Day 068 - Ontonagon to Wakefield - Two Far 2023 - Oranges to Apples

June 22, 2023

Day 068 - Ontonagon to Wakefield

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Today's ride was broken into 3 segments. The first segment was about 15 miles long, flat, and followed the shoreline of Lake Superior. There were several nice views of the lake, but the best views occurred on bridges where you could see the creeks or rivers emptying into the lake. This segment was very enjoyable.

Just after getting started, and crossing the Ontonagon River, I saw a sign for the Ontonagon Lighthouse and decided to check it out. After turning off the main road, I promptly missed the next turn for the lighthouse. After about a mile I realized my mistake and turned around. Shortly afterwards, I saw another cyclist and she gave me the correct directions. It turns out that I should not have bothered. As the photo shows, there is not much to the lighthouse and the road leading to it was fenced off to boot.

Ontonagon Lighthouse - not what I was expecting.

One of several creeks and rivers emptying into Lake Superior

The second segment of the ride started near Silver City when MI-64 turns inland. This 15-mile segment was all uphill with a constant 1-3% grade. The only thing of interest on this segment was Bonanza Falls. The rest of the time was spent just slogging it out, with the anticipation of a good lunch in Bergland taking my mind off the drudgery.

I was drooping when I met Jeanna for lunch in Bergland, but 3 large glasses of iced tea with a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup rejuvenated both my body and spirit.

The final segment of today's ride started in Bergland, where I picked up MI-28. This segment was relatively flat, but it was also relatively busy and did not have a very good shoulder. I rode in the traffic lane whenever possible but was constantly having to move over to the narrow shoulder.

MI-28 - not really much to see. This photo shows a section with a decent shoulder. For the majority of the segment there was only about 4"-6" of asphalt to the right of the rumble strip.

I just started seeing the pink and white flowers today.

Due to the time zone change, I made it to the motel before 3. When I rolled in, I mentioned to Jeanna that we had stayed here before. She said she had no recollection of it and gently insisted that we had not. Later on, I looked at my journal from 2015 and then did a quick internet search. We have stayed here before, but back then it had a different name. Hopefully, this will not be a Pyrrhic victory on my part :-)

Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 3,164 miles (5,092 km)

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