the rage in the upper mid-western states of NB, ND, & SD. They have given it the most unfortunate of names: "Corn Hole."

There was also a stable with horses to ride (for a price, of course). Alex took his first ride since the little ponies at the county fair when he was just a little guy. Luckily we had a good guide, and all went well.

After dinner, cooked over the fire-pit, we turned in early - 9:00 pm, but the night did not go smoothly. We were under siege most of the night!

Robin, Come Get Me!

While still feeling good about myself for yesterday's 27.5 mile ride, Alex and I took off for a long ride this afternoon. We have come to enjoy going down county rodes we have never traveled before. About 12 miles into our anticipated 20-25 mile ride I noticed my bike was a little sluggish, and thought I would put some air into the rear tire. Everything was going fine as I was inflating the tire until I removed the pump from the valve stem and a steady "shhhhhh" whispered in my ear. There was a leak where the valve stem meets the tube.

Great news...I have not only one, but two extra tubes! Bad news!...They are at home! Luckily Robin was at home, and sped to our rescue.

My friend Linc suggested that I get some practice repairing common bicycle ailments. The repair went smoothly, and took only 10 - 15 minutes. Obviously I learned something important today: Carry what you need to repair your bike!

Changing of the Plan!

Alex and I have been logging in some pretty serious mileage lately. I have been noticing the differences in difficulty in different directions of travel. South and West are much more difficult than North and East. Today I rode just over 27 miles where I took the same route to and from my destination. I averaged 2 miles per hour faster on the return trip! I also contacted the lead weather man at WILX (Andy Provenzano) and he shared this with me about the prevailing wind patterns in June:

" Prevailing winds would be west-southwest. Although it can turn northeasterly on occasion for a couple of days. June winds are not that strong unless a front is approaching. Similar to what our Thursday and Friday this week will feel like. You might want to consider the sun position as well. It will be in your eyes most of the day if you head south.Windspeed in general is between 5-15mph. When fronts are around it can get gusty 25-35MPH."

Thanks for the info, Andy!

We are now going to leave Osseo and ride to the Mackinaw Bridge in Mackinaw City. I think this will work well for the girls in the family. Maybe they will sneak a trip in to Chi-town! Alex and I will schedule our rest day in Traverse City. It's a win, win!

Look for the new itinerary soon. :-)