Day 39 Birch Run MI to Port Huron MI

Day 39
Birch Run MI to Port Huron MI
Miles Ridden 87.6
Climbing 1257 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden  2824.5
Miles To Go 767.3


While we were doing some of the difficult rides further west....into the wind, lots of hills, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees, I don't think most people could appreciate how difficult that was. In the same vein, 87 miles sounds like a hard day under any circumstances, but today actually seemed quite easy. For the third day in  Michigan we had moderate temperatures, only small climbs and a pretty strong tailwind. We again averaged almost 17 MPH and that was done without riding to exhaustion. We were at least partially motivated by the threat of thunderstorms which hit the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas hard but missed us.

There isn't a great deal of scenery in the farmlands of the Thumb of Michigan so we didn't need to stop for many  pictures. We saw a 9/11 memorial in the town of Brown City and then passed through the self-proclaimed bologna capital of the world, Yale, but saw no evidence to back this claim.

Like I said, not many photo ops, Millington MI

9/11 Memorial in the tiny town of Brown City

This trip is clearly getting into it's final stages and the early excitement has fallen off. Most of the riders are worn down, not just by the physical effort but also the mind-numbing routine that goes on when we are not riding. Getting to the hotel, waiting for rooms to be ready, unloading bags, finding out what will happen the next day, going to the mediocre restaurant for dinner, getting ready for the next day and then getting up around 5 AM to start all over. One of the most common questions is "what day is this?". People often don't know what town we are in, never know the name of the hotel and always forget their room number.

We got to Port Huron and were quickly reminded of the realities of cycling in an urban area. Getting honked at, some riders were verbally harassed and the increased stress of dealing with heavy traffic. We stopped off on the bike path underneath the Blue Water Bridge and took some pictures of the bridge we will be riding over tomorrow.  The water running in the channel from  Lake Huron to the St. Clair Rivername fits.  was incredibly clear and as blue as the water in the Caribbean. The

Blue Water Bridge Up Close

Blue Water Bridge From a Distance

I got a pleasant surprise when Kara called and said she would be stopping for a visit with Mike and Francisco on their way back from a camping trip.

Kara, Mike and Francisco with me

Tomorrow we start out with a mass crossing of the Blue Water Bridge to Canada while traffic is shut down. Pretty exciting although we are told we have to move quickly and can't stop for pictures